The Life That Flourishes – Week Three – Blessed Are The Meek

Amen.

Well, good morning church.

It's good to see you all today. If

you have your bibles,

you wanna take that out and turn to...

Matthew chapter 5. That's where we'll be at

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

in just a few moments.

If you have your program and you're a

note taking per and there's an outline in

there. You can take that out. If you'd

like to take some notes as we

continue.

Our series on the beat

from Matthew

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5.

Well, Nicole

Machiavelli

was a renaissance,

philosopher,

politician, a writer,

His writings greatly influenced

modern

political science.

Machiavelli

believed that to be effective,

political leaders

needed to be ruthless

and tyra,

not

empathetic, and just.

He wrote a book entitled the prince, and

it is a short manual of advice

for the princes of his day on how

to not finish last.

And the ant answer was never to be

overly devoted to acting nicely

or

anything like that. But to know how to

borrow every single trick employed by the most

das

and un

and nasty people ever to have lived.

Now until Machiavelli writings, most philosophers of politics

had to defined a good leader as humble

and moral

and honest.

But Machiavelli

writing shed that notion. Notion. In fact, he

said frankly, it is better

to be feared

than loved,

you cannot have both.

Well Machiavelli

knew,

where this counter

obsession

of acting nicely

originated from.

The west

was brought up on the Christian story of

Jesus of Nazareth.

He was a very nice man.

From Galilee,

who always treated people well.

But Machiavelli

pointed out an inconvenient detail to that sentimental

tale of triumph, the triumph of goodness through

through humility.

From a practical

perspective,

Jesus life was

an outright disaster.

This gentle soul was tram to bond and

humiliated and disregard and mocked

and eventually murdered,

judged in his lifetime.

And outside of any divine assistance,

Jesus

could be considered 1 of history's

greatest losers.

But what Machiavelli

and so many others who have as scribe

to various

versions of his philosophy through the centuries,

what they failed to take into account

is that the gentle lamb

became

a lion.

We know that after the seeming

defeat of the cross, our resurrected Lord

defeated death itself and 1 day,

He will return in great power and glory

to reign over a new heaven.

The new earth.

He was exalted by the father

specifically

because of his willingness to humble

himself.

To take on the form of a servant

to operate and model

a lifestyle,

of meekness.

Well, today, we are entering into the third

message in our series that we've called a

life

that flourish is. And in this series, we

are focusing

on Jesus opening

to his most famous teaching the sermon on

the mount.

And these opening statements have been called the

beat

or the beautiful sayings.

And these radical

and shocking statements

probe,

the moral and the ethical and the

spiritual guidelines,

governing

all of God's people.

When kingdom citizens follow these guidelines,

Jesus promised

it would produce blessed ness,

which we've learned is a deep down,

abiding joy.

Not based on the circumstances

or current events of the world, but on

the truth

of god's grace and saving power.

And when we understand that we

begin to live a life

that truly

flourish.

Well, today we are coming into the third

beat attitude.

Blessed are the meek.

And before we explore this astonishing and puzzling

statement.

I'd like to read together again the entirety

of Jesus beat attitudes from Matthew cha after

5 versus 1 through tip 12. We've been

reading each week from a different English

translation after of the scriptures just to get

some different angles and views of this deep

and

important teaching. And so today, today, we're reading

from the new King James version, Matthew 5.

1 through 12. The words are on the

screen, let's read this together.

And seeing the multitudes,

Jesus went up on a mountain and when

he was seated, his disciples came to him,

then he opened his mouth and taught them

saying,

Blessed are the poor and spirit. For theirs

is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn for they shall

be comforted.

Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit

the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst. For

righteousness

for they shall be filled.

Blessed are the mer for they shall obtain

mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart. For they

shall see God.

Blessed are the peace

for they shall be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness

sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when they rev vile and

per you and say all kinds of evil

against you falsely for my sake.

Rejoice and be exceedingly glad.

For great is your reward in heaven

for so they persecuted the prophets.

Who were before you.

Amen? God's word.

And so as we enter into this passage,

Jesus

third the attitude, blessed are the meek

for they will inherit

the earth. Third That statement comes as somewhat

of a surprise.

What is so great

about being meek?

And why?

Do the meek, inherit the earth.

And part of our problem is due to

a

misunderstanding. We hear the word meek,

and we automatically think weak.

And that is because that sixteenth

century,

Machiavelli

philosophy of power

through strength is still ingrained in our 20

first century

American culture.

But when we buy into that thinking, we

could not be more wrong.

Suppose

Let's suppose that the company, the

organization that you work for. If they were

to write a description of the ideal person

to be the next... Manager or the next

Ceo.

Do you think that meekness

would be on the list?

I've never seen a job description that included

meekness as a requirement.

What about in the current?

Presidential election season in which we find ourselves.

Which candidate would garner the most vote with

the slogan.

Vote for me.

I'm meek.

What about if let's say we were

searching for a new preaching minister here at

Garden way Church.

How excited do you think the search committee

would be about a candidate who listed their

primary

leadership quality

as meekness.

You see, we don't really want

a meek person to be our leader.

We want somebody who's dynamic,

powerful,

strong,

authoritative.

And so this morning, I wanna explore together,

Jesus says counter cultural

command and promise,

concerning meekness.

For those who would live in his kingdom.

What is this meekness?

And what

does it require

of us.

And first, we will see

that true meekness

requires

strength.

Meekness

requires

strength.

1 way to define meekness

is

strength under

control.

Strength under control. We get a sense of

this, from the way this word is translated

elsewhere

in the new testament scriptures. For example, in

some English versions,

they use the word gentle

in our passage today, blessed are the gentle.

The the validity of,

validity of that translation is supported by other

bible passages Were the same word appears. For

example, in second Timothy chapter 2,

2 Timothy 2 · chapter mention

Paul

identifies meekness or gentleness as an essential quality

of leadership when he writes the lord's servant

must not quarrel.

Instead, he must be kind to everyone, able

to teach

and not resent full. Those who oppose him

he must

gently

meek

instruct.

In the hope that God will grant them

repentance

leading to a knowledge

of the truth.

You see meekness

does require strength. In fact,

to be meek in the sense that Jesus

describes here in Matthew 5 really requires supernatural

strength

It is a quality that is produced by

god

in the believer life. It's not 1 in

which we naturally generate

ourselves.

Meekness

or gentleness

is in the list of the fruit of

the spirit in galatians chapter 5 as we

Galatians 5 · chapter mention

think about what it looks like to represent

and live for Jesus in this world.

But what are we really talking about in

terms of behavior?

If meekness isn't just another s for weakness,

then what is it?

Well, the stereotype

of meekness is a person who has no

will of their own.

We often might think of a meek person

as someone who is just very passive.

Who cannot help but let others take advantage

of them.

But biblical,

meekness

requires

strength,

in the proverbs, the prove brighter in chapter

16 and verse 32 says, better a patient

man

than a warrior.

A man who controls his temper

than 1 who takes a city.

You see meekness

is not weakness.

A meek person is stronger than a warrior

because it takes more strength to control your

temper

than it does to storm a city or

to get into a fight. Meekness

is not weakness, and it's not pass pass

either. The meek person is

intentional,

and they are in

control.

I I mentioned that the term meekness

often

is equated with strength under control. In the

ancient world, the term,

meekness was used to describe a war horse,

A horse that had been trained to be

strong and powerful,

brave enough to enter into a bloody battle,

but also willing to submit

and stay under the control of its rider.

The Greek word for meek, Pro

was used in ancient greece to describe both

the desired temperament

of that military horse

and

the best way to handle them.

The term making a horse in old English

refers to harnessing,

a horse's power.

From a state of wild

independence

to 1 of loyalty

so that it can be used

as intended. Isn't that a great picture?

You see Friends Jesus wants his people

to move from wild

independence

to loyalty,

loyalty to him,

loyalty

to his kingdom.

Not wild

independence based on my ideas, my preferences.

So what does meekness this look like?

In the real world. And specifically, what does

it look like in the church, the body

of Christ.

Well, Paul gives us an interesting

snapshot in ephesians chapter 4. When he says,

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

as he writes to the church, I urge

you

I urge you to live a life worthy

of the calling that you've received, be,

completely humble and

gentle or meek.

Be

patient, bearing with 1 another in love,

And so in blunt terms, meekness means that

you and I

put up with each other.

It means that at times, we endure 1

another.

And I appreciate the scriptures honesty on this

matter. You know, on occasion, we give the

impression

that the life of the church is a

kind of utopia.

And we sometimes

get the idea that real Christians never get

annoyed with 1 another. We never get frustrated

with each other. We never get fed up

with 1 another. And friends if there's 1

thing that I've learned as a church leader

is that I can't please

everyone in my ministry. There will always be

a a handful of people who are

disappointed in my teaching or my leadership style

or our particular

ministry priorities,

or even the color of the carpets or

paint on the church building.

In reality, in any group of people,

including the local church,

someone

will always be

disgruntled.

Sometimes it's even me.

Hey, amen?

And sometimes friends, the most spiritual thing that

we can do in the church.

Is to put up with 1 another.

And it's a good thing too

because Some of us can be hard to

live with.

Just ask my wife. She'll let you know.

The emphasis

on mutual

in impulse command, bear with 1 another.

And so do you find someone around you

annoying? Hard to deal with? Guess what?

There's a high degree and likelihood that they

struggle with the same issue regarding you.

And Paul's instruction

would not be as helpful if it weren't

for the clarifying phrase at the end of

the verse.

He says we are to bear with 1

another

in

love.

Yes. Life in the body of Christ

does call for us to put up with

each other, but not in a mean

gru,

harsh spirited way.

You know, there are some who display patients

towards others in a way that

communicates

imp

or even contempt.

And that's not what Paul is writing about

here.

And it is not the meekness that Jesus

speaks of, in the third attitude. Meekness

is an attribute of strength to exercise it

I must go against the grain,

but meekness doesn't merely take strengths.

If I'm going to bear with others in

love,

I'll need to have their best interest at

heart.

And so this leads to a second

requirement for meekness.

Not only does meekness require

strength

but meekness

requires

humility.

The word that Jesus uses,

in this be attitude is often associated

with humility in the scriptures. We already saw

that in ephesians 4. Where humble and gentleness

and patience and bearing with 1 another are

all part of the same cluster of traits.

We also find this in the great

invitation of Jesus

that he gives in Matthew 11,

where our Lord says these words

come to me.

All you who are weary

and burdened,

and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from

me for I am

gentle

or meek.

Humble in heart,

and you will find rest

for your souls. Jesus says I am gentle,

meek, and humble.

So what is this humility?

Well, sometimes, I think the best way to

define a word or an idea is to

look at its opposite.

And, of course, the opposite of humility is

pride.

Pride. It's kinda like, remember those fun house

mirrors at the Carnival when you looked into

those and they just... Distorted your image.

That's what pride does

in our life. Pride will take some achievement

some aspect of our character,

and it will blow it out of proportion.

Pride gives us a false

view of ourselves.

Pride

inflate the few

the the the few virtue that we possess

and it makes us think that we have

others that we don't.

Pride blinds us so that we fail to

see the glaring faults

that are so often

obvious to everyone else in our life.

Pride

minimizes

the few weaknesses that we are willing

to

admit.

Well, yeah, but we say

as an excuse.

And worse yet

pride often

prompts us to put on a mask of

humility

in an attempt to disguise

that deep down,

were really selfish

and arrogant at times.

And so our Lord's

invitation in Matthew 11

is to take up the yoke of disciples

ship.

And that is grounded in the attractiveness

of this kind of humility, the humility of

Jesus,

come to me.

Jesus says.

Take my yoke upon you. Learn from me.

Well, why do we want to do that?

Because Jesus says, I

am gentle

and humble in heart.

And you will find rest

for your souls.

That is his

invitation, his win some beautiful

invitation.

There is a goodness,

A joyous

about humility. It is

compelling

as others see

humility in us

In many ways, Jan, Auto

is an unlikely

superstar.

The Lan 29 year old who has been

dubbed the Greek freak

for his stunning

athletic feat

is widely regarded as 1 of the greatest

power forwards of all time.

His professional resume is lengthy, includes being an

8 time all star in the Nba. A

2 time most valuable

player,

an Nba finals

Mvp

and an

Nba champion

with his Milwaukee bucks when they defeated the

Phoenix sons in 20 21.

But his most

distinctive attribute might not be athletic,

but his humility.

Following the buck game for victory in which

he helped preserve the win with a particularly

impressive defensive play, Yan x explained

how to keep a winning perspective

after

such a successful outing. I want you to

listen to his words that he gave to

the media that day. He said, for my

experience,

like, when I think about it, yeah I

did this, I'm so great. I scored 30.

I had 25, 10 and 10 or whatever

the stat might be. Oh, we won this

and that.

Usually,

for the next few days,

I'm gonna play very badly.

Jan

frank, elicit chuckle from the media.

As he went on to illustrate the benefit,

of staying humble.

Remember, this is a guy that has just

had the crown achievement of glory in his

profession, bestowed upon him,

and here he is lecturing the media about

how to stay humble.

Listen to his words again. When you focus

on the past,

that's your ego.

I did this.

We were able to beat this team for

to nothing.

I did this in the past.

And he says, when I focus on the

future,

it's my pride.

Yeah. Next game, I'll do this and this

and this, I'm gonna dominate.

That's my pride talking.

My goal is always to try to focus

in the moment

in the present.

And that's humility.

That's being humble.

That's not setting

expectations. That's going out there and

enjoying the game.

Those words really struck me because

they transcend

basketball.

They transcend

sport,

and they're true

of life.

You see friends, when we remain humble,

when we remain teachable,

we honor the model of Jesus.

Who emptied himself by taking on the role

of a servant.

That is meekness.

Strength under

control,

humility.

And then finally,

Number 3,

meekness

requires

acceptance.

Acceptance,

is the third characteristic

of meekness.

You know, society's perception of a meek person

who someone who is

compliant.

A person who doesn't fight, but simply accepts

things. Now to some extent, that is the

bible view as well,

Though biblical meekness

carries far

more

intention.

It's not just a passive

acceptance.

To be meek is to yield to god

to give way

to the Lord,

Meekness

is acceptance of God's word

and

cooperation with his purposes.

The apostle James helps us see what this

looks like in James chapter 1. Here's what

James 1 · chapter mention

he says. Therefore,

get rid of all moral filth,

and the evil that is so prevalent

and humbly

or meek,

accept

the word planted in you,

which can save you.

So James says that those who are meek

or humble will

accept

God's word.

Now, clearly, there is something more here than

just merely having some factual knowledge

about god.

Those whom James is addressing, including you and

I,

already have an awareness of god's word, the

word planted in you as James says.

Now that it is planted in you, he

says

accept it

or yield to it.

So James language seems to imply that the

planting of the word does not automatically guarantee

that the word will bear fruit.

There seems to be a dimension of our

will that is involved.

Once the word is implanted,

We must welcome commit.

Open our heart to it.

That is the idea of true meekness.

Contained in James words here.

The person who is meek is not continually

seeking to defend his or her rights.

They're not always trying to protect themselves.

The meek accepting person re

self effort

in order to accept the Lord's plans and

purposes.

The person who is living in meekness

reno self

promotion as they rely on god's acceptance.

The meek person

can afford to be meek

because they have

an eternal

perspective,

a long view in mind,

and therefore,

the meek and the humble person can rest

in God.

And so friends this morning, I wanna challenge

you

wanna challenge you to do something very specific.

I want you to identify

1 area. Just 1 area of your life

where you find yourselves struggling

with accepting God's

control?

Where do you find yourself

grasping.

Or defending

or self promoting

or holding on too tightly

That's the area

that we need to release

as we accept

God's word implanted in us.

Now you see the natural fear,

the natural fear of the natural person,

apart from God's holy spirit,

that natural fear that is associated

with meekness is that well if I meek

I'll get ignored.

Or others will ride rough side rough shot

over me.

I'll I'll get tram under foot.

I'll be abused or taken advantage of.

If we don't struggle for our benefits or

our fight for our rights, who will?

Fight, fight.

That's a word of our culture.

In our culture, it seems like the strong

and the self sufficient, the over bearing, the

capable, the aggressive, the ambitious. These are the

ones that achieve success in our culture. They

occupy the elite positions, and it might cause

us to question

will the meek

really

really be blessed by God? Really?

Will they really inherit the earth because it

sure doesn't look like it to me.

But it is the word of god

that has been implanted in us, and it

is true

and therefore, we hold on to that truth.

Did you know that there are 290

different, species of pigeons in the world.

I never knew that either.

Google helped me figure that out.

But here's what's interesting.

Only 1 has adopt adapted itself to live

in the cities.

And that 1 species, which you've seen many

times I'm sure is often known as the

rock dove or the common pigeon.

And it has an amazing skill,

the ability to carry an important message

and then find its way back home. Do

you know this? Studies have suggested that these

common pigeons navigate

using human structures.

They follow the directions

as well as natural ones, they'll follow roads.

They'll follow canals and rivers.

They've even been observed in large cities going

round the roundabout

before taking the appropriate exit.

Not crazy?

These common pigeons can fly

extremely fast. They can fly up to a

hundred and 10 miles an hour.

And they can cover 700

miles in 1 single in in uninterrupted flight.

Now, there are faster birds.

But none of those birds can fly horizontally

under their own power as quickly and for

as long

as the common pigeon.

Amazing.

In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries,

pigeons became so important

because they were used as messengers, we all

heard of messenger pigeons. Right?

And during the siege of Paris in 18

70

pigeons were taken out of the city by

balloon, and then they returned carrying thousands of

letters.

Stored on micro and sewn into the tail

feathers of the pigeons.

During the first world war,

soldiers at the front, would use pigeons to

communicate with those behind the lines.

They'd send messages back to the tank commanders

when their radios fail.

During the second world war, most British bombers

carried

a pair

of pigeons in a specially designed floating cage.

And if the bomber were shot down

they would release a pigeon, bearing a message

detailing their position so that rescuers could be

sent,

to get the grounded clue after they jumped

out with their parachutes.

Major general fowler

the British army chief of signals and communications

wrote this. He said if it became necessary

immediately,

to discard every line of met and method

of communication used on the front,

except 1.

I should un

choose

the pigeon.

When the battle rages.

And everything gives way to barrage to machine

gun gunfire to gas attacks and to bombing,

it is to the pigeons

we should go.

Not amazing.

Never knew how important

pigeons were

in the history of mankind.

We'll tell you that? Story friends because in

the same way,

as a follower of Jesus Christ,

as a citizen of his kingdom

we don't necessarily need to be the fastest

or the smartest

or the most attractive

or the most powerful or the most amazing.

We are simply called

to be faithful

to be reliable

to live with strength under control

in

humility

and in full acceptance

of our lord

and his plans

and his purposes.

Be like the pigeon.

And as we do,

we will experience

the blessed ness.

The divine

joy,

and the

spiritual reality

of our inheritance

in god's kingdom.

Blessed

are the meek

for they will,

inherit.

The earth.

This is Jesus promise

to us

as we pursue

the blessed life,

the life

of bounty,

the life,

of goodness,

the life

that flourish.

Will you pray with me