We are continuing in our journey through the Beatitudes, those great sayings of Jesus that introduce the Sermon on the Mount and give to us Jesus’ perspective on the proper attitude for kingdom living. The Beatitudes are the "building blocks" for the Christian life, each one building upon the other so that, at the end, you have the stairsteps of a disciple’s journey. First, there is "poor in spirit," recognizing the journey begins with an attitude awareness that we bring nothing to commend us in our relationship with God. We are in absolute poverty of spirit, totally dependent upon God. That’s the starting place. We are "poor in spirit" because of our sin and so the next step in the journey is mourning our sinful condition. An important next step in the journey of a disciple is to be honest about our sin, confess it before God, lean upon His mercy and grace and thank Him for His unconditional love. Recognizing we are poor in spirit, mourning over our sin that makes us poor in spirit leads to the next step on the journey—meekness.

The third Beatitude is from the fifth verse of Matthew, chapter five: "Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth."

Once again, Jesus appears to be a lousy marketing agent. First, poor in spirit. Then mourning. Now meekness. How many of you have hit your knees in your prayers lately and pleaded with God to give you meekness? I doubt any. It’s not much of a sought after quality. You’ll not find many books in a bookstore on how to acquire meekness. "The Meek Executive." "Winning Through Meekness." Probably not too many publishers who would jump at the opportunity to publish a book with such a topic.

Just to make sure, however, I browsed through the "self-improvement" section of a local bookstore. I couldn’t find any titles that suggested meekness, let alone actually use the word. Instead, I found such titles as The Greatness Guide; Fight Back and Win; Celebrate Your Self; Fearless Living; Unlimited Power. The closest title I found to using the theme of meekness used it in a negative sense, Too Nice for Your Own Good. Let’s be honest—meekness doesn’t sell.

To be fair, I browsed through a Christian bookstore also. While the themes in the titles drew closer to the theme of meekness, I couldn’t find one book with meekness in the title. My eye caught one book with the title, Happiness Matters. I thought since the Beatitudes begin with the line "Blessed are…" which can be translated "Happy are…the poor in spirit, those who mourn" and so forth, I’d browse through the book and see what it had to say. There was a section entitled "7 thoughts on happiness," which led the author to look at the Sermon on the Mount…but, interestingly, not at the Beatitudes. There was another book, A Guide to Christian Ambition. Since it is "ambition" that often gets in the way of our being meek, I thought I’d look at that one as well. I still couldn’t find the use of the word meekness. There was a chapter on "Christian Anger." Since anger is not a word usually associated with meekness, I thought I’d look at that chapter. Again, I couldn’t find the specific use of the word meekness, although the author came close when he spoke of Christian anger being expressed "only rarely and only righteously." As we’ll see in a moment, that comes close to a good working definition of meekness. Yet, I did not see the author use that word in his description of what Christian anger looks like.

To be sure, the titles in the "self-improvement" section of the Christian bookstore rang very close to the attitude of meekness. Much more so than the titles in the secular bookstore. Billy Graham has a book, Peace with God – The Secret of Happiness. I couldn’t find "meekness" in any of the chapter headings, but perhaps he addresses it at some point in his book. And Max Lucado has a book with a title that certainly describes a necessary attitude for the Christian seeking to live the Beatitudes, It’s Not About Me. Perhaps somewhere in that book he addresses the attitude of meekness because in seeking to live out the Beatitudes, the Christ-follower certainly has to have an awareness that it’s not about him or her, not about you, not about me. It’s about Jesus Christ.

So, what does it mean to be meek? It’s really very similar to an attitude of poor in spirit, but with a different focus. Being poor in spirit is being aware of my sinfulness and it leads to mourning my sin. Being meek is being aware of God’s holiness and leads to my hungering and thirsting for that kind of righteousness. In the light of God’s holiness, knowing I do not measure up to that standard, I can be nothing but meek. And I hunger and thirst for God’s righteousness.

Let’s be clear here—meekness is not a wimpy passiveness. That’s the kind of meekness that we’re all wanting to avoid. The dictionary defines "meek" as this: 1: enduring injury with patience and without resentment: mild. That’s actually not a bad definition. It comes very close to the Biblical understanding of meekness. However, it is it’s second and third definitions of meekness that make us run to avoid it: 2:deficient in spirit and courage: submissive. "Deficient in spirit" comes close to being poor in spirit, but who wants to be "deficient in courage?" That’s not the Biblical understanding of meekness. Nor is meekness 3: not violent or strong. Again, "not violent" comes close, but who wants to be known as "not strong?" That is also not the Biblical definition of meekness, nor is that what Jesus models for us as meekness. A good Beatitude understanding of meekness would be this—power under control. It is not wimpiness. It is not lacking in courage or strength, in fact, it takes great courage and great strength to be meek. It is "power under control," a kind of assurance of who we are in God without needing to hold it over others.

Some Biblical examples of meekness.

One of my favorites is Abraham—we just spoke of this last week in the Old Testament Survey class. Abraham is the one to whom God’s covenant promise is given. That’s a pretty prestigious and powerful position! "I’m the man to whom God spoke and made His promise to build me into a great nation!" Yet, immediately after God speaks His promise to Abraham, a dispute arises over the boundary lines for Abraham’s people and livestock and Abraham’s nephew, Lot’s people and livestock. So, Abraham and Lot meet to work out a solution. Now, if you were Abraham, wouldn’t your temptation be to say to Lot, "Look, Lot, not only am I your uncle, but even more importantly, I’m the one God told He was going to make into a great nation. So, Lot, you take a hike…and good luck to you!" Wouldn’t that be your temptation? It would be mine! And what advice do you suppose the "self-improvement" books would have to give in that situation? "You go, Abraham! Exert your authority and take control of the situation. Celebrate yourself, Abraham! Send Lot on his way and enjoy the land that is before you!" But, that’s not what Abraham does. Instead, Abraham lets Lot choose! "Is not the whole land before you? Let’s part company. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right; if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left," (Genesis 13:9). Abraham didn’t need to exert his power. He knew that God’s promise was good no matter which direction he went, God was going with him. That’s Biblical meekness.

Or how about Joseph? Sold into slavery by his brothers. Falsely accused of rape and imprisoned. Only to rise above those circumstances and become second in command in Egypt. Only the Pharaoh had more power than Joseph. And when his brothers show up in Egypt because of the surrounding famine, wouldn’t you think Joseph’s action would be to exert his power and imprison his brothers…if not have them executed? Wouldn’t your temptation be to use your power—second in command over all of Egypt(!)—to exact some revenge over your brothers who sold you into slavery? Mine would! Yet, that is not what Joseph does. Instead, he brings his family into Egypt to survive the famine. And when their father, Jacob, dies in Egypt and the brothers begin to worry that, now that dad is gone, Joseph will take out his vengeance on them, Joseph says, "Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives," (Genesis 50:9b, 10). That’s Biblical meekness! Hardly the stuff of being "deficient in courage" or lacking in strength. It is power under control. "Am I in the place of God?" What a great line! The arrogant and the proud, the powerful out of control put themselves in the place of God. Not the meek. The meek respond with great courage, great strength, with power under control because they know that God is in His place.

Jesus, of course, manifested this kind of meekness. Where he showed anger, or indignation, it was where God’s law or God’s love had been distorted or abused. It was a "holy indignation," or as the author of that book said about Christian anger, it was "only rarely and only righteously." Jesus did not exert his power or authority over those who mistreated him. Seeing the bigger picture of God’s righteousness and God’s will, Jesus exhibited a kind of meekness that, once again, can hardly be labeled as lacking in courage or strength.

And that is the kind of meekness that Christ’s disciples are called to live out. It is power under control. The Greek word for meekness is used to describe a colt that has been broken, or a "gentle" breeze that blows. Unbroken, a colt destroys and is useless. Broken, a "gentle/meek" colt is useful. Out of control, the wind destroys—as we’ve seen over the last couple of days. But, a "gentle/meek" breeze cools and soothes. We are called to the same kind of meekness. Not a wimpiness, but one that recognizes God is in control and we make no claim for ourselves. Poverty of spirit focuses on our sinfulness and leads to mourning our sin. Meekness focuses on God’s holiness and leads to our wanting that in our lives, a hungering and thirsting for God’s righteousness.

And what is the result of living with this kind of meekness? First of all, as with all the Beatitudes, there is a "happiness" that is not based upon the world’s standards, but on God’s. It is a happiness that the world cannot give nor can the world take it away. And then, Jesus tells us that it is the meek that will inherit the earth. "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth." And, again, the pronoun "they" is in the emphatic position, so Jesus is saying, "Blessed are the meek, for they…and they alone will inherit the earth." Jesus echoes the words of the psalmist in Psalm 37, who looks around and sees the aggressive, the haughty and the unrighteous getting their way in the world, and wonders where his reward is. But then, he is reminded, "A little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found. But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace," (Psalm 37:10, 11).

So, do you consider yourself to be a person of meekness? Are you exhibiting self-control? Does your anger rise only where God is being dishonored, or do you find yourself getting angry at slights directed at you? Do you find yourself seeking forgiveness and restoration of broken relationships? The meek do. Are you able to receive criticism well and continue to love the person who gives it? The meek will. Do you stand in awe of God’s righteousness and recognize your own unrighteousness? The meek do. Are you able to control the power you have and use it in a way that honors God? That’s what the meek do. Would you like to inherit the earth? Only the meek will. How does one acquire such meekness? You ask for it. And you keep on asking for it. "Lord, please give me a spirit of meekness…like that of Abraham…Joseph…Moses…Paul…and Jesus. If you don’t have Biblical meekness, why not begin today asking God to help you develop it?