“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.”

The righteousness that the Lord speaks of here can seem a bit ambiguous. The word righteousness (δικαιοσύνη) is used at times to refer to personal righteousness: Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness. But this word can also be translated as “justice,” which requires more of a social focus. 

What the Lord has in mind here can be nothing short of righteousness in all its forms and in every sphere of human existence. The Lord wants sinful men to receive his imputed righteousness in justification and that they might then, in turn, live righteous and fruitful lives. And when groups of these men get together to form churches, cities, and states, the inevitable result is a righteous and just society built upon the law of God. When such societies exist, they promote the true religion of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which in turn causes more sinners to believe in the Lord Jesus and receive his imputed righteousness. And on and on the cycle goes, world without end. 

But if that is the case, if the Lord blesses a hunger and thirst for righteousness in all its forms, it ought to raise the stakes for us and humble us. 

It raises the stakes for us by keeping us ever aware of two ditches. This sort of thinking keeps us from getting comfortable in a pietistic bubble of individual and emotional religion that has no concern for love of neighbor in the cultural or political space. Christ will have just cultures. Christ will have just politics. 

At the same time, this keeps us from falling down the ditch of the social Gospel that cares little for personal adherence to the law of God, and that seeks to redefine “justice” according to the latest trending fads in the media. 

And it ought to humble us. Christ uses the analogy of hunger and thirst. It’s as if he says, “Blessed are those who are empty, who have no righteousness in themselves.” Their emptiness reminds them of their great need and desire for that which only the Lord can provide. The promise is that such persons will be filled, not that they will fill themselves. We bring our emptiness, and the Lord fills us to the brim. We bring our hunger, and he satisfies us. James reminds us that we cannot anxiously grasp after righteousness. Anger does not produce the righteousness of God. Righteousness is a good gift from his hand if only we as individuals, as a church, and as a people would recognize our great need for it, desire it with utter desperation, and cling to the promise here. Should we do that, we shall be filled.

Zach Wilke – February 25, 2024

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Be angry and do not sin: do not let the sun go down on your anger.

Ephesians 4:25

Anger is like a hot coal, straight from the fire. Your hands have not been made tough enough to hold it and not get burned. And so, you are commanded to let it go. You may not hold onto it even for a night. 

There are plenty of things in a sinful world that should make you angry. The world is broken, full of sin, pain and sorrow. People hurt other people, they hurt us. Wives disrespect husbands, husbands are unkind to their wives. Dad’s abandon their kids.  

In the Scripture we often see God’s righteous anger burn hot against the ungodly.

This anger is the right response when a perfectly Holy God meets wicked men. 

And we too should be angered by sin. But here is the key point. You are not God and you are not perfectly holy. Anger held in your hands will quickly turn to bitterness, wrath, clamor, evil speaking, and malice toward others. 

So, what must you do? Two things: First – do not sin in your anger. And second – let go of your anger today. Psalm 4, which Paul is quoting here says “Be angry and do not sin. Meditate within your hear on your bed, and be still”. When you are angered is the time you must use utmost self-control. This is not a time to debate with your wife, or discipline the kids, or send an email. No stop right where you are and be still. Sit on you bed and be quiet. 

Secondly, you must let it go. If someone has sinned against you, you must forgive them. If someone has sinned against someone else, then give that wrong to God. Trust Him that all things will be put right. If you refuse to do this, then you are ultimately directing your anger back at God. You are saying in your heart that God cannot make this good, that God’s plan is not right, and that you deserve to be angry at Him. This is the heart of all bitterness, and it is like dry rot in the foundation of your house. It must be pulled out all the way, every sliver of it, or else the house will fall.

Zach Browning – February 25, 2024

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As we have come to the first Sunday of Lent, I’d like to review our approach to the church calendar here at King’s Cross and why we do not have Ash Wednesday services or encourage corporate fasting during this season. We’ll begin with a story from the Reformation which illustrates pretty well how our forefathers in the faith approached Lent.

It’s the year 1522, and a group of prominent Christian men have gathered in Zurich, Switzerland, for a special brunch featuring home-cooked sausage prepared by the host’s wife. Now, it may sound odd to remember a meal 500 years later, except this really was a big deal, for this took place during the season of Lent, and the eating of meat was strictly prohibited by the church.

Over time these obligatory fasts took on an almost sacramental and salvific role in the church—meaning many sought to merit or earn salvation by their faithful and required observance.

And so this was not a mere brunch, but a bold act of reform, which led to the host’s arrest. In response, the reformer Ulrich Zwingli preached a famous sermon on the doctrine of Christian liberty, declaring that the church had no authority to require that which Scripture did not mandate and that Christians were no longer bound to the observance of seasons or food laws (Col. 2:16–17, Gal. 4:9–11).

He summarized his main point as this: “If you want to fast, do so, if you do not want to eat meat, do not eat it; but allow Christians a free choice in the matter.”

And so due in part to this recovered doctrine, the Reformed churches stripped away the obligatory penitential seasons like Lent and maintained a simplified church calendar consisting of Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, Ascension, and Pentecost—edifying feast days all centered on celebrating the life of Christ. This then is the general Reformed practice that we follow here at King’s Cross Church. 

And so my exhortation this morning is this: Regardless of your Lenten practice, remember and rejoice in your liberty and freedom in Christ. Rejoicing in liberty means both eating all the sausage you want (or not)—but also sincerely blessing and honoring brothers and sisters who differ.

As the Apostle Paul wrote regarding holy days and food, “Let each be fully convinced in his own mind” (Rom. 14). But let everything be done with a thankful heart unto the Lord.

Shawn Paterson – February 18, 2024

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