Essential Desperation

You know, these beatitudes can get downright personal, and more than a bit uncomfortable, the more we explore these nuggets of wisdom. Today’s is one of those that not only is very personal, but one that might actually cause us to stop and ask ourselves some deep, probing, and potentially life-changing questions. I could make the strong case that today’s beatitude cuts more to the core of who we are than almost any other.

One of my favorite beliefs is a firm conviction that if you show me your calendar and your checkbook, I can show you your priorities. Believe it or not, sometimes that is not accepted very well because it points out some reality that we may not either have been aware or wanted to acknowledge. However, it is very true, for they reflect our passions. Today’s beatitude makes us ask a similarly challenging question that revolves around the two most basic needs of anyone who has ever drawn breath.

Let’s hear from  Matthew 5, verse 6:

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”

OK, this one is pretty simple. All we have to do is answer for ourselves what it is for which we hunger and thirst? In other words, what are our deepest passions? What gets us going? What motivates us? What drives us?

Maybe it’s significance. Maybe influence. Maybe money. Maybe status. Maybe control. Maybe health. Maybe location. Maybe family. Maybe a home. Maybe a certain achievement. Maybe a…well, you get the point. We all have that thing within us that gets the adrenaline going.

Jesus is issuing a clarion call here for what it is that we should be hungering and thirsting. Notice he does not define this in a negative; he simply yet powerfully states those who hunger and thirst for righteousness shall be filled. Where we must be careful, though, is that righteousness is defined not by our own subjective standards but God’s eternal and universal expectations. We must be diligent about ensuring that we look at righteousness not just or primarily from our own perspective but through the lens of the entirety of God’s work being done. Righteousness is a divine standard that looks forward to, and helps bring about, God’s kingdom because of the conviction that this hope will be vindicated not by human action but divine intervention.

Sounds kinda lofty, huh? Well, maybe. On the other hand, though, what do our calendars and our checkbooks show us about for what we hunger and thirst? Do our lives show the manifestation of a life transformed by the divine grace, peace, mercy, and love that is rooted in Christ? Or, maybe, do they show that we are wrapped up in chasing a bunch of temporal goals that have no eternal hope whatsoever when Christ comes again in glory?

Here’s the good news - it’s not too late. Let us change that for which we are most desperate, and be desperate only for the essentials.

Grace & Peace,
Lamar