Blessed are the Meek

OPENING PRAYER

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in Your sight… O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

INTRO

Good morning! My name is Ryan, I’m one of the pastors here at Georgianna.

It’s so good to be with you in worship today…

[MENTION LIVE STREAM AT 9:45]

TALK ABOUT CORKY BEING GONE AT WEDDING…

ME

As a parent I am noticing more and more often those times when I begin sounding like my own parents. It can be horrifying.

We get ready to cross the street and Zoe holds my hand and I tell her that she needs to “look both ways.”

Or she’ll insist on telling us something when we’re already speaking… and so we’ll tell her “don’t talk when someone else is talking.”

Zoe happens to catch me eating one of those glazed donuts out front and she’ll ask why she can’t have one… and I tell her... “because I said so.”

WE

There are these phrases that it seems like all parents say... and then we get a chill up our spines because our parents actually said it to us.

BUT... there is a reason why these things get passed down from generation to generation... because there happens to be something timeless about them, believe it or not. Truly it will probably always be a good idea to not talk with your mouth full or to look both ways when you cross a street.

And we will probably always find a reason to say “because I said so,” because parents- past, present, and future- run into this wall where it’s hard to explain certain concepts to children.

When she was a bit younger sometimes it was hard to explain to Zoe why she should brush her teeth. But she needed to brush them because I said so.

GOD

In the Bible we encounter a number of different guidelines and some wisdom for living in a way that honors God. And many of these things make complete sense to us.

We find things like:

Treat others how you would like to be treated... well that just makes sense.

Don’t kill people... well that just makes sense

Honor your father and mother... talk about wisdom

And you have some other things where the Bible even gives you explanation...

The apostle Paul says “Don’t get drunk on wine” (and in case you need him to elaborate) It will ruin your life (ok makes sense)

Now, I don’t want to burst your bubble, but the whole Bible is not always as intuitive as this.

In the book of Matthew Jesus preaches a sermon.

PASSAGE

It’s in Matthew chapter 5… I’d love for you to look with me in your Bibles or on your phones...

We call this His Sermon on the Mount... Matthew tells us that Jesus began preaching to just His disciples. But His words are so compelling, it seems, that by the end of the sermon it tells us that crowds have gathered.

It is in this sermon that we get the Golden Rule, we get wisdom that says “let your yes mean yes and your no mean no,” and “judge not lest ye judged.”

Challenging stuff… but we get it, right?

Possibly most important we receive “The Lord’s Prayer.”

But Jesus begins this sermon with a short little list about people who are blessed. If you just look at your headings in the Bible you might think you’re about to read a self-help pamphlet. One Bible I looked at titled this section “You’re blessed.” Another one used the title “Happy people.”

You may recognize the term, the Beatitudes- which basically means that what follows should be be prescriptions for how to be happy or blessed.

And so you might dive in because it just sounds so nice... who doesn’t want to be happy and blessed? Okay... Matthew 5- The Sermon on the Mount... here goes...

Matthew 5:3–12

Jesus says,

3 “Happy are people who are hopeless…

... wait... hold on... I think I turned to the wrong passage... let me try again...

Okay, Matthew, chapter 5, Sermon on the Mount....

3 “Happy are people who are hopeless…

Hold on, let’s get another translation… sometimes that helps… the New International Version... this is what Corky uses, so it’s got to be right...

That was the problem all along...

3 “Blessed are the poor...”

Alright, let’s try the good old King James Version... hard to go wrong there.

And it says, “Blessed are the poor”

Okay, so we’re in the right place, let’s read on to see if it gets any better...

3 “Blessed are the poor...

already read that...

4 Blessed are those who mourn,

that doesn’t make sense

5 Blessed are the meek,

not getting any better

6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst...

I have a hard time believing that. HANGRY

7 Blessed are the merciful,

but not everyone deserves it

8 Blessed are the pure in heart,

that’s a bit unrealistic

9 Blessed are the peacemakers,

unless it costs me something

10 Blessed are those who are persecuted

Really? This is the section about happy people... blessed people???

Okay, so after reading the Beatitudes, you begin to wonder if Jesus really knew what he was talking about... I mean, does he really know how this world works?!

If you pick up an actual self-help pamphlet... or the latest book with “8 Keys to Successful Living” you know what you won’t see?

“Happy are people who are hopeless.”

These things do not work in this world!

But I wonder if this list was created with this world in mind. I mean, sure... they talk about how we live our lives now... but is that where it is all headed? I wonder if this list is about something bigger Than just success in this world.

SERIES

Pastor Corky got us kicked off with this new series “Attitude Adjustment” last week. And we’re slowly going through the Beatitudes… because they HAVE to be important.

I know from writing sermons… and YOU may know from any public speaking that you do… that it is VERY important how you begin.

And Jesus drops this list on his listeners first thing.

But you hear this list or you read through this list of blessings and you wonder if you’re missing something.

On the surface… it’s hard to get excited about these kinds of blessings.

We like to think of blessings like wealth or success or influence.

But the blessings that we read about here are different. They HAVE to be.

This HAS to be a different sort of blessing… otherwise you would never lead off and say “Happy are people who are hopeless...” You would never say blessed are those who are persecuted...

Corky mentioned this last week… and if you didn’t write it down then, you probably should now!

The blessing of the Beatitudes is not really about what you have, but Who you are near.

And, for whatever reason, it is qualities like these… or it is situations like these that bring us closer to the heart of God… that make us blessed.

And so a question I want us to wrestle with today is this:

Which blessing are you after? A blessing of this world or a blessing of God’s Kingdom?

Today I want to talk about why for just a minute… why does this get us closer to God’s own heart?

and then we’ll move on to one Beatitude in particular.

_______________________

If we really think about it there are 2 main reasons why parents are able to say “because I said so” to their kids.

IDEALLY- parents, when we’re at our best- we can assume 2 things to be true.

The first is that you are in charge.

My house is a kingdom where Allison is the queen and… when I’m allowed… I am the king... but the point is that we’re both IN CHARGE of Zoe. That is assumption #1.

Assumption #2 is that we know, in the long run, what is best for her.

So Zoe may not enjoy brushing her teeth and its hard to give her a reason that she’ll understand. BUT... we are in charge and, in the long run, it is best for her teeth that she brushes them every day.

Because we love and care for her, we are going to be in charge of her... so that, in the long run, she will grow up with a bright future.

Assumption #1- WE ARE IN CHARGE.

Assumption #2- WE KNOW, IN THE LONG RUN, WHAT IS BEST.

________________________________

The beatitudes are an example of a “because I said so” list.

There are concepts here that we don’t understand, but Jesus calls us here anyway.

And beCAUSE He loves and cares for us, He is going to be in charge of us... so that, in the long run, He will see us through to a bright future.

And so let’s look at those 2 assumptions one more time... but this time I want to talk about two concepts at work in scripture and definitely in Jesus’ ministry.

______________________________________

God’s Kingdom can be seen on every page of scripture. In fact, if you’re trying to make sense of how all of these stories can fit together... it is God’s Kingdom that is the story of this whole book.

SPOILER ALERT: We have a series planned this summer about just this concept. Putting this whole book together as one big story.

God’s Kingdom was lost in the Garden of Eden. And throughout the rest of the Old Testament... through the leadership of Abraham and Moses and Joshua... through the earthly kingdoms of David and Solomon... through the exile of God’s people by other kingdoms...

The concept of God’s Kingdom is looming as that pinnacle that they can never quite reach.

And then Jesus comes on the scene and right before the Beatitudes he declares... “Now is the time! Here comes God’s kingdom!”

The Kingdom of God just means that there truly is a way that this is all supposed to work... and it only happens when God is in charge.

Just like assumption #1 (where parents are in charge), Jesus can say “because I said so” because in the Kingdom of God he is in charge.

Our assumption #2 (that parents know what’s best for their kids in the long run) is where our next concept comes in...

THE IDEA THAT THIS IS ALL HEADED SOMEWHERE...

They have a fancy, ten-dollar word for this in seminary… it’s “ESCHATOLOGY.”

Say that with me... “ESCHATOLOGY.”

Jesus says “Here comes God’s kingdom!” like he can see it on the horizon.

If you’re like us, living in Florida means you might get a lot of visitors.

And we don’t live close to family so that’s exciting for us... I don’t know about you...

But we get excited enough that sometimes we’ll go sit on our front porch and watch to see when a certain car might come around the corner...

“Here they come!”

Eschatology is seeing God’s Kingdom round that corner... or come up over the horizon.

It’s the belief that all this is headed somewhere. One day... we believe that God is going to be in charge... and Jesus says “Here it comes!”

Jesus can say “because I said so” because he knows where all of this is headed. And he knows what that world is like.

The beatitudes are driven by this belief... that a world unlike ours is on its way. Here it comes.

THIS is why they are a blessing. THIS is why they bring us closer to the heart of God… because they bring us closer to God’s Kingdom.

This list might be counter-intuitive to us now... but not forever.

Let me read the Beatitudes again... and this time I’ll finish the phrases. ANd listen to how often you hear the words “will be.”

...because this is all headed somewhere...

Matthew 5:3–10 NIV

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Church, This is going somewhere.

And you might ask Jesus, when will all of this stuff happen? When will we receive mercy or be called children of God. When will we inherit the earth?

The end that it points us to is The Kingdom of God.

These counter-intuitive prescriptions for ‘happy people’ clearly are not driven by this world.

In Zoe’s little world there is no good reason to scrape her teeth with that brush and that paste. But she needs to anyway “because I said so.”

In our little world the beatitudes do not work. But Jesus preaches it anyway. This is what his followers look like “because he said so.”

Because the Kingdom of God is above our comprehension... but through our relationship and trust in Jesus we know that he knows what he is talking about.

It is in relationship and trust that “because I said so” goes from unwelcome and imposing... to longed-for instruction for how the Kingdom of God really works.

Which blessing are you after? A blessing of this world or a blessing of God’s Kingdom?

The blessings of the Beatitudes is not about something that IS happening… but it’s about something that WILL happen.

Let me say it differently…

THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS ABOUT FUTURE RESTORATION, NOT PRESENT SATISFACTION.

THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS ABOUT FUTURE RESTORATION, NOT PRESENT SATISFACTION.

Do you believe that, in the long run, Jesus knows what is best for his followers? For you? For us?

Because that is the only way that this list works!

_________________________

Today we’re going to sit with verse 5 for a little bit. It says...

Matthew 5:5 NIV

5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Is it just me or does meek sound a whole lot like weak to anyone else?

Like literally, but also the idea of it.

I get this image of someone who is drawn in… very timid… talks in a whisper… kind of like a doormat.

Um… just think of the opposite of Corky… :)

I don’t know if Corky is getting this blessing.

And for that matter, Jesus doesn’t always strike me as being the most meek and timid character.

But is that what meekness really is?

______________________

The word for meek in the Bible DOES mean humble, mild, or gentle…

BUT it’s actually somewhat richer than that.

The Hebrew word for meek adds in the idea of someone who is afflicted… someone who is oppressed.

In today’s language… Someone who has been done wrong. Or maybe a people who have been done wrong.

The book of Mathew was probably written to a Jewish audience… the people of the Old Testament… the people who had been conquered and driven away to exile…

And so when Jesus says blessed are the meek… blessed are those who are oppressed, afflicted, have been done wrong…

They may not have actually felt blessed in that moment… but at least they knew He was looking at them.

Right now we have bumper stickers that say that we are too blessed to be stressed… but Jesus would turn that on its head.

The Beatitudes would say that you’re blessed when you’re oppressed!

You’re CLOSE to God when you’ve been afflicted.

Which blessing are you after? A blessing of this world or a blessing of God’s Kingdom?

_______________________

And if you’re looking closely you’ll see this in scripture.

One of my favorite verses to go to in difficult times is Psalm 34:18

It’s so simple… it just says:

Psalm 34:18 (NIV)

18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted...

If you use Corky’s definition about blessing being near to God, then this could read “You are NEAR to God… you are BLESSED when you are brokenhearted....”

Which blessing are you after?

A classic “blessing” verse that many of us just love is Jeremiah 29:11

We LOVE this verse… many of us may have this on our walls in our house… or we post it on Instagram. It says:

Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

THAT’S the kind of blessing that I want! I want that hope and a future… and I wouldn’t mind prospering as well!

But have you read that whole story?

God’s people are removed from their capital city of Jerusalem. It was their political center… but it was also the place where they had built their temple… a place where they believe that God Himself lived.

And so they feel discouraged and helpless and hopeless… and they’re waiting for God to act.

And finally, the prophet Jeremiah speaks… and he has a word from God… and you know what he says?

Right before the promise of a hope and a future and prospering… here is the message from God that he brings:

Jeremiah 29:10

10 This is what the Lord says: “You will be in Babylon for seventy years....”

He tells them to settle down… plant gardens… get married and have kids… even plan for grandkids!

You will be in Babylon for seventy years...

Perhaps the blessing of ALL blessings… the one that we LOVE to share and claim for ourselves… a future and a hope… THAT blessing was specifically declared to the oppressed and afflicted.

Our God IS close to the brokenhearted… and it is the MEEK who are blessed.

Which blessing are you after?

In Isaiah it says that God LIVES with those who have been crushed…

In the NT Jesus brings good news… specifically to the the poor, the prisoners, the blind, and the oppressed.

THROUGHOUT scripture it is the afflicted, the oppressed, the humble, the poor, and maybe those who were just too gentle for their own good… THOSE are the ones who are near to God.

This is who is blessed.

WHY?

Because meekness… gentleness… humility… even if it got you rolled over… this is the way of the Kingdom.

NT Wright says this about the Beatitudes:

They are a summons to live in the present in the way that will make sense in God’s promised future...

Which blessing are you after? A blessing of this world or a blessing of God’s Kingdom?

WE

We have a problem hearing the word “meek” don’t we?

It’s not really “on brand” for our culture.

Everything around us tells us to stick up for ourselves… don’t get steamrolled… don’t be a doormat.

Let me be clear… I don’t think that God really wants you to get walked on.

God’s Kingdom is one where humility and gentleness thrive… but this world is different. And if you choose to live more like Jesus… the world might take advantage.

We always tell Zoe that you can’t control what someone else does… but you can control what you do… and who you are going to be.

And sometimes in order to remain a person of integrity, sometimes in order to live in a way that makes sense in God’s future... you remain gentle, you remain a person of high character and through the oppressive actions of someone else you get rolled over.

Jesus says that in that moment you are blessed. You are close to God.

Which blessing are you after?

Can I just tell you… because I don’t think he will… I have seen this exact thing happen to our Senior Pastor… MANY times since I’ve been here.

And it’s not weakness… I think we all know he’s not weak.

It’s because he’s trying to live with the Kingdom of God in mind.

Maybe he does have that blessing of meekness after all… :)

_________________________

We live in a world that is consumed with winning. We live in a world where meekness is weakness and if you’re too gentle you may get trampled.

Or maybe in your world you already feel trampled. Let me talk to you right now… Maybe you feel beaten down and afflicted by whatever life is throwing at you right now.

Can I just tell you that you are blessed? Jesus says you are blessed right now. God is close to the brokenhearted and He has made His home with you.

You’re blessed, not because it makes sense, but because Jesus says so.

You may not feel the world’s blessing today… but I hope you feel that God is CLOSE to you right now. And He wants a bright future for you.

Or maybe you don’t feel afflicted… I would ask you… What would it look like if we began live more and more like God’s Kingdom. Where we were far less concerned with winning every battle and always coming out on top...

And far more concerned about bringing God’s Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.

The reality of being someone who is gentle… or a person of humility… or if you look further into the Beatitudes… someone who is merciful and pure and desires peace...

The reality there is that you will not win every battle.

Which blessing are you after?

Are you after the world’s wealth and success?

Or are you after God’s Kingdom?

When you’re after God’ Kingdom then You are blessed because Jesus Says So.

CLOSING PRAYER

Who You are, who we are, who You’ve called us to be…

COMMUNION

Convictions aren’t bad… Standing up for important things isn’t bad...

Let’s not forget the Jesus who turned over tables...

But the reality of it is that we also serve a Lord who was gentle to the point of getting rolled over. He was steamrolled by a strange legal and religious process that led to His execution...

And He just took it...

He took it with the Kingdom in mind.

A Kingdom where death was no more because it was beaten for us.

A Kingdom where justice could happen, even through defeat.

Because defeat for the world was a win for the Kingdom.

And Jesus knew this as He meekly offered up His body and blood so that we could receive the blessing and the closeness of God.

BENEDICTION

Church what blessing are you after? I pray that you would be willing to lose in this world so that you would have a WIN in the Kingdom.