Hungering for God’s Justice

On August 13, 1727, a small community of Moravian refugees in Herrnhut, Germany, experienced an outpouring of the Holy Spirit that sparked a 24/7 prayer meeting lasting over 100 years. That movement fueled global missions, sending hundreds of missionaries across the world (Lectio 365, 2025-08-13). What drove them? A holy hunger.

Jesus speaks of this holy hunger in Matthew 5:6: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” The Greek word for blessed speaks to a deep, enduring joy that comes from being in a right relationship with God. When Jesus talks about hungering and thirsting here, He is not describing a mild discomfort but a desperate craving—the kind that consumes every thought. Jesus calls us to long for righteousness with that same urgency.

Righteousness in Scripture is a word that does not translate neatly into English. One way to picture it is as a cross: the vertical line representing righteousness and the horizontal line representing justice. It is life as God intended—where we live in right relationship with him, with others, with creation, and with ourselves (The Chalmers Center, A Biblical Framework for Poverty). A world where the poor are cared for, the oppressed set free, and God’s shalom permeates every part of life.

This is why World Renew exists. We see physical hunger and thirst up close: farmers in Malawi scanning the skies for rain, families in Afghanistan longing for dignity after an earthquake, women in Honduras yearning for safety and opportunity. These physical needs point to a deeper ache for righteousness, where justice rolls down like waters (Amos 5:24).

Every well dug, every crop planted, every voice raised for the vulnerable is a foretaste of God’s Kingdom. The fullness isn’t here yet, but Jesus promises: those who hunger for His righteousness will be satisfied—abundantly and eternally. As we walk with communities in this shared hunger for the fullness of God’s justice, we find that we too are changed. Our own hunger and thirst for God’s Kingdom grow deeper as we long together for the day when all things are made new.

May we keep that holy hunger alive in our churches, joining in God’s work of renewal.

Photo: Cross at the Peña del Tigre viewpoint in León, Nicaragua during a World Renew trip with Drayton Christian Reformed Church.