Meekness is Not Weakness

Happy Sunday. To be honest, I've wondered if I should Bunch together some of the Beatitudes we've been looking at in our study of The Sermon on the Mount. I mean, after all, how much can I say about today's verse, Matthew 5:5: "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." As I have studied, I came to the conclusion that to do justice to these words, I must take them one at a time, a verse at a time, a thought at a time. I've learned about a lot about just this one verse as I've studied this week.

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As we study meekness, I want to look at a story found in Numbers Chapter 12. The story is about a family feud. Moses had a sister named Miriam and a brother that, you know, named Aaron. We're told that Miriam and Aaron were talking trash about Moses and his wife.

God heard their griping and called them out. So Moses and Aaron and Miriam are standing at the tent of meeting, and God came down in a pillar of a cloud, and he chewed out Miriam and Aaron. He also struck Miriam with leprosy. After seeing this, Moses did something incredible. Instead of telling his troublemaking sister that she got what she deserved and telling his brother that you're next, Moses asked God to heal her.

Moses was a powerful man and a great leader. We're also told in verse 3 of Numbers Chapter 12 that Moses was the most Meek or humble man on all of the Earth. Meekness is not weakness. Meekness is power that is under God's control.

I found these words years ago, and I wish I could give credit to the author. I do not know who said this, but it's the best definition of meekness that I've ever seen: "The man who is Meek is not even sensitive about himself. He's not always watching himself in his own interest. He's not always on the defensive. All that is gone. The truly Meek never pity themselves or feel sorry for themselves. To be meek means that you have finished with yourself altogether. The man who is truly Meek is the one who is amazed that God and man can think of him as well as they do and treat him as well as they do."

Our thinking, as I studied this: the meek probably don't take a lot of selfies and boast about themselves. Back to The Sermon on the Mount. When Jesus said, "Blessed are the meek, blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth," most of the crowd had to think that Jesus got his words mixed up. They had to think, how in the world will the meek make it in this world?

Society thinks that if the maker going to inherit the earth, they better get a lot more aggressive. Society thinks that now, and Society thought that then as well. Remember, when Jesus walked the Earth, that Israel was under Roman control. When Jesus spoke these words, the people wanted out from under Rome.

You know, they were happy that Jesus healed their sick and fed them on occasion, but what they really wanted was a leader that would free them from the power of Rome. They wanted to be in control of their own country and Destiny. They hope that Jesus would lead a military revolt and Inspire the crowds to violence. Instead, Jesus encouraged meekness.

In this sermon, Jesus is talking about another kingdom, another world, another citizenship. Some understood and followed; others were angered and sought to destroy Jesus. Jesus promised that the meek would inherit the earth. The world expects the opposite.

The world expects the tough and the assertive and the rich and the overbearing to be in control. The meek will be trampled by those types of people in the minds of many. Not so fast. Don't fall for that line of thinking.

It's sad to see people who call themselves Christian try and climb to the top and assert power and dominance. Jesus encouraged those who wanted to be great to be servants. Don't get me wrong, we need leaders, but we need Leaders with integrity and humility, just like Moses. Meekness is a beautiful trait that should belong to all believers.

We should put God first and others second. If this world did that, what a difference it would make. God bless you as you seek to be meek.

Pray with me. Father, help us to get over ourselves. In the past few weeks, we've realized that we need to confess our sins and we need a savior. Once we have been saved, we need to put ourselves in the proper perspective, and that is under your control.

Help us to be just that, under your control. Make men and women of God every day. Thank you for Moses and his example, for Jesus and his. Let us be good examples in this world. In Jesus name we pray, amen.

God bless. Thanks for joining me today.