Longing for Righteousness Peter Fitch, St. Croix Vineyard Sunday, November 26, 2017

More on the Beatitudes Jesus speaking with His disciples Trying to instill in them a counter-cultural perspective Breaking the common understanding of “happiness” in favour of something far deeper Trying to help them to find a heart like His

Matthew 5:6 6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (NRSV) 6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (NASB) “Hunger” and “thirst” are intense words of longing “Filled” and “satisfied” both point to longing fulfilled

Isaiah 55: 1-2 1“Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk Without money and without cost. 2 “Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And delight yourself in abundance.

Instead of hunger and thirst for food . . . Long with the same intensity for righteousness A simple way to think of “righteousness” is this: MAKE THINGS RIGHT We are at a strange time in history; we are beginning to realize, perhaps more strongly than ever before, that it’s not ok for some groups to have levels of privilege while others do not

New paradigms: seismic shifts every 5 or 600 years David, Israel’s Golden Age (1000 BC) Birth of Buddhism (budhi—to awaken), Democracy in Greece (c. 500 BC) Jesus, Birth of Christianity Fall of Rome, Birth of Islam (5th to 7th centuries) Eastern and Western Church split (c. AD 1000) Protestant Reformation (c. AD 1500)

Today: Envisioning Beyond Supremacy We are all equal in some ways and unequal in others (Simone Weil) We all have privileges to some extent and we all are without privilege in some situations It’s almost embarrassing to live as a person with too many (white, male, free society, educated, in family, employed, with some hair, etc. . . .) We need a new paradigm: no one is intrinsically better than anyone else; everyone needs a hand up sometimes

SNL: WOKE

St. Paul “Awake, sleeper, And arise from the dead, And Christ will shine on you.” Ephesians 5:14

Filled, Satisfied Viktor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning Martin Luther King, Jr.’s last speech Desmond Tutu, No Future without Forgiveness Bryan Stevenson, Just Mercy Nelson Mandela, Long Walk To Freedom

Martin Luther King, Jr. "We've got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn't matter with me now because I've been to the mountaintop. . . I've looked over and I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the promised land." “I've Been To The Mountain Top,” April 3, 1968 (the day before his assassination in Memphis)