The Jesus Manifesto: Meek is not Weak
Matthew 5:5; Psalm 37
Chenoa Baptist Church
Pastor Jefferson M. Williams
07-22-18
Video: Meekness
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uxNyyJz50Y
Rearview Mirror
We are continuing our summer sermon on the Sermon on the Mount. We have been studying the first twelve verses known as the “Beatitudes.”
Let me remind you that the Beatitudes are not a “to-do list,” they are a “to-be” list. Jesus was describing the postures of heart that a disciple/follower of His will exhibit as they live out their faith in a lost and dying world.
Quiz Time:
“Blessed are the p______ in s________, for theirs is the k_______of h_________. (Matthew 5:3)
“Blessed are those who m_________, for they will be c__________. (Matthew 5:4)
The first, and foundational, Beatitude, is being “poor in spirit.” It has the idea of bending low, of absolute and abject destitution. Jesus is describing a person that has nothing and is totally dependent on God. It is the complete absence of pride, self-assurance, and self-reliance. It is a deep humility that leads to authenticity.
Martin Luther’s last words echoed this truth, “We are all beggars, this much is true.”
Once a person understands that they bring nothing to their salvation except the sin that nailed Jesus to the cross, then they see their sin for what it is – cosmic treason against a Holy and Righteous God.
This leads to the second Beatitude – a deep sense of sorrow over our sins. The sorrow isn’t because we have broken a set of rules but because we have broken the Father’s heart.
We don’t excuse, belittle, minimize, or blame our sins on others. We are called to confess and repent of this sin and marvel in the indescribable gift of forgiveness that God gave through the substitutionary death of Jesus on the cross, in our place, to pay the penalty for our sin.
He didn’t have to do this. We didn’t deserve it. In fact, we were “objects of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3) who deserved to go to hell, but God demonstrated His love for us in this – while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:6).
This brings us to the third Beatitude this morning. The first two are negative but this one is a positive virtue. Let’s read this together:
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5)
This may the most misunderstood beatitude. What did Jesus mean by this? How does this virtue play itself out in our lives today?
Prayer
Remember the Context
Let me set the stage again for us. Jesus was just beginning His public ministry. We find Him sitting on a gentle sloping hill by the Sea of Galilee. Surrounding Him are His disciples/followers. Outside that inner circle is the “crowd.”
There were some who whispered that Jesus just might be the Messiah, the long-awaited Deliverer of Israel. In their thinking, this Messiah would rise up, defeat Rome, and restore Israel to its former glory. They waited with baited breath to see what this new teacher had to say. What they heard confused, angered, and disappointed them to say the least. I can just imagine people started to walk away when they heard Jesus say, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” - “Why are we leaving daddy?” Because He’s not who we thought he was, son.”
The kingdom that they were anticipating would be ruled by the strong, the aggressive, and the powerful. Jesus turns their view upside down and paints a picture of a different kind of King and kingdom.
Meekness is Not Weakness
Let’s start by looking at what meekness is not. It is important that we understand that meekness does not mean weakness. It is not cowardice or passivity. It doesn’t mean we are doormats, victims, or spineless, A meek person isn’t marked by a lack of conviction or timidity. This is not a mark of low self-esteem or simply being “nice.”
Jesus was not saying, “Blessed are the wimps.” We are going to learn that Jesus actually called Himself “meek” and the record shows that He was anything but a wimp.
So what does this word mean?
Meekness Defined
In Greek culture, a virtue would be defined by the balanced between two extremes. The word “meek” in classical Greek meant the balance between being timid and fits of rage, between too much anger and no anger at all. This is a person who is angry at the right things in the right way.
Also, Greek physicians would describe medicine that was “just the right dose,” not too strong and not ineffective.
Another way that they looked at this word was like a gentle breeze that blew in from the ocean. Too much wind could be damaging. Too little wind and it’s scorching hot.
The most common definition of the word meek is the picture of a wild stallion that has been tamed.
U.S. Grant was a general and a president, but what he may have been known for most was his incredible skill with horses. He was said to be one of the best riders in the world and was described as being “one with the horse” when he in the saddle.
He was known for being able to break wild horses that no one else could. He was a “horse whisperer” and seemed to be able to speak their language.
If you have ever been on a horse you know how big they are and how much power they have. But with a bit and reigns, you can control them. It’s strength under control. This is a great picture of what the word meek means.
William Barclay described the meek person as one whose “every instinct is under control. Every impulse, passion, and every ounce of strength has been harness by God.”
Psalm 37
The first two Beatitudes are from the mind of Jesus but the third is from the heart of the Old Testament. Turn with me to Psalm 37 and let’s look at verse 11:
“But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy peace and prosperity.” (Psalm 37:11)
In the third Beatitude, Jesus was quoting David’s words in Psalm 37. If we look at verses 3-9, we will find some postures of heart of the meek.
Let’s read this together:
Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil. For those who are evil will be destroyed, but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land.
(Psalm 37:3-8)
What does meekness actually look like in a follower of Jesus Christ?
* Trust in the Lord. This is a deep confidence that God is for you and will work on your behalf to vindicate you when you are oppressed.
Solomon wrote: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)
* Delight in the Lord. This is ability to find our deepest joy in God. John Piper has many times, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.”
David wrote : “If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction. I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have given me life.” (Psalm 119:92-93)
* Commit their way to the Lord. This word literally means, “to roll.” These are people who understand they are not able to cope with all the complexities, pressures, and obstacles in their lives on their own. They roll their anxiety and fears onto the Lord, who sustains them, guides them, and protects them.
George Muller was asked how he stayed so calm while he was running the orphanage on faith. He answered, “I rolled sixty things off my back onto God before breakfast this morning!”
I’ll quote Solomon again:
“Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.” (Proverbs 16:3)
* They are quiet before God and wait for Him. This is a attitude of a steady calmness that trusts that God is at work even when we can’t see Him.
David encouraged his readers with these words:
“Be still and know that He is God I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalm 46:10)
* They do not fret over the wicked. This attitude doesn’t produce anger, bitterness, or envy when they see the people that could less about God prospering:
“Do not fret because of evildoers or be envious of the wicked, for the evildoer has no future hope, and the lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out.” (Proverbs 24:19-20)
* They hope in the Lord. These are people who understand that God is good and they live with an anticipation of seeing God work for our good and His glory.
David declared: “We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield.” (Psalm 33:20)
We have started to get an idea of what a meek person looks like. Let’s look at an example from the Old Testament. Turn with me to Numbers 12.
Moses the Meek
In Numbers 12, Miriam and Aaron opposed their brother Moses over his new wife, which she obviously didn’t approve of – “Hasn’t God spoken through us too?”
It would be easy for Moses to be offended and let his sister have it. Or, as the kids say, he had every reason to “clap back.”
But there is this really interesting parenthetical statement in verse three:
“Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.” (Numbers 12:3)
This is the same word as “meek.” Now hold on a minute. Moses killed an Egyptian (see Exodus 2) and argued with God about whether he was the right person to lead the people out of Egypt (see Exodus 4). Then he lost his temper and lost his ticket into the Promised land (see Numbers 20) Moses wasn’t exactly a wimp.
God summons all three of them to the tent of meeting and comes down in a pillar of cloud to confront Aaron and Miriam:
“Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?” The anger of the Lord burned against them, and he left them. (Numbers 12:8-9)
When the cloud lifted from the tent, Miriam’s skin was white with leprosy.
How do we see his meekness play out in these verses? Moses didn’t fight back; he didn’t answer his critics, he didn’t get angry, or take revenge. In fact, he prayed for Miriam to be healed.
He didn’t try to explain his actions or complain about his unfair treatment. He simply trusted God to take up his cause. Oh how we need to learn this lesson in the church.
How do we respond when we are lied about, provoked, or accused? How do we act when the pressure is on? How do we treat others that frustrate us? ?How do we handle rejection? It’s one thing for me to admit that I’m a vile sinner. It’s quite another thing you say it to my face.
Steve Brown is a pastor and writer and I love his sense of humility. After a sermon, a young seminary student approached him and proceeded to tell him what an absolutely rotten person he was. Steve smiled and put his hand on the young man’s shoulder and said, “I agree. If you knew me better you would know how much you have left out!”
New Testament Meekness
Now, let’s take a look at a couple of New Testament Scriptures to continue to build our definition of meekness.
“My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly [meekly] accept the word planted in you, which can save you.” (James 1:19-21)
James, the half-brother of Jesus gives us another picture of the meek – open ears, closed mouths, gentle hearts, and teachable spirits.
Does this describe you? Does this describe you on Facebook? Christians seem to lose their religion when they go online.
The other day, I had a conversation with someone about their Facebook posts. This person is a leader in his church but his Facebook is full of insults, name calling, and political bashing who don’t agree with him. Basically, he told me that the “truth hurts.” I’ve learned the “truth can hurt but it never does harm.” Maxine can tell you that I was deeply grieved after this interaction.
Social media is not good or evil but it can be used for good or evil. I personally believe that social media is an amazing way to share the Gospel and further God’s kingdom.
In fact, Peter actually writes that our meekness will help our witness:
But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. (I Peter 3:15-16, NKJ)
As we share the hope of the Gospel, we need to do so with gentleness, humility, and a holy respect for their souls and for God.
Casey was in junior high when she first came to our student ministry. She went to camp with us and surrendered her life to Jesus on the last night. She went home so excited to share with her mother her newfound faith.
But her mother made it very clear that she didn’t want to hear the religious junk [my word] in her house. Casey called me crying and asked what to do. I told her, “Clean your room.”
I encouraged her not to fight back, not to get offended, and to simply treat her mother with gentleness and love. This was not easy for Casey but she prayed and did her best to be meek.
A few months later, I had her share her testimony in a sermon and her mother came to hear her. Three weeks later, at an Easter service, her mother surrendered her life to Christ. Her mom ended up working with us in student ministry and is actually preparing to be part-time missionary to Brazil!
Let’s try to put it all together.
The Ingredients of Meekness
Meekness has a vertical dimension. As Dorothy and her friends approached the Wizard of Oz, he said,
“I am Oz, the great and terrible. Who are you and why do seek me? I am Dorothy the small and meek, I have come to you for help.”
Dorothy understood, as we approach a Holy and Righteous God, we are humbled and astonished that He would love us.
Meekness also has a horizontal dimension.
The meek forgive quickly, love fiercely, and are peacemakers:
“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life a worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:1-3)
In a world that values being tough, holding power, getting even, and always being in control, Jesus turns everything upside down. And the world still doesn’t understand.
Francis Crick, one half the team that won the Nobel Prize for the double helix model of DNA, once said,
“The two stupidest sentences in the English language are, ‘Love your enemies,’ and ‘The meek shall inherit the earth.’”
A meek person is one who trusts God, commits their way to Him, waits patiently for His work, and doesn’t fret. They do not respond to petty insults, don’t defend themselves, don’t get angry easily, don’t seek revenge, and don’t complain about unfair treatment.
They are slow to speak, quick to listen, and share their faith with gentleness and humility. They don’t feel the need to always correct others, they repay unkindness with kindness, and they don’t use force to get their way.
Meekness is a Fruit
Anyone else feeling like they come up a little, or a lot short, of this virtue? I can assure you that there are times when I get this right and there are times this is sooooo hard.
Once you understand that you are bankrupt before God and then mourn over your sins, you are a good position to learn meekness.
Here’s the bad news – you can’t make yourself meek. You can’t fake it like the guy in the beginning video. But here’s the good news -meekness is actually a fruit of the Spirit:
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness [meekness] and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22=23)
An apple tree doesn’t try to grow apples. It sends its roots down deep to the water supply and nature does the rest. As we stay close to the source of our spiritual life, God will grow the fruit of meekness/gentleness in us. This is called sanctification – a life-long process in which God makes us more like Jesus.
But God doesn’t download meekness into our hard drives. He puts us through situations that will give us opportunity to exhibit meekness.
Tebow
As I prepared this sermon, I thought about examples of meekness that I’ve seen throughout the years. I did think of someone in our culture that exhibits this quality – Tim Tebow.
Tim has been preaching and sharing the Gospel since he was ten years old with his parents on the mission field. Everywhere he has played, he has been a great teammate and a winner. Even before he graduated from the University of Florida, they erected a statue of him.
He has been an ambassador for Jesus in college, in the NFL, as a sportscaster, and now in baseball. Every step of the way, the world has taken shots at him for being a Christian, for being a virgin who is waiting for his wedding night, for sharing Bible verses on his eye tape and his social media, for praying and supporting his fellow teammates, and even for throwing proms for disabled students. How as he has responded to all this negativity? Check his Twitter. It’s just full of Scripture. Check his latest book. It’s just about the Gospel. Listen to him speak. It’s full of encouragement.
He simply keeps winning, keeps loving, keeps preaching, and keeps praying. But, as he would remind us, he is just following our example- Jesus Christ.
Jesus the Meek
Even though Wesley wrote the hymn, “Gentle Jesus, meek and mild,” Jesus was no wimp. He drove the moneychangers out of the Temple and went toe-to-toe with the religious leaders of the day. He knew how to be angry at the right time in the right way.
But, if you just look at the last hours of his earthly life, you see a master class in meekness. He was betrayed, lied about, beaten, and crucified and yet He did not react in anger or call down twelve legions of angels. He submitted himself to God’s will and actually prayed for the one’s nailing Him to the cross. Talk about strength under control.
Jesus gives us this invitation:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matt 11:28-30)
A yoke was a wooden beam that would connect an older ox with a younger ox. The older oxen would do most of the pulling as he teaches the young one how to plow.
Jesus calls us to hitch our yoke to Him and let His Spirit gives us rest from trying to be good. As we are connected to Him, His Spirit will enable the fruit of meekness to grow in our lives.
What an Inheritance
And the promise is that those that are meek, and they alone, will inherit the earth. This is a promise for now. We will be content with the circumstances that God has given us. People who care about being rich and powerful in this world are never content. They always need a little more. But we have all we need. In fact, we have more than all we need.
It is also a future promise. An inheritance is something that is given based on relationship. The writer of Hebrews described Jesus as the “heir of all things” (Heb 1:2) and Paul says that we are “in Christ” (Eph 1:11), will “judge the world and the angels,” (I Cor 6:1-3), and will reign with Him (2 Tim 2:12)
We Bow Down
There is a small church in Bethlehem built over the site of the birthplace of Jesus. Behind the high altar is a little cave lit by silver lamps. There is a star on the floor recognizing the birth of a King. If you want to go in, you have to stoop. The door is so low that you can’t go in standing up.
Song: “Lord, I Need You”
