Week 3
“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth”
Matthew 5:5
Preamble and context
Christian sociologists describe this Beatitude as one of the most perplexing and counter-cultural we can find today. It seems (and we will confirm that it does) to contradict the way our world functions - those who willingly yield their power to others are rewarded by God. Yet we live in a culture and society where we are given a different message - make sure you get what you want and do what you need to do to be who you were meant to be.
This cultural message stands in stark contrast to this beatitude: be willing to yield your power and emotions to others and what you receive from God will come to pass in the age to come. But what can result is a wrong idea of meekness that has bled into Christianity: Jesus is viewed as ‘meek and mild,’ in other words, he has no power or is seen as ‘spineless’ and lacking either emotion or anger and that’s how we’re meant to be too.
We will come to see in this Beatitude that this is not what Jesus is teaching us at all. Neither our current worldview that is negative towards ‘meekness’ nor the view that is often given of Christianity being ‘meek’ are correct. So what does it mean? The Greek work Jesus uses, and Matthew records, for meek, praeus, may best be translated as the ability to be in control of oneself. This is more than self-control - it is multi-faceted. It is the idea that you can use your power for good, that you have control over your emotions, especially anger, and how you use them. It incorporates the idea of loving restraint and significantly also the idea of resisting certain pressures you may feel when you have power in a situation. Finally, it also includes the idea of yielding to others with your power, resources and emotions. Through all of these related, but nuanced meanings, we can see the idea of power is a common thread to all. ‘Meekness’ willingly yields to others and to God not out of weakness, as is commonly applied, but as a voluntary renunciation. There are some key scriptures to consider when thinking about the power of meekness, or strength under control such as Psalm 37.
A key idea that Christian writers developed about how we understand the word meekness in this Beatitude is taken from Greek philosophy and the work of Aristotle and is in relation to anger and what ‘righteous anger’ means for Christians.. Aristotle developed the idea of the middle ground, or tension between two extremes, being the best way to understand many ideas. Early Christian writers applied this to the meekness found here. At one extreme there is anger at everything and everyone. It is uncontrolled, constant, and illogical. At the other extreme is someone who we could describe as almost spineless and without any emotion. For the understanding we have of meekness, one way it can be described is as a middle ground or tension: being angry over the right things, at the right time, for the right amount of time. The problem with this understanding is how do we define ‘right things,’ ‘right time, etc? However it is a helpful aid when we think about this facet of meekness we are called to live before others..
One of the key ideas that developed through history is that meekness in this context can, fundamentally mean, do not return evil for evil. There is amply biblical evidence to support this position. The writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer during World War II or some of the work coming out of Latin and African theological contexts have affirmed and attested to this interpretation. The idea espoused is that we as Christians demonstrate our meekness when we choose to ‘yield our ground’ to another. We can see that this is anathema to much of the message of our modern world. Yet the yielding is not passive but active - it’s a choice that’s made - with the view of honoring Christ through all of this. We could easily apply this today to either our attitude towards driving or our interactions on social media.
Finally, this form of yielding must also apply to God himself - we are called to yield our power to Him. We can see once more how this Beatitude builds on what has gone before it. We began this journey through the Beatitudes by realizing we were poor in spirit, we brought nothing into our relationship with God that would merit us worthy or deserving of it. Our revelation is that, in fact, we are utterly humbled by this and we rely fully on Him. From this we can come to a place of mourning: mourning over our own sin, the sin of others, the brokenness of the word and through it all we shed tears of lament and repentance. This then leads to our current Beatitude, we realize that through all of this we have power. Our power can be our ethnicity, our socio-economic status, or intellect, our privilege and so on. And if we are to see ourselves and our world changed we must yield all of this to God too. How can we allow God to use our power to help others?
But what is our ‘reward’ through living out this Beatitude? This may be a difficult one for us to grasp when we are conditioned to live in the present, and the idea of any delay in life is seen as detrimental. Yet, Jesus teaches us in this beatitude that we may not see the ‘reward’ for living a life of meekness until the new heavens and the new earth arrive. That is, when we yield our power to God, to others, and in the situations and circumstances of life; when we choose to lay our anger down or our mean words and actions; we may not see an immediate ‘reward’ from God. And so the question becomes: can we live with that? Can we live a life where we may not see the reward until heaven comes to earth? Most biblical scholars would propose that the idea of ‘inheriting the earth’ in this beatitude isn’t for the here and now but is the hope that ultimately Jesus will make everything right. Even though we choose to yield our power now for the benefit of others we may not see the full reward of this for a long time.
Questions to discuss and consider
Do you think we are ‘angry’ as a culture? How is this played out on social media, in the news?
What about yourself? Would you consider yourself an ‘angry’ person? What does that mean and what does that look like? What does it look like in those around you?
Do you think people believe their anger is righteous and virtuous? If so, what are they angry over? What is the result of this anger?
From this Beatitude - what do you think ‘meekness’ means? What is your understanding of it? What would this look like in your life?
Do you think this is a difficult, or hard, beatitude for you to live out on a daily basis? If it is, thinking of the previous two Beatitudes, what would you need to do to make it a reality in your life?
What power do you think you would need to yield?
From your understanding of scripture, and this Beatitude, what do you think is worthy of righteous anger? What would this look like? What would be its purpose and what would the end result be?
Do you think you can live with knowing that the reward for yielding your power won’t be seen this side of heaven? If you struggle with that idea can you unpack why? What would you need to do, or let go of, to embrace this?
Spiritual Practice for the week
At the end of each day, spend a few minutes in silence and invite the Holy Spirit to speak to you. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you any way in which you lived in a manner that is contrary to the words of Jesus in this beatitude. Were you angry today at someone? Even if the anger was only in your heart? Did you act passive aggressively towards someone today? Did you use your power for your advantage?
If the Holy Spirit brings any moment to your remembrance ask for forgiveness but also ask Jesus to guide you into a new way of living that embraces this Beatitude.
Practical demonstration for the week
Take a moment as a core group to think of ways you can use your collective power and give it away so that someone else can flourish or be pointed towards Jesus. There are many ways this can occur. You may collectively decide to clean another dorms bathrooms or common area. You may decide to help with a soup kitchen or help in the community in some way.