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HAPPINESS THE JESUS
WAY
By Pastor Glenn Pease
CONTENTS
1. WHAT IS HAPPINESS? Based
on Matt. 5:1-12 and Phil. 4:10-13
2. PROSPERITY IN POVERTY
Based on Matt. 5:3
3. HAPPINESS IN SORROW
Based on Matt. 5:4
4. THE MIGHTY MEEK Based on
Matt. 5:5
5. HAPPINESS THROUGH HUNGER
Based on Matt. 5:6
6. HAPPY ARE THE MERCIFUL
Based on Matt. 5:7
7. THE HEART OF HAPPINESS
Based on Matt. 5:8
8. FIGHTERS FOR PEACE Based
on Matt. 5:9
9. THE BURDEN OF THE CROSS
Based on Matt. 5:10-12
10. HAPPY NEW YEAR Based
on Matt. 5:1-12
1.
WHAT IS HAPPINESS? Based on Matt. 5:1-12 and Phil. 4:10-13
Epictetus, the
ancienct philosopher said, "If a man is unhappy, this must be his own
fault, for God made all men to be happy." A Christian writer, St. Bernard,
said something similar. "Nothing can work me damage except myself; the
harm that I sustain I carry about with me, and never am a real sufferer but by
my own fault." These two men represent the internal philosophy of
happiness. External mean nothing, and need have no effect upon the happiness of
a person, is their view.
External evil is
recognized as a reality, but one does not need to let it penetrate his inner
being. Epictetus, for example, said, "I must die, but must I die
sorrowing? I must be put in chains. Must I then also lament? I must go into
exile. Can I be prevented from going with cheerfulness and contentment? But I
will put you in prison. Man, what are you saying? You may put my body in
prison, but my mind not even Zeus himself can overpower." Here is a rare
example of how even a pagan slave can, by the power of positive thinking,
demonstrate the human capacity for internal happiness without the externals
usually associated with happiness.
The facts of life and
history show that this is possible, but it is also highly improbable that more
than a few rare individuals can completely ignore the externals of life. The
vast majority of people depend upon externals almost exclusively. They grasp at
things as the only source of satisfaction. People really believe that more
money can bring happiness in spite of the fact that the suicide rate is higher
among the haves than among the have nots. Abdalrahman the Khalif had thousands
of wives, and millions upon millions of wealth, but this is what he wrote near
the end of his life: "I have now reigned above 50 years in victory or
peace. I have been beloved of my subjects, dreaded by my enemies, and respected
by my allies. Riches and honor, power and pleasure have waited on my call, nor
does any earthly blessing appear to have been wanting to my felicity. In this
situation I have diligently numbered the days of pure and genuine happiness
which have fallen to my lot: They amount to fourteen."
No amount of eternals can
guarantee happiness, yet man's natural tendency is to search for happiness in
that direction. Men have a hard time believing that there is any hope of
happiness apart from externals. Aristotle represented the Greek view when he
said that the blessed life was impossible to the diseased, the poor, and the
slave. Samuel Johnson had a close friend who said that his sister-in-law was
really a happy woman. This made Johnson mad, and he replied like the brute he
could be, "If your sister-in-law is really the contented being she
professes herself, sir, her life gives the lie to every research to humanity;
for she is happy, without health, without beauty, without money, and without
understanding." He went away growling, "I tell you the woman is ugly,
and sickly, and foolish and poor, and would it not make a man hang himself to
hear such a creature say she was happy?" The very idea of being happy
without the values so treasured by his materialistic heart made him angry. It
does not seem fair to the secularist who has struggled for all the externals of
wealth, power, and fame to see people who are happy who have not made the
struggle.
Paul would have made
him angry by his words in Phil. 4:11-12. Paul said, "...For I have learned
to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and
I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in
any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty
or in want." Paul's happiness was not dependent upon what happened, or
what he had. This means that Paul's happiness was internal. Paul did not have
control over the externals of his life, but like everybody else does, he had
control over how he would react to life internally.
If it is only going to
be a happy new year for us if we get more stuff, and all goes well, then we are
living on a different level than Paul was on. This does not mean we should not
get more stuff, and that we should not strive to make all go well. Paul advised
Christians to live peaceably with all men, and to prevent all the negatives of
life that they can. But if this is your only level of happiness you are too
controlled by the externals, and changes can quickly rob you of your joy in
Christ. We need to see the externals as fringe benefits, and not the base
salary of the Christian life. The foundation is to be internal and attitudinal
rather than external and material. Jesus and Paul agree here completely.
Happiness does not depend on what happens, but on how you face all that
happens. Jesus is saying in the beatitudes that you can be happy even if you
are experiencing many negative externals.
At this point we need
to take a detour off the main road to deal with the problem that Christians
have with reconciling being happy and miserable at the same time. One of the
major problems the Christian has in the pursuit of happiness is the sense of
failure that comes due to times of depression and other unhappy feelings. Many
feel guilty for not being happy in the Lord. Their unhappiness is magnified by
their guilt. They say, "I know I should be happy, but I just can't seem to
feel the joy of the Lord." The first thing we need to do is clarify the
Christians right to be miserable on a variety of levels. Jesus wept because of
people's rejection of God's grace. This makes it clear that the Christian has
every right to be unhappy over lost people. If a Christian feels guilty about
being sad over this lost world, he is feeling guilty for being Christlike, for
Jesus wept over this same thing.
Jesus also wept over
the sorrow of death and the lose of a loved one. He was very unhappy also with
the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, and the injustice of man to man. He felt rotten
about the way the temple was being used to rip off the poor, and how widows
were being taken advantage of, and their houses being taken from them. Add up
all the unhappy feelings of Jesus over the fallen nature of man, and you have a
host of legitimate reasons to be unhappy as a Christian. In fact, it is
unchristian if you are never sad and unhappy about a fallen and lost world.
There are legitimate
reasons to be unhappy, and it is folly to feel guilty for them. We could list
all of Paul's negative emotions as well, but it is not necessary, for if our
Lord had good reason to be unhappy with much of life, who can be so
presumptuous to expect to live on a higher emotional level then Him? Anyone who
expects to be feeling happy all the time is trying to live in a world that does
not yet exist. The only way to get there in the present is by insanity and the
loss of touch with reality. Some unhappiness is just part of the price we pay
for living in a fallen world. We have to get it out of our head that Christian
happiness means freedom from all care. It that is the case, the average cow is
happier than the average Christian. It was because Paul cared so much for the
churches that he went through so many negative emotions of frustration and
anxiety.
What we are dealing
with here is a paradox. It is the reality of being able to be miserable and
happy at the same time. Paul was often miserable over the problems in the
church, and yet he had an inner sense of well being that made him happy. This
means that Christian happiness is not always and emotion. One might be dominated
by the weeping with those who weep, and so they would feel sad at that point.
This does not rob them of contentment. Paul did not have the same emotion when
he was feasting with his friends as he had when he was in the dungeon starving
and alone. Paul is not saying that one is just the same as the other. He would
have to be a pet rock to be in such a state.
Paul had all kinds of
emotions, just as Jesus did, but his point is that he had an attitude of
contentment within regardless of his emotions. When he said that Demas had
forsaken him he was feeling bad about it. He was not indifferent to
circumstances and saying its all fine with him regardless of what was
happening.
But even when he felt
bad about circumstances, he still had his contentment in Christ which
circumstances could not change. This calls for great discipline to be truly
happy on this level. We get a glimpse into the depth of what it means to be
Christlike by looking at this inner contentment of Paul. Look at the reasons
for why we are so often discontented in life.
1. Selfishness. We
want things to be our way and good for us. When they are not we are discontent.
We will all have some unhappiness because we always want to get our own way.
2. Envy. This makes us
discontent because we see the possessions and gifts of others almost as if they
were stolen from us, and we resent it, and so feel unhappy.
3. Covetousness. We
have a strong desire for more than we now have, and this robs us of the
enjoyment of what we do have. No matter how much we get it is never enough, for
there is so much more to covet. There is always an emptiness that can never be
fully filled because we covet more.
Paul was happy because
he did not have to wrestle with these vices. He had conquered them, and so he
was content with his life. A happy life does depend on our conquering all the
temptations of life that fill us with discontent. This means that it is hard
work to be happy, for you have to die to self and all that the world appeals to
in us.
It is important for us
to be aware that almost everything that people do is because they believe it
will lead to happiness. The Prodigal Son did not take his money and go off to
live in the pleasure of sin with any other motive than the desire to be happy.
Men just do not pursue evil for evil's sake. Few if any could care less about
pleasing Satan. All they want is happiness for themselves. Men chose the path
that leads to misery only because they are convinced it leads to happiness. Sin
would have nothing to offer man if it did not hold out the deceptive offer of
happiness.
Satan competes for the
souls of men by offering and imitation of everything God offers for man's true
happiness. From the start this was the case. The first temptation was an offer
of greater happiness by eating the forbidden fruit. Satan is constantly trying
to under sell God, and he offers to men what he claims is greater happiness at
less cost. What the sinner fails to think of is that it is God who does the
ultimate billing, and the cost of Satan's happiness is eternal unhappiness. No
one who really knew the whole story could purchase temporary happiness at such
a cost, but Satan is the master deceiver. It is the purpose of the Christian to
distinguish between the false happiness of Satan, and the true happiness of
God, and then demonstrate its superiority in life to enlighten men. This is
part of what being the light of the world means.
A college girl told me
that non-Christian kids on campus think that the Christians are dull and
boring. A cab driver said he didn't like church conventions coming to town
because Christians come with the Ten Commandments and a ten dollar bill, and
they don't break either of them. His concept of happiness was the pleasure of
sin and the spending of money. The Christian cannot please men on that level,
but Christians ought to make it clear that it is a joy to be a Christian. The
world should be impressed with Christian happiness. When the non-Christian says
we are all seeking the same thing, we should agree, but be able to show him that
the happiness the Christian finds in Christ is of a much better quality.
The problem in doing
this is simply that Christians have not given enough thought to what happiness
really is, and so they are on the same level with the world in their search for
it in many different directions. Man is a complex being, and every desire, and
every different kind of disposition leads to a different theory of happiness.
The ancient writer Cicero said that in his day there were 20 rival opinions
concerning the source of true happiness. Varro was able to enumerate 280 such
opinions. There are probably more opinions on the way to happiness than on any
other subject, and the problem is that there is some truth to every one of
them. Happiness has a thousand faces to match the diversity of personalities,
gifts, and natures. The poetess Priscilla Leonard wrote,
Happiness is like a
crystal, Fair and exquisite and clear,
Broken in a million
pieces, Shattered, scattered far and near,
Now and then along
life's pathway, Lo! Some shining fragments fall;
But there are so many
pieces, No one ever finds them all.
You may find a bit of
beauty, Or an honest share of wealth,
While another just
beside you, Gathers honor, love or health.
Vain to choose or
grasp unduly, Broken is the perfect ball;
And there are so many
pieces, No one ever finds them all.
Yet the wise as on
they journey Treasure every fragment clear,
Fit them as they may
together, Imaging the shattered sphere.
Learning ever to be
thankful, Though their share of it is small;
For it has so many
pieces, No one ever finds them all.
There is no doubt that
she has in this poem expounded a basic truth which the Scriptures support.
Being a Christian, and receiving God's best, which is salvation through Jesus
Christ does not supply one with every kind of happiness. The Bible makes it
clear that there are different gifts, and different degrees of talent among
Christians. There is probably no Christian who has ever had everything that can
be had to increase their usefulness and happiness. If we could be happier with
a gain of anything either internal or external, we are not yet in possession of
perfect happiness. Complete happiness is impossible, therefore, in this life.
That is what heaven is all about. Even Jesus knew sorrow, pain, and grief in
His human life, and, therefore, the Christian goal for this life is never
absolute happiness at any price.
The Christian must
recognize the limits of the happiness that can rightly be theirs in God's will.
Sometimes God's will requires us to be unhappy, and this then brings us back to
where we begin, and that is that Christian happiness is basically internal, and
it is in the character of the Christian. Someone said, "Happiness is not a
station you arrive at, but a manner of traveling." The blessedness Jesus
speaks of in the beatitudes is an internal attitude which completely
contradicts the expected response to the external facts. The direction of
Christian happiness is within rather than external, but because many pagans
have also found this to be the best source of happiness, the Christian view
cannot be that only. Therefore, Pascal says, "Happiness is neither without
nor within us, it is in God, both without us and within us."
This sounds like a
circular argument that says it is neither, and also both. It does say this, but
so as to lift the subject of happiness out of the realm where man is the center
to where God is the center. This is where the Christian view of happiness
becomes distinct. In the pagan view even their gods are means to human happiness.
In the Christian view happiness for man is not an end in itself, but is a means
to the glory of God. In Christian theology man's chief end is to glorify God
and enjoy Him forever. Glorifying and enjoying God is the highest happiness man
can attain. Man's happiness, therefore, is only uniquely Christian and
Christlike when God receives the glory.
There is never any
doubt when you examine the life of Christ as to who is the center of His life.
In His prayer He taught us to say, "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed
be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done." God was the center of
His life, the source of His power, and the end of all His acts. We very subtly
are lead into a sub-Christian view of life when we make God a means to fulfilling
our own ends. The very study of, and longing for, happiness can lead us in this
direction, and, therefore, we must ever keep in mind that the essence of
Christian happiness is in making God and His glory the end of all we are and
all we do.
Ernest M. Ligon in The
Psychology of Christian Personality says that many studies have led to the
conclusion that integration of personality is a basic key to good health in all
its aspects, and thus, to the happy life. What is integration? He writes, "Briefly,
integration is the condition of a personality in which all of te emotional
attitudes are harmonious and mutually helpful, thus permitting all of one's
natural energy to be directed toward one end." This is Paul's, "This
one thing I do." It is the life with one supreme aim and center. Ligon
says, "If an individual can organize his emotional attitudes in such
harmony with one another, that he can direct all of his urges and appetites
about one central purpose, which is always the focus of his interest and of his
attention, we find the peak of efficiency, and the perfect integration."
When God is that central purpose we have arrived at the highest happiness life
can offer on this earth.
I read of a big cat
who saw a little cat chasing his tail and he asked why? "Because I am
seeking happiness, and when I catch my tail I will be happy." The big cat
said, "I too have studied happiness and found it to be in my tail. But I
have observed that when I chase it it keeps running away, but when I go about
my business, it just seems to come after me wherever I go." The point
being, the chasing after happiness can be futile, but just being faithful to
your daily duties can be fruitful in fulfilling your need for happiness. It is
not all out there somewhere, but it is internal, and comes with the
satisfaction of a meaningful life. Paul was not out chasing happiness. Paul was
doing the best he could to fulfill the calling of God, and the result was
contentment in any state. He did not always feel delighted, or happy in the
sense that he never wept, felt angry or frustrated, or even depressed. But he
was happy that he was in the right place doing what God wanted him to do.
Happiness for Paul was
in knowing he was a tool available to God to minister to human need. It was both
internal as a sense of peace and contentment, and external because of the
evidence that he was being used. People were changed, churches were founded,
and the kingdom was expanding. The externals for Paul were fringe benefits,
however, and his basic happiness was the internal contentment of being in
Christ, and being used of Christ. Someone said, "Happiness is life a
butterfly. The more you chase it, the more it eludes you. But if you turn your
attention to others things, it will come and softly sit on your shoulder."
Happiness comes from
within.
Our attitudes are the
key.
No matter what
circumstance,
Some good we can
always see.
Try positive
attitudes.
They're so easy to
create.
In joy and
contentment,
Will be your happy
fate.
If you do good to
others,
You have made a
sure-fire start.
It is almost
guaranteed,
To put a smile within
your heart.
Catherine Marshall has
known the deep sorrows of grief, and the great unhappiness of life going wrong
in so many ways, but she has known also the joy of success in Christian
service. She writes, "I have observed that when any of us embark on the
pursuit of happiness for ourselves, it eludes us. Often I've asked myself, why?
It must be because happiness comes to us only as a dividend, as a gift given us
by God. When we become absorbed in something demanding and worthwhile above and
beyond ourselves, happiness suddenly becomes ours as a by-product of the
self-giving. That should not be a startling truth, yet I'm surprised at how few
people understand and accept it. Have too many of us made a god of happiness?
Have we been brainwashed by the magazine and television ads, featuring
happiness?"
She sees most
Americans interpreting their right to the pursuit of happiness to mean the
right to grab all the power, money, and pleasure they can get. This leads to
some very non-Christian methods of being happy. Rights need to be dealt with
right, or they become wrongs. Both Jesus and Paul make it clear that it is more
than a right to be happy, it is a duty. It is part of our commitment to Christ
to overcome all that would make us unhappy. Jeremy Taylor said, "God
threatens terrible things if we will not be happy." Robert Louis Stevenson
said, "There is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being
happy." If we listen to Jesus and Paul, and follow their example we will
find happiness and contentment by knowing God as our heavenly Father, and by
being committed to that which we know is His will for our lives.
2.
PROSPERITY IN POVERTY Based on Matt. 5:3
After his return from
church one Sunday, a small boy said, "You know what mommie? I'm going to
be a preacher when I grow up." "That's wonderful," said his
mother. What made you decide you want to be a preacher?" The boy said
thoughtfully, "Well, I'll have to go to church anyway on Sunday, and I
think it would be more fun to stand up and yell than to sit still and
listen." Happiness is yelling rather than listening from the perspective
of a small boy. From the perspective of a mother, however, happiness is a small
boy who sits still and listens. Happiness is obviously different things to
different people, and even different things to the same person under varying
circumstances.
Someone has said, to
be happy with a man you must love him a little and understand him a lot. To be
happy with a woman you must love her a lot, and not even try to understand her.
Whatever you think of that, there is no doubt that happiness means something
different to each of the sexes. It also varies according to the interest of
persons. The poet Gray said, it would be a paradise of happiness for him if he
could lie on a sofa and read new French romances forever. Doremas Hayes, the
great Mennonite scholar wrote in response to that ideal of happiness: "To
lie on a sofa and read French novels forever would be no paradise for some of
us. It would be a purgatory by the end of one month, and it would be the
blackest depth of hell in less than a year."
We met a couple who
bought a shirt for their overweight boy, and it had these words printed on
it-Happiness is suppertime. Not long ago the sign at the Holiday Inn read,
"Happiness is eating in the Camelot Room." But we all know that the
pleasure of eating does not make life happy in any lasting sense. And there are
many in poor health who do not even enjoy the temporal blessing it can be.
Happiness, as we generally think of it, varies with the winds of circumstance.
We tie happiness so closely to emotion, and nothing could be more variable than
feelings. We can feel happy today, and depressed tomorrow, depending on the
news, the weather, or any number of circumstances.
Jesus is not
interested in this kind of subjective haphazard happiness. He goes to the inner
man, and speaks of a happiness, or blessedness, which is a matter of character
and being. It does not depend on external circumstances. Happiness rises and
falls, but blessedness is a kind of happiness that remains steady in spite of
the variations in feelings. The Beatitudes of Jesus are attitudes of being.
Happiness in the highest sense depends on what you are and not what happens to
you. There are many others who have arrived at this conclusion, but no one has
been so paradoxical as Jesus. He tells us that happiness is found in just the
opposite direction that men are going in search of it. It seems like nonsense
to the world to find happiness in poverty, mourning, meekness, and persecution.
Even Christians wonder
what Jesus means by these apparently contradictory statements. We must
recognize that Jesus is challenging the world's whole system of values. Many
worldly people speak highly of the Sermon On The Mount and the Beatitudes
because they are not aware of the radical nature of what Jesus is saying. A
true understanding of His concept of happiness will transform the life of any
person, and radically alter their character and conduct. The Interpreter's
Bible says, "The Beatitudes, far from being passive or mild, are a
gauntlet flung down before the world's accepted standards. Thus they become
clearer when set against their opposites. The opposite of poor in spirit are
the proud in spirit. The opposite of those who mourn are the light headed,
always bent on pleasure. The opposite of the meek are the aggressors. The
opposite of the persecuted are those who always play it safe."
If we intend to be
happy, from the perspective of Jesus, we will come into direct conflict with
the standards of the world. This can and does lead to opposition, and
persecution, and a great deal of subjective unhappiness for the Christian. Any
way you approach it the Christian life, at its best, is a paradox. By means of
what the world calls unhappiness, we can be happy in the highest sense, but the
consequences may be subjective unhappiness in relation to the world. This
paradox becomes easier to grasp if we distinguish between subjective and
objective happiness. Almost everyone who writes about happiness thinks only of
the subjective side-that is how a person feels and thinks. Jesus deals with
objective happiness, that is how God thinks, for He alone can see life from
God's perspective, and know the ultimate consequences of all we are and do.
Objective happiness is not based on how you feel, but how you measure up to
God's standard.
Notice how Jesus just
lays it down as a fact and law of life when He says, "Blessed are the poor
in spirit." He does not say, may they be blessed, or they should be or
will be, they just are. But what if they don't feel like it, or are not aware
of it? That is beside the point. Jesus is not talking about how people feel. He
is speaking of the objective standard of happiness, and if you measure up, you
are happy whether you feel like it or not. In fact, it is impossible to feel
happy when are mourning, or when you are being persecuted, unless you are
neurotic or psychotic. Subjective happiness at all times would be abnormal for
anyone. The poet was right who wrote,
If you can smile when
things go wrong, and say it doesn't matter.
If you can laugh off
cares and woe, and trouble makes you fatter.
There's something
wrong with you.
For one thing I've
arrived at, there are no ands and buts,
A guy that's grinning
all the time must be completely nuts.
To be subjectively
happy all the time would be unchristlike, for Jesus felt sorrow and grief. He
wept, and He felt frustration over the failure of His disciples. He was angry
and upset by evil and oppression. The world longs for perpetual subjective
happiness. They want to feel good all the time, regardless of the sin and evil
in the world. The Christian cannot and dare not even try, for that is to go in
the opposite direction of true happiness according to Jesus. The truly happy
Christian will be miserable at times in a world so full of evil and folly. The
Christian naturally wants his share of subjective happiness, but this is
secondary, and is to be a byproduct.
Our goal is to be
objectively happy according to the standard of Christ. This means a Christian
might feel terrible, and yet be very happy. He might say, I feel so ignorant
and helpless, and it is so discouraging to have so little capacity to serve
God. He feels subjectively unhappy, but Jesus says that this poverty of spirit
is just what God wants in a person, and so whether he knows it or not, he is a
blessed person headed for great reward in the kingdom of God. On the other
hand, the Christian who says, I am satisfied with what I know, and feel happy
about my service for the Lord, is really far less happy by God's standard, even
though he feels better than the other Christian who is poor in spirit, and who
mourns over his inability, and who hungers for more of God's righteousness.
It is one thing to
feel happy, and another thing to be happy. The mature Christian is one who is
able to see from the perspective of Christ, and be able to feel subjective joy
even when the circumstances of objective happiness are not joyful. When he
knows he is what God wants him to be, he is happy even if he doesn't feel it.
This calls for an eternal perspective, and a faith in God's ultimate plan.
Jesus went this way before us, and our happiness depends on our following Him.
Heb. 12:2 put it, "Looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our
faith, who for the joy that set before Him endured the cross, despising the
shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."
Jesus was not
subjectively happy on the cross, but He was the most objectively happy person
that ever lived, for He was fulfilling everything God wanted Him to be, for He
was the Lamb of God taking away the sin of the world. This is our goal as we
study these beatitudes. Being what God wants you to be is the highest level of
happiness. The first of these paradoxes is, "Blessed are the poor in
spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Poor and poverty are words
which the world flees from like the plague, for they see them as the enemy of
happiness. Jesus says there is a form of poverty which is the key to happiness,
and all are in general agreement that this is the basis on which all of the
beatitudes are built. There are three attitudes which, when combined, give us a
good picture of the person who is poor in spirit. First there is-
I. THE ATTITUDE OF
DEFICIENCY.
No person can be truly
happy who does not recognize he has a lack in his life. We often think it would
be wonderful to be totally satisfied with no sense of deficiency, but Jesus
says this would be a curse. The Christians in Laodicea made this mistake. Their
attitude was one of proud self-sufficiency, and this is what Jesus says to them
in Rev. 3:17, "You say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I have need of
nothing; not knowing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and
naked." Failure to recognize their deficiency led them into pride. They
were blind to their poverty, and the result was a subjective feeling of
satisfaction, but objective unhappiness in the eyes of Christ. However they
felt, they were miserable according to Christ.
If they had recognized
their deficiency, and been poor in spirit they would have been dependent on
Christ and His sufficiency, and, therefore, prosperous and happy. They took the
world's way of prosperity and landed in spiritual poverty. The way of Christ is
the way of poverty, which is an honest recognition that you are deficient. This
leads to growth, prosperity, and happiness. The poor in spirit are those who
simply see the facts of life as they are. They tell it like it is, and they
know they are far from what they ought to be. Pascal said, "There are only
two kinds of men, the righteous who believe themselves sinners; the rest,
sinners who believe themselves righteous." These are represented by the
story Jesus told of the Publican and the Pharisee in the temple.
The Pharisee was proud
in spirit, and he was unconscious of any deficiency. He thanked God he was not
as other men. The Publican saw the facts. He knew he was a sinner and needed
help, and he cried out for God to be merciful to him as a sinner. He, as an
example of the poor in spirit, received the kingdom of heaven. Jesus says he
went away justified. The Pharisee felt no sorrow for sin. He shed no tear over
his callousness to human need. He felt just great, but objectively, measured by
God's standard, he was a poverty stricken wretch in the filthy rags of his own
righteousness. The poor Publican knew more of his deficiency and poverty of
righteousness, so he turned to God in mourning, and he hungered and thirsted
for God's righteousness to fill his emptiness. He went away with great wealth,
the pockets of his soul being filled with the jewel of justification, the gold
of godliness, and the silver of salvation. He found the prosperity in poverty
of which Jesus is speaking in this beatitude.
An attitude of
deficiency is essential to the highest happiness, for such an attitude keeps us
open to the blessings of God. Happy are those who know they don't have, for
they are open to receive. If you think you have already, you will not be open
to receive. The honest Christian knows that even though he may not steal, he
still covets. He knows that his spirit is far from the ideal, and is subject to
envy, jealousy, bitterness, pettiness, and love of ease and pleasure. It is
hard to be honest and admit our deficiencies, and the natural pride of man
resists it. The world holds up self-sufficiency as the key to happiness, and
the modern man wants no part of admitting to deficiency. An egocentric writer
was giving a group a running account of his own great activities and
achievements. Finally he stopped and said, "Enough about myself. Let's
hear from you. What do you think of my latest book?"
Jesus says those who
are so delighted and happy with themselves are objectively miserable, and their
final state will be tragic, but those who see their deficiency, and are
dissatisfied with themselves are objectively happy and are heading for great
heights in the kingdom of God. The paradox is, only those conscious of the
great gulf between them and God are able to draw near to God. Only those with
an attitude of deficiency can be truly happy, not because a lack of anything is
good in itself, but because this attitude leads to the second characteristic of
the poor in spirit.
II. THE ATTITUDE OF
DEPENDENCE.
A man who is truly
aware of his emptiness is looking for help. The proud man is able to make it
alone, but the poor in spirit knows he is not self-sufficient, but very
dependent. The Greek word for poor here carries in it the idea of begging, and
not merely the idea of lacking. Many translate it, "Blessed are the
beggarly in spirit." The concept of dependence is in the very word.
God alone is totally
self-sufficient, and no man can ever be truly happy until he recognizes he is
dependent upon God. The sin which led to all human unhappiness was the sin of
striving to become independent of God. Jesus counteracted the cause of all sin
with the opposite attitude of total and absolute submission, and dependence
upon God. Jesus was the greatest example of the poor in spirit. Listen to His
own testimony in John 5:19, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do
nothing of His own accord, but only what He sees the Father doing." In
John 14:10 He said, The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own
authority, but the Father who dwells in me does His works." Jesus was
totally dependent upon the Father for everything. He prayed for guidance before
choosing the 12; He prayed for power before healing, and for strength to meet
His needs.
Jesus did not go about
in pride, as if He had an all powerful manhood. He knew He was powerless and
helpless in himself. His body and physical capacity was no greater than that of
other men. Without God, without prayer, and without the constant leading of the
Holy Spirit, Jesus could not have lived the perfect life anymore than you or I.
He succeeded, not because of His own divine power, for he emptied Himself of
that and became a man with all the limitations of manhood, but He succeeded by
total dependence on God the Father. According to God's standard, Jesus was the
happiest man who ever was, or who will ever be, because he alone was the
perfect example of the poor in spirit.
Ralph Sockman said of
the poor in spirit, "Whatever success they achieve they attribute to sources
beyond themselves." This was the attitude of Jesus, and must be ours if we
would be happy in the highest sense. Jesus said, "Without me you can do
nothing." Only as we recognize this, and yield ourselves to Him in total
dependence can we say with Paul, "I can do all things through Christ who
strengthens me." The attitude of dependence on Christ is the door to the
kingdom, and the way to the heights of happiness within the kingdom.
Andrew Tait defined
the poor in spirit as, "Those who are conscious of their own frailties and
imperfections, who renounce all dependence on themselves and all pretension to
merit, and, weary and heavy laden, cast themselves at the feet of Christ for
mercy." You notice he includes both the attitude of deficiency and the attitude
of dependence. To feel your deficiency can lead to defeat if it does not drive
you to dependence upon God. The spies who went into the Promise Land saw their
deficiency, and they felt like grasshoppers before giants, but they were not
happy. Joshua was happy because he took the second step, and had the attitude
of dependence upon God, and thus, was assured a victory. Poverty of
self-sufficiency in one's own spirit which leads to dependence upon the power
of God's Spirit is the key to prosperity and happiness."
The saint that wears
heaven's brightest crown,
In deepest adoration
bends;
The weight of glory
bows him down,
The most when most his
soul ascends;
Nearest the throne
itself must be
The footstool of
humility.
The third character of
the poor in spirit is-
III. THE ATTITUDE OF
DETACHMENT.
Luther said,
"Poverty before God, that is, of the heart, is when one does not place his
trust and confidence in temporal things." If one is to be truly dependent
upon God, he must be detached from the things of the world that non-Christians
grasp at for happiness.
Jesus was ever calling
men to detach themselves from the values of the world to follow Him. James and
John were called to leave their boats and nets. Matthew was called to forsake
his tax collecting. Zachaeus offered to detach himself from his wealth and
share it. Paul suffered the loss of all things to serve Christ. All the values
he had established in society he gave up. He became detached from all to be a
slave for Christ. The rich young ruler could not detach himself from his
wealth, and so could not become a disciple.
The curse of riches,
fame, and power, and all the world's ways to happiness is not due to inherent
evil, but because they compete with total dependence upon God. Men get attached
to their wealth, position, and power, and, therefore, lose their attitude of
dependence upon God. The history of Israel reveals it over and over. When she
was poor and helpless, she depended completely on God, and was happy and
blessed. When she became prosperous, and became attached to riches, she lost
dependence upon God, and ended up under God's wrath. Prosperity was her
greatest curse, and led to her poverty. It was not because wealth is evil, for
it is not, but because it destroys dependence. The attitude of detachment is
essential to maintaining the attitude of dependence.
If we become
prosperous, the only way to avoid it being a destructive thing is to avoid
becoming attached to it. Literal poverty comes in here, but we don't have time
to deal with it here. The evidence would lead to the conclusion that the
literal poor stand a better chance of finding God's highest happiness than the
rich, because poverty leads to dependence on God, and it is easier to feel
detached from what you do not possess. Potentially, the poor in this world's
goods can be the richest in the kingdom of heaven.
This is a sidelight,
however. The poor in spirit are those who, be they rich or poor in this world's
goods, are detached from them, and dependent upon God. Dependence is the
central concept of the poor in spirit. The attitude of deficiency on one side,
and detachment on the other, are for the sake of increasing and maintaining
dependence. Whatever leads to dependence upon God is good and intensifies our
happiness. Poverty of spirit is the starting line, and only as we start here
can we ever hope to experience the prosperity of Christlike happiness.
3.
HAPPINESS IN SORROW Based on Matt. 5:4
The soloist asked the
visiting preacher what his subject was. She wanted to follow up with an
appropriate message in song. When he hesitated she told him to never mind, she
would listen and select something appropriate. When he concluded his sermon she
sang,
"Sometime,
Somewhere, We'll Understand." Many a sermon is hard to understand because
it is over our heads, complicated, and far removed from our experience of life.
But one of the paradoxes of life is that a sermon can also be hard to
understand just because it is too simple, and easy to grasp. This is the case
with the beatitudes. Jesus uses no big words; nor does He get complicated, or
off on areas of life removed from common experience. On the contrary, He is so
simple and clear in what He says that it becomes a problem.
Blessed are those who
mourn is just too clear, and Luke makes it even more clear when he writes,
"Blessed are you who weep now for you shall laugh." This is so clear
and obvious that it is hard to understand. The simplicity of it must be
complicated by distinctions and interpretations before it makes sense, for who
ever heard of happy sadness? Paradox always calls for careful interpretation.
If we take these words as an absolute statement without qualification we end up
as universalists. If all who mourn are to be comforted, then all shall be
comforted, for all men mourn. The aged poet reflects back on life and writes,
I've seen your weary
winter-sun
Twice forty times
return,
And every time has
added proofs
That man was made to
mourn.
Certainly, Jesus did
not mean to convey the idea that mere mourning is the key to happiness. That
would turn hell into heaven, and give us salvation by sorrow. What of the
immoral mourning of Ahab because he could not have the vineyard of Naboth? What
of Jonah's mourning because of God's mercy on Ninevah? What of Hamen's mourning
over the advancement of Mordacai? What of the mourning of Judas over his
betrayal of Jesus, and the millions who mourn because the consequences of sin
are misery and death? The road to damnation is wet with the tears of those who
mourn. It is clear that the simple statement of Jesus cannot be taken as a
absolute rule, for that would lead to the superficial conclusion that all evil
men will be comforted rather than condemned. Sin, suffering, and sorrow would
be only illusions, and we will all be happy when the light of truth dissolves
them. This is an unbiblical view of evil, and certainly this is not what Jesus
meant.
What then did Jesus
mean by this statement? Bill Graham asks, "How can one extract the perfume
of gladness from the gall of sorrow?" If not all sorrow leads to
happiness, and not all mourning leads to comfort, then we need to distinguish
between good and evil sorrow. The best way to accomplish this is to look at the
mourning of Christ.
What made Him weep and
shed tears? This will be the kind of mourning that we must do to be blessed. We
must study the attitudes of Christ which made Him mourn to see the meaning of
this beatitude. The first attitude of Jesus that led Him to mourn was His-
I. ATTITUDE ON SIN.
Jesus was a man of
sorrows and acquainted with grief, not just because of what sin was doing to
Him through those who rejected Him, but because of what sin was doing to them.
Weep not for me, He said to those who felt sorry for Him, but weep for
yourselves. The consequences of sin are horrible, and those who do not find
refuge in Christ must suffer the full force of God's wrath on sin. This is why
Jesus wept over Jerusalem, and there can be no doubt that He shed many tears of
mourning as he prayed alone all night in secluded places. This kind of mourning
over sin is a key to happiness, because it leads one to oppose sin and its
consequences. This is to take a stand with God against Satan, and assures one
of eternal victory and comfort.
This attitude is
different from that of sorrow over sin because the consequences spoil your
pleasure. The worldly person mourns over sin in this way. The one thief on the
cross mourned because his sin led him to the death penalty. He did not feel bad
over his sin, but he felt terrible over getting caught, and having to pay the
penalty. The world's beatitude is, "Blessed are they that never get
caught." Bertha Buxton said, "After all, the eleventh commandment
(thou shalt not be found out) is the only one that is vitally important to keep
in these days." This is no joke, but the sincere philosophy of masses of
people. To enjoy the pleasures of sin and escape the penalty is the goal of
life for many. This leads to being insensitive to sin, and a careless and
carefree attitude which is just the opposite of what Jesus is saying.
When we cease to be
sensitive to sin, and, therefore, cease to mourn over what it is doing to God,
others, and to ourselves, we cut ourselves off from the hope of anything but
the most superficial happiness. Newman said, "Our best remedy against sin
is to be shocked at it." The tragedy is that sin is so common that we tend
to take it for granted. We adjust to it and consider our comfort and ease in
its presence a sign of strength. As a college student, John McFarland spent a
summer in the slums of Chicago. When he returned to school, and to the country
parish where he served, he told of his shock at what he saw. After the service,
a member of the congregation, who had been on the board of a large corporation
in Chicago, came up to him and said, "Don't worry about it John-you'll get
to the place where that sort of thing won't bother you any more."
He was right, of
course, but what he failed to realize is that when we adjust to sin, and are no
longer bothered and disturbed enough to mourn, we drop down to zero on God's
objective standard of happiness. By escaping the sorrow that comes with being
disturbed by sin, we place ourselves in a neutral position in the battle of
good and evil. This is the lukewarm position that is distasteful to God, and makes
you of no value in His plan to push back the forces of darkness. Happiness for
the Christian is dependent upon being sorrowful over sin, and what it does to
people's lives. Those who do not mourn over sin do not repent, and so they do
not receive God's forgiveness, and so cannot be ultimately happy.
He that lacks time to
mourn lacks time to mend.
Eternity mourns that.
'Tis and ill cure
For life's worst ills
to have no time to feel them.
Had the Prodigal Son never
come to the place of mourning over his folly, he never would have experienced
the happiness of a father's forgiveness, and a joyous welcome home. His
mourning was the key to his happiness, and so it is for millions who mourn over
their sin, and flee back to God in repentance.
God's love runneth
faster than our feet,
to meet us stealing
back to Him and peace,
and kisses dumb our
shame; nay, and puts on
the best robe, bidding
angels bring it forth.
The angels of heaven
rejoiced over the repentant returning sinner. God is happy as well, and so is
the one who has mourned over his sin. In no other kind of sorrow can so much
happiness be found. Who is happier than the one who has just lost his heavy
burden at the cross.
It is important that
we see this is to be continuous, and not just a once for all mourning at the
time of conversion. It is not, blessed are those who have mourned, but, those
who do mourn. Sensitivity to sin must characterize the Christian at all times.
This leads to immediate sorrow when we sin, and to confession and cleansing.
Paul wrote in II Cor. 2:10, "For Godly grief produces a repentance that
leads to salvation and brings no regrets, but worldly grief produces
death." There is a clear distinction between sorrow that leads to death,
and that which leads to the life of happiness. Happiness comes only from the
sorrow that is honest and realistic about sin.
Pascal said,
"There is no comfort in anything except the truth." And the truth is,
says L. P. Jacks, "We are all stockholders in human misery and
degradation." The poor in spirit recognized this, and those who mourn do
something about it, for they repent and receive God's solution to their sin
through Christ. In a very literal sense, no man will ever be truly happy who
has not mourned because of his sin, and that of others. Jesus wept over what
sin did to others, and this leads us to the consideration of the second kind of
mourning Jesus had in mind. It is that mourning which comes from-
II. ATTITUDE OF
SYMPATHY.
Thomas Jefferson said,
"Sensibility of mind is indeed the parent of every virtue, but it is the
parent of much misery too." Jesus could have lived a much more peaceful
and undisturbed life had He not been so sensitive to people's needs. He had
compassion on the multitudes over and over again, and this meant a heart
constantly bearing the burdens of others. Dr. Jowell called Jesus the divine
seismograph. He wrote, "His heart was a delicate instrument sensitively
registering the faintest tremors of the world's pain and sorrow." This is
the kind of mourning that leads to happiness by God's standard. The happiest
people in the world are not those who have sealed up their hearts, and walled
themselves off from the suffering of the world. On the surface it may seem like
happiness to be oblivious and indifferent to the needs of others, but in
reality it is a curse. It is that form of security in which you lose your life
by saving it. He who would save his life must lose it, said Jesus. He must open
his heart to the pain of involvement, and take up the cross and follow Him.
Follow Him to happiness on the road of sympathy.
Lord Shaftesbury, the
English Reformer, saw a funeral as a boy that changed the course of history.
The body of the poor man had been put in a hand made coffin, and was being
pulled by his three drunken friends on a hand drawn cart. They were singing
foolish songs, and in their carelessness they let the coffin fall and break
open. They were hilarious and disgusting, and the sadness of it hit him so
deeply that he vowed that he would do something to change that sad scene. He
was grieved by what he saw, and because he came to have the power to do
something about it, his mourning led to victory over much evil. He went on to
make a major difference in many social issues of his day. Theophylact said,
"It is one of the worst sights to see a sinner go laughing to hell."
Jesus mourned over such sinners, and so have many others, and these mourners,
because of their sympathy with the sinner have done things to lead many of them
to heaven.
"Let my heart be
broken with the things that break the heart of God," was the prayer of the
founder of World Vision. No Christian can be happy in depth if he does not have
the heart of Christ which mourns over what sin does to people's lives. David in
Psa. 119:136 wrote, "Streams of tears flow from my eyes, for your law is
not obeyed." When you get so hardened that the power of sin to destroy
lives no longer bothers you, you have shriveled up, rather than have grown. It
may hurt to care but it is only those who hurt who care enough to help.
Isolation and the
attempt to be happy by taking care of no. 1 and leaving others to bear their
own burdens is the devil's joy. James Reid said, "The saddest thing in all
God's world is not a soul that sorrows; it is a heart so dull that it is
incapable of feeling grief at all." Abraham Lincoln said, "I am sorry
for the man who can't feel the whip when it is laid on the other man's
back." It costs to be sensitive and to have compassion. A great deal of subjective
happiness goes down the drain when you take up the cross of sympathy, and weep
with those who weep. It is a burden that lifts, however, and leads you and
others into the depths, and also the heights, of blessedness.
Samuel H. Miller, dean
of Harvard said, "There is no way to share in the agony of our world, its
darkness and shame and bewilderment, except by suffering what it suffers,
caring in our hearts what it cares in its heart, and sweating through the
Gethsemane of its travail and decision." This, of course, is what the
incarnation of Christ is all about. When Jesus, with strong crying and tears,
wept in agony in Gethsemane, He entered wholly and sympathetically into the
suffering of mankind, and by so doing opened the way to perfect understanding
between God and man, and thus, to perfect happiness. If you are never sad, but
only mad at sinners, you will not be a happy Christian.
A joy there is, in
sacrifice secluded;
A life subdued, from
will and passion free;
Tis not the joy which
over Eden brooded,
But that which
triumphed in Gethsemane.
Blessed are those who
mourn because of their attitude toward sin, and their attitude of sympathy
toward the sinner. The third attitude which shows the reality of finding
happiness in sorrow is very comprehensive, and it takes in mourning over
sickness, suffering, separation, setbacks, and sidetracks in life. It is the-
III. ATTITUDE OF
SUBMISSION.
This attitude alone
can make it possible for the Christian to find happiness in much of the
mourning of life. We have a vague idea in our minds that grief, tragedy, and
suffering somehow brings us nearer to God, but we don't believe it enough to
long for those things.
On the contrary, we
shun them, and pray for God's providence to help us avoid them. We would rather
draw nearer to God in health and prosperity any day. The world also wants the
happiness of a suffering free life, but, of course, they cannot attain it, and
Jesus knew
none of His followers
could attain it either, and so He incorporated the unavoidable sorrows of life
into His system of happiness. Suffering and sorrow from evil is real. Jesus
endured it Himself, but He also conquered it through submission. Not my will
but thine be done, was the conclusion Jesus came to as He mourned in the
garden. The only way much suffering can be redeemed for good is by letting it
drive you to God in total submission. Any mourning that leads to this attitude
will place you high on God's objective standard of happiness, and in His
providence will often lead also to great subjective happiness.
For example, when
Frank Laubach was a missionary in the Philippines, he wanted desperately to be
chosen president of the Theological Seminary in Manila. One vote cost him the
appointment. As a result, he became bitterly resentful, and so much so that in
his brooding his work and his health began to fail. Here is destructive
mourning that will never lead to happiness, but only to misery. There is only
one way that this sorrow can be a means to happiness, and fortunately for him,
the world, and the kingdom of God, Frank took it. In desperation he cast
himself before God in total submission. Without reservation, he committed his
life to be used in any way God saw fit. To demonstrate his death to self, he
went to live among the fierce head-hunting Moros, whom no missionary had been
able to reach.
For months he lived in
great danger, but he labored diligently and won their confidence, and began a
Christian work among them. Because of his submission and willingness to be
nobody, God made him somebody, and Frank Lauback went on to become one of the
best known men in all the world, as the world's greatest apostle to
illiterates. He has taught more people to read then any man in history. A
friend of his wrote of his experience. "God took the deep yearning that
had turned into mourning, and the mourning that had triumphed in
relinquishment, and out of this yearning and relinquishment brought into birth
a meek, God-controlled Frank Lauback."
Any mourning that
leads to submission to God, rather than resistance, resentment, or rebellion,
will lead to happiness. This principle holds true for the sorrow that comes
with the loss of a loved one, or the shock of finding you have cancer, or any
number of things that lead to mourning. Dr. William F. Rogers in his book, Ye
Shall Be Comforted, gives us a bit of established information that will be of
value to all of us. "As human personalities we can stand a great deal in
the way of emotional shock, but the one thing that gets us into trouble is
deceit. When we honestly face and accept the fact, no matter how distressing,
the immediate shock can be accommodated without dire consequences, but when we
try to evade or suppress unpleasant realities, then we are in for emotional
disturbances. When we express our sense of loss and sorrow, the reality of it
is fully established, it is accepted, and it is overcome."
From a scientific and
psychological point of view he concludes, "There is no comfort for those
who do not mourn." The statement of Jesus is not absolute in the sense
that all mourning will be comforted, but it is absolute in the sense that all
mourning which leads to submission to God shall be comforted. This means that
the essence of this beatitude is the same as the first one, and all of the
rest, for it is a matter of dependence upon God. An attitude toward sin that
drives you to Christ as your only hope. An attitude of sympathy that drives you
to serve others in the compassion of Christ, and finally, an attitude of
submission that drives you to your knees before God, broken and yielded to be
used as He wills. These are the attitudes that will lead us to Christlike
happiness in sorrow.
4.
THE MIGHTY MEEK Based on Matt. 5:5
A dejected coach
entered a telephone booth after losing out in the high school basketball
tournament. When he discovered he didn't have a dime he called a passing
student: "Hey! Lend me a dime so I can call a friend." The student
reached into his pocket and pulled out two dimes. He handed them to the coach
and said, "Here's two dimes coach, call all your friends." It is hard
to be a loser and still win friends and influence people. Human nature resents
defeat. Yet, defeat is necessary to test a person's strength of character. Most
everyone can win gracefully, but it takes something extra to be graceful in
defeat. It is one of the paradoxes of life that some positive values can only
be developed under negative circumstances. The poet gives an example.
Good sportsmanship we
hail, we sing,
It's always pleasant
when you spot it.
There's only one
unhappy thing;
You have to lose to
prove you've got it.
Richard Armour
What is true for
sports, is true for the game of life in general. Only those who know how to
respond properly to defeat, anger, insult, and persecution, can be truly happy
and good sportsman in the game of life. The natural tendency is to meet every
challenge to the ego with aggression. Any insult to the I on the throne must be
met with revengeful retaliation. This attitude was at one time built right into
the framework of society. The code of honor required men to duel to the death
of one of them over an insult. The man who could avenge himself by eliminating
anyone who dared to offend him was a hero. Although this tragic code has longed
been outlawed, the attitude it represented still reigns in the hearts of men.
So much so that the
words of Jesus, "Blessed are the meek," are themselves and offense to
men. It is an insult to their dignity, and contrary to what they feel are the
facts of life. It is the aggressor who gets what he is after. The meek are
crushed and trampled under the feet of the strong, and rather than inheriting
the earth, they are fortunate if they can hold on to what little they have. The
only happiness you can get out of this beatitude, say the critics, is the
happiness of a good laugh. Kim Hubbard considers it a joke and writes,
"It's going to be fun to watch and see how long the meek can keep the
earth after they inherit it."
Meekness has come to
be so closely associated with weakness that it loses all attraction. Even
children want no part of it. A little boy said to his mother, "Don't call
me your little lamb, call me your little tiger." Power is what appeals,
and words that speak of strength. Meekness may be a good word for the female of
the species, but it is as out of place in the masculine camp as lace. Aristotle
was afraid of meekness, even though he considered it a good thing. He wrote,
"The meek man is not apt to avenge himself, but rather to forgive."
He feared the very thing that Jesus holds up as the key to happiness,
which is the ability
to forgive one who has insulted or injured you. This beatitude brings us into
conflict with the value systems of the world, and the sinful pride of our own
nature. Only if we are poor in spirit, and recognize our own deficiency and
dependence upon God, and only if we mourned over our sin, and submit ourselves
to God, can we find the happiness that comes through meekness.
Jesus is always our
greatest example of every virtue, and when we see what meekness is in Him, we
discover it is not weakness, but power and strength. Jesus was the mighty meek,
and His meekness of being the Lamb of God was not incompatible with His
mightiness of being the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. His lowliness of being the
Lily of the Valley is not incompatible with His loftiness of being the Bright
and Morning Star. Meekness, when rightly understood, is not only compatible
with strength, it is the way to strength, and, as Jesus says, it is the means
whereby Christians will accomplish what all the power of aggression has failed
to do, and they will inherit the earth. We want to look at three attitudes
which characterize the meek.
I. THE ATTITUDE OF
REASONABLENESS.
Meekness is a matter
of the mind. Matthew Henry, the well known Bible commentator writes, "The
office of meekness is to keep reason upon the throne in the soul as it ought to
be; to preserve the understanding clear and unclouded, the judgment untainted
and unbiased in the midst of the greatest provocation." The opposite of
being meek is to be a victim of passion. Alexandra the Great in a drunken fit
of anger threw a spear at one of his best friends and killed him. When I was in
high school doing jail visitation on Sunday, I met and Indian who had gotten
mad at his friend. He went and got a sawed off shotgun and blew his friend in
half. He was drunk, as was his friend. These are illustrations of the power of
the non-meek, and those who are ruled by unreasonable passion.
As tragic as passion
and brute force can be, the world still holds that this is the way to be
victorious in the dog eat dog life. The Saga Of King Olaf by Longfellow gives
us the world's philosophy.
Force rules the world
still, Has ruled it, shall rule it;
Meekness is weakness,
Strength is triumphant.
Over the whole earth,
Still is it Thor's-Day.
Jesus says this is
blind unreasonable deception, and that meekness is the true power that will
conquer. Those who allow emotion and unreasonable force determine their
response to life's blows, blow up and destroy the happiness of others as well
as their own. Jesus rejects such nonsense, and says in Matt. 11:29, "Take
my yoke upon you and learn from me; for I am meek and lowly in heart."
Paul was wise enough to take this advice, and he writes, in
II. Cor. 10:1, "I
Paul, myself intreat you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ."
Meekness is that
attitude of God when He said, "Come now let us reason together." All
through the Bible the appeal is to be meek and gentle, for this is the only reasonable
way to face life. Jesus, in meekness, faced scoffing, pushing, whipping,
spitting, and every indignity men could inflict upon Him. Even unto to
crucifixion. He went as a lamb to slaughter, and He opened not his mouth. This
was not weakness, but incomparable strength. Jesus had the power to retaliate
to the injustice of it all with a just wrath, but instead, He prayed,
"Father forgive them for they know not what they do." Jesus not only
kept cool when being provoked to a point that would make most men boil, and
overflow with rage, He responded in love.
Reasonableness leads
to restraint, so that a man's energy and temper are brought under the control
of a purpose. Meekness, therefore, leads to strength, for it keeps energy on
the right track where it fulfills goals. Xenophon used the very Greek word we
have here for meekness to describe horses broken to bridle. They were made meek
by being tamed, and this was not to make them weak, but to make their strength
useful. The wild horse burns up power in useless displays of wildness. The meek
horse is just as strong, but his energy is being channeled into creative
usefulness. The meek man is not weak, but the man who uses his strength for
accomplishing a reasonable purpose.
The reasonable man, or
the meek man, does not strike back and fight, and go about defending his ego,
because he is not foolish, and has better things to do with his energy. Paul
says be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. This is the
reasonable response of the man of meekness. This takes far greater power than
letting your nature respond to its natural desire for revenge when it is
insulted or injured. Hugh Martin said, "Weakness is yielding to our
nature; meekness is mastery over it." Those who master their nature, and
control it by reason, are the mighty meek. Prov. 16:32 confirms this.
"He who is slow
to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who
takes a city."
The reasonable of meekness
is demonstrated in many ways. It is a great preserver of life. The meekness of
Christ spared all of us, and the meekness of the wise through the ages has
prevented much bloodshed. Sr. Walter Raleigh was once insulted by an
ill-tempered young man who challenged him to a duel. Raleigh refused to take
him seriously. The friends of both men were looking on, and the youth spat upon
his clothes and said, "Now then will you do it?" Sir Walter took out
his handkerchief and said, "Young man, if I could as easily wipe your
blood from my conscience as I can this insult from my person, I would draw my
sword at this instant..." That was not weakness, for weakness would have
run him through. That was the strength of meekness; the strength of reason and
restraint over the passions.
You and I will never
save anyone's life by refraining from a duel by the power of meekness, but the
principle is just as relevant to us, for studies indicate that meekness is an
effective life preserver in our automotive society. Dr. Tillmon and Dr. Hobbs
of Canada, in an analysis of highway accidents, have shown that the proud and
aggressive drivers are the killers. High accident rate people have one thing in
common, the lack of reasonable restraining meekness. They consider no one else but
themselves, and demand their rights at any cost. They cannot take an insult,
like being passed, without a fight. They demand to get even, and allow their
passions to take over.
If you study other
areas of life, you will find that lack of meekness is the cause of so much
chaos. This is true in marriage also. Someone wrote,
There's was a
"beef stew" marriage,
And their case was
somewhat crude.
The wife was always
beefing,
And the husband,
always stewed.
Such marriages are the
result of egocentric people who are too proud to share blame, admit error, and
control their temper. They are blind and weak because they are not meek. This
is true for many areas of life where the lack of meekness leads to trouble and
unhappiness. Blessed and happy are the meek for their attitude of
reasonableness and restraint will stand them in good stead for time and
eternity. Another aspect of meekness
is-
II. THE ATTITUDE OF
RECEPTIVITY.
Again, Jesus is the
greatest example, for He was the most receptive of any person. None who come to
Jesus will be cast out. Christ receives sinful men, for all are welcome to come
and receive His forgiveness, His love, and His guidance. Jesus was also
receptive of truth and guidance from His heavenly Father. Jesus never felt so
adequate and self-sufficient that He could stop praying. Even though perfect,
He hungered and thirsted for righteousness, for in His manhood He needed
constant grace to maintain that perfection.
Meekness precedes the
hungering and thirsting, for the meek are receptive, and only the receptive can
be filled. The proud and the arrogant are not open to new truth. They have
arrived, and what does not fit their philosophy is rejected. Neither the Bible,
nor the Holy Spirit are permitted to offer any new light. Such persons are not
happy, for they must live in a non-expanding self-created world. They have
reduced God to a finite being, and must live in fear less some new discovery
shake their faith. When a Christian gets to this point, he is no longer open
and receptive to more of the infinite truth and wisdom of God. He has lost the
virtue of meekness, and will, thereby, cut himself off from many of the
blessings of God.
E. Stanley Jones tells
of the newspaper strike that went on for a year and a half in India. A
subordinate was rude to a superior officer. He was dismissed and the other
employees went out on strike until he was reinstated. After a lengthy strike, a
Christian government labor official suggested that the dismissed man apologize
and ask for forgiveness, and that the officer forgive him, and reinstate him.
This was done, and the strike was over. Because of pride, it took a year and a
half. The meek are those who solve such problems before the sun goes down.
Meekness is power because it refuses to let man sinful pride run the show, and
make life complex. Meekness keeps life simple because it does not need all
kinds of defense mechanisms.
In the French New
Testament, a very interesting word is used for this beatitude. They say,
"Blessed are the debonair." That is a word the world uses, and it is
an attractive word, so they do not need to defend this virtue like we do the
word meek. Debonair people are fun loving, courteous, well-mannered, and all
that a gentleman should be. Blessed are the debonair, therefore, for they are not
burdened by prides response to insults. They bypass slights and personal
attacks with light-hearted indifference. They are receptive even to learning
from their critics. They are not given to ramroding their own views down
anyone's throat, but to listening, growing, and learning to be all things to
all men that they might win them to Christ. Life is ever fresh to them, for as
God's gentleman, they are always expanding in their knowledge of God and man.
This receptivity of the meek leads them to present riches beyond compare, plus
the inheritance of the earth.
The non-meek who are non-receptive, and unteachable lose everything. Hitler, like most great servants of evil, was perceptive enough to see this weakness in men. He wrote in his book Mein Kampf, "The receptive ability of the masses is very limited, their understanding is small, their forgetfulness great--out of indolenc