Study Guide: "Happy are the Passionate"

OPEN:

There is nothing unusual or unnatural about being hungry or thirsty.  In fact, your stomach may be growling right now and you may have already begun to daydream about what you'll have for lunch.  

- Actually, there is nothing extraordinary or startling about the human experience we encounter in the Beatitudes: poverty, mourning, meekness, hunger, thirst, etc.

But, remember that the Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount are all about paradox; the Jesus way intentionally contradicts the natural or commonly accepted way of life.  

- "Blessed are the poor in spirit."

- "Blessed are those who mourn."

- "Blessed are the meek."

This is life lived upside-down, life lived in reverse.

Remember also that in reversing ordinary understanding, Jesus does so by applying the common to our spiritual lives:

- Poverty is spiritual brokenness.

- Mourning is deep remorse over our spiritual condition that leads to confession & repentance.

- Meekness is our absolute surrender to God's absolute control.

In the same vein, this hungering and thirsting has a higher spiritual application.

What makes this hunger & thirst unique is its object of desire.  Here, Jesus declares that the deepest desire of every human ought to be for righteousness.

I.  Righteousness Should Be the Object of Our Passionate Desire. 

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for RIGHTEOUSNESS." 

Restlessness and longing are universal traits of the human heart.

God created each of us with a God-shaped hole in our hearts and an inconsolable longing for the eternal. We try to fill it with scenic vacations, accomplishments of creativity, stunning cinematic productions, sexual exploits, national sports extravaganzas, hallucinogenic drugs, ascetic rigors, managerial excellence, etc., etc. But the crater remains; the longing continues.

 

Isaiah put it like this in 55:2-3: “Why do you spend your money 

for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? 

Hearken diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in abundance.  Incline your ear, and come to me; hear that your soul may live.” 

And Jeremiah, like this in 2:12-13: “My people have committed two evils: 

They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.”

 

This beatitude speaks of strong desire, of driving pursuit, of a passionate force inside the soul.  It has to do with ambition—ambition of the right kind—whose object is to honor, obey, and glorify God by partaking of His righteousness.

    1.  The Meaning of “Righteousness.”

- The word "righteousness" occurs five times in this sermon (5:6,10,20; 6:1,33).

- The basic meaning of ‘righteousness’ derives from the Hebrew sedeq which does not so much refer to the abstract idea of justice or virtue as it does right standing and consequently right behavior.

- To have ‘righteousness’ in Jesus’ day meant to be in a covenant relationship with God and to behave accordingly.

     2.  Applying the Meaning of Righteousness to Today.

The goal of hungering and thirsting for righteousness is two-fold:

1) Passionately desiring salvation.

2) Passionately desiring sanctification.

- In other words, right behavior as a result of our right standing with God.

Phil. 1:9,10: “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ.”

II.  The Result of Passionate Desire for God is Satisfaction.

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

     1.  Jesus Describes Complete Satisfaction.

- Jesus’ pronouncement is that those passionately desire God will be given total satisfaction.  Our part is to seek; God’s part is to satisfy completely.

- Herein lies a marvelous paradox – we are to continually seek after God, desire Him, never get enough of Him; yet, we will be satisfied in the midst of this continuing hunger and thirst.

III.  There Are Several Marks of Passionate Desire for God.

     1.  Dissatisfaction—Dissatisfaction with Self.

     2.  Freedom--Freedom from dependence on external things for satisfaction.

     3. Craving--Craving for the Word of God.

     4.  Unconditionality- When our spiritual hunger and thirst are genuine they will make no conditions. 

CLOSE:

What/who is the object of your desire?

What/who are you most passionate about?

The only passion that finds total satisfaction is the passionate pursuit of a love relationship with the Father.

(Dr. Dane Fowlkes, Pastor)