What Are You Hungry For? Series: The Upside-Down Kingdom Text: Matthew 5:1-12 February 3, 2013

M e s s a g e Read: Matthew 5:1-6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” What does it mean to hunger and thirst for righteousness? I’d like us to look to Jesus’ life for an example and a bit of clarity. (Briefly review Jesus’ life before ministry and his baptism by John which marked the beginning of his ministry.) So what does Jesus do? What is his first act as Messiah? What does he do on his first day on the job? He didn’t perform a miracle; he didn’t preach a sermon; he didn’t raise anyone from the dead. Instead, he went into the wilderness and for 40 days he stopped eating. For 40 days Jesus emptied himself and made himself hungry. Have you ever wondered why he chose this among all the other possibilities? I think Jesus did this in order to make a clear and definitive statement about the central question of humanity. The most important question any person asks is, “What is it that will fill my hungry heart? What are you hungry for?” One of the greatest quests in life is the quest for satisfaction. We live our lives pursuing hard after it. We search for something to gratify the pangs of our human appetites – something to quench the dull ache of our unfulfilled cravings. Human beings are hungry creatures. We look for food in all kinds of places: money or possessions, strings of relationships or non- stop activity, sex or power, fame or approval. You know what Jesus was doing in the wilderness during his 40 day fast? He was checking those appetites. Jesus was living out what he preached when he said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” He was making sure his human appetites didn’t gain control of him. When fed, unrestrained appetites only get bigger and bigger while leaving us less and less satisfied. Do you know how we know this? Because of McDonald’s (explain: 7 oz. to 42 oz.). Unrestrained appetites grow larger and larger and satisfy us less and less. The struggle isn’t just our individual appetites growing out of control. We also struggle against of the sheer number of appetites that our consumer culture tries to awaken inside of us. In Hank Ketcham’s comic strip "Dennis the Menace," Dennis is looking through a catalog saying, "This catalog’s got a lot of toys I didn’t even know I wanted."

The primary role of an advertiser is to create hunger we never knew we had in pockets of our lives that we never knew were lacking! We find ourselves with more appetites than we could ever hope to satisfy in one lifetime. We need to be very wary in this life, because there will always be a voice in our heads that whispers to us that we need far more than we really do to be satisfied. We can keep these desires contained for a while, but then another desire pops up, then another and another and another. Before we know it, we’re flailing away – spending the energy of our lives on desires that mean very little in light of eternity. In the wilderness, Jesus simply and firmly said: I’m not playing this game. I choose to hunger after something that really satisfies (see Isaiah 55:1-2). Jesus chose to spend the beginning of his public ministry with 40 days of “eating what is good.” He didn’t allow his human appetites to control him. Instead, he developed a hunger and a thirst for something that will truly satisfy. A hunger and thirst for righteousness. Jesus, having personally proven this Beatitude, now tells the gathered crowd and disciples, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled.” What is righteousness? It means that something that was not right before is made right. Righteousness has both a personal dimension and a social dimension. There’s a righteousness where things are made right personally for the one who has done wrong, and there’s a social righteousness where things are made right more relationally and in the world around us. So righteousness could be defined as being made right before God (honoring the requirements of that relationship) and doing (being) right within the context of community. Personal righteousness: where do I need to be made right with God? Social righteousness: how can I do rightly in community? So how do we hunger and thirst for righteousness? Remember, if we are instructed to do this it means that we don’t naturally do this in and of ourselves. It is counter-intuitive. Check your current appetite. What are you hungry for? Is your appetite properly focused? Are you finding satisfaction in what you are spending your energy on? Cut back on the empty “snacks”. What things are you doing that ruin your appetite for righteousness? In other words, they take your focus off being and doing right. Get and stay active. It is not enough to just know this truth. The best way to work up the appetite is to be active in doing right and being right. This will boost your spiritual metabolism. Stay hungry and thirsty. These words are present tense – which means active now with no end in sight. Don’t settle. Don’t become comfortable.

L i f e G r o u p L e s s o n & D i s c u s s i o n Q u e s t i o n s Suggested Meeting Plan: v Fellowship & Snacks (30 minutes) v LifeGroup Discussion (20-30 minutes)

Ø Review Message: briefly review the main points of the message (5-10 minutes) Ø Discussion Questions (15-20 minutes)

v Prayer for Needs (10 minutes) Ø Write prayer needs/praise reports into a spiral bound notebook. Ø Encourage members to lead in prayer for one of the needs.

v Dismiss/Additional Fellowship Questions: 1. Kelly talked about how we often use a motivational image (poster), person, or song to help us picture who we want

to become. How are the beatitudes like a motivational image for us as Christ followers?

2. Read Matthew 5:1-6. As always, Jesus is our truest example of the Beatitudes. He perfectly embodied all these virtues and modeled them for His followers. Read Matthew 3:13 – 4:4. In light of this fourth beatitude, why do you suppose Jesus began his earthly ministry with 40 days of fasting?

3. Kelly said, “One of the greatest quests in life is the quest for satisfaction.” Do you agree? Why or why not?

4. Why do so many people struggle to find satisfaction in this life? Do you have a personal story you would like to share from your own life that illustrates your struggle to find true satisfaction?

5. Jesus teaches that satisfaction is found in hungering and thirsting for righteousness. What is righteousness?

6. One of the ways to hunger and thirst for righteousness is to check your current appetite? Why is this important?

7. Cutting back on the empty “snacks” was another way to guard your hunger and thirst for righteousness. What does this mean? What might be some examples of “empty snacks”?

8. How do you suppose our hunger and thirst for righteousness brings true satisfaction?

9. What is one thing you plan to do to apply this message to your life today?