Blessed are the meek

Part 3 of an 8 part series

            Jesus said, “blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5).

            If you’ve been reading along in this series with us so far, you will remember that these “beatitudes” that Jesus spoke to the people were complete reversals of what they were used to, and what seemed natural. Today’s statement is no different.

            The meek will inherit the earth. A good definition of the word ‘meek’ is ‘gentle or humble’.

            For the people of Jesus’ day hearing this part of their meekness was as an oppressed people, and the idea of inheriting the earth would have been understood literally in terms of their homeland. But as in the rest of these sayings, Jesus is obviously talking about something more than just the temporal and physical.

            The reversal here is in terms of power and control. It is the strong and powerful that are doing the possessing. It is the wealthy, militaristic that make the decisions for the meek to follow. I am not an economist, but I read an article that half of the world’s wealth is owned by 1% of the people[i].

            But meekness is not something imposed upon us by others, meekness is an attitude characteristic of the soul. It is having a gentle and humble nature, not being a doormat for anyone to walk all over, but a meekness that permeates who you are and into the lives of the others.

            Jesus lived this. Later in Matthew we hear Jesus saying, “take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart” (Matthew 11:29a).

            Being meek is about being more like Jesus. It is seeing in others the image of God, and loving and forgiving them in spite of their actions.

            Meekness is not weakness. It is power under control.

            The whole “inheriting the earth” thing is what the people hearing Jesus probably liked to hear. These people had been living a promise expecting that as they awaited a Messiah who would save them. Ironically, that Messiah was standing right in front of them, but for many of them what they wanted saved from was different than what Jesus was going to save them/us from.

            They wanted a military messiah to take their land back, and bring back power to the people. Jesus, on the other hand, is talking about meekness to inherit the earth.

“Inherit”.

            That’s an interesting word, too. To inherit something means that it has been passed on to a future generation from someone who owned it, or possessed it.

            At the church where I pastor, there was a wonderful woman of God who made plans to leave her house and land to the church when she passed away. She didn’t have any children, so this was how she wanted her legacy to be remembered. It was her house, so she could do with it as she liked. In a sense, the church “inherited” this gift from her.

            Throughout the Old Testament we read of inheritances being left to children by their fathers. These were gifts that were passed on from the person to owned them to the next generation. It had nothing to do with power, simply family.

            Inheriting the earth is not about power, but rather about something that is handed down from the One who owns it and can pass it on to His children. So it’s not about power, it’s about family.

            A meek and gentle spirit does not come naturally to us. It is when we spend time with Jesus in prayer, Bible reading, and service to others that we learn from Him and begin to become gentle and humble in heart ourselves.

                                                              

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[i] https://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/oct/13/half-world-wealth-in-hands-population-inequality-report

A morning in Psalm 5

I have been trying to start each day by reading a Psalm, or a portion of a Psalm. Lately I have been enjoying this time more and more. It is preparing me for the other Scripture I read (which right now is Jeremiah), and it helps guide my day in prayer.

                The Psalms really are our oldest prayer book. They contain the praises, laments, joys, and concerns that we all experience. And this time of starting here, and praying these words back to Jesus, has been helpful to me.

                Here is a verse from what I read today:

“In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice, in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly” (Psalm 5:3)

What a way to start the day, right! It is morning now. I have taken the kids to school, and I am having a cup of coffee. I have a test to take in an online class to take today, and make some calls to people I need to visit today, finish up the Bible study I am leading tonight, post in a Philosophy class forum, put out signs for our fundraiser breakfast Saturday, get some prices on new tires for my Mazda, etc, etc, etc.

I could have started the day with any of those other things, and many times unfortunately I do. It takes practice and focus to start here in the Psalms. The other things are all screaming for my attention, and the Psalms lie here quietly, waiting.

                You hear my voice.

That is a fact of our relationship with God that gives me goosebumps when I really let that thought sink in. Today, right here as I start my day in prayer with coffee, God hears my voice, knows my voice, and listens to my voice. I just need to talk, letting my Father know what is on my mind, and asking Him what is on His. Telling my Father all I have to do today, and asking Him what He wants me to do instead.

                I lay my requests.

 Lay ‘em down. Here they are, Lord. Sometimes I write them down, sometimes I speak them aloud, sometimes I can’t put words to them, or mere words just can’t seem to express the desires of my heart so I breathe them out. Just breathe a prayer, exhaling what I am laying down, and inhaling God’s grace and love. This is what is burdening my heart and warping my mind today. This is what I really feel like I need. What do you think?

                I wait.

This isn’t natural for any of us, I know. We don’t live in a culture that rewards waiting. It is almost seen as a sign of weakness to have to wait, and our to-do list is piling up every second we spend waiting. That’s really a shame. Not that I love waiting, or anything like that. But I am growing to appreciate it a little more. For one thing, I try to have a book with me most of the time. This makes waiting easier, whether in line to pick up the kids or in the waiting room waiting for an appointment. Waiting can also be a great time to talk to God. Living in Telford I have found that there are days when I can spend quite a bit of time waiting on trains. This used to create frustration in me, now I am learning to take this time as a gift, a little respite with me and Jesus. And being in the Psalms this morning helps with the waiting, too. The natural and rhythmic flow of the words in the verses calms me before the craziness of the day starts. Waiting doesn’t necessarily mean doing nothing.

                But I am not just waiting, I am waiting “expectantly”.

That added word creates a sense of anticipation. Something is going to happen….and something IS gonna happen today. I have just lifted up my voice to the God of all creation, who has heard me and listened to me. I have laid my requests for Him and sought His guidance. Now I wait “expectantly” for Him to act. Whether in word or deed, God is moving in all this today. The rest of my day can be looking for what God is doing, wide-eyed wonder as He shows me His direction and His love today.

“Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you” (Psalm 5:11)

                Have a wonderful day, be blessed and rejoice in the One who is protecting you.

Don't Forget Your Jewelry

Not many days go by in our house that we don’t mention jewelry at least once. Part of that is because Heather really, really likes jewelry, and she wears it so well 😊

            The other part of that is that we are blessed to work with Premier Designs, a company that promotes biblical truth, the inherent worth of all people as God’s creation and beloved, and strives to enrich the lives of everyone they come into contact with. Training meetings and award ceremonies are more like a praise and worship time with Scripture, testimonies, music, prayer, and lots of excitement.

And, they just so happen to sell jewelry, too.

            So today I came across this little gem in Jeremiah, “does a young woman forget her jewelry?” (Jeremiah 2:32).

(Nice little “gem” pun, right?)

            I have read Jeremiah several times. This is one of my favorite Old Testament books of the Bible, so Jeremiah and I are like old friends, we know a lot about each other and have shared a lot together. I know this verse has always been right there in the 2^nd chapter, but today I just really noticed it.

            Now context is important, I say this every time I am sharing God’s Word with others. And the context here is that Jeremiah has been called by God as a prophet to go and tell the people of Judah that they need to change their ways. They have become lazy in their actions, indifferent in their relationships, cold in their worship, and have turned their backs on the God who created, provided, cared for, and sustained them. So, the Lord goes through a list of things that the people have done, and one of those things is that they have forgotten Him. They have become so busy with their own lives, their own agendas and their own goals, that they have neglected their first great Love.

            To show how crazy this should seem to them, God asks Jeremiah, “does a young woman forget to put her jewelry on before she goes out?” The obvious answer for Jeremiah to that question would have been, “Absolutely not!”

            And the same is true for my wife and these great jewelry ladies we have met over our last year with Premier. When they get together there is a lot of bling going on!

But today I looked at Heather’s jewelry sitting on the table. This has helped make an impact in many lives, and most of them I will never know the stories of personally.

            The people of Judah had gotten too busy with other things.

            We know how that is too.

            So they had forgotten.

            We know how that is too.

            I am not making an excuse, but I know it happens. Life gets busy and there are some days we are just trying to hold on for the ride and not get slung off. Maybe we feel that way at times because we are forgetting.

            I wonder if every Premier lady (and Premier man…and everyone else for that matter) could put on their jewelry each day and use this as a time to remember. Remember your first Great Love. Remember you are created in the image of God and you are greatly loved. Remember the One who hung the stars and spoke creation into being is the One who cares deeply for you and desires your love, worship, and relationship. Remember that today you will be given an opportunity to bless others. Remember that God is in control, and part of that means we are trusting in Him first.

            I wonder if this will help us to not forget?

            “Will a Premier lady forget to put her jewelry on?”

Absolutely not!

            But put on each piece as a time of worship, a time of preparation, and a time of remembering who you are.

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[i] https://www.premierdesigns.com/gettoknowus.html

Pragmatic Problems and Persistent Prayer

Here is a picture of one of my problems.

Actually, this is much prettier than my real problems. This was an illustration from a sermon I preached for a Johnson City District United Methodist Women gathering last month. I had several of these "problems" that I laid on the rail of the alter at the end of the sermon, trying to make a visual connection with what laying our troubles before the Lord looks like, compared to just laying them there while we were at church and then picking them up again when we left.

Last night Heather and I were talking about prayer. Well, we were talking about death. Another friend from our home church where she grew up, and the first United Methodist Church that I had ever attended, passed away last night from cancer. Death and prayer are often closely related topics. Heather had mentioned that I am always saying to pray about a problem, then leave it there at the alter. But there are times in Scripture when we are told to not stop praying, and she prays daily for her own dad, who is with the healing power of Jesus, battling cancer in his life.

Here is what I think about this. I am not a renowned theologian, just a man seeking to better know Jesus daily and to live this crazy life with some sort of purpose and passion while showing love to as many people as I can. Maybe you have different thoughts, and if so please share them with me. We are in this together.
So here goes....

Jesus tells a parable found in Luke 18:1-8 that we call the "parable of the persistent widow". The story is about a widow who went to a judge to get the justice she deserved in a certain legal matter. The judge really didn't care about the woman or her needs that much, but she didn't give up. She went back day after day after day after day and brought her request to the judge. Finally the judge agrees to give her what she wants. Then Jesus says that if that uncaring judge gave the persistent woman what she wanted then "will not God give justice to his elect, who cry out to him day and night?" Here is what is really interesting about this. Jesus opens the parable by stating this is an example that we should "always pray and never give up" (18:1), and ends by asking, presumably based on this persistent, faithful, and expectant model of prayer, "When the Son of Man returns, will he find faith on earth?" (18:8).

Jesus tells another parable of a persistent friend that is found in Luke 11:5-13, which also ends with an equation that we serve a Good Father who will take care of His children and takes pleasure in giving them what they need ("need" is a key word here, not want, and not anything and everything).

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." (11:9-10)

There is obviously something here as Jesus was teaching us to pray with faith and to pray with persistence. To not give up and to not stop praying.

Jesus also said, as recorded in Matthew 6:11 "give us this day our daily bread". So there is an indication this prayer is as daily as the need for eating is daily. Jesus modeled this frequently with his disciples by getting away by himself to pray.

And there is one of my favorite verses, 1 Thessalonians 5:17, "pray continually".

So how does this tie in with leaving your prayers at the alter? Well, I would say you leave the problems and worries that you are praying about at the alter. Leave the feelings of anxiety, stress, uncertainty, and fear at the alter. And then keep praying about the situation. But pray with the faith of one who is asking his or her Father for a gift. Pray expecting something to happen.

"But when he asks (for something in prayer), he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind" (James 1:6).

And keep praying, and don't give up. And if perhaps the answer to the prayer is "no", then talk to your Father about that. What is He wanting to do in your life that is different and better than what you had asked for. I think is what the apostle Paul was referring to in 2 Corinthians 12. Paul refers to a "thorn" that he has been dealing with, but never specifically says what it was. And Paul prayed about it. In fact he said, "three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me", but God didn't do that. I don't think Paul gave up after three times praying about, that isn't consistent with what Jesus taught us about prayer. But I think Paul got his answer, and in his case the answer was "no", so Paul went on knowing that God had a bigger plan and purpose in place than perhaps he could see at the time.
God's dream and purpose for you is beyond the confusion of today.

So don't stop praying. Pray continually. Pray in God's will. Pray for His will to be done and that you are in line with that. Pray expecting something to happen. Pray and give thanks for what God will do that you just haven't seen yet. Pray thanking God for what He is doing now that you just aren't seeing right now.  Prayer is good. Prayer is our life source to our Life Source. Stay connected.

But leave the other stuff at the alter. The stuff that is weighing you down and causing you to forget who (and whose) you are. Leave those hangups and problems at the alter. Lay 'em down, and walk away. That is baggage you don't need, and were not intended, to carry along in life.

So for me, that's the difference between pragmatic problems and persistent prayer. What do you think?