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Blessed are the Meek Today we are looking at the third beatitude “Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth”, as part of our sermon series entitled “Living with Blessings”. For those who might not have been here for the previous two talks, the Beatitudes are a series of 8 statements Jesus makes at the start of his famous Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5,6 and 7. They are known as Beatitudes because each one begins with a blessing and while the statements are superficially simple they really are very challenging because they turn our priorities upside down and take us into a new way of seeing the world, what might be called a paradigm shift. In our world most people think that good news or wonderful news consists of success; wealth; long life; victory and battle. But in this series of eight blessings, Jesus is offering us a new understanding of wonderful news, he redefines it. He is offering us wonderful news in things like humility; poverty; mourning and peacemaking. The word for wonderful news is often translated as blessed for it is according to Jesus, God’s wonderful news. It is important to notice that there is a progression in each of Jesus’ statements. The first beatitude , ‘blessed are the poor in spirit” refers to those who realize that they are powerless to save themselves, that they are utterly dependent on God. The second , “blessed are they that mourn “ refers to those who realise that they are sinners and grieve over their sinful state as it causes a division between themselves and God on whom they are utterly dependent. The third, “blessed are the meek” refers to those who realise they are utterly dependent on God, who regret their sinfulness and are willing to submit their lives to God in a spirit of meekness. ‘Meekness’ is such a loaded word. In contemporary society it is not understood in very positive terms. We associate it with an attitude of allowing everyone to walk all over one like a doormat because one is too afraid to stand up for oneself. This rather reminds me of the story told by Bill Farmer of a man called J. Upton Dickson who announced that he was writing a book entitled ‘Cower Power” and that if no one had any objections, he was founding a group of submissive people called the Doormats. This was an acrostic for Dependent Organization of Really Meek and Timid Souls. Their motto was ‘The meek shall inherit the earth, if that’s okay with everybody’, and their symbol was the orange/yellow traffic light! Joking aside, many of us equate meekness with weakness. But this is not how the Bible sees meekness and this is certainly not what Jesus means when he blesses the meek. If we glance at a list of some of the people the bible identifies as meek we will see that in fact quite the opposite is true. In Genesis we see that Abraham the father of the Jewish nation was meek in his negotiations as he sought to keep the peace between his herdsmen and his nephew Lot’s. In Numbers 12:3 we find that Moses the first and greatest prophet and lawgiver of the Israelites is described as a very ‘meek man, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.’ And in Matthew 11 Jesus describes himself as ‘meek and humble of heart’. He says ‘come to me all who are weary and are burdened and I will give you rest…. for I am meek and humble of heart’. The very incarnation and manner of Jesus birth and life on earth emodies meekness. This is Jesus, the man who could stand up to the elements, calm the winds and the waves. This is the man who could chase the ruthless money changers out of the temple using a whip made out of chords. This is hardly a weak man and yet Jesus describes himself as a meek man. An understanding of the root definition of meek in the original language and how it was used might help us in understanding what Jesus meant. The greek word is Praus and was used to describe a soothing medicine or by sailors to describe a gentle breeze or by farmers to describe a broken colt. What all these definitions have in common is that they describe power or strength under control or discipline. Meekness is a word that refers to relationships. In the Bible it is used to refer to our relationship with God and with others. Moses’ meekness was revealed in relationship to Miriam’s criticism of his decision to marry a Cushite wife and Jesus’ meekness is revealed in relationship to God where in the Garden of Gethsemane he declares: “Not my will but thine” as he is faced with the prospect of his arrest and death. It seems that meekness is a way of being in relationship to God and our neighbour. Looking at Psalm 37 which is almost certainly the psalm from which Jesus quotes in this beatitude Meekness in the bible refers to those people who trust God. Biblical meekness is rooted in the deep confidence that God is trustworthy verse 5. People who are meek commit all their business, their problems and their relationships , their fears, their frustrations and their health to God in the firm conviction that God is able and willing to sustain, guide and protect them. In verse 7 we read that meek people wait patiently on the Lord in all circumstances and thus have a kind of steady calm that comes from knowing that God is gracious and that he will not fail them no matter what circumstances befall them. They are open to God’s guidance because they have teachable spirits they are not stiff necked and arrogant. They submit to God’s control of their lives with the wisdom of meekness which knows that all is well and all manner of thing will be well when we commit our lives to abiding in God’s will. Jesus said when he taught us how to pray Thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. This is the prayer of meek. Meekness is a way of ordering our interior into an attitude of submission to God acknowledging that his goodness and wisdom and power goes way beyond our comprehension. It is a disposition of the heart which makes us open and receptive to God’s Holy Spirit. As such it is revealed as one of the fruits of living a Spirit filled life because it is the outworking of a life of a life lived under the authority of God’s discipline and according to God’s will. Thus meek people have a calm steadiness about their lives even in the midst of upheaval. Meekness is a defining trait of a spirit filled Christian. If you are a disciple of Jesus Christ, sitting at his feet on the Mount this morning, If you like the first disciples are wondering what it means to be a follower of Jesus, then hear these words: Blessed are those who are not too proud, stubborn or self-centred to submit their lives to me for this is how they will inherit all the beautiful gifts that I have to offer them in this life and the next. Meekness is not something we do, it is what we are when we are in right relationship with God . Meekness comes from an habitual frame of mind that sees the merciful and purifying hand of God in all the trials of life and from a concern to calm the first feelings of anger or resentment lest they blind one to God’s purpose. See Paul’s response to Paula’s cancer. This way of being impacts how we are with others also. Those who are meek are humble for they have a proper appreciation of their position in relation to God and to others. They are peaceful because they accepting of and are content with their lot in life. They are tolerant of others because they realise that in things that matter to God they are in no way superior to anyone else. All this gives them an openness to receiving from others and a gentleness towards others which makes them a joy to be around. They are a blessing to themselves and have a soothing effect on others also. As I look around my community I notice that life for most people is pretty tough and often what makes it tough is the difficult relationships people have to deal with. Many people and relationships seem to be struggling. People seem to knowingly and unknowingly hurt each other all the time. Frankly I think all relationships should be stamped with a “Fragile : Handle with Care” stamp or “Handle with meekness”, for it seems to me that those that are handled roughly and carelessly soon become cracked and broken. Healthy relationships on the other hand have the common traits of gentleness and acceptance and of openness to receiving from others. This comes from a spirit of meekness which we have said is an attitude of humility toward God and gentleness towards other people. The book of James 1 : 19 – 21 paints a picture of a meek person: One who is slow to speak and quick to listen (19)One who recognizes the limitations of his knowledge and the fallibility of his thinking and so is eager to listen and learn anything valuable that he can. One who is slow to anger and has a teachable spirit. With such a description it is not difficult to understand why Jesus believes that such a person will inherit the earth. Tell Geoff’s story of the professor of medicine. There is a salient lesson for all of us here. If we would really know the truth about God and about life we need to approach both God and our neighbours in a spirit of meekness which understands our own poverty of knowledge and power ( the first Beatitude); recognises and regrets that we are fallible and do fail ( the second Beatitude) and submits with patience to the process of learning from others but most importantly from the words of our Saviour Jesus Christ. “Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth”, the third Beatitude. |
