Matthew 5:5 (NIV)
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Recently
I was reminded of the biblical truth that God uses the weak things of the world
to confound the strong. On the surface, this doesn’t look possible. It seems
that those who are strong, from a worldly point of view, are the ones who win.
If I may be bold, it seems like the bullies are the ones who get what they want
and the rest of us just have to accept it. But I was reminded that God has a different
economy and that those who play by His rules will ultimately win.
The
Bible Project is doing a year-long, intensive study in the Sermon on the Mount.
The first part of their study has been focused on the Beatitudes. In the Beatitudes,
Jesus turned the world upside-down. He told the marinized, the powerless, and
the forgotten that in God’s world they are the winners. This was true not
because they were going to turn the tables on the bullies of their day. Instead,
as they began to live out Kingdom values, they would transform their world. The
first step to this radical transformation was to recognize their need and to
turn to the only one who could meet that need.
The
Apostle John put it this way. "For God so loved the world that he gave
his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have
eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned,
but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not
believed in the name of God's one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has
come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their
deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into
the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the
truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has
done has been done through God." John 3:16-21 (NIV)
Those
who refuse to acknowledge who Jesus is and turn toward Him will continue to
live in darkness. But those who turn toward Jesus in faith will live a new life
in the light of God. Their entire world will be transformed. They will be given
a strength that comes, not from themselves, but from God. This new strength
will actually give them the upper hand in the world. It doesn’t mean that they
will not have troubles, but that they will face those troubles with confidence
and courage. As Jesus said, "I have told you these things, so that in
me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I
have overcome the world." John 16:33 (NIV)
Paul
picked up on this idea in his letter to the church at Corinth. They were
struggling with the idea of power and influence. They were tempted to fall back
into the old power struggles of their old life. Paul reminded them that the
Kingdom of God works differently. God’s power is revealed not in our human
strength, but in our human weakness.
Brothers,
think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human
standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God
chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak
things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this
world and the despised things--and the things that are not--to nullify the
things that are, so that no one may boast before him. 1 Corinthians 1:26-29
(NIV)
There is
no doubt that we are in a spiritual battle, with very physical manifestations.
But we cannot give in to the temptation to fight fire with fire, so to speak.
We have been called to wage a very different kind of battle, one that relies
totally on the power of God. In Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, he
again had to address the issue of power.
By
the meekness and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you--I, Paul, who am
"timid" when face to face with you, but "bold" when away! I
beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward
some people who think that we live by the standards of this world. For though
we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we
fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine
power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that
sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought
to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:1-5 (NIV)
When
Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount, those listening must have felt that
what Jesus said was unrealistic and too good to be true. Yet the early church
turned its world upside-down and eventually transformed the culture of the day.
It seems like the things of the world are winning the day today. The words of
Jesus seem unrealistic in our caustic and combative world. But as I was
reminded recently, God often uses the weak to confound the strong. He stands
against the proud and the arrogant and He will bring them down.
Meekness
is not weakness. Meekness is strength under control. The truly meek person
understands that their strength comes from God. They can stand firm even in
difficult situations and trust God to empower them. When we play by Jesus’
rules, we too can turn our world upside-down.
But
we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is
from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed;
perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but
not destroyed.
Therefore we do not lose
heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed
day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an
eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is
seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen
is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:7-9, 16-18 (NIV)
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