Blessed re the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heven. Blessed re those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed re the meek, for they will inherit the erth. Blessed re those who hunger nd thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed re the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed re the pure in hert, for they will see God. Blessed re the pecemkers, for they will be clled children of God. Blessed re those who re persecuted becuse of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heven. Mtthew 5:3-10 23
TOP TEN... TOP TEN LITTLE-KNOWN EXCUSES MOSES USED TO AVOID RETURNING TO EGYPT (AND, THUS, BEING MEEK) "Blessed re the meek, for they will inherit the erth." Mtthew 5:5 10. My sheep dog is worthless wy from the bck yrd. 9. Leving Midin will void my Colonil Penn life insurnce policy. 8. I'm eighty yers old, for goodness ske! (Wht ws your nme gin?) 7. I would go, Lord, but I've got rel phobi bout bulrushes. 6. All tht blowing snd keeps getting in my contct lenses. 5. It would tke burning bush to get me bck to Egypt! 4. Phroh doesn't like me very much. 3. I'm scred of the liens who built the pyrmids. 2. I'll go, but only if Chrlton Heston plys me in the movie version. And the #1 little-known excuse Moses used to void returning to Egypt: This feeling keeps plguing me tht something bd will hppen if I go bck. 24
THINKING IT THROUGH MONDAY Our problem with "meekness" is tht we hve understood this word to describe how we relte to ech other rther thn to God. Meekness hs become horizontl qulity rther thn verticl one. In contrst to tht understnding, notice the following pssges where the word "meekness" occurs (in the NIV). Red 1 Kings 21 :20-29. Ahb "went round meekly" fter hering the prophet's judgment. Does this refer to the wy he treted other people or to the fct tht he "humbled himself before" God (verse 29)? Wht might this humbling involve? Red Pslm 37: 1-11. Write out ll the qulities tht the pslmist uses to rrive t the phrse "the meek" (verse 11 ). Here, it's not wekness tht's seen s the opposite of the meek, but wht? Red 2 Corinthins 1 O: 1-6. Notice how the "meekness of Christ" permits Pul to ct with boldness, wge wr, demolish strongholds, tke cptives, nd punish. Does n understnding of meekness s consuming desire to do God's will help you understnd this pssge better? TUESDAY Webster's Third New Interntionl Dictionry defines meek s mnifesting ptience nd long suffering; enduring injury without resentment; mild. Deficient in spirit nd courge; submissive, tme. Not violent or strong; gentle, moderte, wek. According to this understnding of meekness, Moses wouldn't hve qulified. Look up the following pssges nd note how unlike the bove definition Moses relly ws. Exodus 2:11-12, 16-17; 11:4-8; 14:10-14; 32:15-20 Numbers 11:10-15; 16:25-35 If, however, you define meekness s submission to God, it's evident why Moses should be clled meek. How do the bove pssges demonstrte the meekness of Moses when meekness is understood s submission to God's will? WEDNESDAY In this chpter, we lso looked t the life of Jesus for help in understnding wht it mens to be meek. In prticulr, we looked t the pryer in Gethsemne s n exmple of Jesus' submission to God's will. There re other exmples too. Red the following pssges nd indicte how they demonstrte Christ's desire to be obedient to God. Mtthew 3:13-15; 26:50-54; John 4:34; 5:30; 6:38; 8:29; 12:27-28, 49-50; 14:31; 19:28 THURSDAY The notion tht there's structure to the Betitudes tht helps us interpret the prts by looking t the whole will become more importnt s we proceed, so spend little time thinking bout tht structure. I proposed tht the Betitudes re built like mountin: the first four describe "upwrd" qulities demonstrted to God, while the second four describe "downwrd" interpersonl qulities. With this in mind, think bout the following questions: 25
THINKING IT THROUGH THURSDAY (con't) Do you hve ny doubt tht the second hlf of the Betitudes (especilly "mercy," "pecemking," nd "persecution") describe interpersonl qulities? Do you see ny wy these Betitudes might cll us to be merciful to God, to mke pece with God, to endure God's persecutions? In looking over the first four Betitudes, does it seem likely to you tht they describe chrcteristics we primrily demonstrte to God rther thn our fellow humn beings? If so, does the fct tht "meekness" flls in the first hlf of the Betitudes help you see this s verticl virtue rther thn horizontl one? FRIDAY Peter herd Jesus sy, "Blessed re the meek." but, like us, Peter hd hrd time submitting his will to the will of God. Red the following pssges nd comment on Peter's struggle to obey God rther thn his own instincts or desires. Mtthew 16:21-25; 26:31-35 John 13:5-8; 18:10-11 Acts 10:9-16 Gltins 2: 11-14 Wht ws the most significnt lesson you lerned in your study this week? 26
TALKING IT OVER TEXT: JONAH 1:1-3:5 WARM-UP: Some things come esily to us. Others hve to be lerned. Nme tlent or bility tht comes nturlly to you-something you were born with. Now tell the group bout skill you hd to work t to develop. Would you gree with the following sttement? None of the Betitudes comes nturlly to us. Jesus is tlking bout cquired chrcteristics: they must be lerned through pinful struggle nd over long periods of time. Meekness is word often used tody to describe certin personlity type, trit of wekness tht comes nturlly to certin people. In contrst, the Bible uses the word meek to spek of someone who is submitted to God, someone whose will hs been yielded to God's Wht do the exmples of Moses nd Jesus tech us bout meekness? Redy Jonh 1: 1-3:5, the fmous story of Jonh, the "gret fish," nd the wicked city of Nineveh. DISCUSSION: Think bout this story s the tle of mn who hd to lern meekness. 1. Wht did God wnt Jonh to do? Wht did Jonh wnt to do? Whose will won out initilly? At wht point in this story does Jonh sy, "Not your will, but mine be done?" 2. Notice the process God leds Jonh through s he teches his prophet bit of meekness. Do you see tht God doesn't go stright to lesson on submission nd obedience? Jonh hs couple of other lessons to lern first. They sound surprisingly like the process Jesus describes in the Betitudes. A. At wht point in the story do you see Jonh lerning to confess his poverty of spirit? B. Where in the story do you see Jonh lerning to mourn nd repent? 3. When is Jonh finlly redy to demonstrte meekness? 4. Finlly, Jonh is redy to do wht God wnts. Wht does Jonh do tht clerly demonstrtes he hs lerned to do God's will even when it conflicts with his own? 5. Why did God choose Jonh to begin with? Ws there no one else in Isrel who ws more redy to obey his commnd? Or might it be tht the sermon God ws most interested in preserving through this book ws not the one Jonh preched to Nineveh, but the one God preched to Jonh? APPLICATION: 1. Tell the group bout time when you weren't very meek- time when you told God, "Not your will, but mine be done." 2. Did God tech you nything bout meekness in this incident? Wht "whle" did he send to swllow you? Wht finlly brought you to the point where you could sy, "Not my will, but yours be done?" 27
TALKING IT OVER APPLICATION (con't) 3. Is meekness lesson we lern once, or does God keep teching us how to be meek? Just how mny times do we hve to be swllowed whole before we lern meekness for good? 4. Why do you think meekness comes so hrd for us? 5. Do you think God ever longs to tell us tht perfect submission most of the time isn't much good if disciple won't submit when it mtters? COOL DOWN: It's esy to obey God when we gree with him. Wht's hrd is obeying him when we don't wnt to. It doesn't tke much of commitment to follow Jesus everywhere we wnt to go. Rel commitment (nd rel meekness) is mtter of sying "yes" when you would rther sy "no." If you hve one piece of dvice to give the group on "how to obey God when it hurts," wht would it be? Tke Jonh's pryer (Jonh 2:2-9) nd pry it together s group s you bring your time to close. 28
LIVING IT OUT The chpter 'The Discipline of Submission" in Richrd Foster's wonder book Celebrtion of Discipline provides helpful structure for pplying meekness in our lives. Listen to Foster's recommendtion: At the beginning of the dy we wit before Fther, Son nd Holy Spirit, in the words of the hymn writer, "yielded nd still." the first words of our dy form the pryer of Thoms Kempis, "As thou wilt; wht thou wilt; when thou wilt." We yield our body, mind nd spirit for his purposes. Likewise, the dy is lived in deeds of submission interspersed with constnt ejcultions of inwrd surrender. As the first words of the morning re of submission so re the lst words of the night. We surrender our body, mind nd spirit into the hnds of God to do with us s he pleses through the long drkness. In Foster's view, submission to the will of God runs so counter to our nturl inclintions tht only dy bthed in pryer nd constnt promises of obedience cn crete n obedient mindset. He recommends pryer to begin, crry us through, nd end our dy. I like tht notion. For one week (or two or twenty!), why not begin every dy with the following regimen? The first step involves little pryer nd study before jumping into your hectic routine. Fther, I confess tht I m only hlf-tmed to your will. How grteful I m for those prts of my life tht you hve brought under your control. How sorry I m for pieces of myself I hve not yielded to you. Lord, tody I will be tempted to slip your lesh nd live s I plese. Grnt me the strength to resist tht tempttion. Help me to live this dy in obedience. Show me how you wnt me to think nd feel nd behve s I go through my dy. Let me live free of myself nd in submission to you. "As thou wilt; wht thou wilt'; when thou wilt. Amen." Follow this pryer with few minutes' reding nd memorizing God's Word. It does little good to pry for obedience if you don't know wht God's will is for your life! Spend some time ech dy educting yourself in the wys of God. The following pssges might be prticulrly useful for keeping your life centered on God's will: Mtthew 5:3-16; John 14:15-21; Romns 6:1-4, 11-14; 8:5-14; 1 Corinthins 13:4-8; Gltins 5:16-25; Ephesins 4:17-5:2; 6:13-18; Philippins 2:1-11; 4:4-9; Colossins 3:1-17; 1 Peter 1:13-19; 4:7-11; 2 Peter 1:5-11; 1 John 5:1-4. The second step involves reminding yourself of this commitment to obedience throughout the dy. suggest you dpt the pryer of Thoms Kempis, repeting frequently nd with feeling: As you will, wht you will, when you will. I hve colored dot on my wtch tht reminds me of my commitment to obedience nd prompts me to pry this pryer. You might wnt to tpe this pryer to the bthroom mirror nd to the dshbord of your cr nd to your desk t work. Put the pryer in plces where you're tempted to "run mok" - on the television or computer screen, the refrigertor door, the telephone. Keeping in mind tht we re disciples ll the time is hlf the bttle with obedience. 29
LIVING IT OUT Finlly, end your dy with pryer. Kneeling t the side of the bed before sleep might not be your hbit, but it's not bd hbit to develop. Try kneeling nd sying pryer like this: Fther, I felt your power tody. I found in you the strength to sy "no" nd to resist tempttion. I felt you prompting me to sy nd do godly things. (You might wnt to nme specific exmple here.) I'm so grteful for your constnt presence in my life. Thnk you for trining me to be meek. But, Fther, I lso felt the power of my own will. There were times tody when my stubbornness nd pride welled up nd persuded me to go my own wy. (You might wnt to nme specific exmple here.) Forgive me for wnting my will more thn yours. Tomorrow is fresh dy. I lie down with grtitude for your presence with me tody. I joyfully nticipte your presence with me tomorrow. Mke me meek, 0 Lord, more nd more yielded to your perfect will. Amen. 30