Living in the Father’s Favor: Wanting What Is Right
[Show Sermon on the Mount, Matt. Video through 5:12]
Intro: As Jesus rubbed shoulders with people, He met those who were discouraged and had been beaten up by life and by others. He came across those who were so poor in spirit that they had trouble looking Him in the eye. He encountered people whose spirits were so weighed down with grief that He wondered how they could cope. He saw men and women who possessed a great inner strength, but allowed the other person to have their own way, rather than shoulder their way in to get what they supposedly had coming to them. They were meek – willing to keep their God-given strength in check, using it to help, not harm others.
-In Matthew 5, as Jesus sat down and taught both His disciples and the crowd of common people who followed Him, He started right where the listeners were at. They were poor in spirit, grieving, meek, wishing for justice and wanting to see things made right around them. Some had been seriously wronged by the Roman govt. and by others. Some had been mistreated because of their loyalty to God.
-I believe that part of what Jesus was doing in this sermon was affirming and encouraging these people. He was letting them know that God had not forgotten about them in the midst of their grief or ill treatment, or through the hardships of life. Rather, it was people just like them who found the favor and blessing of God the Father. It was lowly people like these who made up the membership of the kingdom of heaven.
-Jesus knows who He is dealing with. He knows what you’ve been through and what you’re going through right now. This morning He would tell you that God hasn’t forgotten about you, and that as you start right where you are and respond to Him, you will find His favor right in the middle of your circumstances and problems. Blessed are those who have it rough but trust in God because God will come through for them.
-The main thought of today’s message has to do with craving what is right.
Prop: Those who long for what is right will not be overcome by what is wrong.
TS: Let’s go ahead and take a brief look at what craving righteousness is all about.
I. The Definition of Righteousness
-Those who are hungry and thirsty to see and experience righteousness are blessed because they will be filled or satisfied. Naturally, we have to start by answering the obvious question, “What is righteousness here in Matt. 5?” It is difficult to know for certain what Jesus was aiming at here, but it likely includes personal righteousness that comes through God’s grace and repentance. We can enjoy righteous standing before God when we come to Him in faith, believing and receiving His truth for our lives. His truth tells us that He sent His divine Son Jesus to this earth to restore us to right relationship with God. His death paid for our sins so we can be cleared of all wrong and be able to approach God freely. There is also righteous character that flows out of a close relationship with God and is expressed through obedience and right living. James, the half brother of Jesus made it clear in the book he wrote that “faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead (James 2:17).
-In the Bible, righteousness is also used to describe justice. Blessed are those who long for justice in this world. This perhaps is where the tension comes in. If we are longing and waiting to see justice in this world, we might be waiting for a long time. We are not likely to see widespread justice until Jesus returns to this earth to establish His physical kingdom. And perhaps that is the answer we need to hold onto. There is no other place in the Bible where we find Jesus promising justice in this lifetime. Therefore, we must conclude that His promise of the fulfillment of justice refers to the time when He comes back to make all things right and brings justice back to this world.
-Does that mean that we should just give up in the fight for what is right? NO! But we do need to remember who we are fighting. We are fighting a system of evil that will remain strong until Christ returns. The righteous difference we can make will generally not be found in sweeping reforms, new legislation, or in overthrowing governments. The difference we can make will usually occur one life at a time. You can bring hope and encouragement to someone who has been oppressed or defrauded. You can show mercy to those around you and have a righteous effect on your environment. God may call you to do other things that will help those who can’t seem to find any justice. Just listen to Him and be obedient and He will give you the direction you need.
-TS: Well, we’ve talked about what righteousness means, but how bad do we really want it?
II. The Desire for Righteousness
-Hunger and thirst are used to describe this craving of those whom God favors. A very thirsty man was crawling through the Sahara desert when another man riding on a camel approaches him: “Water…please…can you give me…some water?” The man on the camel replies, “I’m sorry. I don’t have any water with me. But I’d be delighted to sell you a necktie.” The man responds, “I don’t need a necktie. I need water.” By now the man has lost all track of time, and crawls through the desert for what seems like days. Finally, parched with thirst, his skin peeling under the relentless sun, he happens upon a restaurant. With his last bit of strength he staggers to the door and grabs on to the headwaiter: “Water…can I get…water?” The waiter smiles and says, “I’m sorry, sir. Neckties required.”
-Hunger and thirst indicate a dissatisfaction with our present situation. We must first admit that we are starving and thirsty if we ever want to change. We all need to change. There was a man who was pleading with his psychiatrist to help him: “Doc, you’ve got to help me! I can’t stop believing that I’m a dog.” The psychiatrist followed up with a question: “How long have you had this problem?” The man replied, “Ever since I was a puppy.”
-I hope you see your need for change. We know we are not all that we can be, and we realize that there’s more to life than we are currently experiencing.
-The word for “hunger” refers to the desperate craving that a starving person has for food. He is so famished that he becomes desperate for food. The word “thirst” means to painfully feel the need for water. This is more than just needing a sip, it means to be parched and dehydrated to the point of pain.
-Psalm 42:1-2: “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?”
-Psalm 84:2: “My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.”
-Did you know the human body is 70% water. Water is contained in the cells of the body, arteries, veins, and in the spaces between the blood vessels and cells. The body’s water supply is involved in nearly every bodily function – digestion, absorption, circulation, and excretion. When we eat, breathe, and use our muscles, our body’s water supply is engaged. Thus, to become dehydrated is to lead your body to fail.
• 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated
• 37% of Americans mistake their thirst mechanism for hunger pains
• Mild dehydration can slow down your metabolism as much as 5%
• A lack of water is the number 1 trigger of daytime fatigue
• Just a 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory and vision
-Experts say that to overcome dehydration, you should drink at least ½ ounce of water for every pound of body weight each day.
-The point is this: Without the proper intake of water, your body will suffer greatly. Without God’s righteousness, we will also suffer. How thirsty are you for a right standing with God? How hungry are you to live right? How much do you desire to see what is right happen in this world? Are you weary of injustice and oppression? Are you sick of the way sin is ruining people’s lives? When will righteousness be the order of the day?
-Sometimes we dull our appetite for what is best by filling up on other things. Maybe you heard about the guy who made a documentary in which he ate at a fast food restaurant three times a day for 30 days? In his film called, “Super Size Me,” Morgan Spurlock, a formerly fit filmmaker, packed on 25 pounds. When asked what happened to his body over the course of the 30 days, Spurlock responds, “My body just basically falls apart…I start to get tired; I start to get headaches…my blood sugar skyrockets, my cholesterol goes up off the charts…the doctors were like, ‘you have to stop.’” When he was asked how he felt at the end of the month, he shouts out, “I felt terrible…I would eat and I would feel so good because I would get all that sugar and caffeine and fat…and an hour later I would just crash – I would hit the wall and be angry and depressed and upset. I was a disaster to live with” (www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4078903).
-One reason we may not be hungry for righteousness is because we already feel pretty full. Proverbs 27:7: “He who is full loathes honey, but to the hungry even what is bitter tastes sweet.” Isaiah 55:2. It says "Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.”
-We can spoil our appetite, so to speak, by overindulging in things like entertainment, physical food, recreation, our work, or any number of other things. Most of us enjoy a pretty good life, but the effect can leave us complacent and too satisfied with the ordinary. That doesn’t sound like someone who is hungry and thirsty for righteousness. Many of these things are not bad in themselves, but if we lose ourselves in the pursuit of them, we may miss the blessing that comes from true raw spiritual hunger.
-TS: Well, I hope that a spiritual hunger for more of God’s righteousness is being stirred up in you today. Only those with the desire will know the delight of being filled.
III. The Delight of Righteousness
-The delight of a hungry person is being filled with food. The delight of a thirsty person is being satisfied with water. The delight of someone who craves righteousness is found in receiving and experiencing righteousness. When Jesus promised fulfillment, I believe it was more than something nebulous that would eventually come in the sweet by and by.
-Concerning the righteousness that makes us right in our standing before God, Jesus delivered this to us by dying on the cross – for those who were hungry for it. Regarding the righteousness that describes our character and how we live, Jesus provided it through His death and resurrection. Paul says, “Just as Christ was raised from the dead…, we too may live a new life” (Romans 6:4). And in relation to the issue of justice and peace, we can and should make a difference in this world today, but we also eagerly anticipate the day when Jesus comes and makes all things right. Those who have cheated and swindled their way to the top, taking advantage of the helpless, they will find themselves at the bottom of the heap. No longer will the wicked prosper, but righteousness will rule. Mercy and justice will be the new order of the day, as Jesus the Righteous One shows up in person and takes the lead. 2 Peter 3:13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.
-Those who are righteous will rule with Him. Those who are self-serving and unconcerned about pleasing God or helping others will find themselves with no power to get what they always thought they wanted.
Conclusion: As we close, do you find yourself longing for what is right in your life? How much does it matter to you to be in right relationship with God through faith in Jesus and repentance of wrong? Do you crave the clean life? Are you living the way God wants you to live? He said, “Be holy for I am holy.” Do you want to see justice and goodness in this world? You can bring some of it now with God’s help. One day all will be made right.
-We might respond with 2 major steps: 1. Trust. Trust that what Jesus did on the cross was enough to make you right before God when you call on Him in faith. Trust that He will forgive you and help you at the deepest level possible. 2. Obey. God has always required obedience and has every right to demand it. However, He wants you to choose to obey. He will not force it out of you. If you crave righteousness, I don’t have to talk you into obeying. God has already put the desire in your heart to do things His way – which is the best way. Whatever God has put in your heart to do, step out in faith and do it. Faith without works is a relationship that has been starved to death by neglect. Let’s ask God to increase our hunger & thirst for His ways, and to help us follow through with action what He speaks to our hearts to do.
