Hungry?

“ I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat: and if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for divers of them came from far. ”

What do we hunger for? What is our chiefest desire? Where are we to be filled and nourished? What appetite do we have for the things that truly satisfy?

America has too slowly become concerned about its obesity, and especially of its youth. Gigantic forms rumble down the city streets in obvious absence of health and of healthy choices. The movie “ Super Size Me ” documented a 33 year old man in excellent health forcing himself to eat three meals a day at MacDonald's, and how he gained 30 pounds in a month, got sick, and when he stopped had to work hard to regain his health, and get back a normal attitude and orientation toward healthful food.

In 1981 I made four business trips to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, where the oil comes from for the Alyeska pipeline. The construction crews were housed in two story dorms, their windows triple glazed against the Arctic winter where I experienced 80 degrees below zero, with the chill factor. The men there work 7 days a week, 10 hours a day. There is nothing else to do, except eat, sleep and watch movies. The cafeteria is something like I'd never seen: first quality chefs who prepared anything you wanted—free: steaks, seafood, pasta, any quantity, no questions asked. The object was to have a happy crew, because an army of angry and talented construction types is a formidable enemy. They placated them with incredible food. Everyone who stayed a whole winter in Prudhoe Bay gained about 40 pounds, and had to painstakingly lose it over the next summer. A large scale sat at the head of the chow line, before you placed your order, reminding you to watch your weight.

Take a child to the county fair, or some similar noisy event, and feed him cotton candy, corn dogs, fried cheese on a stick and soft set ice cream for a couple of hours, and not only does your kid have a belly ache, but he won't be hungry for dinner, especially a healthy dinner with vegetables. A child who regularly eats candy loses an appetite for fruit. So it is with our appetite for the things of God.

When the people of Israel spent time with God, worshipped Him truly, He would truly inhabit their praises. But when they wandered off after other gods, they lost their keen hunger for the true and only God. Their mouths were filled with junk food. Their stomachs distended with the empty calories of this world's pleasures.

The prophet Amos, in the 8 th century BC, watched his northern kingdom of Israel wander further and further from God. He saw the coming of that kingdom's end and spoke of it in a vision. God showed him a basket of summer fruit, and then told him the end was at hand. He spoke of corpses, of people mourning the end of their corrupt system of cheating, lying, and abusing others. “Then I shall turn your festivals into mourning And all your songs into lamentation; And I will bring sackcloth on everyone's loins And baldness on every head. And I will make it like a time of mourning for an only son, And the end of it will be like a bitter day. Behold, days are coming,' declares the Lord God, ‘When I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, But rather for hearing the words of the Lord. And people will stagger from sea to sea, And from the north even to the east; They will go to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, But they will not find it.'” Amos 8:1-14

It's a horrible thought. We don't think it often enough. If we were to abandon, as a society, following Christ for long enough, and God were to completely abandon us to our fate: the emptiness that would ensue. It almost happened in the 20 th century. Many people, even church leaders, predicted the end of the Church and even called this the post-Christian era. Post-Christian : does that phrase not chill your bones? Is there any comfort in thinking we've gone beyond Christianity: beyond it to what? Cotton candy, corn dogs, super size me.

I shouldn't be so hard on television, seeing it was my father's living. But he would agree, I believe, that with so much televised entertainment at our fingertips, almost all of it isn't worth watching. We have entered the age of “reality shows.” I think the only thing about them that is reality is that the networks are so broke they can't pay real talent the millions it takes to make good programming, so they pay gullible stooges a pittance to make fools of themselves for people to watch, while eating Doritos on the couch.

We don't hunger enough for God. I must admit, when I see a God-oriented show in the TV listings, I expect to be bored to death. Most Christian broadcasting is poorly done. We have Jim and Tammy to thank for the downfall of a rising industry. I'm afraid that much of the Christian programming is either dull—a man in a bad suit, looking over a desk for hours at you—or sensationalized spirituality with miracles-a-minute and shouts of praises and tongues to offend even the most fervent believer. Where are the true things of God?

But video doesn't have it. I've received tapes people made of services I've performed, baptisms, communion services, as gifts. I have to admit, I hate watching even myself worshipping on TV. Why? The true experience of God in our worship is not to be found in watching passively, especially separated by time, airwaves and glass screens. Where is the Presence? Where is the Sacrament? Where is the Spirit? What is your participation in such a service? Sitting and eating Fruit Loops while watching the back of my bald head at the altar?

I look for a rebirth of hunger, and the fulfilling of it with all the right spiritual food. The reason people love my wife's teaching and personal ministry is their sense of the real hunger she has for God, and how she feeds on Him earnestly all the time. I wish I had her appetite for God myself. She never has too much of Him. Jesus said, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” Matthew 5:6 “My Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.” John 6:32-35

But Jesus had His frustrations too. He lamented over His people, and how they were swayed by appetites for lesser things. “Whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows, And saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented. For John [the Baptist] came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil. The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners.” Matthew 11:16-19

He was saying, “Nothing is just right for you, no matter what it is. You find fault and go to things that will never satisfy.”

How do we wean ourselves from the unhealthy food of the world's junk and regain a healthy appetite for the things of God? You're here, and that's a start. The Scriptures are a daily opportunity to hear the voice of God, speaking out of ages and many men's experiences of Him, experiences that changed their lives immeasurably. We literally have a holy meal here every time we worship, and what is that saying to our bodily appetites but that we feed on Christ, on His divine and human natures, to our souls' health and the regaining of our desire for the true food of heaven.

The promises of God fulfilling our hunger for Him are throughout the Bible. If you set your desires on God, you will not be disappointed. He never refuses an honest appeal to Him for a filling of the Holy Spirit. Jesus assured us : “Suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” Luke 11:11-13

2700 years ago, Isaiah heard God's assurance, and reports to us: “The Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the Lord that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee… In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places. They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.” Isaiah 49:7-12 I don't know if this will be on earth, or above, but it will come, as St. John saw in his vision also: “Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” Rev. 7:15-17

Are you hungry? Do you even know what that feels like? Do you mask your inner hunger by stuffing your face with French fries and soda pop? Aren't we longing for a deeper relationship, a real reality, a meaningful meeting? Jesus fed the multitudes and they marveled at the bread. He was standing there ready to feed their souls with Himself. He is here ready to feed ours. Are we hungry?

PFH+