Scripture: Matthew 5:1-6
1When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:
3“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Sermon: “Blessed Are Those Who Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness”
As you may know, my husband Paul and I have a dog—a foxhound, or more specifically, a Treeing Walker Coonhound-- named Moosie. Some of you have met her. She looks like a large beagle, but she doesn’t have the typical, excitable beagle personality. Moosie is extremely laid back and mellow. She doesn’t bat an eye when the mail carrier comes to the door, she doesn’t notice when a squirrel runs across the window screen, she pays no attention when crazed hockey fans in the living room erupt in spontaneous applause while watching a game on TV.
In fact, there seems to be only one sounds she reacts to: the clink of the dry kibble dog-food hitting her bowl. Even when she is fast asleep upstairs, if we start to get her dinner ready, the next thing we know, she comes running into the kitchen, tail wagging, smile on her face. And she devours the bowl full of food, as if she were a canine vacuum cleaner. Those of you who have dogs—or granddogs—of similar breeds know what this is like, right? And then, when every last crumb is gone, she turns around and looks expectantly at us, as if to say, “Is that all? Are you sure? Because I could eat another bowl, no problem!”
That’s the thing with fox hounds, I’ve learned, they are always hungry. And always hopeful. Hopeful that we’ll forget we fed her and give her another bowl of food. Hopeful that when we open the fridge to get our own dinner, we’ll drop a rotisserie chicken and forget to pick it up.
Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.” I am pretty sure that Jesus was not thinking of a Fox Hound when he uttered those words, but the concept of hunger is something that many creatures understand, human beings included. The crowd to whom Jesus spoke in the Sermon on the Mount was, by and large, not made up of people of means. (Interpretation Commentary: Matthew, p. 38.) They were people whose country was occupied by the Roman Empire, an oppressive foreign power. Sadly, they would have known all too well what it was like to be physically hungry--sometimes extremely hungry, while the ruling elite had more than their share, and Jesus is not afraid to call attention to this inequity.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,” says Jesus. “for they will be filled.” I am going to ask Steve to put up a slide of what that sentence would sound like in Aramaic, the language that Jesus spoke. You can see on the screen the phonetic spelling of the words, and in a moment, I’ll play the audio file of Scholar Neil Douglas-Klotz repeating the whole sentence in Aramaic 4 times. The audio file lasts a little less than a minute. As he speaks, I invite you to listen to the sound of the words and practice saying them yourself if you wish.
[PLAY FILE] Tubwayhun Layleyn D’Kaphneen Watzheyn L’khenuta D’hinnon Nisbhun.)
[THANK YOU, STEVE]
Let’s look at the Aramaic words used here to get a deeper understanding of what the sentence “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness” means.
I’ll take the words in order--looking at the first 4 and then the last 3.
First, Tubwayhun--we’ve looked at that word in depth already, so I will only review: Tubwayhun means blessed, happy, healed, healthy, aligned with the One, tuned to the Source. In other words, aligned with and atuned to God’s Love and justice.
Next, Layleyn. Because it’s translated “those who” in English, one might expect this word to be rather mundane in Aramaic as well. But that is not the case. According to Douglas-Klotz, the Aramaic roots of the word layleyn “go back to an image of one watching by night, waiting by lamplight for something to happen.” (Neil Douglas-Klotz, p. 57.)
The next word D’Kaphneen, translated “hunger”, may mean literally “to turn the mouth toward something” or to “long for strengthening the physical being.”
And, Douglas-Klotz continues, the word watzheyn, translated “thirst,” “…conveys an image of being parched inwardly, dried out (we might say ‘burnt out.’).”
So, putting those 4 words together Tubwayhun Layleyn D’Kaphneen Watzheyn--"blessed are those who hunger and thirst,” it is obvious in Aramaic that Jesus was referring to a deep hunger and thirst, to the state of being weakened and dried out inside, longing for sustenance—both physical and spiritual.
One way Douglas-Kotz translates the phrase “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst” is: “Aligned with the One are those who wait up at night, weakened and dried out inside by the unnatural state of the world.” (Douglas-Klotz, p. 56)
Sadly, in our world today, I think this feeling of “waiting up at night, weakened and dried out inside” by things happening in the world around us is all too common. Who among us has not been kept awake at times worrying about what we see and hear in the news—and what the future will hold? Particularly hearing the news from Ukraine, I am fairly certain that most of the world feels that way. Certainly, from interviews I have heard on the radio (NPR), many citizens of Ukraine feel this way--those who are fleeing their homeland, as well as those who have decided to stay and defend it.
What we might not think about as much is how some Russians also share this sentiment. I heard one interview about a week ago with an anguished mother from a small town in Siberia who talked about how the young men and women from her town, having very few options in their lives, joined the Russian military and are now engaged in a war that she said no one in her town wants. I found that interview both eye-opening and heart breaking.
“Blessed” are we, says Jesus, when we feel this way! When we are awake, longing for righteousness. In our culture, the word “righteous” is often combined with the word “self” to describe someone who is convinced of their own moral superiority “in contrast with the actions and beliefs of others.” (on-line Merriam Webster dictionary.) But that’s not what Jesus is describing here.
In Aramaic the word translated “righteousness” is khenuta. Douglas-Klotz says that khenuta “…refers to both and inner and an outer sense of justice.” (D-K, p. 57) The same is true in Greek. In the Bible, the word translated as “righteousness,” dikaiosne also means “justice,” and its primary meaning is “actively doing the will of God.” (NIB, Vol. VIII, p. 179) In other words, people who hunger and thirst for righteousness are people who long for God’s kingdom to come and God’s will to be done, on earth, as it is in heaven, who long for God’s love and justice to be lived out in daily life, who long for ALL people to be treated justly and fairly and lovingly. When we hunger and thirst for these things, we are aligned with God, says Jesus, we are tuned to God’s heart, for God longs for the same thing.
But, you might be wondering, where does this longing lead? What good comes from it? Jesus tells us that when we hunger and thirst for righteousness, we will be satisfied. In Aramaic, the word translated as satisfied is Nisbhun, and it is a word that has agricultural connotations. It literally means “to be ‘surrounded by fruit,’” as in a bountiful harvest with plenty for all. It can also mean “encircled by birthing” and “embraced by generation” (D-K, p. 57) --which implies being creative and life giving to all.
And that’s a beautiful image, isn’t it? but practically, what does it mean? Does Jesus mean that we will be satisfied--that ALL will share the fruit of a bountiful harvest--sometime in the distant future—at the end of the age, when God’s kingdom finally comes, when we reach “heaven”? Yes, I think he does mean that--but not only that. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus repeatedly reminds us that one day God’s kingdom really will come. But he doesn’t remind us of this so that we can be complacent and just wait for it. No. He reminds us that God’s kingdom will come so that we can live with hope now in the present moment. AND so that we can act now in ways that align with God’s righteousness, justice, fairness, love. (New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. VIII, p. 177.)
We actually have many opportunities each day to act in ways that align with God’s righteousness, justice, fairness, love.
Many—maybe even most—of these opportunities are small and subtle, but when we make it a habit to look for them and act on them, they add up. Some examples could be: an opportunity to speak up for someone who is being maligned in conversation, an opportunity to apologize for jumping to judgment before hearing all the facts, an opportunity to listen carefully to someone else’s story. These are just a few ways we can act in the present moment, by the strength of God’s Spirit, to align with God’s righteousness, justice, fairness, love.
Today in church, our Mission Moment and a few of our announcements offer other opportunities as well. Filling up clean-up buckets that go to people in need. Participating in the Shamrock Walk to raise money for our new neighbors from Afghanistan--or sponsoring a walker. Donating to help displaced people from Ukraine. Buying an extra box of Cheerios for the Boston Medical Center when we go to the grocery store. I realize that we each have only a limited amount of resources--time, energy, and treasure, so we may not be able to participate in these opportunities-- to the extent we want to. And that’s okay. None of us can do everything. And Jesus is not calling us to that. The important thing is that each of us does something--it doesn’t matter how big or small.
So, may God be with us as we hunger and thirst for righteousness, as we witness or experience injustice in the world and long for God’s kingdom. May we choose to live our lives like Foxhounds—always hungry, and always hopeful. Hungry for God’s love and justice, hopeful in our knowledge that God’s kingdom will come eventually. And, in the meantime, let us align ourselves with God’s Kingdom and help others get a taste of it now.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Rev. Dr. Marlayna Schmidt
Franklin Federated Church
Franklin, MA