Sermon starts at 29:22
We are continuing our summer series on The Beatitudes of Jesus as found in Matthew 5:1-12. The Beatitudes (latin for “blessed”) as they have come to be called are eight “Blessed are…” statements through which Jesus began to describe the kind of people who are transformed by the Spirit. People who recognize that they are blessed by God. As we have discovered the word “Blessed” could be translated literally as “happy” or “fortunate” which is surprising considering the qualities and the attitudes of people Jesus describes.
This week we will explore the third beatitude which is “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” The English word “meek” is perhaps an causality of how the meaning of words can change over time, because when we think of “meek” we perhaps think of “weak” or even “wimpy”. However in this beatitude this is far from Jesus’ meaning. In fact with Jesus as our example, meekness is not a weakness, but a inner trust in God and an outward practice of gentleness and holy restraint. It is trusting in God’s power and strength even when we are tempted to act out in uncontrolled anger and inappropriate aggression. We live in a world in which extravagant displays of power and bravado seem to suggest that the strong will survive and inherit the earth. The virtue of meekness has fallen on hard times, and yet as Jesus suggests, in the end it is the meek, the gentle who shall inherit the earth. Really? But perhaps Jesus blesses those who are called to imitate his meekness – strength under control – revealed most vividly in the act of giving his life for his friends. Are we those who exercise meekness? Are we those who follow the path of servant leadership? Do we trust God’s timing? Patient under pressure? Self-controlled when things don’t always go our way? Never returning evil for evil? Who said being meek was for wimps! So please join me on Sunday as we explore this beatitude a little more this coming Sunday.
Songs of Praise – Songs of Praise (C.C.L.I. 300242)
This Is The Day
Holy is the Lord
The Same Love
Unfailing Love
Meekness and Majesty
Shalom My Friend
Video credits
From Whom All Blessings Flow: The Doxology on CreationSwap
Photo credits:
# Blessing slide on CreationSwap
Illumin_Eight.jpg on CreationSwap
Dietrich Bonhoeffer slides on CreationSwap
Psalm 37 slides on CreationSwap
Jesus teaching .jpg on CreationSwap
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