A dejected coach entered a telephone booth after losing out in the
high school basketball tournament. When he discovered he didn't
have a dime he called a passing student: "Hey! Lend me a dime so I
can call a friend." The student reached into his pocket and pulled out
two dimes. He handed them to the coach and said, "Here's two dimes
coach, call all your friends." It is hard to be a loser and still win
friends and influence people. Human nature resents defeat. Yet,
defeat is necessary to test a person's strength of character. Most
everyone can win gracefully, but it takes something extra to be
graceful in defeat. It is one of the paradoxes of life that some positive
values can only be developed under negative circumstances. The poet
gives an example.
Good sportsmanship we hail, we sing,
It's always pleasant when you spot it.
There's only one unhappy thing;
You have to lose to prove you've got it.
Richard Armour
What is true for sports, is true for the game of life in general.
Only those who know how to respond properly to defeat, anger,
insult, and persecution, can be truly happy and good sportsman in
the game of life. The natural tendency is to meet every challenge to the
ego with aggression. Any insult to the I on the throne must be met
with revengeful retaliation.
This attitude was at one time built right into the framework of
society. The code of honor required men to duel to the death of one
of them over an insult. The man who could avenge himself by
eliminating anyone who dared to offend him was a hero. Although
this tragic code has longed been outlawed, the attitude it represented
still reigns in the hearts of men.
So much so that the words of Jesus, "Blessed are the meek," are
themselves an offense to men. It is an insult to their dignity, and
contrary to what they feel are the facts of life. It is the aggressor who
gets what he is after. The meek are crushed and trampled under the
feet of the strong, and rather than inheriting the earth, they are
fortunate if they can hold on to what little they have. The only
happiness you can get out of this beatitude, say the critics, is the
happiness of a good laugh. Kim Hubbard considers it a joke and
writes, "It's going to be fun to watch and see how long the meek can
keep the earth after they inherit it."
Meekness has come to be so closely associated with weakness that
it loses all attraction. Even children want no part of it. A little boy
said to his mother, "Don't call me your little lamb, call me your little
tiger." Power is what appeals, and words that speak of strength.
Meekness may be a good word for the female of the species, but it is
as out of place in the masculine camp as lace. Aristotle was afraid of
meekness, even though he considered it a good thing. He wrote, "The
meek man is not apt to avenge himself, but rather to forgive." He
feared the very thing that Jesus holds up as the key to happiness,
which is the ability to forgive one who has insulted or injured you.
This beatitude brings us into conflict with the value systems of the
world, and the sinful pride of our own nature. Only if we are poor in
spirit, and recognize our own deficiency and dependence upon God,
and only if we mourned over our sin, and submit ourselves to God,
can we find the happiness that comes through meekness.
Jesus is always our greatest example of every virtue, and when we
see what meekness is in Him, we discover it is not weakness, but
power and strength. Jesus was the mighty meek, and His meekness of
being the Lamb of God was not incompatible with His mightiness of
being the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. His lowliness of being the Lily
of the Valley is not incompatible with His loftiness of being the Bright
and Morning Star. Meekness, when rightly understood, is not only
compatible with strength, it is the way to strength, and, as Jesus says,
it is the means whereby Christians will accomplish what all the power
of aggression has failed to do, and they will inherit the earth. We
want to look at three attitudes which characterize the meek.
I. THE ATTITUDE OF REASONABLENESS.
Meekness is a matter of the mind. Matthew Henry, the well known
Bible commentator writes, "The office of meekness is to keep reason
upon the throne in the soul as it ought to be; to preserve the
understanding clear and unclouded, the judgment untainted and
unbiased in the midst of the greatest provocation." The opposite of
being meek is to be a victim of passion. Alexandra the Great in a
drunken fit of anger threw a spear at one of his best friends and killed
him. When I was in high school doing jail visitation on Sunday, I met
and Indian who had gotten mad at his friend. He went and got a
sawed off shotgun and blew his friend in half. He was drunk, as was
his friend. These are illustrations of the power of the non-meek, and
those who are ruled by unreasonable passion.
As tragic as passion and brute force can be, the world still holds
that this is the way to be victorious in the dog eat dog life. The Saga
Of King Olaf by Longfellow gives us the world's philosophy. Force rules
the world still, Has ruled it, shall rule it;
Meekness is weakness, Strength is triumphant.
Over the whole earth, Still is it Thor's-Day.
Jesus says this is blind unreasonable deception, and that meekness is
the true power that will conquer. Those who allow emotion and
unreasonable force determine their response to life's blows, blow up
and destroy the happiness of others as well as their own. Jesus rejects
such nonsense, and says in Matt. 11:29, "Take my yoke upon you and
learn from me; for I am meek and lowly in heart." Paul was wise
enough to take this advice, and he writes, inII. Cor. 10:1, "I Paul, myself
entreat you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ."
Meekness is that attitude of God when He said, "Come now let us
reason together." All through the Bible the appeal is to be meek and
gentle, for this is the only reasonable way to face life. Jesus, in
meekness, faced scoffing, pushing, whipping, spitting, and every
indignity men could inflict upon Him. Even unto to crucifixion. He
went as a lamb to slaughter, and He opened not his mouth. This was
not weakness, but incomparable strength. Jesus had the power to
retaliate to the injustice of it all with a just wrath, but instead, He
prayed, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do." Jesus
not only kept cool when being provoked to a point that would make
most men boil, and overflow with rage, He responded in love.
Reasonableness leads to restraint, so that a man's energy and
temper are brought under the control of a purpose. Meekness,
therefore, leads to strength, for it keeps energy on the right track
where it fulfills goals. Xenophon used the very Greek word we have
here for meekness to describe horses broken to bridle. They were
made meek by being tamed, and this was not to make them weak, but
to make their strength useful. The wild horse burns up power in
useless displays of wildness. The meek horse is just as strong, but his
energy is being channeled into creative usefulness. The meek man is
not weak, but the man who uses his strength for accomplishing a
reasonable purpose.
The reasonable man, or the meek man, does not strike back and
fight, and go about defending his ego, because he is not foolish, and
has better things to do with his energy.
Paul says be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. This
is the reasonable response of the man of meekness. This takes far
greater power than letting your nature respond to its natural desire
for revenge when it is insulted or injured. Hugh Martin said,
"Weakness is yielding to our nature; meekness is mastery over it."
Those who master their nature, and control it by reason, are the
mighty meek. Prov. 16:32 confirms this. "He who is slow to anger is
better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a
city."
The reasonable of meekness is demonstrated in many ways. It is a
great preserver of life. The meekness of Christ spared all of us, and
the meekness of the wise through the ages has prevented much
bloodshed. Sr. Walter Raleigh was once insulted by an ill-tempered
young man who challenged him to a duel. Raleigh refused to take him
seriously. The friends of both men were looking on, and the youth spat
upon his clothes and said, "Now then will you do it?" Sir Walter took
out his handkerchief and said, "Young man, if I could as easily wipe
your blood from my conscience as I can this insult from my person,
I would draw my sword at this instant..." That was not weakness, for
weakness would have run him through. That was the strength of
meekness; the strength of reason and restraint over the passions.
You and I will never save anyone's life by refraining from a duel by
the power of meekness, but the principle is just as relevant to us, for
studies indicate that meekness is an effective life preserver in our
automotive society. Dr. Tillmon and Dr. Hobbs of Canada, in ananalysis
of highway accidents, have shown that the proud and
aggressive drivers are the killers. High accident rate people have one
thing in common, the lack of reasonable restraining meekness. They
consider no one else but themselves, and demand their rights at any
cost. They cannot take an insult, like being passed, without a fight.
They demand to get even, and allow their passions to take over.
If you study other areas of life, you will find that lack of meekness
is the cause of so much chaos. This is true in marriage also. Someone
wrote,
There's was a "beef stew" marriage,
And their case was somewhat crude.
The wife was always beefing,
And the husband, always stewed.
Such marriages are the result of egocentric people who are too proud
to share blame, admit error, and control their temper. They are blind
and weak because they are not meek. This is true for many areas of
life where the lack of meekness leads to trouble and unhappiness.
Blessed and happy are the meek for their attitude of reasonableness
and restraint will stand them in good stead for time and eternity.
Another aspect of meekness is-
II. THE ATTITUDE OF RECEPTIVITY.
Again, Jesus is the greatest example, for He was the most receptive
of any person. None who come to Jesus will be cast out. Christ
receives sinful men, for all are welcome to come and receive His
forgiveness, His love, and His guidance. Jesus was also receptive of
truth and guidance from His heavenly Father. Jesus never felt so
adequate and self-sufficient that He could stop praying. Even though
perfect, He hungered and thirsted for righteousness, for in His
manhood He needed constant grace to maintain that perfection.
Meekness precedes the hungering and thirsting, for the meek are
receptive, and only the receptive can be filled. The proud and the
arrogant are not open to new truth. They have arrived, and what does
not fit their philosophy is rejected. Neither the Bible, nor the Holy
Spirit are permitted to offer any new light. Such persons are not
happy, for they must live in a non-expanding self-created world. They
have reduced God to a finite being, and must live in fear less some new
discovery shake their faith. When a Christian gets to this point, he is
no longer open and receptive to more of the infinite truth and wisdom
of God. He has lost the virtue of meekness, and will, thereby, cut
himself off from many of the blessings of God.
E. Stanley Jones tells of the newspaper strike that went on for a
year and a half in India. A subordinate was rude to a superior officer.
He was dismissed and the other employees went out on strike until he
was reinstated. After a lengthy strike, a Christian government labor
official suggested that the dismissed man apologize and ask for
forgiveness, and that the officer forgive him, and reinstate him. This
was done, and the strike was over. Because of pride, it took a year
and a half. The meek are those who solve such problems before the
sun goes down. Meekness is power because it refuses to let man sinful
pride run the show, and make life complex. Meekness keeps life
simple because it does not need all kinds of defense mechanisms.
In the French New Testament, a very interesting word is used for
this beatitude. They say, "Blessed are the debonair." That is a word
the world uses, and it is an attractive word, so they do not need to
defend this virtue like we do the word meek. Debonair people
are fun loving, courteous, well-mannered, and all that a gentleman
should be. Blessed are the debonair, therefore, for they are not
burdened by prides response to insults. They bypass slights and
personal attacks with light-hearted indifference. They are receptive
even to learning from their critics. They are not given to ramroding
their own views down anyone's throat, but to listening, growing, and
learning to be all things to all men that they might win them to Christ.
Life is ever fresh to them, for as God's gentleman, they are always
expanding in their knowledge of God and man. This receptivity of the
meek leads them to present riches beyond compare, plus the
inheritance of the earth.
The non-meek who are non-receptive, and unteachable lose
everything. Hitler, like most great servants of evil, was perceptive
enough to see this weakness in men. He wrote in his book Mein
Kampf, "The receptive ability of the masses is very limited, their
understanding is small, their forgetfulness great--out of indolence and
stupidity they trot toward their doom." The devil himself could bear
witness to the cursedness of the non-meek, because they are hard,
closed, and self-centered.
The meek are soft and flexible, and meet the challenge of changing
times, because they are not so brittle that they break, but can be
molded by the Holy Spirit to fit the need. They are ever open and
receptive and gentle, all of which leads to great strength. But note,
they do not conquer the earth by their power. Jesus says they inherit
the earth. An inheritance is not earned, it is a gift. The meek would
never seize the earth, it must come as a gift. There are many
interpretations of this promise. Many point out that history supports
the truth we read in the Interpreter's Bible. "The mammoth
creatures that once terrorized the planet are gone. They blundered to
destruction, victims of their own too great strength, but the sheep still
graze on the hills." The aggressors destroy earth, they do not inherit
it. This is true in the animal kingdom, and among men.
This statement of Jesus is a direct quote from Psa. 37:11. It says,
the meek will possess the land, and is referring to the promised land.
There can be no doubt that Jesus is simply enlarging the concept of
the promised land for the new Israel. The promised land
for the meek in Christ is the whole world. We look for a victory overall
the earth, for this is the territory where Satan reigned. Our hope is
not just a matter of mansions in the sky, but of paradise on earth
where it first began. The goal of aggressors through the ages had been
to conquer and control the earth. It will never be realized by anyone
but the meek. The mighty meek shall reign with Christ. Let us,
therefore, be strong in the Lord, and develop meek, debonair,
attitudes of reasonableness, restraint, and receptivity.
