Gentleness Series

September 05, 2020

Today we are discussing GENTLENESS.

The Greek words translated as gentleness also mean “seemly, equitable, yielding, mildness, humility, meekness, and patient”

As with the other fruit on our Good Tree, Gentleness in word and deed is not a popular characteristic in our world.

What is popular is aggression – The world glorifies power, meanness and rudeness:

• We throw each other under the bus by saying mean, bigoted, racist, sexist things then say, “just joking – can’t you take a joke?”

• We intentionally wound people then excuse it because we’re “speaking our truth”.

• We think nothing of verbally attacking another just because their beliefs are different from ours.

• We criticize and slander and we hide behind computer screens while hurling insults at strangers.

• We are all too eager to pounce on another’s perceived weaknesses.

• We mom shame, fat shame, pro-mask shame, anti-mask shame, because we believe we are entitled to do so.

We do not live in a gentle world. If you’re going to make it in THIS world you have to “do whatever it takes to get them before they get you”

Men don’t want to be viewed as gentle because it’s “too feminine” and wimpy. Women don’t want to be viewed as gentle because they’re trying to make it in a man’s world = tough………. Being gentle is seen as weakness - a gentle person is a pushover and lacks assertiveness. Gentleness = Door Mat.

As Christians we are called to be different!! Unfortunately, Christians seem just as willing to “burn” people as those who do not claim to be Christ-followers.

The story is told ….. One week the preacher’s sermon was on Jesus’ statement, “the meek shall inherit the earth”. Out in the parking lot after the service, a businessman said to his wife, “All I can say, is if the meek are going to inherit the earth, they are going to have to get a lot more aggressive.”

We don’t find the attributes of gentleness, meekness, mildness and humility attractive because we’re into power. We need to understand that being meek/mild/humble/gentle doesn’t mean we lack power, rather we choose to hand over our power and control to someone else = God.

Gentleness is strength & power that is harnessed, channeled and controlled.

Jesus lived His entire life that way.

I like to tell my congregation that the God of the Universe is wild and untamable – after all He just speaks and stuff happens.

• Genesis 1:3 - Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light.

• Psalm 33:6 - By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their host.

• Hebrews 1:1-3 - God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. 3 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.

YET, that same Creator God CHOSE to empty Himself, come to earth and humbly submit to His Father’s will – even to the point of dying on a cross {Philippians 2:5-8}.

What the Prophets said about Jesus:

• Isaiah 40:11 - Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, in His arm He will gather the lambs, and carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes.

• Jeremiah 11:19 - But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter; and I did not know that they had devised plots against me, saying, "Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, and let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name be remembered no more."

• Zechariah 9:9 - Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey….

What Jesus said about Himself:

• Matthew 11:28-30 - "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Throughout the Gospels we get a picture of Jesus’ gentleness.

It was not harsh judgment that transformed the life of the woman at the well {John 4:1-30} or the woman caught in adultery {John 8:1-11} or that turned Zacchaeus from a greedy tax collector into a generous believer {Luke 19:1-10} or Peter from an arrogant hothead to a humble and compassionate leader {Luke 23:31-34 and John 21:1-17}.