Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6).

Clearly hunger and thirst are not blessings; the blessing is in the satisfaction, in being filled. Hunger and thirst are not virtues that earn food and drink. Food and drink are the gift, the blessing. Hunger and thirst are qualities found in those who receive the gift.

In the other blessings, the gift is described as the kingdom of heaven, comfort, inheriting the earth, receiving mercy, seeing God, and being called sons of God. Taken together, all these blessings are fulfilled in the new creation Jesus will provide his people. We will inherit the earth upon the resurrection of the body and the start of life everlasting; we do not inherit it today. All these blessings come to us through the life and death and resurrection of Jesus. His promise, though, contains more than “pie in the sky, by and by.” We are blessed today; the gift of what will be when Christ returns in glory will come to us in all its fullness on that Day, but bits and pieces of that glory sparkle in our lives today.

Smells flow from the kitchen, as it were, and sample tastes are allowed by the Master Chef. These bits of grace whet our appetites for the coming feast. The comfort and the mercy we receive now prepares us for the peace and joy of the coming kingdom, when we inherit the earth because we belong to Christ. We know that at that time perfect righteousness will guide all the people living on this world; therefore, we long to see righteousness at work in the world today.

The world contains people who do not know Christ yet still fight for certain things that are right and good. Our confidence in Christ does not allow us to sit back and avoid the fight for what is right. Being meek does not include accepting evil, abetting it by our silence. Instead, being people who know the difference between right and wrong—also being people who know that right will prevail in the end—we have an even greater desire to fight on behalf of what is right today.

We are meek. We do not fight for our rights; we fight for that which is truly right. We stand for Jesus and for his principles. We defend the truth, acting out of love. Sometimes the fight involves providing food for the hungry, clothing for the poor, and shelter for the homeless. Sometimes the fight involves striving against crime and violence and injustice. Sometimes we battle the lies of the devil and of the world. We use the resources we have (given to us by God) to make the world a better place. Different Christians respond to different needs. We do not always agree about what needs to be done first. We share faith in Jesus, we share love for Jesus, and therefore we share love for the people Jesus loves. We have a passionate appetite—a hunger and a thirst—for seeing the right things being done in the world today.

We cannot perfect the world. Our best efforts make the world only a little better. Having a hunger and thirst for righteousness means that we are willing to struggle and strive for that slight improvement. Meanwhile, we know that the full blessing is just around the corner. The world will be remade and perfected one Day, not by our efforts, but as a gift from God. Jesus already has done everything necessary to guarantee that perfect new world to us and to all who trust his promises. We will be satisfied. Therefore, we are hungry today. J.