Matthew 5:5 "Blessed are the Meek"

                Several months back, I was talking with another pastor, a friend of mine who I talk with on occasion about things like church administration, sermon series, and other pastoral matters.  He’s a guy with a little more ministerial experience than me, so I very often find good wisdom and prudent warning in much of what he tells me.  I mentioned that I was preaching through Acts, what I was going to do for Advent, and then that I was going to do a series on the Beatitudes.  After hearing that I was going to take time to look at each of the Beatitudes individually (a task that he undertook a few years prior), he warned me that there were going to be moments where I found myself more confused than I was before I even started digging deeper into these commands that Jesus makes for how to live a holy life.

                Well, today is one of those days; this text is one of those texts.  Before we really begin, I’m going to go ahead and change the wording of this text to fit what we’ve said all along.  “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”  Changing the wording to convey what we’ve already established, this verse could read (for the moment), “Greatly and completely filled by God are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”  The question now becomes, what does it mean to be meek?  Well, this is where the confusion comes in.  You see, in my quest to really define what it looks like to be meek, I think I have come to understand what meekness isn’t more clearly than what it is.  You see, meekness isn’t being feeble or weak.  So often when we hear the word meek, we think of someone who is incapable or unable.  Now, there is a sense (speaking in terms of salvation) that we are incapable, but that’s not what I’m talking about here.  I’m talking about meekness being seen in a negative light.  Many times, when we hear the word meek, what comes to mind is something negative, a mark against someone.

                In an effort to build an understanding of what it means to be meek, I did a little research, some within Scripture and some outside of Scripture.  What I found, surprisingly, was that traditionally the term meekness (praus in Greek) has been seen as something positive.  Aristotle said that meekness was the right balance between a person who become angry too easily and one who become angry too slowly.  In other words, a person who is properly adjusted from a mental standpoint.  Another sense in which the word meek would have been understood at this time was similar to that of a domesticated animal.  Now, I know that this sounds bad upon first hearing, but it’s really more about learning appropriate behavior than anything else.  Then there’s the third meaning that has been proposed which refers to being subservient to and have a trusting attitude towards God.

                Now, you would think that this latter definition would be the obvious choice as to Jesus’ intentions here.  However, I don’t just want to assume something because it fits into my understanding, but I want to get to the heart of what Jesus is saying regardless of my thinking.  This is where I had to turn my attention to Scripture itself in search of the real meaning of this word meek.  And the place that I started was in a Psalm of David; my personal favorite, Psalm 37; the very same psalm that we received as our call to worship this morning.  Having read parts of verses 3-11 earlier, let us look at the entirety of these verses:  “Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.  Delight yourself 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 act.  He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.  Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!  Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!  Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.  For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land.  In just a little while, the wicked will be no more; though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there.  But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace.” (Psalm 37:3-11).  In addition to being told the very words that “the meek shall inherit the land,” we also find a good deal of language here about trusting the Lord and delighting ourselves in the Lord.  We find words about committing ourselves to God and waiting patiently for Him.  In other words, it seems to be trending itself in the direction of a humility and submission to God.  In fact, several different English translations actually don’t use the word meek here in Matthew 5:5, but instead use the words “humble” or “gentle” in this verse.

                The second text that I looked at to discover the meaning of this work “meek” is Numbers 12:3 where we find the words, “Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth.”  Now, I can think of a lot of descriptors of Moses, but weak or feeble (some of the common words that we think of as being meek) rarely come to mind.  When I think of Moses, I think of a strong man, I think of a strong leader.  So, meek (I don’t think) can refer to someone being weak or incapable of doing something.  After all, Moses was able to lead Israel out of Egypt and through the wilderness and right up to the edge of the Promised Land wasn’t he?  Well, this is where the definition of meek really comes into play.  You see, Moses was able to lead them, but only in a manner in which he was God’s instrument for leading them.  You see, Moses, better than any other person understood his place in the plan of God; hence his being the meekest of all men.  Moses asked God “Who am I to lead your people out of Egypt?  Who am I to go before Pharaoh?”  When Israel came to the edge of the Promised Land and God told Moses that he would die before entering, Moses didn’t respond with questions and criticisms of it not being fair or just.  I know if it were me, I would be asking God, “Lord, you mean to tell me that I had to lead these people around for 40 years and listen to their complaining and whining and talking about being better off as slaves, and now I don’t even get to enjoy the Promised Land?  I don’t even get to set one foot on that soil that I have so longed to touch for these 40 years?”  We’re starting to see that meekness has less to do with capability and more to do with ability; that is the ability to rely upon God and trust completely in him, even when we don’t understand all of what’s going on.

                Now, I want to take a quick moment and try and wrap this look at meekness up.  And the best way I can think of to do that is to look at the antithesis of a meek person.  If you were to turn in your Bibles to Matthew 19, you would find the account of a conversation between Jesus and a man referred in Scripture as the rich young ruler.  Now, many of us know this story, but for those of you who don’t I’ll give you the abridged version.  Basically, a guy who on the surface has everything and knows that he has everything comes up to Jesus and asks him, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?”  After some discourse, Jesus tells him to keep the commandments.  The man wants to know which ones specifically.  Jesus says all of them, which the man responds to by saying that he has done just that.  Then, Jesus follows up by telling the man, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”  The man ultimately goes away with great sorrow.

                Now, I don’t want to focus so much on the man’s attitude upon leaving, but his attitude upon approaching Jesus.  First, if he thinks that Jesus is who he claims to be, then his approach shows no meekness or humility at all.  Secondly, his seemingly blatant thoughts that he has kept every single commandment completely and perfectly from his youth show little humility as well.  He seems much more like a man who has placed his trust in himself and not in God.  Contrasting him with what we see in the meekest man, Moses, this young man looks like someone who is coming to Jesus for mere affirmation of his good deeds and not a willingness of trust in and be led by God.  He doesn’t seem to fit that definition of being meek that means to be subservient to God or have a trusting attitude towards Him at all.

                Now, pressing pause on the word meek for just a moment, what is it to inherit the earth?  Mind you, this doesn’t say kingdom of heaven, but earth.  This isn’t some promise that you endure hardships in your life and your reward is heaven.  That may be true, but it isn’t what’s said here.  This also isn’t a promise that if you are faithful to God that you will have great earthly wealth.  Somewhere along the line we feel into the trap of viewing earthly power and riches as proof of God’s blessings upon us.  The truth is that this just simply isn’t true, nor are poverty and want signs of God’s condemnation or punishment.  Let me propose two meanings to what it means to inherit the earth; one current and one future.  The current meaning of inheriting the earth is that we are able to enjoy God’s creation.  We get to take in beautiful scenery, wonderful smells, and experience some amazing things in this life.  However, only those who believe in God and profess Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior truly get to see them for what they really are.  It is only the Christian that sees nature as God’s handiwork.  It is only the Christian that views a child as a gift from God and not just the result of a biological process.  It is only the Christian who can accurately appreciate this world for what it truly is:  God’s creation. 

Now, the future sense of inheriting the earth has to do with Christ’s return.  It has to do with the day of judgment.  We are told that at Jesus’ second coming that he will judge and establish a new heaven and new earth.  Look at the words that Paul wrote to the younger Timothy, “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal.  But the word of God is not bound!  Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.  The saying is trustworthy, for:  If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself.”  Did you hear that?  “If we endure, we will also reign with him.”  That sounds somewhat familiar to the language of the Beatitudes.  If we just make it through the hardships, then we shall rule with Christ.  We will go from a state of survival to a place of authority.

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”  Greatly filled by God are those who are subservient to God, those who are humble, and those who are willing to become instruments of God, for they shall see the full beauty of what God has created, and they will reign with Christ at the time of his second coming.  Now, the problem that arises from this type of command is that we struggle with being humble; we struggle with doing what God wants us to do and not what we want to do.  We find great difficulty in setting ourselves aside and following God.  In fact, some of us find it impossible at times.  Well, the answer is that you’re right.  It is hard and in many cases impossible.  It’s going against human nature, which can seem impossible.  However, it isn’t impossible with Christ.  Through Jesus Christ, we can overcome all barriers and all the things within us that separate us from God.  We may not think ourselves meek or even think that meekness is possible within us, but with Christ it is.  Glory be to God; in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.