Hunger for Community

If the Jews in this time had lived under another government that actually treated them well and an another under another sort of society, they would have been perhaps in a better circumstance, but the fact of the matter is that they just weren't in right relationships with the people around them. We see that even in our day and age. If we I was doing some research last night, and I was shocked to find out that in The US, six in ten adults reported feeling lonely, emotionally disconnected, while half or more adults said they felt isolated, left out, or lacking companionship. Often or some like, often or some of the time. And these are just results from last year. Who knows how it's gone up in the last year? This is a repeating issue where we feel lonely, isolated, not supported. [00:50:17] (64 seconds)  #LonelinessEpidemic

This isn't just something that is present in adults, like people, like just in grown adults. This is something that youth our youth actually struggle with as well. More than seven hundred and twenty thousand people die due to suicide every year, and suicide is the third leading cause of death among fifteen to twenty nine year olds. So for those of you who are mothers, some of you have children who are teenagers. And if we look at these stats, the third leading cause for your child is suicide, the sense of hopelessness. Just like in Jesus' time, we are starved of loving relationships. We crave for right relationships. Our world is desperate for a connection with something greater, not just with God, but even with each other. We have something in us that demands for love, for intimacy. And the fact of the matter is that we really need each other. [00:51:20] (85 seconds)  #ConnectionSavesLives

But she trusted that something could come, that someone would be able to fill, and she ultimately trusted that God would be able to give her what she needed. And God did provide what my mom needed through I remember the program, women infant children, was something that I mean, I loved that program growing up as a kid. I realized that they gave us all the milk and cheese that we wanted. That's they're the reason why I could have my quesadillas. And let me tell you that I love that meal so much. Program like women, infant, and children, it it was what it really was a lifesaver for us. I think about when my mom was learning English, she had church members who didn't know very good Spanish at all try to conversate with her and make her feel welcome. I remember actually learning English because of church members who would come to my house and help tutor me. [00:57:48] (63 seconds)  #CommunitySupportsFamilies

Now why do I mention this? This went heavy really fast. I mentioned this because there's something interesting within these studies that mention, okay. This is a problem. What can we do to actually solve this issue of loneliness, this issue of disconnection? I wasn't able to put up the results, but there's some interesting studies that show that the one leading thing that causes people to actually come out of suicidal ideation that helps them with their depression is community. And there's two really powerful factors. One of them is actually the relationship that a parent has with their child. That is one of the strongest indicators of whether someone will be dealing with, mental health, like, issues or disorders late as they develop. Now that's not to say that, like, obviously, some people just deal with depression even if they come from a loving family, but the numbers significantly go down when there's a healthy connection between a child and their parents. [00:52:45] (78 seconds)  #ParentChildBondMatters

They would help me with my math, and I'm still not great at math. But they would come and give me lessons on how to count, how to do basic arithmetic simply by just counting pennies. My mom was always invited to these church events. She was given clothes so that she could give us something that felt new. It was great to not have to wear my cousin's shirt for the 40 I don't know. Like, to wear my cousin's old ratty shirt that was five sizes too big. It was nice to get something new. My mom could not have done this on her own. There's a saying that it takes a village to raise a child. My mom experienced that. She needed help, and she was hungry. She was thirsty. She wanted to be part of a community, not just for her, but for her children. And the community stepped in. And that's the reason why I'm here today. Why I even chose to want to be a pastor was because of people like you who stepped into my mom's life, helped her feel welcome, and help her realize that God does answer prayers. He just chooses it to do it to do it through people like you and me. [00:58:51] (85 seconds)  #RaisedByTheVillage

And so Jesus is speaking to a crowd of people who actively knew what it was like to be hungry and thirsty. It's interesting that he mentions that those who hunger and thirst, not just for right relationships, but those who actively hunger and thirst will be filled. In the original language, another way of saying it is be filled full. Jesus recognizes that in this day and age, people around, they weren't just hungry. Yeah. The symptom of being in a society that was demanding so much out of people was they had their practical needs. They were hungry. They were thirsty. There was a bigger root issue to all of this, and it's that everyone was really starved of relationships. They were starved think about it. [00:49:16] (60 seconds)  #StarvedForRelationship

The Jews did not have really any rights compared to the Romans. They were taxed heavily. They were legally, like, obligated to do what a Roman soldier told them to do within a certain limit. But as a lot of you know, Jesus' passage on if someone if a Roman soldier asks you to go one mile, you go two. Romans were allowed to ask Jews to go and carry their gear for one mile. Jesus is asking them to be the Jew, specifically to be generous and to go two. That is a hard message, especially when you're living in a time where you are not treated well. You are hungry for more than what society can give you. Jesus is also speaking to a crowd who not just, you know, hungered for right relationships, they're actually hungry. They were taxed heavily. And for those who know when you don't have enough money and you are raising a family, that makes it really hard, not just for yourself, but it makes it hard to realize that I don't know if I'm gonna have enough to feed my children. [00:47:55] (81 seconds)  #GoTheExtraMile

Whenever we hear hunger and thirst for righteousness, that's a very religious word. Usually, when we think of the word righteousness, you might think of someone who's really morally upright, someone who's maybe even perfect, blameless, someone who has favor in God's eyes. And while there is a certain, like, truth to this, righteousness is much more than just having, like, a good moral character. In the original language, righteousness, it means right standing with God. And that, you know, that doesn't just mean that you have a right standing with God. Righteousness also has another meaning, and that's having a right standing with people. What does that mean? Well, in Jesus' time, the people the Jews specifically were living under a military regime. The Jews did not have really any rights compared to the Romans. They were taxed heavily. [00:46:53] (70 seconds)  #RighteousnessIsRelational