Word of Salvation – Vol. 43 No. 16 – April 1998

 

Blessed Are The Meek...!

 

Sermon by Rev. J. Westendorp on Matthew 5:5

Scripture Readings: Psalm 37:1-11; 1Peter 2:18-25; Matthew 5:1-12

Suggested Hymns: BoW 22a; 398; 37; 511

 

Introd: In these beatitudes we see repeatedly that the standards of the Christian faith are different.

In fact, not just different... radically different.
So different that they are often exactly opposite to the world’s standards.

  -         The world pronounces its blessing on the rich... those who have made it.
            Jesus says: Blessed are the poor for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
  -         The world envies the happy-go-lucky and the fun-loving.
            Jesus has a special blessing for those who mourn: they will be comforted.

J.B.Phillips has written the worlds version of the beatitudes:
            Happy are the “pushers”: for they get on in the world.
            Happy are the hard-boiled: for they never let life hurt them.
            Happy are they who complain: for they get their way in the end.
            Happy are the blasé: for they never have to worry about their sins.
            Happy are the slave drivers for they get results.
            Happy are the knowledgeable men of the world: for they know their way around.
            Happy are the trouble-makers: for they make people take notice of them.

Here in this third beatitude we notice the difference again so clearly.
Again there is that radical reversal of the standards of the world around us.
            “Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth.”

A]        THE MEEK WHO WILL INHERIT THE LAND.

1.         Maybe it is especially THIS beatitude that shows just how radically different the standards are.

Meekness... or gentleness is not usually considered a desirable quality.

In our society meekness is not seen as an asset... it is a sign of weakness.
Our society says:  Blessed are the aggressive... for they will go places.
To get anywhere today you have to be self-assured... and assertive.
And if you’re not that way you can even go and do an assertiveness training course.
Happy are the rough and tough... for they’ll survive life in the fast-lane.

Just look around you in business and in commerce.
            If you’re soft you’ll never make a dollar.
            In the corporate world you have to fight your way to the top.

Or think of how it goes in politics.
            You have to out-shout and outmanoeuvre your political opponents.
            To survive you need to have something of the killer instinct.

And on the world scene it is even worse.
            Think of Mugabe’s abuse of power to dominate the people of Zimbabwe.
            We’ve had genocides and ethnic-cleansings to create a new pure master race.

Blessed are the powerful for its through power that we conquer and overcome.
That message is impressed on us through the media and advertising.
Assert yourself... be confident enough to push your way ahead through life.

That’s the way to get on with the opposite sex too.

Some of you my age may remember an advert that you used to find often in comics.
There’s a skinny guy at the beach with a couple of girls... a fifty kilo weakling.
Then this big hunk of a he-man walks in, kicks dirt in his face and walks off with the girls.
So ‘skinny’ goes off and does the body-building bit.
He comes back, gets even and wins back his lady friends.

That seems to me an accurate picture of the aggressiveness of the world.
The motto is: you hit me and I’ll hit you back!
There’s no room for this quality of meekness and gentleness.
Meekness is symbolised, not the weightlifter, but by the lamb.  And who wants to be a lamb?

2.         At this point I should pause to describe just what we mean by meekness.

Because we as Christians often misunderstand this quality.

And unfortunately, all too often, we as Christians also think the way the world thinks.

Why is there so much aggressiveness also amongst us... so much self-assertiveness... why?
We even excuse it by saying, That’s just the way I am!  Or, “I’m Dutch/Scottish by birth”.

Some years ago I took a series of studies on the Fruit of the Spirit at a youth camp.
After dealing with gentleness one young lady confronted me... most irate.
“If you think I’m going to be a doormat for other people you’ve got rocks in your head!”
Another person said: “At work I owe it to myself to stand up for my rights.”

What then young people?  Does Jesus mean you’ve got to take everything lying down?

If that’s the case then let’s just skip this particular beatitude and go on to the next one.

I want to say very strongly that meekness is not weakness.... or spinelessness.

It is not being a ‘yes man’ who licks the boss’ boots.

Rather than being associated with weakness, meekness is linked with strength.
In fact great meekness and great strength of character are not at all contradictory.
            Okay... it’s true that Jesus calls us His sheep.
            And sheep are a symbol of meekness.
            But Jesus sends us out as sheep among wolves... that takes courage and strength.

What then is meekness?
FIRST it is an absence of pride.... humility comes into it.
            You cannot have meekness where pride and arrogance rear their ugly heads.
SECOND it is a voluntary willingness to submit to others... to give in.
            It involves a willingness to deliberately turn the other cheek.

But let me stress again that meekness is not a giving in out of weakness.
Rather it is a deliberate submission because of the Kingdom of God.
Because God calls us not to assert ourselves but to let Him defend our rights.
Peter spoke of it in those verses we read from 1Peter 2:
            “How is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it?
             But if you suffer for doing good and endure it, this is commendable before God.”

Let me give you three Biblical examples of meekness that is not weakness.

Three instances where meekness is actually strength of character.

The first is the story of Abram’s people arguing with the people of Lot, his young nephew.
So Abram and Lot decide to part company and go to different parts of the land.
At that point Abraham could have stood on his rights... asserted himself to have first choice.
Not only was he the older man... he was the one to whom God had promised Canaan.
            Was it weakness on Abraham’s part that he let Lot choose first?  Hardly!
            Abraham, by faith, showed his strength of character.

Turn to Numbers 12 for an even clearer example of meekness.

The context in Numbers 12 is that Moses’ leadership has been challenged by Aaron and Miriam.

Moses too does not become aggressive or assert himself... in fact notice verse 3:

Now Moses was a very humble (meek) man, more humble (meek) than anyone else on the face of the earth.

Was Moses a weakling in not asserting himself over against Aaron and Miriam?
I do not get the impression of Moses as a weak man.
            He once killed and Egyptian because he was going to deliver Israel.
            He was the man who stood before Pharaoh and demanded:  Let my people go!
            The meekness of Moses was that he was content to let God be the judge.

3.         Before I mention my third example let me remind you that the beatitudes describe God’s people.

Here are the characteristics of those who are members of God’s Kingdom.

Christians are meek... or they should be meek.

Well, if the beatitudes tell us what Christians look like then they also describe the character of Jesus.
IOW He was the one who perfectly lived out the life described in the beatitudes.
            He was the one who was poor... He had nowhere to lay His head.
            He was the one who mourned... the man of sorrows, acquainted with grief.

So turn to Matthew 11 for the third example of a meek man.

One of whom we could never say that in His meekness He was a weakling.

Matthew 11:29
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle (or meek) and humble in heart...!

Was Jesus weak?
Does the way He repeatedly confronted the Pharisees look like weakness?
Does the way He drove the money-changers out of the temple look like weakness?
Of course not!

This is where artists have not always done us a favour.
Sure, there’s a song that sings of “Gentle Jesus, meek and mild....!
So the image we are often given of Jesus is that of an effeminate, anaemic looking person.

What does it mean that Jesus was meek?
It means what Peter said in his letter.
            That Jesus didn’t stand on His rights before Pilate and Caiaphas and Herod.
            That when they spat on Him and whipped Him He didn’t retaliate.
            Instead of vengeance He trusted in God.

Jesus conquered and overcame... He even defeated Satan and sin.
But He defeated them by His meekness and gentleness.
And then Peter says that we are to follow the example of Jesus.  We are to imitate Christ.
We are to let this beatitude become a reality in our lives.
            That does not mean we have to become a doormat for others to walk over.
            It doesn’t mean we shouldn’t speak our minds at times.... our Lord certainly did.

What it means is that there should be far less concern among us for winning an argument.

We should be far less anxious about standing up for our rights and getting our way.

We ought to keep our aggressiveness and assertiveness in check instead of excusing it.
Because in the Kingdom of heaven it is the least who will be greatest.
It is not by power-struggles and a gung-ho attitude... but by meekness that we win the world.

B]        THE LAND THAT THE MEEK INHERIT.

1.         What special blessing is given then to the meek?  This: they will inherit the earth!

The land will become theirs.

That is an interesting blessing... and again we might wonder how we should interpret this.

Surely Jesus can’t mean this literally?  How can the world be ours?

Have you ever noticed the emphasis the Bible places on land?  Interesting!
We notice it already in the OT.
            Abraham is promised the land of Canaan.
            The Israelites yearned for that land for 40 years in the desert.
            Later they conquered it and made it their home.
            In time of God’s displeasure He took the land away from them for a while.
That idea is not absent from the NT.
            We see it here in this beatitude... and elsewhere in the NT too.

In a sense that is perfectly natural.
God created us for this world... He made this world to be the place for us to live.
We were made to have dominion over the earth... to cultivate it and care for it.
The world was made for man and man for the world.
And we can see something of that in our hunger for a piece of real estate.
            In the indigenous clamour for “land rights”.
            In every individual wanting his own little piece of turf.
            In nations that become greedy for more and more territory.

The need for land almost seems to be built into us.

And here that need is satisfied... the meek will inherit the land.

We ought to keep in mind the unity of the beatitudes.
All these statements belong together forming a unified whole.
In a sense each one builds on the previous one.
            Do you remember what the blessing was in the first beatitude? (Blessed are the poor?)
            The blessing was: ...for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven!

But now Jesus shows us that this Kingdom is not exclusively spiritual and heavenly.
It is also material and earthly.
There is the land... and it is part of the Kingdom.

2.         That is something that is already important to us as Christians here and now.

In a real sense the world belongs to the people of God... now.

We just don’t have the title deeds to it yet.

In fact the Devil still occupies a lot of it... kind of like an illegal squatter.

However... this world is our Father’s world.
And He gives it as an inheritance to those who are meek.
That means that we are the heirs of it.
In fact... in principle it is already ours.
Blessed are the meek for they stand to inherit the earth.

You may ask:  But what does that mean in practice?
Imagine for a moment that you live in a house with parents who are already quite elderly.
And they are leaving everything to you in their will... the house... the contents... the lot.
When they die it will all be yours.
But aren’t you already living in it...?  Yes!  Aren’t you already enjoying it?  Absolutely!
And surely that means that you will also make sure you care for it.

It is similar when it comes to the Kingdom of God.
God has given us an inheritance which we share with Christ.
The will has been made up... signed with the blood of God’s Son.
And that inheritance includes this world.
One day it will all become ours.... but we are already living in it and enjoying it.
And surely then we will also take good care of it as future owners.

Of course there is another side to it.
Satan is the illegal squatter who still tries to lay claim on the world as his.
He and his followers pretend it is theirs but that is not so.
It is the inheritance of those who, like Christ, are meek... they will inherit the earth.

Elsewhere the Bible talks about the time when the will is going to be executed.
The time when the settlement takes place and the inheritance becomes ours.
John in Revelation talks not only about a new heaven but also a new earth.
            New - in the sense of this present earth having been renewed... purified and cleansed.
            And John says it will become the possession of the Bride of Christ, the people of God.

So it’s not the way we sometimes see it in pictures and cartoons.
Where we end up as angels with wings, sitting on clouds, strumming harps.
Scripture pictures instead a new Eden with rivers and trees where we work for God’s glory.
And all of that is for you... if you demonstrate meekness in your life.

3.         Did you notice that the words of our text are already found in Psalm 37?

IOW Jesus is simply building on the OT.

In Ps.37 it is already stated clearly...
that it is not the powerful... and not the aggressive... but the meek who inherit the land.

Psalm 37 is an interesting psalm.
It shows the wicked trying to take over the land by force.
But then God says: No!  Not by violence.  But the meek shall inherit the land.

That makes the word ‘inherit’ in our text very meaningful.
The land... the earth is our inheritance.
            IOW it is not won by conquest... it is not gained by power struggles.
            It means we can’t even get it by working for it.
            Rather it is God’s gift to us by inheritance... to those who are like His son.

God is showing us that the new world does not come by revolution or war.
It comes as an inheritance that Jesus has won for us by His meekness.
In fact, by His meek submission even to death Jesus gained the Kingdom and all things.
And now He gives it to us who are heirs with Him.
            IOW If we share the character of meekness with Jesus....
                        we will also share the inheritance with Jesus... a new heaven and earth.

Do you want that blessing of the kingdom?
Do you want to inherit the earth?
            Then I have to warn you today to deal with your aggressiveness.
            To put aside that spirit that feels it needs to win every argument.
            Instead surrender yourself to Jesus and in His power develop this fruit of the Spirit.

Do that and then this wonderful promise is yours.
And the promise of this beatitude is certain.
            The word ‘inheritance’ not only speaks to us of something being a gift.
            It also speaks to us of something being a legal right.
            Remember the will has been written by the blood of Jesus.
            God decrees it to be ours when the image of His Son is seen in us.
            And God will not change His mind about that.

Blessed are those in whom there is the meekness and gentleness of Christ.
Because they will have the right to God’s renewed and perfectly restored creation.

Amen.