The Fruit of Meekness
7/27/03
I’d like to say that today I’m here to speak in behalf of a group that is maligned, put down, and discriminated against. And it’s just not fair! I’m here to speak up for the "lemons!"
[HOLD UP LEMON]
When things go good they’re "peachy"
If something is in good condition, it’s "cherry"
If something is bad or unreliable, it’s a "lemon"
When you buy a car, they give you a book about the "lemon laws"
Why all this bad publicity for the lemons? Just because it has a sour taste?
I’m here to say that lemons have a good taste when used in moderation.
Who doesn’t like lemonade, lemon meringue pie, or lemon bars!
Lemons are high in vitamin C. Lemons are good for you!
The lemon is a good example of strength that is good when it is under control.
Out of control, the lemon is tart and overpowering; but used rightly, the lemon is great! In our lives as well, any God-given strength can be overpowering and bitter to others when it is overused and out of control.
Our look at the "fruit" of the spirit today focuses on the feature of "gentleness" or "meekness."
My definition of meekness is "strength under control."
Gentleness is the power of your potential under God’s control.
Can you remember a TV show called Kung Fu?
*Kwai Chang Caine - Buddhist monk - very peaceful, but had great strength/agility
**What is the difference between meekness and weakness?
weakness=lack of strength
meekness=lack of flaunting strength, strength under control
Meekness or gentleness is not lack of strength. Often those who are very meek are also very strong. Meekness is the opposite of self-assertiveness and self-interest. Often those who are the strongest feel no need to assert their strength. Rather those who assert themselves often struggle with accepting their strength.
As we look at God’s desire to grow the fruit of meekness in our lives, what God desires is not that we become weak and lacking in strength, but that we learn to not flaunt our strength, but to control it. Example #1 - To illustrate this fruit, let’s look at the meekest man on the face of the earth: Moses. Turn with me to Numbers 12:1-15 -
Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite. "Has the LORD spoken only through Moses?" they asked. "Hasn’t he also spoken through us?" And the LORD heard this. (Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.) At once the LORD said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, "Come out to the Tent of Meeting, all three of you." So the three of them came out. Then the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud; he stood at the entrance to the Tent and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When both of them stepped forward, he said, "Listen to my words: "When a prophet of the LORD is among you, I reveal myself to him in visions, I speak to him in dreams. But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house. With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?" The anger of the LORD burned against them, and he left them. When the cloud lifted from above the Tent, there stood Miriam--leprous, like snow. Aaron turned towards her and saw that she had leprosy; and he said to Moses, "Please, my lord, do not hold against us the sin we have so foolishly committed. Do not let her be like a stillborn infant coming from its mother’s womb with its flesh half eaten away." So Moses cried out to the LORD, "O God, please heal her!" The LORD replied to Moses, "If her father had spat in her face, would she not have been in disgrace for seven days? Confine her outside the camp for seven days; after that she can be brought back." So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on till she was brought back.
Miriam and Aaron were upset with their brother Moses - Why? Supposedly because he had married an Ethiopian wife, yet what was implied by their questions is really that they were on the same level as Moses. Their root problem was an issue of pride and selfishness.
God intervenes and stands up for Moses. After hearing God state his opinion, Moses could have responded with pride, censuring them for their remarks, or with seeking vengeance. Yet, his meekness, his strength under control, evidences itself again by his speaking out for his brother and sister, in spite of their sinful actions.
What does meekness look like? We see it in the life of Moses:
*There is no need to speak up to prove yourself to others; it is enough to know that God knows the truth about you. Many people spend their lives trying to prove to someone else, a husband, wife, mother or dad, sometimes even to a memory - that they will amount to something, that they can be successful, that they can measure up to someone else’s standards.
Meekness means we don’t have to prove our worth to anyone else. Our value and worth is not found in what others think of us, but in what God knows us to be.
*Meekness means being willing to let God rise to your defense. When Moses is attacked, in this case even by his own brother and sister, he does not retaliate, but rather let’s God bring justice and vengeance. Our human nature often causes us to seek revenge, payback, getting even. But revenge is not a godly response. Revenge is the exercise of our strength to seek to do our will. Meekness, strength under control, chooses rather to let God be the executor of justice.
-Romans 12:19-21 says “Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
Example # 2 - Moses was the meekest man on the face of the earth during his lifetime. But a number of years later another man lived who far surpassed Moses. His name is Jesus Christ. We see his call of meekness in Matthew 11:28-30
"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."
Jesus invite us to come to him, to pair up with him, to learn from him. Jesus is the model of strength under control.
1 Peter 2:21-23 - “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.”
In Matthew 26:52 Jesus is being betrayed in the garden of Gethsemane - Peter rises to fight and grabs the sword; “Put your sword back in its place," Jesus said to him, "for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?"
Here is Jesus, fully God, all the power of the universe is His, yet he chooses to keep that strength under control. As they were crucifying him he could have chose to lash out in his power; yet he chooses to refrain. Why? He knows his whole purpose in life is to fulfill the will of his father. So also, we need to build the fruit of meekness in our lives so that we may fulfill the will of our Father. In our 40 days of purpose this fall we are going to discover that each one of here today was put on this earth with a purpose. And if we are going to fulfill the purposes of God, we need to choose meekness, to keep our strength under control, so that we may accomplish God’s will.
Yet, even though we have been given the invitation to take Christ’s yoke, many times we pass up the offer and live for ourselves. A “yoke” involves work. Many of us don’t want anything more to do. Yet it is in the daily grind of everyday life that we learn meekness, that we learn to put aside our pride and self-assertiveness and learn to let God help us. We take his yoke, and learn to be more like him.
In the movie, The Karate Kid, a young boy Daniel wants to learn karate, so he asks a Japanese neighbor, Mr. Miagi, to teach him. Mr. Miagi has him painting fences, washing his cars, sanding the floor, until the boy thinks he is being taken advantage of. When he complains, he quickly learns that the master was teaching him karate but he never knew it.
##Karate Kid - "sand the floor, paint the fence" - learned karate
When we take Christ’s yoke upon our shoulders, he carries all the weight; but as we work together we learn more about Christ, and we become like him. Sometimes when we show meekness it’s not easy because there’s another way we would like to respond. But when we keep our strength under control, control our tempers, watch our speech, act in godly ways, we suddenly learn that we are building Christian character in our lives. We don’t become like Christ just by reading our bibles or going to church. We grow to be like Christ by choosing to take godly responses to the everyday situations we face.
Remember the WWJD bracelets - in each situation of our life we need to ask ourselves the question, “What would Jesus do” if he were in the situation I am in right now. When we choose to act like Jesus we build Christian character, and we become more like him.
So, we learn meekness by becoming more like Christ. As we learn meekness, what will change in our lives? Let’s look at Ephesians 4:2-3 - 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.
Three steps we need to take in becoming humble or meek.
1. We need to learn patience - As we are given the command to be humble and gentle or meek, it ties with this the idea of patience. Why? In order to keep our strength under control, we need to be able to not explode or lash out. The idea of control is the idea of patience.
How do we keep our patience?
*We consider the consequences of choosing not to be patient.
Proverbs 14:29 says A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man displays folly.”
We act very foolishly when we act impulsively and are not patient.
*We remember that there are rewards for those who will be patient -
Gal 6:9 - And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
James 5:7 - Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.
So, the first step we take to be humble is to learn patience. Then,
2. We need to learn to put up with others -
Many people struggle with being patient in circumstances. As we learn this skill, we go the next step to learn to put up with the weakness and failures of others. We need to realize that others are not perfect and they will let us down. Let’s look again at
Ephesians 4:2-3 - 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.
Proverbs 15:18 say A hot-tempered man stirs up dissension, but a patient man calms a quarrel.
If we want to build meekness, strength under control in our lives, we need to be patient in circumstances, and then to be patient with others. Let’s realize that everyone will not be where we are spiritually. After 30 years being a Christian, it would be expected that you might have self-control in areas where someone who has only been a Christian a year or two might be struggling.
Let’s also realize that we all have areas of weakness. A person who struggles with pride can’t boast of not using profanity. A person who swears constantly can’t boast that he is not proud. We each have areas of strength and areas of weakness. Let’s pray for one another and life one another up. Galatians 6:2 reminds us Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
I Peter 4:8 says Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
So, to build meekness, we develop patience, we put up with others and thirdly,
3. We need to learn to get along with others -
Ephesians 4:2-3 once again - 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.
What God desires to build in his church is a spirit of unity. He desires for us to all get along together. To be able to do that, we need patience with one another and putting up with one another. We are all members of one another in the body of Christ. Paul uses the example of a body in 1 Corinthians 12:14+ Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don’t need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don’t need you!" On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
When we learn to be patient, to put up with others, and get along with others, we will have the attitude that God can use.
God want to develop the fruit of meekness in our lives. Strength under control. Just like the lemon - strength is good when it is controlled and used wisely. May God help each one of us to develop meekness in our lives and to use that meekness to build up our relationships with one another instead of tearing one another down.
Shall we pray.
