Below are notes from a short sermon I preached during our monthly communion service. We’re currently working our way through the beatitudes.

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

I wonder what you think of when you hear the word meek? I know what I think of. The doormat. The shrinking violet. The pushover. Meek = a weak geek.

Not surprisingly, that’s not really at all what Christ had in mind in this third beatitude. I have heard it said that meekness is not so much about being weak. Rather it is about power under control. In Psalm 37 (which Jesus is virtually quoting here) there’s a contrast between not the meek and the strong, but the meek and the evildoers, the wicked.
Using what power and strength we have to serve rather than destroy others. A concerted effort to look after other people’s interests rather than our own.

Meekness is the opposite to our default me first mindset. Not selfishly or slavishly demanding rights. Not being defensive and rushing to justify ourselves. Not pushing our way to the front of the queue. It has a great deal to say therefore about the way you

- Drive
- Shop
- Talk to your husband or wife or parents
- Live with housemates
- Treat those under you at work
- Treat those over you at work

The astonishing thing here is that the meek are blessed because they inherit the earth! Pretty counter-cultural. The way to get ahead (all too often) is to tread on others. To climb the corporate ladder not really minding who you have to trample over on the way up. The survival of the fittest where ‘fittest’ is to do with savagery, physical prowess, aggression, being too busy and too important to stop and care about people who are weak and needy.

It seems if we look at the world that the war-mongers, the oil barons, the corrupt and greedy bankers who inherit the earth. Those who grab what they can when they can! But Christ says that the meek will inherit the earth. I think we see this principle fulfilled in two ways:

1. As Christ’s Kingdom grows throughout history.

Between 1960 and 1990 bible-believing Christianity grew from 4% of the world’s population to 8%. In 2007 it stood at 11%. Bible-believing Christianity is growing 2x as fast Islam and 3x as fast as the world’s population. The meek inherit the earth. Christ’s kingdom grows. But it grows as his people live out their lives of meekness towards God and meekness towards others. As the church suffers and serves and loves and gives. Where is it that growth the most significant? Iran the fastest. China the most significant numerically. Bit by bit, gradually, Christ is fulfilling his own promise here. As he spreads his kingdom of meek, servant-hearted, suffering people walking the walk of the cross.

Mission week is almost upon us. Meekness isn’t opposed to biblical boldness. But we won’t get very far by being arrogant, cocky, defensive. People are going to be encountering us as a church community for the first time over the next week or so. Will they find us to be meek and other-person centred?

2. When Christ returns

Then the gift of this earth renewed and perfected will be given as inheritance to the meek. Knowing that to be true now enables us to be meek doesn’t it? If in Christ we will inherit the world, we don’t need to grab what we can now whoever we trample on.

Our meekness is not a work that earns us a place there. It’s not about totting up the meekness points in order to get a pass to the new creation. Meekness is one of the defining characteristics of those who complete the journey. Those who follow Christ to the end are those who are meek towards God and towards others. Those who walk in the way of the cross.

Because after all, Christ himself is the example of all this. Later on in Matthew’s gospel Jesus says

Matt. 11:29
“Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle [meek] and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

In a moment we’ll come to his table. The meek Lord’s table. The Lord whose strength was shown in the weakness of the cross. His body torn and his blood poured out for others. Exactly what we remember in the meal he gave to us. We come and we remember, we feed spiritually on him and all he did for us in the cross, to find the strength and resources we need to live as he did.

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”