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"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied."
—Matthew 5:6, NASB

At the beginning of the year, people in Kenya started killing each other. You may have read about it. There was an election, but the losing party believed (with good reason) that the supposed victors stuffed the ballot boxes. The ruling party had for years favored its own people (the Kikuyus) and had ignored the needs of other Kenyans (like the Luos). The stolen election was the last straw.

There were demonstrations, which erupted into killings, which led to revenge. Before long, half-a-million were homeless, and over a thousand lay dead.

The problem is, if you've watched the news lately, you know there are worse places in the world. Thousands of soldiers and civilians have been killed in Afghanistan and Iraq since the beginning of the war on terror. Millions of men and women have died of AIDS in Africa. Across the world, women are sold into sexual slavery, children are abused, students open fire on classmates, cancer infects those we love. The word mess hardly begins to describe it.

It makes us wonder why people do that to one another, why there is so much suffering. It makes one long for a better world.

If you've ever felt this way when you've watched the evening news or had serious discussions in a current events class, then Jesus says you may be the type of person he's looking for. He put it this way: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied" (Matthew 5:6, NASB).

Righteousness was a word packed with meaning in that day. When Jesus' listeners heard it, they would immediately have thought of things like this: A world where the sick were healed, the hungry were fed, the naked clothed; a world where the poor got justice, and the oppressors got their due; a world where war was no more; a global community where the love of God rules. When people of that day heard that word righteousness, they thought first of a world that was set right.

Jesus says that people who hunger and thirst for a world set right, those who want it so badly they act like they're starving for it—well, he says he's pretty impressed by them. But doesn't that include everyone? Doesn't everyone want to live in a better world?

You'd think so, but it doesn't turn out that way. Some people, when they hear about the horrors that plague this planet, just plug their ears. They don't want to hear about it. It causes them so much pain, they just want to curl up in the cocoon of their lives and blast some music into their headphones.

Some do the opposite. They can't get their minds off global evil, and they fall into despair. They feel hopeless. Some turn to drugs or sex or whatever to numb the feeling. Some take their own lives.

Jesus is looking for people who take a higher road. These people have the courage to let suffering touch them deeply. They don't hide from this reality, and they don't let it drag them down. They keep imagining how much better things could be, and they actually try to make things better. They take a shift at the homeless shelter. They volunteer at the food pantry. They help raise awareness of HIV/AIDS. They support a child through an organization like Compassion or World Vision. They join teens like Zach Hunter in fighting modern-day slavery. They pray for the peace of the world. They tell a friend about the love of God.

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