CMLC 2026-02-25 Sermon (Lent 01)

You open the refrigerator door, and you stand

there, and you stare inside, and you say there's

nothing to eat. There is food in your home. There's

pasta in the pantry, soup on the shelf, frozen

vegetables, although it's those weird mixed ones

that nobody really likes. There might be a forgotten

TV dinner in the freezer. But what are we really

saying? We're not saying there's actually nothing

to eat. We're saying there's nothing I want to

eat. Nothing easy, nothing immediate, nothing

you just pop in the microwave, nothing that requires

being able to be impatient, right? But sometimes

hunger is not about patience. Sometimes our hunger

is realizing that it's not about absence. It's

about our desire. And that is where Deuteronomy

has taken us. Deuteronomy 8 .3, He humbled you

and let you hunger and fed you with man. God

let them hunger. That is uncomfortable language.

He did not accidentally forget them. He let them

into it. There's real physical hunger in this

world. There are people who truly do not know

where their next meal will come from. So when

we say, I'm starving because dinner is delayed,

we are quietly comparing ourselves to those who

genuinely are in heat. We flatten the difference

as if we are the same. Is it any wonder that

compassion can sometimes feel so thin? because

we have often confused our inconvenience with

actual deprivation. But hunger, even small hunger,

it actually does something to the mind and the

body. It may sharpen our attention. It may clear

away distractions. It can even force awareness.

Psalm 107 -9 says he satisfies the longing soul

and the hungry soul he fills with good things.

Physical hunger reminds us we are not sustaining

ourselves. We are creatures, which means we have

a creator. We need daily bread. And when we truly

are in need, if and when that does happen, there

are ways that we seek help. We know how to ask,

how to search, how to receive with those that

we know love us. but it also reminds us to ask,

to search, and to receive from the God who is

truly over all things. That posture is not weakness.

That is vulnerability with God about the reality

of our life. But you see, it's not just about

our souls. It's about our whole life. Notice

the Gospels switch from those who are hungry

to those who thirst and hunger for righteousness.

Because we, as people, we do hunger for purpose.

We hunger for joy. We hunger for love. We hunger

to matter. To know we have a reason to be. Jesus

says in Matthew 5 -6, Blessed are those who hunger

and thirst for righteousness, for they shall

be satisfied. Notice He does not shame hunger.

He blesses us. But what are we actually hungry

for? How often is it that we are actually hungry

for a deeper life, and how much is it that we're

actually just wanting to upgrade? When we say

that we lack fulfillment, but often what we mean

is that we lack the version of life that we would

prefer. The vacations we want, the recognition

we hope for, the security we long for, the comfort

we cling to. Those things are not evil, but they're

not ultimate They're not the point Sometimes

we face a wilderness season where they are not

readily available Where our career stalls recognition

fades in excitement dims Where every day we wake

up and see the same dresser and the same nightstand

I wonder if anything will ever change the wilderness

is a place where what we thought would satisfy

us does not. Here's the danger, is that when

we are hungry, we oftentimes we go to the first

fast food place that's right there, but it's

not just in regard to McDonald's or KFC. When

we are hungry in our soul, we grab for the first

drive -through that meets our spirit. Achievement,

control, scrolling. comparing ourselves to others,

even our religious performance can do so. Israel

was grumbling, Adam was grasping, and we try

to manage life. But Deuteronomy says God let

them hunger so that they would learn something,

not about how strong they are. But that man does

not live by bread alone. But by every word that

comes from the mouth of the Lord, you see, hunger

exposes what we depend on. And at moments like

that, maybe we should also say man should not

live by bread alone. But you see, we hunger not

just for ourselves, not just the physical hunger,

not just the cravings for life around us, but

often we may hunger for the world. We hunger

for justice. We hunger for fairness, for righteousness,

for healing in broken systems. Micah 6, 8, He

has told you, O man, what is good and what does

the Lord require of you. But to do justice, to

love kindness, to walk humbly with your God,

we see what is wrong. We feel the ache. We long

for things to be set right. But even here, we

need to ask. Are we seeking God's righteousness?

Are we actually seeking our preferred version

of it? It's easy to champion causes that cost

us very little. Wear the t -shirt, hold the mug.

It's harder to examine the small injustices that

are in our own hearts. We want equality in the

world, but do we practice humility in our homes?

We want righteousness in our institutions, but

do we hunger for righteousness in what we say?

World hunger can turn into outrage without repentance.

It turns to outrage when we ourselves do not

have repentance. Because the wilderness is meant

to humble that too. Deuteronomy says he humbled

you. Hunger humbles. It reveals what we can survive

without. what we truly depend on, what actually

satisfies. We notice as we go through hunger,

we see what we can actually survive without.

We realize what we've been depending on that

maybe we shouldn't. And then we look and say,

these are things that actually satisfy. And verse

5, as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your

God disciplines you. This is not punishment.

This is formation. It is meant to change us.

The wilderness is not abandonment. It is training.

God did not let Israel hunger to destroy them.

He fed them with manna that they did not expect.

Rather, the wilderness was meant to change them.

Their clothes did not wear out, their feet did

not swell, even in hunger there was preservation.

Let's be honest, after 40 years, I'm sure somebody's

clothing wore out, and I'm sure somebody's feet

swelled up. But the point though, is that even

if that clothing wore out, there was clothing

to replace it. And even for the times when the

feet swelled, you could still pause and rest.

because even in hunger there is preservation.

When Jesus stands in his own wilderness hungry

after 40 days, he quotes this very passage. He

does not deny his hunger. He does not despise

the bread, but rather he refuses to let the hungry

define his identity at that moment or anytime.

He trusts the Father. Where Israel doubted, where

Adam grasped, where we swam. from Christ trusted.

And the one who refused to turn stones into bread

would later say, I am the bread of life. Jesus

not only endured hunger, he became the provision.

It is not just to wait until we find it or wait

until we can make it. It's to realize it is already

ours in the one place it should be. This is not

a sermon. for you to get better coping mechanisms.

It is not a call to make sure you improve yourself

spiritually. It is an invitation to notice your

hunger and bring it honestly before God. Because

in the Lord's Prayer we say, give us this day

our daily bread. Daily. Not yearly. Not lifetime

guarantees. Not whenever we think about it. Daily

dependence. Because sometimes God lets us feel

hunger so we learn to pray. Sometimes we need

to remember we are not self -made and we discover

that our greatest need is not comfort, but communion.

The wilderness is not where God stops speaking.

It is often where we finally start listening.

So you may be hungry later today. May be hungry

in your body You may be hungry in your purpose

Or you may be hungry for the world to be a little

different than it is But that hunger is not proof

that God has abandoned us It may be the very

place where he is teaching us what truly beats

us He let them hunger, but he fed them. He led

his son hunger, but he did not forsake him And

because Christ endured the wilderness faithfully,

our hunger does not end in emptiness. It ends

at a table. A table where bread and wine are

given, not earned by us, but given by the cross.

In Jesus' name.