Westwood Presbyterian Church

April 20th, 2008

197 Browning  Boulevard, Winnipeg, Manitoba  R3K 0L1

REV. PETER BUSH's SERMONS

Matthew 5: 5

 

Blessed are the meek 

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

     It is again one of those beatitudes where we need to define some terms. Who exactly are the meek? It is easy to think weak when we think meek – but that would be the wrong connection to make. I will give you an example – Which is easier – someone insults you – it is easier to return the insult or is it easier to take the insult and offer a blessing in return? I think we would agree that returning the insult is easier – if it is the easier approach it is the approach that requires the less energy – the less discipline – the less commitment to living a different way. That makes it the weaker way to go. The way of not responding – of taking it in our stride – offering blessing is harder and if harder than requiring more strength. So let us not think for one minute that being meek is weakness in any way – to be meek is to be incredibly strong.

    So if meekness is not weakness what is it – the best way I can think of describing meekness is to be without ego. An ego-less person is a meek person. But what does that mean? Meekness is a multi-faceted thing – it is a diamond that must be examined from a number of angles so that we can enjoy its beauty.

 

     We live in a society that says to get ahead we need to be aggressive, claiming what is rightfully ours, pushing our way ahead, striving to be at the front of the pack. All this claiming, striving, pushing – is about our trying to get ahead. It is all about us believing if we don’t do it, no one will. If we don’t look out from number 1, who is going to do that.

     This beatitude takes that view and turns it on its head. Eugene Peterson translates this as – “You are God-blessed when you are content with who you are – no more, no less.” We live in a culture that wants us to be discontent – it is what advertising is all about – “you won’t be content until you have a bigger truck, faster car, another pair of shoes, or the latest novel by your favourite author.” And so we strive, push, until we get this thing that is supposed to make us content – only to discover that there is a new thing that will make us content – and we strive and push until we have that. And so it goes.

     But all this striving leaves us in a state of constant discontent – and in that state we are never able to recognize the fact that we have been given so much – we have been gifted by God with abilities and talents and spiritual gifts; we have been blessed by God with all that we need of food and clothes; and most if not all of that came not because we grasped for it, reached for it, made sure we were first – no, it came as a gift.

     The meek are blessed because they understand that the joy of contentment, they recognize the blessings which are part of their lives. 

 

     Self-importance is a rampant disease in our culture. The T-shirts and bumper stickers declare – “It is all about me.” And while most of us are not that bold to wear such slogans – part of us secretly agrees with that. This is not the path to meekness.

     Pride is a great human failing, it gets people into more problems than we can imagine. From the kids in the school yard who fight because someone “disrespected” someone else, to the countries that go to war because the leaders did not have the grace or courage to back down from their prideful stance. Pride gets in the way.

     Pride also effects our every day lives. It makes us important in our own eyes. It makes us think that we matter more than someone else, that our rights and our way is the only way. It makes us think that we are the center of the universe. And the truth of the matter is that we are small and insignificant, that in the scheme of things we don’t matter any more or any less than any other human being. Meekness counteracts those tendencies in us, helping us get a true read on who we are.

     The self-important have trouble laughing at themselves, whereas the meek understand that there is much that they do which is silly. The meek understand, as Psalm 37 told us, God laughs at the self-important, those who strive to be important – and God invites us to join in the laughter – the laughter at ourselves when we get sucked in to believing we matter – the laughter at those who inflate their self-importance.  

     The self-important need to be doing important things – and the simple pleasures of life pass them by. The meek on the other hand enjoy the simple pleasures of life. For the meek know that they did not make themselves, they are not self-made people and the giftedness of life is to be enjoyed in simple things.

     And here we begin to see some of the ways that we can grow meekness in our lives. We grow meekness in our lives when we have the courage to laugh at ourselves, recognizing the silliness of trying to remain important. We grow meekness in ourselves when we stop thinking about everything we do as being important and choose just to enjoy life.     

 

     A saying I am trying to make one of the watchwords of my life is this – “It is amazing what can get done, if no one cares about who gets the credit.” I am going to say that again – “It is amazing what can get done, if no one cares about who gets the credit.” Our egos want us to get the credit – want people to say – “Wow, if it wasn’t for you this never would have happened, we owe so much to you for all you have done.” Our egos thrive on that – and because they thrive on that we want to make sure that we are in a place to get the credit that we deserve.

     Now isn’t that an interesting turn of phrase – the credit we deserve – what credit do we deserve. To be honest, no credit. We say – “Wait a minute, someone does a good job – they deserve honour and recognition.” The meek person would challenge us to think differently.

First, does anyone do anything all by themselves in their own strength, by their own ability? No, the truth is that the things that get done get done not by one person but by a pile of people working together. So if there is credit to be handed out – it is to be shared. Second, who is responsible for the success of a project, an event, an anything? We have all been involved in working on things that went incredibly well, so well that we are completely surprised; and we have also had the experience of working on things that went badly, and we worked just as hard, were just as creative, as when we worked on those things that went well. But one we want to claim credit for – the other we want nothing to do with. But what made the difference – I don’t know – but there are times when the only difference seems to be that things beyond us fall into place and a thing works – and other times they don’t fall into place and they don’t work. And we can claim no credit for those times when things fall into place anymore than we want to claim those times when they don’t fall into place.

     As long as I want the credit, then there is going to be a competition for the limelight, for being the hero – and that gets in the way of what God is doing in the world. As long as I want the credit, I am further inflating my self-importance.

 

       The meek will inherit the earth, Jesus says. He says “inherit” – not earn, not gain, not acquire – he says “inherit.” Inheritances are gifts – they just come. Not because we deserve them, not because we earn them, not because we are super good at what we do – often it is in spite of our ability, in spite of skills that we inherit. It is a gift.

      The meek understand that the earth is not to be acquired by hard work, and smart thinking. They understand that the earth is not to be the place of our striving to be important. They understand that the earth is a gift – given to those who don’t strive, who don’t grasp, who don’t push.

     When I put this series together I was not thinking about the fact that I would be talking about inheriting the earth two days before earth day. But it seems to me that one of the reasons we are in the environmental mess we are is because we have not understood that the earth is a gift and therefore can not be grasped or seized or captured. If we truly understood that the earth is a gift, I think we would treat it much differently. If we understood that the earth was only to be given to those who did not strive, who were ego-less, it would change how we relate to the creation – the gift that God has made.

     We are captured again by the giftedness of the earth, when we are prepared to enjoy its simple pleasures – watching a sunrise or sunset – watching ice flows slide down the river – walking outside – all simple pleasures which remind us of the giftedness of life.

 

     One of the meekest people I have ever known was Charlie Leach. Charlie wanted to be a missionary to China, it was his goal from childhood. But no mission would take him because Charlie had poor hearing and he would not be able to catch the nuances of spoken Chinese and would not be able to learn how to speak the language. Charlie lived in Kingston, Ontario and shortly after the second World War, he had a vision for a Christian summer camp for children near Kingston. God came through and Charlie pulled together a board who bought 250 acres of land which included a mile and a half of water front about an hour north of Kingston. Charlie’s ego did not get in the way when the door to China shut, he was willing to do what God wanted.

     When I worked as a counselor at the camp that Charlie had founded, Charlie was to be found on a tractor mowing the grass. In a work shirt and pants and battered work boots. He was more than willing to do the unimportant tasks, never seeking the limelight. But that didn’t mean that campers didn’t know who he was, over the years hundreds of campers had conversations with Charlie about living the Christian life.

     I remember taking my cabin on a canoe trip, we had to transport the canoes and stuff for the trip 30 minutes down the road. Charlie was driving the van and pulling the trailer of canoes. In the van were 8 very excited 13 and 14 year olds. It was noisy. When Charlie got into the driver’s seat he turned to me with a big grin on his face, he was where he belonged, making a difference in the lives of kids. And then with a wink at me, he took out his hearing aids and put them in a container on the dashboard. The fact that he couldn’t hear was a blessing, the chaos behind would not distract him as he drove. He laughed at the irony – the thing that had kept him from going to China was now a gift.

     Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who do not strive for more, for they will find the entire earth is a gift. Blessed are those who are not self-important, for they will discover the joy of what God can do.