Who wants to inherit the earth?

I don't know if you've noticed something interesting about the Beatitudes. It's this: none of them promise eternal life. Not a one.

The first and last ones speak about the kingdom of heaven, but by this Jesus means the way of God in contrast to the ways of the kingdoms of earth. The kingdoms of earth are those monopolies, the societal systems, the economies that operate according to rules of competition, struggle, human evaluation on the basis of merit or self serving.

 The kingdom of heaven is wherever God's rule on earth is present, where God's people populate, and where God's ways are the norm. The picture of God's norm is Jesus; it is outlined in the Beatitudes.

This third Beatitude is especially interesting if we're talking about the fact that none of the Beatitudes mention heaven, because this Beatitude promises earth: blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 

If anything is opposite of "heaven" as understood in typical popular thought, it's the earth. Jesus doesn't promise a house in heaven here (he does that in John). Here he promises earth.

This highlights immediately that reason for blessing in this Beatitude is not that some grand reward awaits; there is no crown or medal of honor. No heavenly podium on which to stand. The inheritance is the earth. And this makes me really rethink what I think following Jesus and spirituality are all about. The meek are, on the surface, the ones not caught up in the stratosphere of high pursuits. The reward is earth. Dirt. Grass. Trees. Roots. Water. It's not exactly glorious, streets of gold stuff. But the book of Revelation mentions streets of gold, doesn't it?

This is, of course, why this beatitude needs a closer look.
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Let's begin with "meek." It's these who are considered "blessed." Take two seconds right now and write down three people you would call "meek." Then honestly ask, "do I find this a good quality?"

Jesus was meek. We all know this.

There were many lists of virtues, qualities, or values that people believed were important for living to one's full human potential. Some well-known ones were: righteousness, courage, wisdom, self-control, moderation, justice. Here's what is rarely on anyone's list of virtues as a quality to be sought: meekness or humility.

The meek or humble were those who realistically were on the low end of things. They were low in status, second class -- not just in how they thought of themselves, but in real living. They were the left-to-the-margins laborers, the non-elite who weren't really going anywhere. The way of meekness was the way of falling behind, not getting ahead. Many scholars have suggested that a better word for Jesus' context might have been "powerless."

Blessed are the powerless.

Meekness is measured by one's relation to others. It's more than simply an attitude or the way you see yourself or act like you see yourself so as to appear not prideful. Being meek is how you position yourself in relation to others. Meek is being in a position of powerlessness. And it's not so that you get more power or status in the end.

True meekness, if we're connecting the beatitudes together (which I suggest we do), can only come if being poor in spirit characterizes someone first. Or maybe it's not "first poor in spirit, then meek." Maybe it's just that Jesus is saying that those of his kingdom are characterized by both. Probably that.
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Let's see where Jesus helps us see more concretely what meekness is all about.

Jesus is called "meek" two times in Matthew's gospel. The first is in Matthew 11:28-30, where Jesus gives the famous "come to me all you who are weary" saying.

Come to me all you who are weary and have been burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am meek and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. 

This statement comes right in the middle of Jesus' ministry in Matthew, as if Jesus hit the pause button to explain something important. Looking at Jesus' ministry, his meekness played out in who he associated with and how he went about proclaiming the kingdom.

From what we read, Jesus not only spent time with the lowly and outcast, but also served them. He became powerless to the powerless. He never held authority or status over others. He was "God with us" and possessed the power of the Spirit, yet he did not hold that over anyone or place anyone beneath him because he was greater. And he did not make sure people knew who he was. Matthew 12:18-19, quoting Isaiah, says of Jesus:

Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love in whom I delight,I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations,He will not quarrel or raise his voice, no one will hear his  voice in the streets.

This is, of course, supposed to be in contrast to the ways that people thought you get ahead and make yourself known in the world: loud, get noticed, make yourself look better and more attractive than others. The way to be known and heard was to raise your voice in the streets; to win the arguments. But Jesus was meek. It was his nature to lose. It was his nature to not be 'on top.' It was his nature to be among the lowly.

He spent time--intimate time--with the ones who were left out, ignored, or thought of as unworthy. He spent time with those whom the powerful and capable in his time ignored or even took advantage of. In spending time with them, he identified with them to the point that everyone else thought he was one of them. What a shame! What a waste of time and of his gifts and his status. 

Jesus had no objection. This is how God is. In the world's eyes this is still a waste. Even for most Christians, if we're honest. To not pursue upward mobility would be a waste. It's the American way, after all. But if our created purpose is to be people made in the image of God, the God defined by Jesus, well...you draw the conclusion.

Here's a way to think of what it means to be meek like Jesus: imagine the people thought of as "low" in our culture. Now imagine everyone you know thinking you are one of them. That's meek.

Think back to who you thought of as meek. Do they fit? I think of Mother Theresa as a well-known modern example of someone who lived this.



Later in Matthew 21 when Jesus comes into Jerusalem, he is again referred to as "meek." It's where Matthew refers us back to the Old Testament prophet Zechariah:

Behold your king is coming to you, meek and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt the offspring of a donkey (Zech. 9:9). 

Kings don't ride on donkeys. Unless it's a joke. Jesus is a king, but refuses to look the part, to adopt the mantle of worldly power. Think of the ways of our political system--it's all about getting power, even for the most "meek" appearing politicians. For Jesus the king, there's no agenda. There's no "I'll appear meek, but really I'm hoping for more votes and more following." Nope. This is it. Jesus chooses to be the poor king. That's how very different his ways are. It's not so that he'll get power in the end. This is just the way of Jesus and his kingdom, period.
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Jesus says that the meek will inherit the earth or, better, the land. This seems odd, but it has significant meaning. Ownership of "the land" meant control. And the ones who have control in Jesus' context (and really throughout human history) are the powerful, the rich in spirit, the ones building their kingdoms and lording their power over others.Part of the point here is to show how completely different God's kingdom is. It's simply not compatible with the kingdoms of this world--even the "best" ones. Earthly kingdoms operate on the pursuit of power. The powerless are the ones who possess the land in God's economy.

When Jesus says that the meek will inherit the land, he quotes Psalm 37:11. The Psalmist writing this Psalm is an ancient Israelite talking to other Israelites, exhorting them that God will redeem them from the hand of the evil people on earth, who seem to be in charge of everything. The "land" promised is likely the promised land of Judea, but the symbolism reaches beyond this.

God promised to Abraham in Genesis 12 that his descendants would be blessed, that they would be numerous, and that they would have "land." The land was Judea (then Canaan) and the calling of Abraham and promises made were God's response to the situation of things between Genesis 3 and 11, a situation where the earth was spiraling out of control, becoming a place where human injustice and evil ran amok. God called Abraham and his descendants to be God's people to restore God's goodness in the land so that God's name would be known and praised.

"For they shall inherit the earth/land" is Jesus way of pointing to God's promise of restoration. In spite of how things are run on the earth right now, God's desire is not for this world to be a place overrun with the power-hungry, with injustice, with lack of care for the despised and downtrodden (which, if we think about it, we might not have if meekness were characteristic of people). The earth will again be restored, humanity will be restored--God's promises fulfilled.

Those experiencing fulfillment of God's restoration are the meek who populate Jesus' kingdom. They are the ones following the way paved first by Jesus and changed by his Spirit as we learn from him and take his yoke upon us. The meek are anti-kingdom-of-the-world-people. The meek are living examples of what will be. The meek are the hope that God has not given up on this world.
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Think, Talk, Apply

As I think of this Beatitude, I think of a few questions.

How are you an active participant in "non-meekness" in how you relate to others? How God is calling and changing you toward meekness? This does not happen overnight. It happens as God is remaking us, and Jesus gives us the vision of what God is remaking us into.

What do you have to give up to live meekly in relation to others? What is the cost of being meek in your context? Alternatively, what is the joy of meekness? Ponder and talk about what is to be gained, rather than lost be being meek as Jesus was meek.

Where in your context is "the land" under the inheritance of the powerful? Sometimes it is helpful for me to just think about this. Then I ponder how I am called to display meekness in this context.

What might a meek household look like in our world today? This, I think, is a very important thing to think about (something I have not really thought much about or talked about with my wife and kids).