The Beatitudes (Sermon Series) – July 25, 2010

Matthew 5:5 - Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

One of our society’s favorite mottos is: “Look out for Number #1!” It proclaims, “Stand up for your rights. Demand your fair share. Look out for yourself, because if you don’t, nobody will.” Sadly, millions live by this motto as they seek their own well-being and walk over anyone who gets in their way. But the Lord never promised, “Blessed are those who seek their own rights and get them at any cost.” Instead, his promise is far different: “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”

This is the third statement of blessing in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, and it is the statement we direct our attention to this morning. And like the two previous statements of blessing, we need to take a moment to step back and consider what Jesus is talking about. We need to ask ourselves, just what does Jesus mean when he refers to the meek? And we need to ask this because over the years, the word meek has come to be associated with a weak and cowardly person. Often times, people hear the word meek and they think of a person who is afraid to fight for what they believe in. But that is not what meek means. Meekness must not be confused with weakness! Instead, meekness is “enduring injury with patience and without resentment” (Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary). Meekness is based on humility. Meekness implies a willing submission. Meekness is gentleness even in strength. It is this understanding that Jesus is driving at when he says, “Blessed are the meek” – and he teaches us to be meek toward God and toward our fellow man.

Meek Christians live humbly before their God. They quietly submit their lives to God’s will and his Word. For them the question, “What does God want?” comes before “What would I like?” Jesus displayed this meekness in the Garden of Gethsemane. There he asked the Father to allow him to go a way other than the cross, if at all possible. But then in meekness he prayed, “Yet not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42).

Meekness toward God is that state of mind in which we accept his dealings with us as good, and therefore without compliant. It’s suffering personal wrongs patiently, confident that the Lord will defend us – and so committing ones ways to the Lord and trusting in him. Meek Christian’s recognize how small they are in comparison with their almighty God, and recognize especially their inferiority as sinful creatures to their holy Creator.

So, is that you? In meekness do we always willingly submit to what God says? Does the question, “What does God want?” always come before “What do I want?” We know that often times the answer is no! We’re not always willing to submit to God’s wills and ways! Sometimes we fly in the face of his Word because what it says is inconvenient, difficult, or doesn’t fit into the way we want to live. We don’t always humbly accept his dealings with us. Instead we complain, grumble, and get angry. In fact, sometimes we think we could do a better job of being god than God can. Aren’t I right?

And it isn’t only in our relationship with God that we are to be meek. We are also to be meek in our relationship with others. Jesus again teaches us what that is. He never lorded it over his friends. He did not take advantage of his friends. He did not use his friends to serve his own interests. He did not walk around looking out for number #1. Rather, in humble service he gave himself to his friends.

Day by day we are to give ourselves in humble meekness to one another. That means not insisting upon our rights without consideration for others. It means not defending ourselves when we are wrong. It means enduring mistreatment without retaliation. It means, as Jesus said in our gospel lesson, to turn the other cheek. To not be quarrelsome. To not have a vengeful spirit. And to forgive! Yes, forgiving – giving up that self-perceived right to get even.

So, is that you? Does meekness characterize the way we deal with our fellow man and woman? Once again, we know that answer is often times – no! We fight back, employing every dirty trick that has been used against us, even justifying it by saying “It’s only fair!” or “Now they know how it feels!” We use others in selfish ways, being kind only because of some self-interest on our part. How often haven’t we trampled over others simply because we’ve been looking out for Number #1?

As splendid as meekness is, we have to admit that we deprive ourselves of the happiness God wants to give us through it. Our lives are living examples of how far short we fall of God’s glory. Our old sinful nature is no friend of meekness. It insists on our rights and argues, “If I permit the other fellow to ride all over me, I will have nothing in the end.” But dear friends, when we truly realize how poor we are in God’s eyes and how much we sin, and how much we deserve hell, how can we puff out our chest before God or lord it over our neighbor who’s in the same fix as we are?

That is why we must go back to our Savior. For meekness in our lives will only come when we have a personal relationship with God through our Savior Jesus. It is our God, and the kindness and love he showered upon us undeserving sinners in his Son Jesus, that we are reminded to go back to: “Remind the people…to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men. At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. ⁴ But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, ⁵ he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy” (Titus 3:1-5).

God actually has the right to say to each and every one of us, “You are so below me. You take care of yourself; I’ll take care of me.” But he didn’t. Instead, he was loving, kind, and merciful. Instead he said, “I will seek your good. I will put your best interests first. And I will do it all at my expense.” So in his kindness, God the Father sent his one and only Son to live among people who hated him. And in his mercy, God the Son willingly humbled himself and came down from his perfect throne in heaven to reconcile all people to God. And he did - perfectly and without fail! Every step of the way he endured injury with patience and without resentment. Every step of the way he was gentle even in strength. Every step of the way he sought the good of those around him. Every step of the way he willingly and perfectly submitted himself to his Father’s will - a will that sent him to the cross. And there on that cross he endured your punishment, suffered your hell, won your forgiveness and died your death. Then, from the tomb he rose so that God could say to us, “You are free; your punishment and your guilt have been transferred from you to Jesus Christ, and his innocence and righteousness and blessedness have been credited to your account.”

By faith we have learned and believe that the account on our debt of sin says, Paid in Full! We trust and accept as true that the receipt God gives us reads Forgiven! Now, as his disciples, we are called to be like Jesus and follow his example of meekness. He is well aware how this world thinks and operates and so he gives to us the Holy Spirit to instill in us a spirit of true meekness and gentleness so that we put aside those normal desires to push and pull and crowd out our fellow man in search of our own advantage.

To help us on the way, he reminds us that the meek will inherit the earth. One might think that those who fight the hardest and longest are the ones who get anywhere. But the very opposite is true. The meek have rest and peace and blessings from God. It is for the sake of the meek, that the earth is preserved now. It is for their benefit that God directs the affairs of men and nations. It is for them that God makes all things work together for their good. The meek will be blessed. Not necessarily with only or always earthly goods, but with whatever blessing comes from God.

If it doesn’t seem that way, let us remember what he has done for us at the cross and then look at what he says to us here – then we will remember that he speaks the truth. So appreciating the treasures Jesus has given our souls, we are happy with whatever of the earth’s store he showers on our life. And finally, the meek will inherit the new heavens and the new earth when Christ will come again.

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” This is now the third statement of blessing we have looked at over the past three weeks. Perhaps you have notices that our Savior has not put them in any random order. No, all three are closely connected: for wherever there is poverty in spirit, and where there is true mourning over sins and shortcomings, there also the meek will be found. So we pray: Lord, help us always to remember the corruption of our sin and how you in your merciful kindness saved us from it. Then, help us to keep our eyes on heaven’s riches so that we live in true meekness here. Amen.