Week 5
Meekness
I’m on a mission to bring meekness back! I know what you’re thinking: That doesn’t sound very meek. And I know what else you’re thinking: Did you just say “meek”? Who wants to be meek?
“Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.”
Matthew 5:5
Jesus spoke these topsy-turvy words to a large group gathered on a mountainside who were the economically and religiously oppressed of their day. The benediction must have fallen like soft manna on their hungry hearts. They, the positionally meek of society, were eventually going to be the ones who would rule over the earth!
Did they recall God’s original blessing in Eden when he gave Adam dominion over the earth (Genesis 1:28)? It must have seemed a far-fetched hope under the rigid rules of the Pharisees and the cruel rule of the Romans. From where they sat, they could not yet see the Apostle John’s prophetic vision of how it would all end up:
Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?”
But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside.
Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne ...
He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people.
And they sang a new song, saying:
“You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
and with your blood you purchased for God
persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.
You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
and they will reign on the earth.”
Revelation 5:1-6a,7-10
In the vision, John was told to “see the Lion” but as he looked, what did he see? Not a roaring Lion, but a Lamb! A meek and tender Lamb so worthy that all the elders fall down before him with their worship-ready harps and prayer-filled bowls. Humbled before the Humble Lamb, the elders sing the amazing truth that the meek, in the end, had inherited the earth.
They would now “reign on the earth” not through their own accomplishment, but because of the Lamb’s sacrifice. It was the Lamb’s doing. There, in the center of the throne, stands the “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29). Slain yet risen, he stands ready to share his reign with those who have been meek enough to receive him - those who have embraced their emptiness in order to receive his fullness.
And so, I’m on a mission to bring meekness back, because it is the meek, knowing they have nothing, who attach themselves to Jesus and reign with him in the end.
What is Meekness?
Meekness is a posture. It’s an acknowledgement of the reality that we are nothing without Jesus.
In this posture, the meek are:
· the strong in the land because they do not rely on their own strength.
· the wise in the land because they do not rely on their own wisdom.
· the full-hearted in the land because they have emptied their hearts of self to make room for God.
· the blessed ones who will inherit the earth, reigning with the Lamb both now and in eternity.
It’s the positionally meek who stay yoked to the One who says: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life,” acknowledging their propensity to go the wrong way, be deceived, and embrace apathy
It’s the positionally meek who align themselves in thought and word with the Kingdom of Light, knowing their own best thinking cannot compare.
It’s the positionally meek, who are able to triumphantly stand against evil, not in their own authority, but in that of the Lamb.
The meek remember that their struggle is never with people but with the “powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:12).
The meek know all authority has been given them by Jesus (Matthew 10:7-8) and none of the authority comes from within themselves. That’s what makes the meek so dangerous!
It’s the meek who make no agreements with the whispers of the Enemy. They guard the territory they have been given – their hearts. When tempted with thoughts of discouragement, doom, death, self-pity, anger, hatred, fear, mistrust, divisiveness, envy, shame, etc., the meek make no agreements. Instead they stand in the Lamb’s authority saying, as John Eldredge teaches: “You can’t have my heart! Get out!” (for more on this please listen here).
Imagine a world where the Meeks say:
· Nope! I’m not aligning myself with that thought of hatred!
· Nope! Get out of my heart, Distrust!
· Nope! I see you, Judgement! And I’m not agreeing with you!
· Nope! You are not allowed in my domain, Doom and Gloom!
So let’s bring meekness back! Meekness is not weakness. It is an acknowledgement of position. It’s a spiritual posture that says: “In and of myself, I am poor, empty and have absolutely nothing to offer. But, fill me Holy Spirit, yoke me to you, Jesus and let’s extend your kingdom!”
The Meek end up being the Mighty as they stay yoked to the Lamb and bring his kingdom reign to a broken and weary world.
Can you imagine a church that does this? How about our church? The Church of the Meek! Staying yoked to Jesus the Gentle Hearted, we find rest for our souls even while we reign with him in the “now and not yet” kingdom.