Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness

It is hard not to get upset seeing how people like Liu Xiaobo and Zhao Linhai were treated.  They are seeking justice rationally, peacefully, and lawfully.  They should be lauded as heros.  Instead, they are put into prison.  Yet we feel so helpless in front of the overwhelming power that is oppressing them. 

Jesus Christ said that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are blessed, for they shall be filled.  Will this promise truly be fulfilled?

It seems that we do hunger and thirst for righteousness, and yet there is no fulfillment.  But do we really?  Normally, when we are hungry and thirsty, we try to find food to eat, and water to drink.  The hungrier and thirstier we are, the harder we try.  So what have we been doing to try to satisfy our hunger and thirst for righteousness?  Does our action match our words?

Indeed we may not be able to do much about injustice far away from where we are, and against overwhelming power.  But there are injustices much closer to home, and against lesser obstacles.  Have we been trying to help those nearer us?  Those who are poor?  Weak?  Sick?  Handicapped?  Deprived?  Oppressed?

Are we at least righteous ourselves?  Can we at least say we do not sin, or hate, or envy, or lust, or maltreat? Are not jealous, nor selfish, nor rebellious?  If we cannot be righteous ourselves, what right do we have to demand justice from others?  What hope is there for us, for the world?  If we know what is right and do not do it?  If we know what is wrong but keep on doing it?

Our hopes lie not in ourselves, not in our own wisdom, nor goodness, nor power.  Our hopes lie in the One who is bigger than us, in Jesus Christ, in God.  He is the One who will fill the real hunger for righteousness that is in us, for ourselves, for the world.  But we have to truly know and feel how miserable we all are, and how great our need is.