Blessed Are the Meek

Pastor Michael Wheatley, November 6, 2011

Background. Meekness is not one of our most treasured words. I doubt that anyone would want to be known as meek. Our culture treasures words like strong, competent, winner, etc. So, what's behind this word that we are not aware of? How is it that the meek inherit the earth and no one else, though they try so hard. Meekness is the theme of the sermon this Sunday. There is an advantage attached to it. Join us and learn what it is.

Scripture—Matthew 5:5. "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth."

Sermon. This verse—blessed are the meek—is a good example of what happens when you take a big concept and try to boil it down to one word. In this case the word is “meek.” What does the word meek connote? You know what I mean—what does the word suggest? What picture comes to mind when we flash up on the screen the word meek? Is it weak? Spineless? Lacking conviction? Someone we can walk all over? So on the surface it’s not a very attractive word. It’s not one we like to be associated with.

However, Jesus says blessed are the meek. Fortunate are the meek; it will go well with the meek. There is something about meekness that is to our advantage. And Jesus tells us what it is. This is where we are going to start. We are going to look at the advantage of meekness, after which we will define the word.

What this verse does is tell us who wins. Winning is important to a lot of people. For some, it’s the most important thing. Some build their lives around it—around winning or trying to win. Some will do anything to win. It’s an important word in politics, relationships, athletics, business, and war. No one wants to lose. Everyone wants to win. For every winner there is one or more losers. People don’t like to lose.

Jesus tells us who is going to win. Jesus is telling us, when the dust settles, who will be the only ones left standing. Jesus tells us who will inherit the earth. It’s not going to be the powerful. It’s not going to be the rich. It’s not going to be the movers and the shakers. It’s not going to be the abusers, or manipulators, the generals, the brightest. It’s going to be the meek. The meek will inherit the earth. Talk about turning things upside down! This would have shocked Jesus’ disciples as they sat with him there on the mountainside. They had a world view that said God favors the rich, the rulers, and the healthy. Money, power, and health were the rewards of being favored by God. This view held that the rich, the rulers, the healthy would be first in line to the kingdom of God. And Jesus turns that on its head saying that the meek inherit the earth. That is to say the meek will be the only ones in line.

There is a lot of kingdom building going on. Corporations do it. Clans do it. Families, tribes, individuals do it, some on a small scale, some on a large scale, like Muammar Gaddafi. But it’s all for naught. None of them will prevail. None of their kingdoms will prevail. None except the kingdom of God.

We could change the question. Let’s change it from who is going to win, to how would you like to win? Would you like to inherit the earth? We’re not talking about becoming homecoming queen. How would you like to inherit the earth? You can. Jesus tells us how. Jesus tells us who will. And you can become one of them. It’s the meek.

Before you say forget it, that’s the last thing I want to become, remember what I said. The word meek encapsulates a much larger concept. So let’s not reject anything just yet—at least not until we’ve come to understand how Jesus used the word.

I need to stop here and backtrack just a little. Not retract, but backtrack. It’s a question I want to drop into your hat. It’s something to consider and think about. If Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek” and God by his Spirit said, “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,” then what does this say about the way the church, a local church or the larger Church, uses power and influence and wealth to shape society? You can play with that thought.

Now, back to defining the word meek. It will take a bit of unfolding to do so.

The word meek was one of the great ethical words for the ancient Greeks. Aristotle had an interesting way of defining words. He would point to the extremes, and the word he wanted to define would be in the middle. So, gray would be defined as the shade between black and white—the extremes. Happy would fall between the extremes of sad and euphoric. Generous was somewhere between careless and miserly. Meek was somewhere between rage and indifference.

Now let’s expand that. Meek was also the word in the Greek language that was used of domesticated animals. It was the animal that had accepted control. It had been trained to obey. So combine that with Aristotle and you come up with this. The meek are those who have learned to control their anger.

Let’s expand that a bit. The meek were then those who had submitted to God’s control. This is really where the heart of meekness resides. It’s all about a proper relationship with God. It’s a combination of the first two beatitudes. The meek person is the one who knows that they are spiritually destitute. They know that there is a God-shaped vacuum in their heart which they cannot fill. Second, they recognize that there is this extensive record of their sin which speaks against them. So not only do they know that they have nothing to offer to God, but there is also this oppressive weight of sin which is all too obvious. The result is that this is the kind of person who is open to the grace of God. This is the person whose sin will be forgiven.

The meek are those who live in the balance between knowing they are nothing before God and at the same time everything to God—a child of God. Moses was described as meek. He lived in the balance between knowing he was not the man for the job, and that God had chosen him for it and no one else. So he was not domineering, aggressive, harsh, or manipulative with people as he led them. Yet at the same time he was bold, confrontational, decisive, and passionate. David was meek. His question was, “Who am I to be king over Israel?” knowing that the answer was nobody. And at the same time, he was well aware of the fact that he was God’s choice. He was meek yet not weak. Meekness and strength are not mutually exclusive.

Meekness and pride are mutually exclusive. There is no pride in meek. Knowing we are nothing before God, what is there to boast in except the grace of God? So, how do the meek treat other people? Meekness does not judge. How can we judge something in another when those same things are true about us in some measure? Meekness gives room. It forgives. It tolerates as God tolerates us. It is patient. In other words, meekness gives to others what God has given to us. Meekness is a reflection of the character of Christ.

And, lacking pride, meek is not sensitive to others judging us; it is not defensive. There are plenty of people out there—Christians out there—who spend a lot of time watching themselves, worried about what other people think of them or say about them, and when something is said, they get defensive. Meekness is that middle ground between I am nothing and I am everything. Some one says, “Mike, you are a lousy father.” Let’s say they are wrong. Why should I care what anyone else thinks when God knows the truth. Let’s say they are right. I still have confidence that God is righter. When God looks at me, he sees not me being a lousy father. He sees Jesus in me.

If our feelings are easily hurt, it’s because we are not meek. If our feelings are easily hurt, it’s because pride still has some sway in us. It’s because we are not yet at the point of believing what God believes about us. And if we are not treating people well, it’s because we are not meek. It’s because pride still has some sway in us. It’s because we think we are better than they. It’s because we do not believe what God believes about us. We’ve lost that balance.

Meekness—it’s compatible with strength, conviction, and passion. Meekness correlates well with serving others, forgiving others, being tolerant of others, and being teachable and open to correction. It’s the meek who win. They are the ones who will inherit the earth.