'Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness:
for they shall be filled.'--MATT. v. 6.
Two preliminary remarks will give us the point of view from which I
desire to consider these words now. First, we have seen, in previous
sermons, that these paradoxes of the Christian life which we call the
Beatitudes are a linked chain, or, rather, an outgrowth from a common
root. Each presupposes all the preceding. Now, of course, it is a
mistake to expect uniformity in the process of building up character,
and stages which are separable and successive in thought may be
simultaneous and coalesce in fact. But none the less is our Lord here
outlining successive stages in the growth of a true Christian life. I
shall have more to say about the place in the series which this
Beatitude holds, but for the present I simply ask you to remember that
it has a background and set of previous experiences, out of which it
springs, and that we shall not understand the depth of Christ's meaning
if we isolate it from these and regard it as standing alone.
Then, another consideration is the remarkable divergence in this
Beatitude from the others. The 'meek,' the 'merciful,' the 'pure in
heart' the 'peacemakers,' have all attained to certain characteristics.
But this is not a benediction pronounced upon those who have attained to
righteousness, but upon those who long after it. Desire, which has
reached such a pitch as to be comparable to the physical craving of a
hungry man for food or to the imperious thirst of parched throats, seems
a strange kind of blessedness; but it is better to long for a
higher--though it be unattained--good than to be content with a lower
which is possessed. Better to climb, though the summit be far and the
path be steep, than to browse amongst the herds in the fat valleys.
Aspiration is blessedness when it is worthily directed. Let us, then,
look at these two points of this Beatitude; this divine hunger of the
soul, and its satisfaction which is sure.