Meek

I have a couple of questions for you before we start. First, who would you describe as being blessed? If you looked at the people in your family, the people in your neighborhood, the people you work with, friends you know or people you’ve heard about, which people would you say are blessed? They’re living the good life.

Second, why would you consider them as being blessed? What are the characteristics of this good life?

If you watch the advertisements on TV you might be tempted to believe that those who are blessed are made up of those who are wealthy. They can buy whatever they want and go wherever they want. Surely they are the ones living the good life. Having lots of money may make some things easier, but it doesn’t guarantee a blessed life. As much as money might be able to buy there are many things money can’t buy. Money can’t buy a family that loves you or good friends willing to help you. Money can pay for a doctor’s visit but it can’t buy you good health.

I was talking with a guy this week that has a daughter in northern Virginia. Because she lives so far away he and his wife can’t just run over to her house and help her if she gets sick. However, she has several friends at the church she attends who are willing to bring her food and run to the store for her when she’s not felt well. I would say she is blessed to have friends like that. With that thought in mind maybe we’d describe those who are blessed as those with:

A loving family

Supportive friends

Good health

A job they enjoy

Enough money that they don’t have to worry about paying their bills

SLIDE 1 There may be some more qualities, but what I want to point out is that even these didn’t make the list that Jesus gives us in Matthew 5. In the Beatitudes Jesus tells us the qualities of those who are truly blessed. What we we’ve seen so far is that the truly blessed are poor and those that cry. Those don’t sound like what we would describe as being blessed. They sound more like those who have been cursed. But this is how Jesus describes them.

Jesus says the spiritually poor are blessed. Is there anything in your life that you point to in order to prove what a good person you are? Have you ever thought, “At least I’m not as bad as that person”? These are sign of spiritual pride. The truly blessed are those who know they have nothing to bring before God to earn his love and forgiveness and as a result they cling only to the cross of Jesus. Jesus says the poor in spirit will receive the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus says those who mourn are blessed. The spiritually poor understand that it is their sin that separates them from God. They see the effect of their sin on their relationship with God and how their sin affects those around them. This causes them great sorrow, but Jesus said they would be comforted.

Turn with me to the fifth chapter of Matthew. As I did last week, I want to start with verse 1. I pointed out that each beatitude leads to the one that follows. Spiritual poverty leads to mourning and mourning leads to today beatitude: meekness.

1Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2and he began to teach them. He said: 3“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. (Matthew 5:1-4)

What do you think of when you hear the word “meek?” It rhymes with weak and I think that’s what comes to the minds of many. Someone who is meek is thought of as being soft spoken and won’t stand up for themselves. Maybe the word the word that might describe them is timid. Here’s the definition I found for meek in the dictionary: SLIDE 2

The adjective meek describes a person who is willing to go along with whatever other people want to do, like a classmate who won't speak up, even when he or she is treated unfairly.

Does that sound like someone you would admire or look up to? Does that sound like the person you want to be? Whatever word or definition that comes to mind for meek it’s usually not positive. Therefore, we probably don’t understand what Jesus was saying. After all, we’re told that Jesus was meek and he was none of the above. SLIDE 3

Jesus wasn’t weak when he turned over the tables of the money changers and cleaned out the temple

He wasn’t afraid to stand up for himself when he said to Peter, “Get behind me Satan.”

And he wasn’t soft spoken about what he thought about the hypocrisy of the Pharisees when he called them “white washed tombs.”

If we want to be blessed and Jesus is saying the meek are blessed then we should want to be meek. But what does it really mean?

A better definition I’ve heard for meekness is “strength under control.” And the popular illustration is that of a horse. Imagine a horse in the Roman army. The horse had to be strong. While traveling, it had to carry the soldier’s armor, weapons, bedding, food, and water long distances. In battle, it had to start quickly, move fast, turn on a dime, and stop immediately. It took a lot of strength and the strength had to be under control. But who was in control of the horse’s strength? The horse had yield control of its strength to the soldier.

Imagine a race horse running in the Kentucky Derby. Those horses are strong too. However, if the horse if going to win, it has to yield its control to the rider. A wild horse will never win a race.

This is the picture Jesus has in mind when he talks about meekness; it’s not weakness, but strength under control. The opposite of that is wild and out of control. Sometimes God compared the Israelites to wild donkeys. They were constantly rebelling and kicking against the leading of God. How much better off they would have been if they had obeyed God from the beginning instead of complaining.

Have you ever known a strong willed person who always wanted things their way? Maybe you worked with someone like that or worked for such a person. As long as you do it their way they’re happy and easy to get along with, but if you do something different or if they don’t get their way they become difficult to be around. A strong will can be good. A strong will can get you through difficult and trying times. However, those with an uncontrolled strong will bring misery to themselves and those around them. As long as we resist God’s leading we will be miserable.

In my devotions this morning I came across this verse from Isaiah: SLIDE 4

This is what the Lord says to me with his strong hand upon me, warning me not to follow the way of this people. (Isaiah 8:11)

Sometimes when praying for someone I’ll pray that God’s hand will be upon them. What does that mean? If they are following God what do you think will happen if God’s hand is upon them? If they are submitting themselves to God then God will direct their way and give them success. But what if God’s hand is upon them and they are rebelling against God, then what happens? Then they are going to have trouble.

The Latin word for meek is made up of two words: “used to” (accustomed to) and “the hand.” When referring to a horse the word refers to a horse that is used to be guided by a human hand and is able to be controlled by its master.

When we become Christians we not only accept Jesus as our Savior, but also as our Lord. That means we allow him to tell us what to do. But it’s hard because everything within rebels against being told what to do. By nature we are like an unbroken horse insisting on having things our way. But as we grow in Christ we learn to submit to God.

What will cultivating meekness do in our lives? Meekness will bring peace to the soul and order to the chaos in our lives. It may even help you find contentment. You may be in a very difficult situation right now, but in meekness as you submit to God’s leading you will be able to say as Paul did: SLIDE 5

11b. . . for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. SLIDE 6 12I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. SLIDE 7 13I can do all this through him who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:11b-13)

Paul could be content because he submitted himself to God’s leading trusted God to provide.

SLIDE 8 Meekness will subdue your impulses. It will change the way you speak and give you control. It may even help you drive more peacefully and safer. (I can see Mary Anne already praying for more meekness in my life.)

A couple of weeks ago Mary Anne and I drove over to Lifeway Christian Bookstore. They were having a free seminar of how to study the Bible. Getting to Lifeway you have to go through one of my least favorite intersections in Johnson City. Turning left off of State of Franklin is made difficult by the fact that there are so many cars that want to turn and the turn signal seems to be so short. Even with two lanes turning left it seems impossible to get through on the first green arrow. You usually have to wait for a second one. And that’s what happened that day. I had to wait for the second light to turn left.

Of course you probably know what some people do. They get in the left turning lane and then try to squeeze into the right lane after they turn. As I was turning I saw a car up ahead in the left lane trying to squeeze into the right lane but was unable because there were no gaps between the cars and no one would let it in.

One of the passages we looked at during the seminar was from Ephesians 4. SLIDE 9

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (Ephesians 4:32)

Here’s what I wrote in our workbook on how to apply that verse to my life.

I was not very compassionate to the person trying to change lanes. I should have allowed the driver to pull in front of me. I need to show more patience and grace while driving.

SLIDE 10 That’s meekness. I didn’t do it, but that’s what it would like.

And what happens when we are meek? Jesus says the meek will inherit the earth. We usually think of the meek as only getting run over. The meek are made fun of. The meek never get their way. The meek lose their place in line. But Jesus says that everything they may have taken from them by the world that takes advantage of them will be returned to them by God. I don’t know about you but I would rather have what God can give me rather than what I might be able to get by scratching and clawing my way to the top.

Mary Anne and I recently watched a documentary about a plow horse names Snowman. Born in 1948, Snowman’s owner was ready to sell the horse to the glue factory when he was eight but was rescued by Harry de Leyer. Harry taught riding at a private boarding school and was at an auction looking for inexpensive horses that would be good for riding. He bought Snowman for $80. At first, people made fun of the horse. Snowman wasn’t the usual horse used for riding. He had huge feet and he’d never been taught to carry a rider. But there was something about the horse that drew Harry to him.

It wasn’t long before Snowman started jumping. He jumped over a fence and got out to get to Harry. They built the fence higher and he jumped over it. They tied a rope to the horse and attached it to a truck tire and three days later Snowball showed up at Harry’s with the rope, the tire, and part of the fence. So Harry began jumping him. Two years later, competing against thoroughbreds that costs tens of thousands of dollars Snowman won the national jumping competition and was voted top show horse two years in a row.

You can never know what goes on in the mind of a horse, but it seemed Snowman understood what Harry had done for him. It was if he knew Harry had saved him from certain death and he never forgot it. That horse did whatever Harry wanted and as a result Snowman won hundreds of jumping competitions.

Think about all God has done for you. Think about all God has promised to do for you. Don’t you think we should submit control of our lives to God? We become poor in spirit when we finally realize there in nothing we can do to earn God’s love and forgiveness. The reason is we are all sinners who fall short of the glory of God. This leads us to mourn over our sins that have broken our relationship with God. We also mourn when we think that the answer to our sin what the death of Jesus on the cross. Jesus died because of our sin. Then, when we realize all that God has done for us we submit to God in meekness.