Satisfaction Guaranteed
by James Lincoln on April 2, 2006
I think it was Adelle Davis who coined a phrase, "You Are What You Eat." She was one of the first nutritionist to point out the impact of diet on the outcome of your life. As I recall, her advice was generally sound having to do with eating your vegetables and balanced meals. But you know...Jesus taught that what you feed your mind and soul is even more critical than what goes into your stomach (Mark 7:18-23).
If you feed on excitement, scenic vacations, the movies, sports, managerial excellence, recreation, erotica, violence...if you feed on new toys or personal success, and pleasure in time you'll come to personify the things you feed on. Hollywood stars are such easy targets. Not because they're that different than the rest of us; it's just that their excesses are so out there and so public. Secretly, many have the same ambitions but not the opportunity or the means to realize them.
Elvis Presley: Full but not Satisfied
Last week the U.S. Department of the Interior made Elvis Presley's mansion in Memphis, a national monument. Graceland is now in the same category as the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials. In the 80's our family drove to Washington D.C. to see the Smithsonian and all the historic monuments in our nation's capitol. We then visited the battlefield at Gettysburg. When you see it, you know why they call it "hallowed" ground. 50,000 men died there in three days. After that we drove down to Memphis and saw Graceland. Graceland was not "hallowed" ground.
However, it was a testimony to a man who had a huge appetite. He had three jets, two Cadillacs, a Rolls Royce, Lincoln Continental, a Buick, a Chrysler, Jeep, dune buggy and three motorcycles. His favorite vehicle was his 1960 Cadillac. The roof was made of pearl white Naugahyde. It was painted with forty coats of paint mixed with crushed diamonds and fish scales. All the metal was gold plated. It also had two gold plated phones, vanity case, electric razor, T.V., hair clippers, shoe buffer and refrigerator...all gold plated. And for an additional fee you could see all of that. We let that once in a lifetime opportunity pass.
Elvis Presley grew up poor. He was hungry for stuff. He was hungry for fame, alcohol, food, drugs and who knows what else. His soul was hungry and his heart was thirsty. He was restless; everywhere he turned the grass was always greener than where he was standing. Is it that way with you? The adrenaline thrill of lust left him guilty and lonely. The drugs couldn't keep him from waking up to the real world every day to face again his messed up relationships. He got bored more and more quickly with every new toy. So, he kept buying more. He couldn't make his fame and success last. So he pulled up his chair and ate at the table of excitement, food, drugs and sensuality. Liked so many in our times he was full... but beloved...he wasn't satisfied. As Jeremiah put it, "You drink at broken cisterns and you eat bread that doesn't satisfy." (Jer. 2:13).
What do you hunger for? I mean really? Have you asked yourself that lately? How do you spend your time, money energy and thoughts? For what do you exchange these valuable resources? What are you hungry for? And are you satisfied?
Look, if our appetites are in the wrong place we'll have nothing to say to the world. Distance no longer protects us or isolates us from the rest of the world and those who disagree with us. And beloved, the world is watching, especially the Islamic world. They associate America with Christianity. What do Americans hunger for, education, free markets, wealth, success, freedom, democracy...all good things. But, what if you had all of these things without righteousness? What good are these things if underneath them lay unrighteousness, greed, pornography, immorality, injustice, excessive materialism, idolatry, self promotion, self assertion and sin? How do you think America is perceived in the Islamic world? Many there aren't persuaded that freedom is all that good if it leads to these things. Perhaps we need a national vision that puts politics, education and economics in the service of righteousness. Have we become too jaded for such an idea or perhaps too selfish? Wisdom tells us, "Righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a disgrace to any people." (Prov. 14:34) Big business isn't inherently evil, that is, if it's righteous. Freedom of expression is a good thing if it's righteous. But if you remove righteousness from politics, economics and business you may just be creating a more effective way to make unrighteousness flourish. Can a nation thrive if it doesn't hunger and thirst for righteousness? Can you? This is an amazing promise. Jesus promises satisfaction (the thing for which we all yearn). But, He also gives us the means to that satisfaction. And that's the part we're not so sure about. Neither was that crowd on the hillside.
Let me remind you again about those who were listening to that day to Jesus because your Sunday School books may have misled you. They give you a glossy picture of clean, brightly clad people sitting on a lovely hillside. Middle class families picnicking on their blankets eating grapes like those in the opening scenes of Much Ado About Nothing. You can smell the fresh air and everyone is rapturously happy and content as they're listening to Jesus say a few wise things.
The truth is that poverty was the rule not the exception. Many were sick. This was before they knew anything about bacteria or hand soap; before antibiotics, Tylenol, penicillin or vitamins. They were people under idolatrous foreign domination, forced to speak a language in their own markets that wasn't their own, forced to use currency that wasn't their own and they were forced to deal with Romans and Greeks with all their idolatrous symbols as they faced outrageous insults to their religion. Other than the immediate needs of food, drink and basic health, their primary concern was to get rid of these foreigners. They hoped for the coming of the Messiah. Because when the Messiah came he would kick the Romans and the Greeks out. He would re-establish the Temple worship as the one and only true religion. He would make the economy flourish so that Israel would be prosperous. He would make Israel the number one political power on earth. In other words the Messiah would bring health, wealth and power and supremacy to Israel. They were poor downtrodden, frustrated and depressed. They had lost control of virtually every major institution of power structure of their own society. Things were not going as they wanted them to go. Will this man who claims to be the Messiah do something to change these miserable conditions of our lives? Will He make my life better? That's what they hungered for. That's the satisfaction they wanted, someone to come in with power, might and irresistible force and do something about this mess! What does Jesus do? He gives them a sermon. He teaches them. Not what the activists or the impatient wanted to hear.
Against that set of expectations and Jesus says, "Blessed are the Poor in spirit, theirs is the kingdom of heaven. He turns everything upside down. They were sure that God hadn't blessed the poor. His blessings were on the rich not the poor. If you were poor or sick and disenfranchised you weren't blessed. That was the sign that you were under God's curse. This was not what they wanted to hear. They didn't want to hear a message that called them to humility. "Yes, of course, call the Romans to humility but not us!" Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven will come only to those who recognize their poverty of spirit.
Blessed are those who recognize they are poor in righteousness. It means to recognize your need of God grace and forgiveness. It means to recognize that you have no claim or entitlement to God's favor. It means to stand in awe that He would ever receive sinners like you and me. Jesus said that He came to call sinners to repentance not the righteous. If your hands are too full and heart too proud then they're not available for grace. This is the soil in which gratitude grows. You won't have a grateful spirit without it. The sense of entitlement and gratitude are like oil and water.
The blessed are those who mourn for their own sins and the sins of the world around them. If you don't weep or grieve over your sins against God and the sins of others and the predicament we have all placed ourselves in...if these things don't break your heart then you can't know God's blessings because you can't know God without mourning. The blessed aren't those who have managed to go through life happy go lucky with a joke and a smile. "Blessed are they that mourn." God himself mourns over these things. He doesn't just get angry. Oh, we can get embittered when things don't go our way or at others as they mess up but do we grieve and mourn because of it? There's a difference. (Amos 6:1-6)
Blessed are the meek. The meek refuse to use their own strength, power and might to conquer the world for themselves. They don't gripe and demand that the world won't bend itself to make them happy. Instead they entrust their lives to God. To be meek means to reject self promotion to restrain or resist inappropriate anger. It's slow to speak, slow to anger and quick to listen. It means to entrust yourself to God not self assertion. It means to reject the way of using the instruments of power, dominance and intimidation in order to win. It's waiting on God, its trusting God; it's the quiet yielding to God who cares for us. It's the opposite of self will, self assertion, impatient demanding and self exalting. Blessed are the meek.
To be blessed is to be saved. The beatitudes tell you how salvation shows up in your life. It's to have your heart and mind changed and shifted to an increasing likeness of Christ. And here in verse 6 it means to have a change in appetite and ambition. To be blessed is to be hungry and thirsty.
A hint of this hunger is in every man. Eccl. 3:11: "God has made everything beautiful in its time; also He has put eternity into man's mind, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end." God has created us with a search for eternity. George Herbert wrote:
"When God at first made man
Having a glass of blessings standing by-
Let us (said he) pour on him all we can;
Let the world's riches which dispersed lie,
Contract into a span.So strength first made a way;
Then beauty flow'd, then wisdom, honour, pleasure:
When almost all was out, God made a stay,
Perceiving that, alone, of all His treasure,
Rest in the bottom lay.
For If I should (said He)
Bestow this jewel also on My creature,
He would adore My gifts instead of Me,
And rest in nature, not on the God of nature:
So both should losers be.Yet, let him keep the rest,
But keep them with repining restlessness;
Let him be rich and weary, that at least
If goodness lead him not, yet weariness
May toss him to My breast.The Pulley
God has placed an appetite for eternity in everyone's heart. Some of you may be like this. Your soul is hungry and your heart is thirsty. You know that you have an insatiable longing for something. And the tragedy is that even though the Spirit of God is summoning you to that which will satisfy (His righteousness) you will turn again and again to anything and everything but His Son Jesus of righteousness to find it. Jeremiah said,
'They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water."
C. S. Lewis wrote, "If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world."
Let's ask three questions about this beatitude: What does Jesus mean by righteousness? What does it mean to hunger and thirst? What does it mean to be satisfied?
1. Righteousness. What is this righteousness that satisfies? Now, righteousness can mean a number of things. He could mean personal righteousness...to be considered right before God to know that your sins are forgiven and that you are living right. He could also mean social rightness or social justice. I imagine that both are true. But let's look for help in the sermon itself. In verse 20, He says, "I tell you unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. " And then what follows are six lessons about how our righteousness must surpass the righteousness of the Scribes and the Pharisees. Jesus then taught...
1. In v. 21-26, that not only was murder wrong but so is sustaining anger against a brother.
2. In v. 27-30, He said not only that we must not commit adultery but also, we must not look upon a person lustfully.
3. In v. 31-32, He said that we shouldn't condone divorce just because there is a legal provision for divorce in the Old Testament. Instead, we should not make peace with hardness of our hearts and keep our covenant commitments.
4. In v. 33-37, He said that we should be truthful but also that we should be the kind of people who don't need to take oaths in order to be believed.
5. In v. 38-42, He taught that we should turn the other cheek and return good for evil when personally insulted. Don't retaliate.
6. In v. 43-48, He taught that we should love our neighbor and that we should love our enemy and pray for those who persecute us.
What did Jesus mean when He said that our righteousness should exceed that of the scribes and the Pharisees? His list has to do with showing love and mercy, being pure in your heart and making peace instead of retaliating. Righteousness is showing mercy to other people even your enemies and those who hate you. Wow...do you think that wasn't counter intuitive? It's being pure in heart before God who alone can see the heart when no one is looking; and it's the hard and difficult effort to make peace.
I notice two things about this kind of righteousness. FIRST, His ideas about righteousness render us all guilty. Who of us could say that we've never sustained anger against a brother or lusted after another in our hearts? Which of us has not retaliated when offended or not broken a promise or failed to love or pray for an enemy? In other words... if the list was designed to approve and clear the good it seems to me that all it does is ensure that no one could ever call themselves good like this. If this is the standard by which we can merit a place in heaven, who can meet it? But that's the point. He leaves us with Isaiah who said, "I'm a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of people with unclean lips." Or David who said, "My sins are higher than my head." If you think the Ten Commandments was a high standard, try judging your life against this list. Jesus said that if murder makes you liable to the judgment know also that everyone who is angry with his brother is liable to the judgment. And if you conclude and call your brother a "fool" you are liable to go to hell. If your thoughts and words are about judging others look out you may find yourself in hell. Not exactly seeker sensitive preaching is it?
Jesus leaves us without a leg to stand on if we are trying to justify ourselves as righteous according to the record of our own merit. And this is one reason our righteousness has to surpass that of the scribes and the Pharisees. They used the law to justify themselves, to prove that they were righteous before God and deserved His favor. They believed that they were righteous and that the record of their behavior and pedigree would exonerate them. But Jesus makes it impossible for any of us (if we are thinking straight) to conclude that we would be considered righteous by God's standard. So, this definition of righteousness drives us to grace and to seek His mercy. This righteousness produces humility and extravagant gratitude at the same time. This is what Paul got so excited about in the gospel: a righteousness that has now been revealed - apart from the law - the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ. There is no other way. What a relief and joy to know that I can be considered righteous. But I can only be considered righteous if I receive it as a gift. There is just no other way.
SECOND, His definition of righteousness also defines for us what it means to live righteously. He lays out the expectation that if you are blessed your life will be changed. Your heart and mind will be changed. So, what does it mean to hunger and thirst for righteousness? It means to hunger and thirst for a life of righteousness by showing mercy to others. If you are blessed of God you have received mercy. To hunger for righteousness means to be pure in heart before God not just outward behavior but pursuing God's goodness when you are alone, when no one but God is watching. To hunger for righteousness is to have an insatiable appetite for making peace - peace with God and peace with others.
In the end Jesus is saying that people who will be satisfied are the people who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Jesus said, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness..." Righteousness is the way God is. So, in the end it's a hunger and thirst for God Himself.
How important is this?
In the middle of the sermon (7:21-22) Jesus says this,
"On that day many will say to me, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name? And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness or do evil."
They called him, "Lord". They seemed to have the charismatic gift of prophecy. They were engaged in exorcisms of demons and miracles in Jesus name...And He turns them away! At the last day He says that He never knew them. Why? Notice that it is because they did not practice righteousness. They didn't do righteousness. They didn't hunger or thirst for righteousness. They were religious and had gone to church. They were involved in many religious activities. They were part of a dynamic wonder working, miracle working and demon exorcising, prophesying church. They did all of this in the name of Jesus! But they were strangers to Jesus. How can this be? Aren't these the signs of a church that is on fire for Jesus and has all the marks of His presence, power and blessing? Today we would say a church like this is a powerful example of the Spirit filled church. Yet Jesus says, "I never new you. You are strangers to Me." You see they had other things at the front of their minds than being righteous. How is it with the church today? How is it with us? How is it with you?
2. Hunger and thirst for righteousness. Beloved, deep lasting satisfaction for our souls comes not from the delights of the world, the vacations, successes, the toys, the excitement, entertainment nor even powerful jaw dropping religious experiences performed in Jesus name. Satisfaction comes to those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Not those who snack on righteousness. But those who have an insatiable hunger and thirst for righteousness. In other words those who can't live without it. Is righteousness the object of your satisfaction? Is it mine? Or have we placed something else in its place?
3. Satisfaction Are you satisfied? Are you full but not satisfied? Are you restless, embittered and anxious? To be satisfied means to be content. If you're full but not satisfied change your diet. Seek His righteousness. First, seek the gift of righteousness that comes to us in the gospel: receive the record of His righteousness and the grace that cleanses us and forgives us. Be satisfied and filled with joy because you know that your sins are forgiven. And then make righteousness your ambition every day as the food that will satisfy your soul. Jesus said, "I am the bread of life...He who comes to me will never be thirsty and never go hungry." Is that your story and mine?
It's never too late to change your diet. Do you plan to eat today and drink today? Why not plan to eat and drink righteousness. Could it be that one reason you aren't satisfied is because your life is not devoted to the central pursuit of righteousness but to the pursuit of other things?
"There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells." (Ps 46:4) His name is Jesus.