Nobody From Nowhere

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

What do you think of when you hear the word "meek?" One picture generally comes to my mind and that is a mouse or a mousy person. Meek doesn’t seem like a positive word – people generally don’t want to be described as meek. It carries the connotation of being weak or being a push-over. You can probably think of someone who you might describe as “meek” – and it’s probably not a good thing. Meekness seems to present a contrast with strength.

The Greek word that has been translated "meek" or "humble" or "gentle" is πραος pra-os. Praos can also be used three interesting ways: it describes a soothing medicine; it is used by sailors to describe a gentle breeze; and is used by farmers to describe a broken colt. If you think about it this way, medicine can be soothing, but too large of a dose can be devastating. Sailors love a gentle breeze, but a gentle breeze can turn into a strong wind: tornados, hurricanes, derechos... And a horse is a large and powerful animal capable of injuring or even killing with its hooves.

The one factor that all of these have in common is that they all describe something with great power, held under control. So meekness isn’t weakness; it is better described as absolute power under perfect control. If you want a pop-culture reference to help you out, think about these two characters: there’s the mild mannered reporter, Clark Kent, and there’s the nerdy science student, Peter Parker. Both are introverted and shy and somewhat passive. Peter Parker is frequently the target of bullies. But what people don’t know is that Clark Kent is really Superman and Peter Parker is Spiderman. To maintain their secret identities, they hold their super powers under control. These are good examples of meekness.

But why would anyone want to hold their strength and power under control? Aren’t we supposed to go for the jugular? Let everyone know how powerful we are so they can cower in fear of us? Our culture is built on the ideal of American exceptionalism. We are bigger, stronger, and more powerful than anyone. We are rugged and self-sufficient. In this part of the country, especially, we pride ourselves in our independence. We don’t need anybody else coming in and telling us what to do or how to do it. If there is an issue, Wellston will take care of Wellston. Our strength, mined in the harsh coal mines and rugged iron producing terrain and fired through poverty and isolation, is not only enough to get by on, but it is enough to prove that we don’t need nobody’s help for nothing. So why would anyone suggest meekness?

The first reason is because we do need someone else’s help. We are not self-sufficient; we cannot save ourselves from our sins. If you don’t understand that, go back and study the first beatitude until you get it. We can’t be filled until we’re empty. Until we need Jesus, we can’t have him. Until we mourn our sins, we won’t be comforted.

And when we hold our strength under control, we protect our areas of weakness. Even superheroes have weaknesses – and the draw of their stories is often a super-villain who tries to exploit those weaknesses. Can you imagine Superman, just walking around as Superman all the time? It’s likely that one of his enemies would manage to get to him with enough Kryptonite to defeat him. It’s likely that an enemy would target his parents.

One of our biggest areas of weakness is our sin, and, having sinned, we can’t get back to a right relationship with God on our own. Many of us selfishly try to get back into right relationship with God – I’m sure I’m not the only one who has punished myself with guilt and shame thinking that I deserve it but also thinking that maybe if I do all these other things, it will be enough to get back into God’s good graces. Our super villain is Satan, who tries to make us think that we can do it all on our own, out of our own strength. This is what Jesus’ first temptation in the wilderness was all about. And it’s a constant temptation for us as well. When we succumb to the temptation to do it on our own, we’re not really even submitting to God; after all, the Bible tells us that the only way to salvation and forgiveness is through the free gift given by Jesus Christ, and if we try any other way, we are in essence saying that we don’t need God, that we can do it without him. So instead of simply trying to work through our own strength to do something we are incapable of, we submit to God’s will.

And when we submit, we gain. I don’t know how many times this has happened to me. I’ll try and try and fail, and then I’ll give it up to God and I see success. God loves to use our weakness to magnify his strength. The Old Testament character Gideon is a good example of this premise. In Judges 6, we find the Israelites overrun by Midian. They were living in caves and mountain clefts for fear of the Midianites, and Gideon is threshing wheat in a winepress, hoping that he can save some from the Midianites. God’s angel shows up and says, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” (Judges 6:12) Listen to what the angel said to Gideon: “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?” (Judges 6:14)

If you wonder how Gideon responded, listen to Judges 6:15: “But Lord,” Gideon asked, “how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”

There is so much going on here – it’s a sermon series in itself. But very quickly, Gideon is the runt of the litter, he doesn’t have the right last name. He lives on the wrong side of the tracks. He has never distinguished himself on the athletic field or the battlefield. He is a nobody from nowhere. Sometimes I’ve felt like that – when I tell people where I live, they always want to know, “Where’s that?” When we were in New Knoxville, I’d say “northwest Ohio” and they’d ask, “Up by Toledo?” Now I say, “Southeast Ohio” and they ask, “Is that near Marietta?” This is the kind of guy Gideon was. A nobody from nowhere.

But I don’t want to focus on his excuses. Let’s go back to what the angel said. Did you notice how the angel addresses him? He calls him a “mighty warrior.” Now how could Gideon be both a nobody and a mighty warrior? He is because God called him one. God tells him to go in the strength he has to save Israel.

Nice dodge, God. He’s already explained that he’s a weakling. The point is he doesn’t have strength! In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul basically says he has a lot to boast about, but he will only boast about his weaknesses. He reports: To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)

But God loves this situation, when we admit how weak we actually are, because he uses it to demonstrate his own strength. It’s been said that God doesn’t call the equipped; God equips the called. So if you think you aren’t ready to do something, step out in faith. The key of the story of Gideon is not Gideon. The key is who is sending him. He is being sent by God himself! And that is the case for us, as well, as the church.

1 Corinthians 1:25: For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

When we meekly hold our strength under control, we gain more than what we would gain by flaunting our strength.

I receive devotionals from the Voice of the Martyrs, and you’d be shocked to see how many of the stories there are of Christians being wrongfully accused, arrested, beaten up, thrown in prison, and even tortured – then, instead of getting revenge on their captors, willingly (even smiling) receiving their beatings, praying for their captors. Then their captors are so overcome by these attitudes that they begin to seek the peace that allows people who look weak to show such fierce resolve in the face of torture. They end up accepting Jesus for themselves – and those who held their strength under control gained more than they could have had they fought.

Remember that meekness does not show itself when we are wrong, but when we are right. It is revealed when we are right and have the power to hurt someone who is wrong. An example from the Bible is David. In 1 Samuel 24, David is on the run from jealous King Saul, who is trying to kill him. At one moment, Saul goes into a cave, and what he doesn’t know is that David and his men are in that very cave. While Saul is doing his business, David creeps up and cuts a corner off Saul’s cloak. Saul’s life was in David’s hands, but he refused to kill him, saying to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, or lift my hand against him; for he is the anointed of the Lord.” (1 Samuel 24:6).

Later, in 2 Samuel 16, David and his son Absalom were battling, and David was travelling when he encountered a guy named Shimei, a relative of Saul. He pelted David and his officials with stones and dirt and cursed him. David’s enforcer, Abishai, asked David (and you’ve got to admit he has a way with words), “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and cut off his head.” But King David reasoned, “Leave him alone; let him curse, for the Lord has told him so. It may be that the Lord will see my distress and repay me with good for the cursing I am receiving today.” (2 Samuel 16:11-12)

David could have had Shimei killed – the penalty for treason has always been death, but instead he decided to endure the stones, the dirt and the cursing, thinking that maybe (no guarantee) God will repay him for good for the distress. For meekness at its heart is completely trusting in God’s justice and not our own. We trust that God will be the one who rewards and punishes.

The ultimate example of meekness was Jesus Himself. In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus invites us to come to him. “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 and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Where Jesus says, “I am gentle” the word he uses there is pra-os. Meek. His yoke is easy and his burden is light. When Jesus said this, he came in contrast with Israel’s historical kings. Just after Solomon’s death, his son Rehoboam succeeded him as king. The people came to Rehoboam and said, “Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.” (1 Kings 12:4) The elders who had served Solomon told him “If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants.” (1 Kings 12:7). But instead of listening to their wisdom, Rehoboam listened to his posse and decided on this response: “My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.” (1 Kings 12:14) This led to rebellion and to civil war and the separation of Israel into two nations.

Contrast that to what Jesus is saying: even though he is God, he isn’t burdening his followers with a terrible yoke. Instead he leads by becoming a servant, his power fully under control. Whose control is he under? Listen to Jesus’ words from Mark 14:36 shortly before He went to the cross: "Abba, Father," he cried out, "everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine."

He could have stopped the crucifixion at any time. But he chose to submit instead, and the result is that he went to the cross and defeated death once and for all, reconciling us to God! And like Jesus, a meek person recognizes God’s authority and submits to it in every way, allowing God to work. Another way of saying it is that meekness says, “I can’t, but God can.”

Because in Him, we have greater strength than we can possibly imagine. So how do we gain meekness? This is a trick question. We can’t exactly gain it by working at it because at its heart, meekness is a fruit of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. That word “gentleness”… you guessed it. Pra-o-tes. From the root word praos. Meekness. We cannot manufacture fruit of the Spirit – it comes from the Holy Spirit. But we can cultivate it, and meekness, as we saw in the examples of modern day martyrs and in the biblical examples of King David and Jesus, is cultivated in the difficult experiences of life.

OK. So we have learned what it means to be meek. But that’s only half of the verse. The verse says: Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. (Matthew 5:5).

To inherit something, someone has to die and give you something. In this case, Jesus already died and gave us something. And in submitting to him, we also die. We die to self, and in so doing, we are given an inheritance in Jesus Christ. In fact, he promises us everything. Here and now, we do not have to be afraid of anything or anybody because God is in control of us and our circumstances. We receive our allotted portion as God’s sons and daughters!

However, the great enemy of meekness is impatience. The beatitude is in the future tense: the meek will inherit the earth. It doesn’t say we already have. We find a parallel to this beatitude in Psalm 37. This is the Psalm that says, Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. But listen to what else David says: A little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found. But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy peace and prosperity. (Psalm 37:10-11)

And the conclusion of this Psalm: The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord; he is their stronghold in times of trouble. The Lord helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him. (Psalm 27:39-40)

I want to close by reading this beatitude one last time. I love the way the Message paraphrases it: “You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.”