Brian's Sermons

Hunger and Thirst We are four weeks deep into Jesus’ sermon on the Mount, where Jesus describes the Kingdom of Heaven – how to get in and what the kingdom looks like. He begins by pronouncing blessings, which the church has traditionally called “the beatitudes” – blessings based on a new order of things. He blesses those who are poor of spirit and empty, because when we are empty, then he can fill us. He blesses the mourners with the comfort of the Holy Spirit. He blesses the meek, those who hold great power under control by giving them an inheritance of everything that can’t be bought. And today he tells us to come hungry. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled . I don’t know if you have ever had these restaurants around here, but one of my old favorite restaurants was called Bonanza. It was pretty much the same as a Ponderosa, a lower-scale steak joint with an all-you-can-stuff-down-your-throat salad bar. My brother and some friend...

...after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Have you ever been hungry? Not the "Pastor Brian is preaching long and I haven’t eaten yet" kind of hunger, but really hungry? I don’t think most of us really, really know what it’s like to be truly hungry or thirsty. When we’re hungry, we generally know that soon we’re going to get to eat. When we’re thirsty, we know that soon we’re going to get a drink. But when you’re really hungry, I mean really, really hungry, when you’re starving, there’s nothing else that you’d rather have but food. When you’re really, really thirsty, there’s nothing else you’d rather have but water. Nothing else will even get your attention. This is what Jesus is calling blessed: to be starving for God – to want nothing more than Him. And if we put this into the context of the first three blessings: the poor in spirit, the mourners, and the meek, we realize that the more we put aside what we do have, the more we long for what God has. Truth be known, w...

...for they will be filled. Matthew 5:7 Have you ever been hungry? I mean really, really hungry, where your stomach won’t leave you alone. I have participated in the Thirty Hour Famine several times – it’s an event that World Vision does to raise awareness and funds for world hunger. Part of the event is going without food for (you guessed it) thirty hours. One year when we were doing it, we took a group of homeless kids to Cosi Museum in Columbus. Each of the homeless kids was given some money to spent, and I remember one of them bought pizza… and made one of our kids, who was fasting, hold the pizza and carry it around all afternoon. If you’ve gone without food for a significant amount of time, you know what it’s like to be hungry. But what about when you are hungry for something specific, and nothing else will do? There are times when I have a few of that kind of cravings – El Famous Burrito is one such craving, and there’s a Thai restaurant in Lima I really like. I remember ...