THE WAY TO A MEANINGFUL LIFE
How Hungry Are You?

Dr. Richard J. Henderson March 18, 2007

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Psalm 32: 8-11
Matthew 5:1-12

Introduction

The story is told of the Buddha who once went down by the bank of a river where a young man came up to him and asked how he could attain enlightenment. The Buddha didn't say a word, but walked the young man down to the river. Then he took the man's head and pushed it under the water.

He held him there until just moments before he would have passed out. Then he let the man go. As he came up out of the water, gasping for breath, the Buddha asked him, "In those last seconds, what were you thinking about?"

"Air!" the young man gasped. "Anything else?" Buddha asked. "No, just air; my life depended on it," the young man answered.

"Exactly. When you can turn your attention only to eternal truth, as if your life depended on it, you will be on path to enlightenment." (1)

What we value most is like air for us. It's what we would do anything for. It is what we have to have.

Every four years several people will travel millions of miles across this country. They will be on the road every day for months at a time, giving speeches, shaking people's hands, kissing babies they've never seen before, and eating every kind of food imaginable.

The whole time every word they say will be analyzed and their whole life will be scrutinized in detail. They give up everything else to do this. Why? They want power and prestige, and they want to lead the most powerful nation in the world.

It's an enormous sacrifice. They want it so much that it's like air to that drowning young man.

I

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." In this beatitude Jesus is asking about our air. What's your air? What do you want more than anything else?

Jesus says you should want righteousness as much as a starving man wants food; as much as a parched woman wants a cool glass of water.

Here Jesus is saying, don't just keep your nose clean. Don't just try to be a good person, but crave righteousness like a hungry person craves food.

II

Maybe you're thinking, OK, I could do that if I knew what righteousness was! "Righteousness" is a churchy word. Nobody uses it anymore. Lots of people aren't even sure what it means, although it sounds sort of pious. Maybe it makes us think of "self-righteousness."

In the J. B. Phillips translation this verse reads, "Happy are those who are hungry and thirsty for true goodness." Righteousness is basically goodness. It is good conduct, but also compassion, generosity, and justice. In short, righteousness is being right with God.

I like Frederick Buechner's definition the best: It's in his book, Wishful Thinking.

"You haven't got it right!" says the exasperated piano teacher. Junior is holding his hands the way he's been told. His fingering is unexceptionable. He has memorized the piece perfectly. He has hit all the proper notes with deadly accuracy. But his heart's not in it, only his fingers. What he's playing is a sort of music but nothing that will start voices singing or feet tapping. He has succeeded in boring everybody to death, including himself.

Jesus said to his disciples, "Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven." (Matthew 5:20) The scribes and Pharisees were playing it by the book. They didn't slip up on a single do or don't. But they were getting it all wrong.

Righteousness is getting it all right. If you play it the way it's supposed to be played, there shouldn't be a still foot in the house. (2)

Righteousness is not about keeping church rules or following a long list of commandments; it isn't living life by the book. Righteousness isn't something we do to impress other people with how good we are. Rather it is an exciting change in our lives that is vital and filled with life, and naturally grows out of our relationship with God.

The Revised English Bible says, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst to see right prevail." It is not only goodness within ourselves, but wanting to see goodness in the world.

III

Jesus is saying we should want that goodness as much a hungry person wants food, as much as someone lost in the desert wants water. It isn't a casual thing, but at the heart of who we are as Christian people.

I wonder if any of us have ever been really hungry. If we are an hour late for dinner we think of that as hunger. But have we ever gone without food for a day? Or two, or three? Imagine not having anything to eat for three days and then finding a large bowl filled with fruit.

We'd grab an apple and start chomping away. I wonder if we'd eat the whole thing, core and all.

Medical people say we can go without food for quite a while, but not without water. Have you known what it's like to be really thirsty? The worst most of us have experienced is working outside in the heat, sweating, and not having any water with us. When we're done we come inside and fill a large glass of water and drink the whole thing down at once. Nothing is as refreshing as that.

Now can you imagine wanting goodness as much as the starving person wants food? Can you picture wanting to see right prevail as much as that thirsty person wants a drink of water. That's what Jesus asks of us in this beatitude.

IV

The really good news is that when we hunger and thirst like this, we will be satisfied. What we get will fill us up. Living like this brings contentment.

As you know, not every hunger we try to fill is satisfied. The hunger of the drug addicted is never filled for very long. The person who is after one sexual conquest after another is never really satisfied.

A couple of years ago a billionaire in our area was caught rigging auctions in New York. He was found guilty and sent to prison. When I heard this story, I thought, why would someone who has billions of dollars break the law to get a little bit more? It was a hunger he had that couldn't be satisfied.

But when we hunger to do what is right, and do it, it is fulfilling.

Conclusion

In the 1930's Lloyd Douglas wrote a novel called The Magnificent Obsession. It's the story of Robert Merrick, a man who was saved from a boating accident. In that same accident a doctor, famous for saving people's lives, died. After this experience, Merrick begins to give and do things for other people anonymously.

As much as he helps other people, as much as he gives to others, he never lets anyone know who has done these generous acts.

He doesn't need to. The reward is in the act itself. No one else needs to know; it is enough that the giver and his God know.

That's part of what Jesus means when he says that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be satisfied.

Amen

© Richard J. Henderson 2007