Photos by Ralph Freso / Slideshow / Livestream
After declaring the Sermon on the Mount as the greatest sermon ever preached, Sean Myers, lead pastor of Pella Communities, wasted no time examining one of Jesus’ nine Beatitudes.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied,” Myers said, reciting Matthew 5:6 to an engaged crowd of Grand Canyon University students during Chapel on Monday at Global Credit Union Arena.
In probing this verse, he examined the double entendre in the words “hunger” and “thirst,” which are synonyms for desire in this instance.
Satisfaction? It comes in fulfilling the rightness, Myers said.
“If you take Jesus’ way of living and apply it to your life, you will actually find satisfaction,” he said, alluding to those whose beliefs about sex, money, relationships, commitments, classwork, jobs and finances align with Jesus’ Kingdom ethic.
Myers does warn about those who want satisfaction but don’t want to attain it the righteous way.
There is no other way in the Christian worldview, other than looking at Jesus' way of living, to find satisfaction, he said, then mentioned how it's easy to see that contentment in, say, a grandparent.
That leads one to believe, “I want to be like that. I want to be that wise sage that ultimately finds contentment in which the path of Jesus is put in front of them,” Myers said.
During a recent visit to Home Depot with his 8-year-old daughter, Myers walked to the lumber section. He was going to build a tiny house in his backyard.
His daughter asked where all the wood came from, and Myers said it comes from trees.
“What are trees made of?” his daughter asked, and Myers replied that they come from matter.
“Dad, what are we made of?”
Myers responded, "We’re made of matter."
“If we are made of matter, then why are we made?” his daughter asked.
At that point, Myers said he was ready to shut down Home Depot and share the Gospel, marveling at how his daughter’s mind is working.
“When God made us and our bodies, did He not make it for a purpose? Myers said. “If He made us for a purpose, He knows how, ultimately, that is supposed to be.
“Satisfied. Fulfilled.”
So how does one navigate the ways of God?
Put the things you desire on trial and train your desires, Myers stressed.
“I have to train my mind, emotions and body to line up with what Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount of righteousness,” Myers said. “What Jesus said is the right way to live, and if I found that, I will find real satisfaction.”
Myers shared an excerpt from theologian John Piper, who emphasized not to nibble at the table of God but to possess a hunger for Him.
“My prayer would be, as you continue to navigate the Sermon on the Mount, as you continue to navigate what it means to follow Jesus, that you would know that Jesus’ ways are not just right, but they’re good,” Myers said. “Jesus cares desperately about your joy, fulfillment, about your satisfaction more than you ever could.”
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Next Chapel speaker: Dan Steffen, Pure Heart Church lead pastor, 11 a.m. March 3, Global Credit Union Arena.
GCU News senior writer Mark Gonzales can be reached at Mark.Gonzales@gcu.edu.
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