Blessed are the meek

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
(Matthew 5:5)

This beatitude may flow out of the previous two... If one is poor in spirit and mourns the brokenness of the world because of sin, one will be meek.

The word here for "meek" (praus) is only used of two people specifically in the Bible: Moses (Numbers 12:3) and Jesus. In fact, this form (adjective) is found only four times in the New Testament, and three of those are in Matthew:

- (Matthew 5:5) "Blessed are the meek"
- (Mathew 11:29) “I am gentle and lowly”
- (Matthew 21:5) “humble, and mounted on a donkey”
- (1 Peter 3:4) to wives, “let your adorning be with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit…”

“Powerless” could also be a good translation (both a condition and an attitude) - which would include the sense of voluntary powerlessness. Meekness does not necessarily mean being weak and vulnerable; it may be so as a voluntary and willful act in the cause of righteousness.

... for they shall inherit the earth

The Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures translates Psalm 37:11 very similarly, translated into English as "the meek shall inherit the earth." The psalm is about the wicked prospering, but those who "wait for the Lord," the "righteous," the "meek" will inherit the land or the earth. “Inherit” can be understood as to possess or acquire.

Again, the context here is the Kingdom. “Theirs is the kingdom” brackets these beatitudes. John and Jesus came preaching the kingdom. I find it interesting that this phrase “inherit the earth” is used in the kingdom context. Kingdoms usually have to do with some sort of territory of earth. Are we to spiritualize this, or is it in some sense to be understood in its plain sense?

We anticipate a new heavens and a new earth, a “new creation.” Jesus doesn’t say “they shall inherit heaven” or even "they shall inherit the kingdom." I have so enjoyed N.T. Wright’s Surprised by Hope, which is a work on resurrection, heaven, and the mission of the church. He argues for "life after life after death." We will be raised from the dead, physically. God's future is a renewed material creation, not disembodied spirits floating around in the clouds. This is a constant theme around the church these days, from Anglican Bishop N.T. Wright, to Presbyterian pastor Tim Keller, to hip independent Mars Hill Bible Church pastor Rob Bell, to the Center for Judeo-Christian Studies teacher Dwight Pryor.

I’m getting a vision of this kingdom thing that Jesus is talking about as a worldwide kingdom, when the earth is renewed and restored. The inheritance we shall obtain is nothing less than the earth, which sounds very similar to God's original mandate to the first man and woman (Genesis 1:26-27).

It will be through meekness, through gentleness and humility. It will not be through the Zealots' sword. It will not be through coercion and domination. Not through human strength, solutions or ingenuity. How did Moses and Jesus bring about their respective kingdoms? Through submission, through meekness, through prayer; and finally, Jesus did so through the cross - the ultimate sign of voluntary weakness. He who enjoyed all power, laid it down, emptied himself of it, and yielded to the ultimate earthly power of the time.

How can we become meek? How can we be like Jesus? As we look to Jesus and meditate on him, on the way he brought about his kingdom, the way he inherited the earth. How he submitted himself to the Father, and how he emptied himself. How he defeated evil and death by entering it and absorbing it and not perpetuating it.

I’m always rather blown away when I do really meditate on the cross, on Jesus hanging there in weakness, bearing my sins in his body. I try to visualize my sins going into his wounds. And he doesn’t retaliate. He doesn’t return evil for evil, sin for sin, violence for violence. It ends there. He forgives. He buries it, forever. This is how Jesus establishes his kingdom. It is how he inherits the earth.

Later, among his final words to his disciples is "All authority in heaven and earth have been given to me. Go, therefore and make disciples of all nations..." Our kingdom mission is to the whole earth, to all nations, over which Jesus has all authority. Perhaps there is a sense in which Jesus inherited the earth is tied up with our going to, and making disciples of, all nations...

I will tell of the decree:
The LORD said to me, "You are my Son; today I have begotten you.
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession..."
(Psalm 2:7-8)

forty years ago today

On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr., was gunned down while in Memphis supporting a sanitation workers strike. For those interested in learning more about him, the best books on his life are the three part series by Taylor Branch, "Parting the Waters" [1954-1963] (which my Uncle Leo McCabe gave me and which I lost in the flood), Pillar of Fire [1963-1965], and At Canaan's Edge [1965-1968]. I have only read the first, which is a lengthy work by itself. A much shorter, and more personal account, is "The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr." edited by Clayborne Carson.

I will simply include some prayers in remembrance.

Almighty God, by the hand of Moses your servant you led your people out of slavery, and made them free at last; Grant that your Church, following the example of your prophet Martin Luther King, may resist oppression in the name of your love, and may secure for all your children the blessed liberty of the Gospel of Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

God of our forebears and our God, who has summoned women and men throughout the ages to be thy witnesses and sometimes martyrs for thee, we bow before thee this day in remembrance and thanksgiving for the life and legacy of thy servant, witness and martyr, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We thank thee for his time among us, for his words and for his deeds, and for the quality of his living witness which eases the pain of recalling the brevity of his years. We rejoice in his example of obedient faith and the scenes and stations of his life which inform and enrich our own faith journeys. And we beseech thee this day for the strength, steadfastness and courage not only to remember but also to obey. ( Dr. Randolph Nugent, United Methodist Church - found at Beliefnet.com)

O Guardian of Israel,
Our shelter and shade,
Stir up in us that flame of justice
That Jesus incited on this earth,
That rages in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.

O arouse in us
That very flame of righteousness
That enticed Martin
To be a living sacrifice of praise,
To seek freedom for all God's children.

O to you, God, ever faithful and true,
Be glory for ever and ever.
Amen.

(Attributed to J. Glenn Murray, SJ - found at beliefnet.com)