Pastor’s Corner: “Powerfully Weak”
Matthew 5:5 (NIV) – 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
In His characteristic way Jesus was saying something quite shocking and revolutionary to His listener with these words.” He was saying something quite the opposite of our modern concept of the way to happiness. We say, “Happy are the clever, for they shall inherit the admiration of their friends”; “Happy are the aggressive, for they shall inherit a career”; “Happy are the rich, for they shall inherit a world of friends and a house full of modern gadgets.” Although Jesus said, “Blessed [happy] are the meek,” we don’t celebrate meekness in our culture. Instead, we celebrate assertiveness. We celebrate getting things from other people, sometimes even taking advantage of other people.
In Context to the time of Jesus, this was a world that understood power. This is a world overruled by Caesar. This is a world where armies made people in rebellion subject by sheer force. This is a world that turned on the tables of power. Those were the people that inherited the earth. With the “Sermon on the Mount,” Jesus was not preaching to the rich and powerful. He’s was not preaching to the people that had the ability to, in our modern way, make a phone call to make something happen. He’s preaching to villagers, and he’s saying if you’re a meek person, if you have strength under control, if you’re that type of personality, that not only will you be happy but you’ll have a type of life and a type of power that transcends even the power of Caesar. Because every time Jesus preaches a sermon, he’s not just preaching to our life in this world. He’s preaching to something greater, and I’m convinced that those who inherit the earth sometimes are those whose stories are never known on the earth except one day when we’re standing in heaven & we find out that that person sitting on the hill was the unlikely character God used to change history.
Weakness and meekness are not the same. Let’s say, for example, that you’re a professional boxer. And let’s say that someone is harassing you. But you don’t hit them back, even though you could. You choose not to strike back, even though they’re mistreating you. That is not weakness. That is meekness. Now let’s say that have no fighting skills at all and someone is harassing you. But you don’t hit back. That’s because you don’t really have a lot of options. On the other hand, the person who knows how to fight has an option. Even so, they choose not to exercise that option. That is meekness. It means power under constraint. Self-controlled – yielded.
In the same way, when we surrender ourselves to God’s will, we exhibit meekness. In the Bible, the last are first. Giving is receiving. Dying is living. Losing is finding. The least are the greatest. Meekness is strength. In the same way, God doesn’t come into your life to cripple you but to influence you so that He might complete you. That means you take the reins of your life and say, “Here they are, Lord. I turn my life over to You.” We must continually be turning our life over to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Many believers suffer for their faith, and some even sacrifice their lives. That kind of obedience doesn’t come from weakness or timidity. The truth is that Jesus wants us so confident, strong, and secure in our identity as children of God that people notice the difference in our lives. When we live this way, people are attracted to the life we live, and we then have the opportunity to direct them toward Jesus. Are you willing to trust God no matter what? Are you ready to obey him immediately and completely, no matter the cost? It takes tremendous strength to say yes to those questions; strength and power under control. That’s meekness.
In His Grace,
Pastor Hamilton & Family