2010 Apr 11 - Meekness (Mt 5:5)

"Spiritually prosperous are those who are meek, because they themselves shall inherit the earth."

We began with a quick review of previous weeks to put the discussion in context. (We hadn't met for two weeks, since the church had double services on Easter.) The opening verses of the Sermon on the Mount are called the Beatitudes. They each begin with "Blessed are," not "Thou shalt." This goes along with Jesus's method of describing His followers rather than giving them a new set of orders to follow. Frankly, it is not possible to live according to this new description without God's help. We'll discuss that even more in the weeks ahead.

Meekness, the focus of this week's discussion, was actually considered a vice by the society of Jesus's time. Meekness was a mark of servility. We didn't discuss that term, but I believe it is like "smarmy," or the stereotypical used-car salesmen, buttering us up to take advantage of us. (Please understand, the only used-car salesmen I've ever known were very good Christians, and I don't want to insult them at all. But thanks to TV and movies, we probably get the picture of why the Romans disliked meekness.)

Jesus came to a group of people, the Jews, who were very proud of their heritage. They had no standing in the Roman world, but at least they knew their own importance. When Jesus declared that meekness was a virtue, they found that incredible. Class discussion suggested that Jesus could have lost a lot of listeners with talk like this.

We contrasted this meekness with the superiority that the Romans demonstrated and the Jews felt. The opposite of meekness would included bragging on ourselves, being assertive of our rights. We thought this attitude often leads to false bravado. Further, much of our "building ourself up" comes at the cost of "putting others down." In this light, meekness may be more attractive than the Romans and Jews first thought.

• David suggested a book by Donald Kraybill, The Upside-Down Kingdom. This book stresses how different the Jesus-following life is from anything that seems normal in our society. While it is a very challenging book, it does have insights that we might benefit from.

Meekness is demonstrated in relationships. It is easy to yield to the world's processes, emphasizing our importance, making sure others know how capable we are. But a Jesus-follower learns to praise others. Even in the cut-throat world that business is supposed to be, companies have learned that sharing the credit appropriately makes the organization stronger.

Meekness requires honest self-assessment. This will include learning to control ourselves, rather than trying to control others.

David pointed out that the Greek word used for meek is praus - this is also used to indicate a tamed animal. A tamed horse yields to another's intellect, and it accepts outside discipline that makes it more effective than any wild horse could be.

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We did not exhaust the possibilities in this verse. We will take up some additional issues as we come together on the 18th.

• Were the Romans right? Is meekness just a front? Or can it come from the heart?
• Can meek people demonstrate self-assurance? Can they stand up for their rights?
• How do the meek inherit the earth? What exactly are they inheriting?