A message about the fourth beatitude.
In 2006, Johnathan Goldsmith had the most interesting of opportunities cross his plate; he was given the chance to interview for a reoccurring role in Dos Equis beer commercials.
Homeless at the time, the 65-year-old actor, of European heritage, who hadn’t held a stable acting gig in a decade, and only showered on occasion, was a longshot at best. The ad agency was looking for a young Latino, Mario Lopez type. Goldsmith was none of that. But after an audition that ended with him saying “and that’s how I arm wrestled Fidel Castro” the casting crew was in stitches. And the role, surprisingly, was his.
With his new role came a new title to coincide with the Dos Equis marketing slogan. Goldsmith was now known as the Most Interesting Man in the World, aka the Dos Equis Guy, via an ad campaign that lasted a decade.
A Most Interesting Man
The ads for the Most Interesting Man in the World generally follow the same format, showing Goldsmith in an exotic locale, doing and saying things that most of us couldn’t, or wouldn’t. Often the narrator describes what makes this man so interesting, using some highly memorable one-liners. Here are a few personal favorites.
His charm is so contagious that vaccines have been created for it.
His personality is so magnetic he is unable to carry credit cards.
Every time he goes for a swim, dolphins appear.
Even his enemies list him as their emergency contact number.
He never says something tastes like chicken. Not even chicken.
And if he were to give you directions you’d never get lost. And you’d arrive 5 minutes early.
He is, after all, the Most Interesting Man in the World.
The ads typically end with Goldsmith saying this: I don’t always drink beer, but when I do I prefer Dos Equis. This one line has become a famous meme, mimicked in all sorts of ways, you’ve likely seen versions of it on Facebook, or Instagram, or in your email in-box.
In fact when I was called to serve this congregation last Fall I shared a similar meme:
“I don’t always preach” the meme says, “But when I do, it’s at Bethesda Lutheran.” And here we are ?
More importantly, the Dos Equis commercials close with this: Goldsmith raises a glass, toasting us in a way, encouraging viewers to “stay thirsty, my friends.”
The primary goal of this final line is obvious, a beer company is looking to sell more product. (and the campaign was highly successful in increasing sales, mission accomplished there)
But there’s an underlying message here perhaps, of what it means to stay thirsty. The Dos Equis Guy, this most interesting man, lived a life of excitement, of impact, and people were drawn to it.
Righteousness
Today’s message marks the fourth in an eight-week summer sermon series Pastor Bryan and I are doing with a focus on the Beatitudes. Each week we take one beatitude, or blessing, and dissect it’s meaning. Up today is the fourth beatitude, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
The word righteousness is an odd one, you just don’t run across it much in our modern lexicon. Yet scripturally it’s fairly common, the Greek derivative for the word shows up approximately 300 times in the New Testament; in the Old Testament the Hebrew equivalent shows up no less than 525 times.
To be righteous, scripturally, is to be many things. Translators use synonyms like to be right, good, pious, proper, just, honest and innocent. To be righteous can also be understood with a phrase: it is to be in right relationship with God.
We talk about what it means to be in right relationship with God in faith communities a good bit. Arguably that is the theme of every message you’ll hear most pastors preach.
That Jesus ties the importance of being in right relationship with God to being hungry and thirsty speaks to the importance this divine relationship holds. The human body can go about three weeks without food, it’s pretty crucial. And can go only three or four days without water. After that we simply fail to exist.
Jesus suggests that we are to seek out this divine relationship, and seek spiritual nourishment from our creator, like our life depends on it, over and above all else.
And to do that takes some prioritizing. It takes some planning. We have to be intentional about it.
Vacation Planning
Our family just returned from a week-long vacation, so perhaps my mind wants to meander back to the trip. When memories of the trip start bouncing around my head I can’t help but think about what it took to plan out the week.
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I was really excited about going to all four single-A minor league baseball parks in the state during vacation, they all happen to be the eastern part of Iowa. So I mapped out the cities, the ballgame schedules, the driving distances, going from one town to the next, and started to design an itinerary. When Kathi reminded me the Field of Dreams movie set is also in the area, we excitedly baked that into the trip too.
Kathi’s role in planning was, fortunately, a good bit more holistic. She found a hotel with a built-in waterpark that ended up being *perfect* for our kids, they just loved it. She made sure we mounted the portable DVD player screens in the back seat of the car, and made sure we had plenty of movies on hand too. That way our little ones wouldn’t get bored during the drives.
And she took the lead finding all sorts of fun things to do, sourcing ideas from travel guides, friends, and the internet. It was this part that really made the trip special, as it added in funky destinations like the crookedest street in the world (in Burlington), the world’s shortest, steepest scenic railway (in Dubuque), and a couple of waterfalls that just happened to be on the way as we drove home.
The result of all this planning was we woke up each morning with a pretty good sense of what the day would look like.
The trip itinerary, by design, had things we all enjoyed, and gave space for us to enjoy each other’s company in unique, memorable ways.
Don’t get me wrong, our family vacations contain a certain crazy built right in, and our trip had its fair share of nutty, insane moments, but boy I’m glad we planned and prioritized the way that we did.
Had we simply hopped in the car, without this planning, or prioritized other things, without an end-goal in mind, I imagine the trip would have been considerably different.
The Most Interesting Man
As much as I appreciate the character Goldsmith plays as the Most Interesting Man in the World, I think historically this actor has been topped by another. Let me tell you about this other guy who’d I suggest holds the crown.
His charm is so contagious he said simply follow me, and people quit their day job to do just that.
He once turned water into wine, all to keep a wedding reception hopping. And when asked about it he humbly replied that mom made him do it.
He can cast out demons with a glance, heal the sick with a touch, and feed thousands at a time, just by giving thanks to Dad.
He came to earth from on high, lived a perfect life, then rose in three days time, overcoming death, and sin, once and for all. He did that so that the whole world might live.
And, if he were to give you directions, you’d be wise to take them, because the destination would be heavenly.
Hopefully it’s fairly clear who we’re talking about here. He is the Most Interesting Man in the World, and the King of Kings, and the Son of God. He is Jesus, the Christ.
Stay Thirsty
There is one thing that the Dos Equis guy has in common with Jesus, both, in their own way, encourage us to stay thirsty. And instead of simply selling beers, Jesus wants us to stay thirsty for a higher purpose. He wants us to thirst for, and constantly desire, to be in right relationship with God. And fortunately, how we do that has been modeled exquisitely by Christ himself, and documented in a guidebook we can easily access.
But to do this requires a certain reordering of our priorities. It requires us to place our relationship with God, and by extension our relationships with each other, over and above all else this world may offer.
And just as a vacation wouldn’t be the same without careful planning, we are asked to re-evaluate our priorities, thirsting for just one.
We are asked, in no small way to thirst to be in right relationship with God, making this one relationship more important than our:
– Money making
– Education getting
– Stuff acquiring
– Political wrangling
– Recognition seeking
– Self-aggrandizing
– Truth denying ways
And to do that requires a certain intentionality, certain routines that can help guide us for all of our days. We can do this by seeking Gods will, through prayer and study of scripture, and by joining together with other people of faith intent on doing the same.
Close
For when we thirst to be in right relationship with our Creator, Christ has good news: our thirst will be quenched. Let me encourage you, to stay thirsty, my friends, thirsty for righteousness, above all else. For therein is the blessing. For therein is the kingdom of God. Amen.
