Transcription
I hunger and thirst to make it right. I hunger and thirst for what is right, to make things as they ought to be, to be a part of that. People who are hungry and thirsty, they'll pursue. They'll go after things. When we're lazy and complacent, we're not going to do it.
So moving through the biatitudes as a process, not as linear, blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are those who mourn, but as a process of us coming into full wholeness and resiliency in our identity in the kingdom in order that we can walk out kingdom life really well now. Not after we're dead, but now in the present tense.
So we're getting empty. Um, the first thing Jesus says is to get empty. And the second, he says, is to is to be sad. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. The empty ones can receive everything that God has. So, we're getting empty. Lord, what did you make me to be sad about? And then we're we're writing down what we're sad about, what what grieves you, what are you concerned about in your neighborhood, in your family, in your own life. What are the things that trouble you? These are places where they're d they're directional for the Lord to lead you. and to comfort you as you pursue those.
And then in that sadness, he says, "Blessed are those blessed are the meek." This is a really fascinating one. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Which is really a powerful statement. So, I'm empty. I'm moving I'm moving to receive from God in the direction of what I'm what he's created me to be sad about. One of the things I'm sad about is just the conflict level in the world just everywhere. It really makes me sad. And so what am I so as what am I going to do about this? And again, we're that's back into the creative process like okay, what can I do about conflict? And then you can go back and listen to how we talk about the creative process. But I'm asking the question, but Jesus is saying when you're as you're sad in this process, you need to be meek. What?
And so we, you know, we often misinterpret meek as weak or quiet or shy or something like that, but meek is is really the idea of of, you know, a spirited stallion that's been domesticated and directed. So meek is the idea of like you have all of this passion. We all have humans have all kinds of passion but those passions are often like misdirected and out of control. And for me as a person that just I just so don't like conflict and violence um like I I can get it's my tendency is like to move away from it like because I so don't like it is to move away from it which is a mistake. My passion is misdirected or I'll get mad. But meek is like, "No, I'm gonna I'm gonna let God domesticate that passion and aim it in a certain direction."
So, it's just like channeling all your passion in one direction towards the thing that you're sad about that's causing you to mourn to like I want I want to see change in this in the world. So, you might be a person that that you know has that says we need the we need changes in the church. Okay? or changes in politics or changes in education. Okay. Well, so then let's take all of your passions that you're passionate about that I'm passionate about that and passions that can really hurt you. Passions that are like because I can't I feel inadequate or um frustrated that I can't really do anything. Then that passion goes off into the dark. And again and as we've said in other places, our imagination that should be fixed on God into dark and becomes just a fantasy life of escape.
So what what Jesus is saying is here is blessed are the meek, the ones who bring those passions to Christ. They we lay them down and he he he domesticates them. He puts guard rails on them, but aims them in a direction and says, "Go full speed ahead. Here we go. We're going after this with everything that we have." And and you go forward. And he says, "Blessed are the meek because the meek are the ones that will inherit the earth." I love that. I love that he's not saying get meek and just let everything happen. It's get meek and here we go after the things that we're that we're sad about and driven about and you will inherit the earth. Like, let's do it. We can do it. We're more than conquerors. Nothing is impossible if we're empty before God, receiving from him, sad about what he made us to be sad about, passionate about what he made us to be passionate about, and letting him domesticate and corral those passions in this direction. So that everything we're doing is aimed at that. All of our learning, all everything we're driven into this into this pursuit of holiness in this thing that he's in en enabled and challenged me with in my own identity. Again, imagine a neighborhood that's like that. Each of us in our own beautiful identities, motivate motivated by love and compassion and and aiming all of our energies and and skill and faculties towards resolving issues in our community, in our churches, in our world. what that would look like. It's that's what a movement is is that happening in individuals. So that's blessed are the meek. And then what and then inherit the earth. It's like Jesus is saying is you can do it. You can have it. We we like to say um you can have it all. You just can't want it. So we we can receive like the nations. God's given us the nations as an inheritance, the scripture says. So let's go. Let's let's stop misdirecting our passion and and aiming in the right direction with Jesus.
Then Jesus says, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness." So, do you see how that goes? It's like I'm going in this direction. All my passions are aimed in this direction. And what happens inside of me is I hunger and thirst to make it right. I hunger and thirst for what is right. um to make things as they ought to be to be a part of that. And people who are hungry and thirsty, they'll pursue, they'll go after things. When we're lazy and complacent, we're not going to do it. But we're hungry, we're thirsty, it's kind of like the mana example in Exodus where the each day they get up and the first thing they do is they're collecting the food from God, the spiritual food, the food from God just for that day. He's going to meet us just blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be filled for that day. But the idea is like the next day we're hungry again. Like we don't just sit on our laurels. We're hungry again. Let's go again. And we're thirsty again.
In my in my own journey, you know, my my struggle with alcohol, I remember saying to God one time like take this thirst away that I have for this. And his the idea that came back to me is he didn't want to take away my thirst. He wanted to take away my thirst for that but not the thirst. The thirst is what drives us and what moves us. So instead of being thirsty for fame or alcohol or money, I'm thirsty for peace. Peace in our community like reconciliation and restoration among people and nations. I'm thirsty for that. I'm hungry for that. So blessed are those who hunger and thirst for that for they God will fill you. He'll meet you there. Do you see that? Do you see that be gorgeous progression like that?
So I'm empty. I'm getting empty. Lord, what did you make me to be sad and passionate about? Comfort me there. And then domesticate my passions. direct my passions in the direction of this of this thing that you've given me given me a sadness for and a compassion for. And then every day let that hunger grow in me to see your will be done. Not my will but your will be done. And and that thirst for peace and reconciliation to be quenched in that day. But Lord, let me be hungry tomorrow again, too. So that we won't give up. We won't we won't quit the race. We'll keep going.
If I if I think about this just as an example for our own life, I mean, we've had many of these situations and they they're seasonal. There's certain things that you get led into and and then you work through it. Maybe you write the book or you or you solve the issue or you discover the solution and then you move on to the next thing. So, it's this it's never ending. It's always challenging. It's it's always a creative process that we're in in all of these things. And there is resolution. There's mystery, but there's resolution as the Lord takes us forward. Kind of like, way to go, you did that really well. Here we go to the next level or here we go to the next school or here we go to the next town. And this is what will this is what will motivate us like to move to other places and to sacrifice comfort because the hunger is so great. The beautiful hunger and the thirst is so great. just to make things right in the world.
So this is the progression upward in the biatitudes to a life that's whole and resilient that's involved in the creative process to where we're in contemplation. We're innovative and we're bringing new solutions to problems that is that's plagued us forever. So this is where we are in that journey and then it moves on in the biatitudes.