Our Hunger for God

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Good morning. My name is Elise, and I'm part of the Little Faith Group.

And today I'm reading from the book of Deuteronomy, verses 1 to 20.

Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase,

and may enter and possess the land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors.

Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these 40 years

to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart,

whether or not you would keep his commands.

He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna,

which neither you nor your ancestors had known,

to teach you that man does not live on bread alone,

but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

Your clothes did not wear out, and your feet did not swell during these 40 years,

knowing then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son,

so the Lord your God disciplines you.

Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in obedience to him and revering him.

For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land,

a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills,

a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil, and honey,

a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing,

a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.

When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.

Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God failing to observe his commandments,

his laws, and his decrees that I am giving you this day.

Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down,

and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase,

and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God

who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land,

with its venomous snakes and scorpions.

He brought you water out of hard rock.

He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known,

to humble and test you, so that in the end it might go well with you.

You may say to yourself,

my power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.

But remember the Lord your God,

for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth,

and so confirms his covenant,

which he swore to your ancestors as it is today.

If you ever forget the Lord your God,

and follow other gods, and worship, and bow down to them,

I testify against you today, that you will surely be destroyed.

Like the nations the Lord destroyed before you,

so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God.

The grass withers and the flowers fade,

but the word of our God stands forever.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Well, what a wonderful celebration today, Christchurch.

Happy birthday to you.

Happy 15th birthday.

This is your quinceanera.

You can go get your learner's permit.

You know, you can start to drive.

This is fantastic.

As Andrew said, our real birthday is on Easter,

and so we're going to have a sweet 16 birthday party here in about six months.

So it should be really, really fun, and we'll party hard.

You know, some of us get a little tired of pretending to be excited about birthdays.

You know, every year it's like we're doing this again.

We're celebrating that you were born every year over and over.

The only thing you really did this past year was just not die for 12 months.

So what are we doing?

Some of us come to birthday parties,

and we think about, you know, those parties growing up

and the games we played as a kid.

Anybody play pin the tail on the donkey?

This is a safe game for kids.

You know, you get a bunch of kids together.

You blindfold one of them, give them a sharp object,

spin them around, and then set them loose in the group.

What could go wrong, you know?

There's puncture wounds.

You know, you pin the tail on my neck.

Somebody just pin the tail on my neck.

Musical chairs was another great game.

Anybody play musical chairs?

Anybody have anxiety attacks during musical chairs?

It took me a while to discover there's not enough chairs for everyone,

and every round one kid loses.

One kid has to make that walk of shame over to the corner.

You know, you get home, and your parents are like,

well, how was the party?

You're like, it was horrible.

I never got a chair, and I got a pin in my neck.

It was a terrible party.

So we've not planned to play any of those games today.

This is 15 years old.

It's like that's a sophisticated birthday party.

That requires nachos.

That requires cupcakes.

So thanks to all of you who brought things,

and we hope that all of you will stick around to party with us,

especially if you're new with us today.

We'd love to meet you and just get to know you and get connected with you.

But we've been in this sermon series in the book of Deuteronomy,

which we're going to continue today.

And this book itself is a series of sermons from Moses to the people of God

in the last days of his life.

And part of the reason we're looking at this book is because it's one of Jesus'

favorite books in the Bible.

And we're taking time to go deeper on some of these chapters that we know Jesus

had memorized and were some of his favorite parts of this favorite book.

And really these sermons that Moses gives,

they're given to people that are moving from the wilderness into the promised land,

people that are moving from their adolescence spiritually into adulthood,

people that are moving from being 15 to 16, 17, 18,

with massive privileges as the people of God and therefore massive responsibilities.

And so I want to just dive in this morning to Deuteronomy 8.

And I think God's word for us today is that our hunger requires wonder bread and a loving father.

Our hunger requires wonder bread and a loving father.

I want to talk first of all about our hunger.

Think about the last time you were really hungry.

Like you had gone for 24 hours or 48 or 72 hours or more without any food.

You know, hunger is a serious crisis in the world today,

but here we are and we're in the gourmet ghetto this morning.

I doubt many of us have had to skip a meal out of necessity.

Maybe a few grad students here,

but that's the word that jumps off the page to me immediately is this word hunger.

It says in verse 3,

He humbled you, causing you to hunger.

Why would God cause His people to hunger?

What sort of God is this?

Why would Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount tell His disciples to fast,

to be hungry on purpose?

Because hunger is the most basic universal form of human need.

It's this visceral experience of being empty,

of being hollow,

of being vulnerable and faint and desperate.

To hunger is to know that I need something outside of me to fill me.

And we're hungry from the very first day we come into the world.

We're born hungry.

Newborns spend, you know, most of their time crying for food,

eating food, and sleeping off their food.

Amen?

I know some of you have newborns.

We live hungry first for food,

and then for the stuff that we think will satisfy

all of those hungers we come to discover within ourselves.

And hunger drives us, doesn't it?

Hunger drives us not just to In-N-Out Burger,

but hunger drives us to all that stuff that we think we can't live without.

The Bible actually opens in the first two pages telling this creation story,

presenting humans as hungry beings.

Hungry for that fruit that's going to grow on the trees in the Garden of Eden,

but not just hungry for the creation.

We're beings that are hungry for our Creator.

We're hungry to walk in the garden with God in the cool of the day.

And so behind all of our hungers in life, there's this hunger for God.

All of our desires are ultimately a desire for Him.

And that's why Moses says,

God humbled you, causing you to hunger.

Why does God do this?

To teach His people that they're hungry for something more than bread.

This universal spiritual hunger of humankind

that is often just this inarticulate longing for something we know not what.

We know we're hungry for justice.

We're hungry for beauty.

We're hungry for love.

We're hungry for transcendent experience.

And of course, the secular myth tells us

that we can satisfy these hungers in this world.

We can satisfy these hungers with material reality.

And yet, if you've lived long enough,

you go out and you pour yourself out in some cause of justice,

some just cause,

only to find that it's slipping through your fingers.

It's eluding your grasp.

You go out and search of beauty in the mountains and at the ocean.

You search for beauty in the arts and in music,

and you find that after a little while, it wears off.

And you have to keep going back.

We go in search of love in the company of friends

and in the arms of a partner,

only to find ourselves wanting more and more.

I've gone on quests for transcendent experience,

and then I wake up, you know, at some point,

and I say, you know, somehow I'm still just me.

Anybody have these hungers in your heart,

these longings in your soul?

Have you considered that God is the one causing you to hunger?

That's a humbling thought, isn't it?

That God has given me these insatiable appetites,

these insatiable desires that will never be satisfied

unless something from the outside comes to fill my emptiness.

And not just something, but someone,

a person, a relationship,

to come and fill that hunger

to which all the other hungers are pointing.

This is what God is saying to Israel in the desert.

It's what he's saying to us

in our own wilderness experiences,

that you have needs

that only I can satisfy.

Isn't that humbling?

That I'm actually not a self-sufficient being,

but I'm radically dependent on God.

One of our great pastors

in the fourth century in North Africa,

St. Augustine,

he said,

O Lord, you've created us for yourself,

and our hearts are restless

until they find their rest in thee.

Our hearts are hungry.

Our hearts are empty

until they find their fullness and satisfaction in thee.

One person in the 20th century

said it like this.

He lived his life at Oxford and Cambridge.

He wrote a book called Mere Christianity,

and C.S. Lewis says it this way.

He says,

Most people,

if they had really learned to look into their own hearts,

they would know that they do want,

and want acutely,

something that cannot be had in this world.

There are all sorts of things in this world

that offer to give it to you,

but they never quite keep their promise.

If I find in myself a desire

which no experience in this world can satisfy,

the most probable explanation

is that I was made for another world.

That's what our hunger is all about.

And what Deuteronomy 8 is telling us

is that our hunger requires wonder bread.

Our hunger requires wonder bread.

Anybody grow up eating wonder bread?

Made by the company Hostess.

Hostess also made Twinkies,

Ho-Hos,

and other sugary treats,

things that actually aren't food.

And you might be surprised.

They declared bankruptcy in 2011

because I think people prefer real food

to chemically engineered,

industrially produced food.

But I want to suggest to you this morning

that manna is the original wonder bread.

Manna, you can read about this story

in its fullness in Exodus chapter 16,

Exodus 16 · chapter mention

but manna was this daily supernatural miracle from God.

And listen to verse 3 again.

It says,

He humbled you,

causing you to hunger,

and then feeding you with manna,

which neither you nor your ancestors had known,

to teach you

that people do not live on bread alone,

but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

You see, God takes His people out of Egypt.

And where does He take them?

He takes them into desolation wilderness.

And what does He do?

He causes them to hunger.

He causes them to feel this gnawing emptiness

on the inside.

And then He begins to provide for them.

And He provides not just one day

or not just one week

or one month or one year,

but God gives them manna every morning

for 40 years.

For over 14,000 days,

God gives this revelation to His people

that though your resources are inadequate,

mine are totally adequate.

That though you cannot secure your well-being

and your own strength,

I can.

And though you cannot give yourself life,

I will.

Why does God provide this wonder bread for His people?

The obvious answer is

so that Israel could eat and live

rather than starve and die.

But the deeper answer

is that the wonder bread

reveals the wonder of God.

It says, yes, we need bread,

but more than that,

we need the baker of the bread.

Yes, we need the gift,

but more than that,

we need the giver of the gift.

So that every time you put this wonder bread

in your mouth,

every single day,

I want to move you from knowledge about me

to really knowing me,

your creator,

your sustainer,

your deliverer,

your provider,

who's unlimited

in His power

to meet your needs.

Moses says,

He did this to teach you

that people do not live on bread,

but on every word

that comes from the mouth

of the Lord.

See, bread is important

and essential,

but what is more important

and more essential?

God is.

The one who creates

and provides the bread

by His word

is the same one

from whose mouth

come these covenant-making,

world-saving promises.

The one who speaks

into the world

these life-giving revelations

about the purposes of creation

and the purposes of humanity.

We're being told here

that yes,

your body needs bread

for biological life,

but you have a soul

and your soul

needs the word of God

to redeem your life.

Your soul needs

the word of God

that will allow you

to share

in His divine life,

His eternal life.

You see,

Jesus loved

the message of the manna.

Jesus absolutely

loved the story.

It's the story

that He has in His heart

when He's teaching

the Sermon on the Mount

in Matthew chapter 6

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

when Jesus says,

I don't want you

to be anxious for bread

because your Father in Heaven

knows how to provide

your bread.

What I want you to do

is seek first

the kingdom of God

and His righteousness

and all of this bread,

everything else you need

will be given to you

as well.

Well,

just before Jesus

preaches that amazing sermon,

the Sermon on the Mount,

in Matthew chapter 4,

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

we're told that Jesus

is led out into the desert

for 40 days.

Not 40 years,

but 40 days,

but there's an obvious parallel

with the story of Israel.

The people of God

came out into the wilderness

and they completely failed God.

And now here comes the Messiah

to represent God's son Israel.

And the question is,

will He fail

or will He keep

the commands of God?

And so Jesus also

goes through

this humbling experience,

this testing

in the wilderness.

Jesus is denied bread.

Jesus is full

of emptiness.

And in His hunger,

this dark power

comes to Jesus

and says,

turn these stones

into bread.

Don't trust in God

to be your provider.

Use your power

to get what you need

right now.

Jesus had said

in John chapter 4,

John 4 · chapter mention

He said,

my food is to do

the will of Him

who sent me

and to finish His work.

And that's the question

is here at the beginning

of His work,

is this what's going

to satisfy

the soul of Jesus?

Will costly obedience

to His Father

be His food

in this dark hour

or not?

And Jesus is facing

this attractive offer

that would make Him

absolutely and wildly popular.

Can you imagine

being able to turn stones

into bread?

If you could turn stones

into bread,

you could abolish famine,

you could abolish sickness

and injustice

and misery.

To turn stones

into bread

means that you can turn

what you don't want

into what you do want.

That you could take

all the boulders

and all the problems

of your life

and make them go away

and you could have

everything you want.

You could provide everything

you and everybody

around you really wants.

And so what does Jesus

say in this moment?

What does He say

to this evil one

who's questioning

His identity

as the beloved of God?

This evil power

that's causing Jesus

to be lured away

from trusting in His Father

as His provider.

Jesus says,

human beings,

do not live

on bread alone

but on every word

that comes

from the mouth

of the Lord.

And when Jesus

says that,

He chooses

not self-sufficiency

but radical

God dependency.

Jesus deliberately

comes out here

into this place,

into the wilderness,

into this place

of temptation

to do for us

what we cannot

do for ourselves.

Because if you're

honest with yourself,

we choose,

I choose myself

over God.

I choose self-sufficient

autonomy

over total trust

in God.

I choose self-serving

power over desperate

dependence on God.

I choose self-interest

over costly obedience

to the Word of God.

And that's why

the Son of God

had to come down

from heaven

and become

one of us.

That's why God

the Father

sent His Son

to come and live

the one true

human life

that each one of us

were created

to live.

It's why Jesus

was filled

with the Spirit

to make

these daily choices

that we all

should be making

to live

every day

of His life

in total trust

and desperate

dependence

upon every

inspired

and authoritative

and life-giving

word

that's flowing

out of the mouth

of His Father.

But Jesus

went further

than that.

The Gospels

tell us that one day

Jesus fed

over 5,000 people.

That Jesus,

just as the Lord

had provided

manna and quail

in the wilderness

for His hungry people,

Jesus provided

bread and meat

in the wilderness

for more hungry people.

And as people

ate

and were satisfied

a conversation

ensued

after that great

feast

and we read about it

in John chapter 6

John 6 · chapter mention

where Jesus says this,

He says,

It is my Father

who gives you

the true bread

from heaven.

The bread of God

is the bread

that comes down

from heaven

and gives life

to the world.

Sir,

they said,

always give us

this bread.

And Jesus said,

He declared,

I am the bread.

I am the bread

of life.

Whoever comes

to me

will never

go hungry.

Whoever eats

this bread

will live forever.

This bread

is my flesh

which I will give

for the life

of the world.

You hear what Jesus

is saying.

Jesus says,

I am the manna.

I am the wonder bread.

I am the source

of all life.

Life abundant.

Life eternal.

And I can provide

what you most

deeply need.

My crucifixion

is going to become

for you

manna

which will nourish you

in the forgiveness

of sins

and the freedom

of your soul

and the righteousness

of your life.

My resurrection

is going to become

for you manna

which will strengthen

you with victory

over death

and life

that never ends.

I am going

to make a way

through my flesh

and through my bones

sacrifice for you

to give you

the one thing

that will ultimately

satisfy

all of your hunger.

And what is that?

Jesus says

in Luke 22

that you may eat

and that you may drink

at my table

in my kingdom.

That's what we all want

and that's what Jesus

provided for us.

And I want to invite you

today

to put your trust

in Jesus

maybe for the first time

but all of us

to renew our trust

in Jesus

as God's eternal word

who was made flesh

for us

as God's wonder bread

that he provided

to give life

to the world

because that's what

our hunger requires.

Our hunger

requires

wonder bread.

A bread that only

God can give.

And our hunger

requires

not just wonder bread

but also

a loving father.

A loving father.

And I want to end

with this.

I want you to think back

to when you were a child.

And I want you to think back

to that moment

if you can remember it

when your mom

forced you

to swim

for the first time

without floaties.

Remember that moment?

Maybe it's a subconscious

maybe it's a repressed memory.

Or I want you to remember

that moment

where your dad

forced you

to ride your bike

for the first time

without training wheels.

Was anybody scared?

Was that kind of painful

for us?

I want you to think back

like why did your parents

make you do that?

They did it because

they wanted you

to enjoy the water.

They wanted you

to enjoy the road.

They wanted you

to enjoy your freedom

ultimately.

Or think back

to when you were

15 years old

getting your learner's permit.

16 year old

getting your driver's license.

Anybody else's parents

teach them how to drive?

Was that anxiety provoking

for you at all?

Was it just me

or were you also

yelling at your parents

while they were yelling

at you,

hit the brakes!

Hit the brakes!

Left!

No, the other left!

Why were our parents

forcing us into this?

Because they wanted us

to travel in safety.

They wanted us

to have the gift

of mobility

but to be protected

and to be injury free

in our mobility.

Did anybody else's mom

and dad ever say

hey, you know

you're going to thank me

for this later?

Anybody hear those words?

You're going to thank me

for this one day.

We all know I think

that good parents

put us through difficult

and even painful experiences

because they love us

and because they want

the best for us.

And that's what

Deuteronomy tells us

is that God is a good

and loving father to us.

Deuteronomy 131

you might remember

it said

that the Lord your God

carried you

through the wilderness

as a father

carries his son.

God is pictured

as this tender

compassionate father

who supports

his young child

who needs help

who needs carrying.

And here

that same theme

comes up

in verse 5

where it says

know then in your heart

that as a man

disciplines his son

so the Lord your God

disciplines you.

We have a father

who is fond

yet firm.

A father who is

tender yet tough.

And he comes to us

in our spiritual adolescence

in our spiritual 15

and 16 year oldness.

And he challenges us

because he wants us

to learn

a very important

life lesson.

Why does our father

bring his teenage son

Israel out here

into the wilderness?

Why does he put us

in these places

that are parched

and hard

and lifeless

and hot?

Because the desert

is a crucible

of transformation.

The desert

is a crucible

of the transformation

that all of us

myself included

needs.

The desert

is this place

where gold

is refined

and purged

of all of its

dross.

The desert

is this place

where steel

is tempered

by intense

heat.

It's out here

in the desert

places

that God

removes all

of our props

and our father

strips us

of all of our

false securities.

He takes off

our floaties

and he takes off

our training wheels

and he causes us

to come to the end

of ourselves.

He causes us

to feel that scary

thing of being

powerless

and not in control.

And why does he do that?

Because our father

wants us to teach us

how to trust in him

and rely on him

alone.

Our father

wants us to learn

how to love him

with all of our heart

in the midst

of our hunger

in the midst

of our emptiness

so that we can love him

with all of our heart

in the midst

of our abundance

in the midst

of our fullness.

Our father

brings his people

into the desert

so he can prepare us

to move into

the promised land.

Listen to this description

of the promised land

in verse 7.

The Lord your God

is bringing you

into a good land.

A land with streams

and pools of water

with springs

flowing in the valleys

and hills.

A land with wheat

and barley

vines and fig trees

pomegranates

olive oil and honey.

A land where bread

will not be scarce

and you will lack

no thing.

And a land

where the rocks

are ironed

and you can dig

copper out of the hills.

The promised land

is going to be

an all you can eat

buffet.

You're never going

to be hungry there.

But God says

be careful

in verse 12

because when you eat

and are satisfied

when you build

fine houses

and settle down

when your herds

and flocks

grow large

and your silver

and gold

increase

and all you have

is multiplied

then your heart

will become proud

and you will forget

the Lord your God

who brought you

out of Egypt

out of the land

of slavery

your heart

can so easily

become puffed up

puffed up

with pride

which is our

fatal flaw

which is that

malignant cancer

inside of us

that our Father

knows needs

to be cut

out of us

if we're going

to have any

hope of living.

Listen to verse 17

you may say

to yourself

my power

and the strength

of my hands

have produced

this wealth

for me.

Listen to your

self-talk.

Listen to that

self-sufficient

voice

that pride

inside of you

that says

my ability

my strength

my hard work

my cleverness

my professional

skills

as if I'm

this self-made

self-sufficient

as we're

this self-made

self-sufficient

community

as if

everything we

have

is not

a gift

of God's

free grace

to us.

That is why

our Father

brings us out

into these

desert places

that are parched

and hot

and hard

and lifeless

because he's

saying to us

when you're

no longer

in the desert

when you are

swimming in bread

when you have

plenty of resources

when you're

in the promised

land and it's

like the garden

of Eden

when all of

your needs

are met

and you're

no longer

hungry

and you're

free of that

gnawing ache

of emptiness

on the inside

will you

remember me?

Will you

remember that

I'm the source

of all your

bread

and I'm the

source of

your very life?

Will you

have learned

this life's

most important

lesson

of moving

from self-sufficiency

to God

dependency?

Christ Church

as I close

I just want

to ask

the question

is it

possible

that our

Father

our good

and loving

Heavenly Father

has brought

us through

these last

two years

of desert

fire

of a

pandemic

of relentless

change

of really

difficult

losses

of crazy

challenges

in order to

do just

this

to deal

with our

pride

to deal

with that

self-sufficiency

in us

to deal

with that

me myself

and I

inner

monologue

and to

humble us

to purify

us

to temper

us

and to

strengthen

us

to prepare

us

for the

good things

that lie

ahead of

us

to prepare

us

for Lord

willing

the next

15 years

at Christ

Church

I think

it's

highly

likely

that that's

what God's

been up

to

I know

that's

what he's

been doing

in me

and I

wonder

if that's

what he's

doing

in you

I love

this verse

verse 10

it says

when you

have eaten

and are

satisfied

praise the

Lord your

God

for the

good land

he has

given you

and it

became

Jewish

custom

out of

this

verse

to say

grace

by blessing

the Lord

after meals

as well

as before

meals

because

Israel

became aware

that fullness

can lead

to forgetfulness

and plenty

can generate

pride

and so

they prayed

two times

before the

meal

and then

after the

meal

to remind

their hearts

that these

gifts

are meant

to drive

us

into the

arms

of our

generous

giver

that this

daily bread

is meant

to move

us

into total

trust

and desperate

dependency

on our

loving

father

this is the

life that

Jesus lived

for us

and this is

the life

that he

wants

to give

to us

and I

pray that

by the

power of

the spirit

God would

do this

in me

and God

would do it

in you

as well

in the name

of the

father

the son

and the

holy spirit

amen

in you

can

know

going

in you

to