Blessed are the Meek
Matthew 5:5
May 29, 2005
This is the third sermon on the beatitudes. We have come down to Matthew 5:5. “Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.” I have a feeling that we have a problem today as we come to this beatitude on meekness. Meekness doesn’t really seem to fit in with our American ideal. Being meek is for losers, we think. Do you remember the kid you always made fun of in High School because he wore coke-bottle glasses, was on the chess team, wore black socks with his shorts and sneakers in the summer, and was always picked last to be on a team in gym class? We don’t want to be like him. We don’t want to be like the 90 pound weakling who gets sand kicked in his face on the beach. Who would you rather be…Woody Allen or Clint Eastwood? Who would you rather be…Don Knots or John Wayne? Who would you rather be…Jerry Seinfield or Sylvester Stallone?
Shortly after the end of the first gulf war in the early 90’s, I remember reading the autobiographies of both General Norman Schwarzkopf and General Colin Powell…true American heroes, these two. Architects of an almost flawless military strategy and a precision-laced tactical plan, they were the talk of the nation. I am sure that most of us still remember “Stormin” Norman’s press conference after the end of hostilities when he told the reporters about his battle plan. He informed us all about the end run around Iraq’s Republican Guard, about the decoy invasion by sea, and about the allied capability to act with impunity anywhere they desired. We all remember that he said his plan was to surround the serpent, cut its head off, and kill it. We applaud that sort of leadership and decisiveness in times of war.
Here’s our problem. Most of us in this room today, probably all of us, believe in Jesus as the Son of God. We believe that he is the One who came to turn the world upside down and on its ear. We believe that he is the Suffering Servant of whom Isaiah spoke. He is the humble One born in a stable. He stood on a hillside and preached “turn the other cheek and go the extra mile. He is the One who came to show humanity a new way to live. He came to serve and not to be served. He is the One who said that those who live by the sword will die by the sword. He is the One who didn’t accept living on the world’s terms, but showed a new way of Kingdom living. He is the One who instructed us to pray, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
That is the Jesus we believe in. Honestly, we do. But then we run up against competing claims, don’t we? We find the biblical mandate for peace, gentleness, and meekness quite compelling. We long for the time when the wolf shall lie down with the lamb and the leopard with the goat. We wait for the time when the Prince of Peace shall come to rule the nations. We truly believe that the way of peace is better than the way of violence and war.
That is what we want, honestly and sincerely, but our dreams and hopes are tempered by nationalism, patriotism, and devotion to our country; and sometimes our nation resorts to violence and war to further the aims of our international relations. Quite frankly, there are times when Jesus seems a little wimpy for the old Red, White, and Blue as we confront dictators, terrorists, and those who wish us harm.
Turning the other cheek is one thing in Sunday School, but in real life doesn’t always seem realistic. Going the extra mile preaches pretty well, but doesn’t really translate into a strong foreign policy. Somehow I doubt that arguing that the first shall be last is very good dinner conversation over at the Pentagon or State Department or the White House.
If you remember your history classes from High School, you will recall that Julius Caesar was assassinated in March of 44 B.C. In July of that year, a comet became visible in the night skies over Rome, and Caesar’s adopted son and heir to the throne, Octavius, began to promote the idea that this was a sign that the murdered emperor had been given divine status and was on his way to heaven.
Caesar was officially deified by the Roman law in 42 B.C. and so Octavius, who by this time had taken the name Augustus, added the phrase “son of God” to his name. Caesar was viewed as the savior who had brought salvation to the whole world. (For this discussion, I am indebted to John Dart for his article “Up Against Caesar” in “The Christian Century” February 8, 2005).
This was the same kind of king that the Jews thought they had been waiting for. They read the prophets. They knew that a messiah was promised. They knew that this promised messiah was destined to rule on the throne of King David. They expected that their messiah would reinvigorate Israel, reconstitute Israel into a great world power once again, reform Israel’s religious, political, economic, and military life, and thrust the nation back to the center of the world’s stage. Caesar was not their man, but they expected their man to be like him.
But Jesus was NOT like Caesar. When Jesus, the Son of God entered Jerusalem, he came astride a humble donkey, not a great war-horse. He promised that at his second “parousia” he will act to set up his kingdom forever and be accompanied by those saints who reject the ways of Caesar and claim the ways of Christ.
Christian Americans still honestly struggle with our loyalties. There is indeed quite a contrast between Caesar and Jesus, between Washington and Jerusalem, between the “Coalition of the Willing” and the Heavenly Kingdom. It is honestly very hard to keep these competing claims in perspective. I don’t want to gloss over the difficulties. We struggle with it. Meek doesn’t seem to always work very well. At least we haven’t always been able to make it work very well.
But it’s not only in national affairs that meek doesn’t work very well. The world in which we live is a world in which the strong survive. Who wins on “Survivor” or “The Apprentice” or “Fear Factor” or “”American Idol?” The winners are the strongest, most engaging personalities who are willing to go all out to accomplish their goals.
As you know, I lived for eight and a half years among the Old Order Amish community of Northern Indiana and I have been greatly influenced by their witness and lifestyle. You also know that they are called “The Plain People” because of their modest dress, lifestyle, and avoidance of modern technologies. They are called “plain” because of their lack of egos along with their conformity and willingness to live simple lives. Arrogance, pride, and conceit are frowned upon, while humility is encouraged and practiced. They are truly wonderful people.
There is a story going around up there about a family on their way home from church services one Sunday morning. The buggy was full of kids and father was talking about the day. “You know,” he said with a bit of pride in his voice, “I think that we were the plainest people there today.” Even among the modest and humble, the temptation is always there to strive to outdo your neighbor.
We have to be realistic after all. It is widely accepted that it is the strong who survive. But I don’t think that we can get away from the competing value of meekness. The Bible just won’t let us do that. That is all we’ve been talking about this morning, the competing values of this world and that of the world lifted up by Jesus. It is up to us to decide which value we choose to live by.
The Bible is full of talk about meekness. “Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all men that were on the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3). “…the meek shall possess the land, and delight themselves in abundant prosperity” (Psalm 37:11). “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29-30). “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5).
I checked the commentaries by the late English scholar, Dr. William Barclay (“The Gospel of Matthew. Vol. I). He defines meekness in a way that I found helpful. He says meekness, at its best, describes humility; a condition which acknowledges that one is completely and totally dependent upon God. Humility is being conscious of our status as creature and God’s status as Creator. It is the awareness that we can do nothing without God. This verse could be translated, “Blessed is the one who has the humility to know one’s own ignorance, one’s own weakness, and one’s own need.
Sometimes, at least in my way of thinking, our desire to be tough sends the message that we don’t trust God enough to protect us, or provide for us, or keep us. We think we have to do it ourselves.
For me, it is hard to find a better statement of meekness, humility, and dependence on God than John Wesley’s Covenant Prayer.
Lord, make me what you will. I put myself fully into your hands: put me to doing, put me to suffering, let me employed for you, or laid aside for you, let me be full, let me be empty, let me have all things, let me have nothing. I freely and with a willing heart give it all to your pleasure and disposal.
Humility and meekness is summed up in Horatio Spafford’s hymn, “It is Well With My Soul.” He writes, “Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul.”
Dr. John Roth is a professor of history at Goshen College. A couple of years ago, I picked up one of his newly published books. (“Choosing Against War: A Christian View.” 2002. Intercourse Pennsylvania: Good Books) He talks about these competing claims. Never underestimating honest differences of opinion or the desire, especially in today’s America, to find peace through strength, on both a national and personal level;
he nonetheless lifts up Jesus and says that the goal in life above all else is faithfulness to the witness of Christ.
I hope that you will continue to struggle with this issue, both on a personal level and as it relates to our national priorities. If you are like me, it will be a difficult task. Where is real strength found? Which values will you strive to live by, those of this world or those of the world proclaimed by Jesus? The earth, after all, belongs to those whose humility and meekness is seen in their trust of Christ for all things and in all circumstances.
