Have
you ever inherited anything? Many years
ago, when my grandmother died, she left each of her grandchildren a small
inheritance. Nothing to get rich off
of—but it helped pay off some debts. A
couple of years ago, my stepdad passed away.
From him, I inherited the pickup truck that I’m still driving
today. Maybe you’re waiting on an
inheritance right now, and you feel badly because it’s too hard to wait. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus has
something to say about inheritance—but what he has to say may surprise you.
Jesus
might have initiated a discussion about inheritance while standing on the steps
of some great financial institution. Or,
if he had talked about it in front of Herod’s palace, that would have made an
impact. But instead, Jesus took his
followers on a field trip to a place where there was no wealth to be seen
anywhere. There, on a grassy
mountainside, beneath rolling clouds, Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth Matthew 5:5 NIV).”
This had to be the last
thing his hearers expected. “Blessed are the meek?” They were accustomed to powerful landowners ruthlessly
acquiring and defending property and money, amassing fortunes and creating
dynasties. But here, Jesus says you’re
blessed if you’re meek? It wasn’t what
they were used to hearing.
Ironically, this Greek word
that is often translated as meek, gentle, and humble, almost sounds like proud
in English. Praus is a hard-to-translate word that people often mistake for
weakness. But instead, meekness means
“strength under control.” Jesus says if
you want an inheritance for yourself or your children, you don’t have to step
on people to get it. You don’t have to
ruthlessly defend what you have, or greedily hoard more and more. Jesus’ plan was greater than the world’s
plan. Jesus said, “Just practice
meekness, and your inheritance will be on its way.”
Micah
6:8 (NIV) tells how to gain this inheritance: “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord
require of you? To act justly and
to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” This is the basic recipe for meekness. None of these things are weak—all of them
require strength, under control. Justice
demands you do it, whether it’s convenient or not. Mercy requires that you be in a position of
strength, to demonstrate it. And
humility means you know who you are in Christ, without either false bravado on
the one hand or self-effacement on the other.
When you practice justice, mercy, and humility, you develop meekness
that is power under control. And Jesus
promised that the meek will inherit the earth.
Again, don’t misconstrue
the meaning of meekness. One person who
misunderstood this was…
J. Upton Dickson
[who] was a fun-loving fellow who said he was writing a book entitled Cower
Power. He also founded a group of submissive people. It was called DOORMATS.
That stands for "Dependent Organization Of Really Meek And Timid Souls --
if there are no objections." Their motto was: "The meek shall inherit
the earth -- if that's okay with everybody." They symbol was the yellow
traffic light.[i]
If we
understand that meekness is not weakness, then when we read Jesus’ statement
that the meek shall inherit the earth, we do not see him switching on the
yellow light. Jesus was anything but a
cautious doormat. Instead, he was the
one who rebuked storms, overturned tables, and pillaged hell to emerge with its
keys in hand. Meekness doesn’t mean
weakness—it means being strong, but using that strength only for God’s glory
and never for your own. I’m reminded of
a time when Jesus’ disciples asked him to call down fire from heaven on a
village that refused to listen to their teaching. Jesus rebuked them, saying, “You do not know what kind of spirit you
are of; for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save
them (Luke 9:55-56 NASB).” This is
the spirit of meekness that Jesus demonstrated, and the spirit he blesses—to
have power yet choose to be gentle.
Jesus says there is an inheritance for people like this, who choose
gentleness over ruthlessness. They will
inherit the earth.
Now,
you might say, “Who wants to inherit the earth, with the state that it’s
in?” A lot of people inherit things they
don’t want. My brother says, “I
inherited those big, copper, octagonal wall hangings with authors in them.
Shakespeare and somebody else that I can’t remember. They used to hang in
Grandma’s old house. Apparently, I must have commented on them once. Now they’re
living in my basement and, every so often, I wonder what their metal value
might be.”
Some
inheritances you don’t want, and don’t even like. But I promise you’ll like this one. The
meek shall inherit the earth. Now,
don’t read this like you’re reading the story of Jesus’ temptation in the
wilderness, where Satan offered Jesus all the kingdoms of the earth. Yes, the Greek word gé can be translated as earth,
but I don’t believe in this context it means the whole earth and its
kingdoms. Gé can also mean land, as
in a country—but meekness doesn’t go hand in hand with inheriting a country,
does it? No, Jesus must mean something
different. Gé also mean land, as in
tracts of land. Now we’re getting
closer, because land can be farmed, and it can be made fruitful—and Jesus wants
us to be fruitful. But the problem is
that this idea leads us back to the notion of inheriting property. But gé
can mean one more thing, and that’s dirt. I believe Jesus was saying, “The meek shall
inherit the soil.” And I don’t think he
means physical soil, either. It’s not an
earthly inheritance, like a kingdom or land.
Instead, it’s a fertile, loamy quality that you cultivate in your soul,
simply by practicing meekness.
The
meek shall become earthy. Down to
earth. Humble—like humus, or dirt. The meek aren’t afraid to get their hands
dirty for the sake of helping others.
The meek will be made fertile.
Out of meekness, good things grow.
Act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God—and this will turn you
into the kind of person God can use.
It’s not an inheritance you can get rich off of, but it will make your
heart into good, rich, soil.
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