Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth
To
be meek is to be gentle, humble, not pursuing our own agenda, putting
others interests before our own. Meekness is not weakness.
Moses was the greatest leader in Jewish history but Numbers 12:3 describes
Moses as the meekest man on the face of the earth! The context of
that statement is Moses refusing to defend himself in the face of
accusations but instead relying on God. Meekness is the opposite of
self-centredness. It grows out of the first two statements Jesus makes in Matthew 5 - when you
recognise your spiritual poverty and take your sin seriously, you will
be meek.
Conventional wisdom does not suggest that happiness is found in being meek. If you want to inherit the earth, if you want to achieve
happiness and satisfaction, surely you've got to look out for number
one? Surely you've got to aggressively pursue your own agenda because,
if you don't look after yourself, who else will? Jesus says the opposite
is true. True satisfaction, true happiness and true joy comes to the
person who has been humbled by their own brokenness and thrown
themselves on God's mercy. That sets us free to do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. (Philippians 2:3)
Matthew 5:6
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Satisfaction
is the elusive goal that motivates us all. A wife, a husband,
a different wife, a house, a different car, a job, a promotion, a
reputation, more money, more power, more sex, more comfort, more control
- these are the things we chase because we think that, when we have got them,
we will be satisfied. But when they are achieved they leave us hungry
for more.
Jesus
says that those who will be satisfied are those that hunger and thirst
for righteousness. This is not people who want to appear righteous to
gain approval from others or God, but people who have recognised they
have no righteousness of their own and they are totally dependent on God.
This does not describe people who have a passing interest in theology or a vague belief in
God but those who hunger and thirst for God. People who know they need God's word like they need bread, who know they
need the Spirit like they need water. This is not Christianity as an
beneficial add-on to life - it is life itself.