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THE BEAUTITUDES

BLESSED ARE THE  MEEK AND THE MERCIFUL
The Rev. Dr. Morris W. Hudgins
Northwest UU Congregation
December 19 , 2010

 

 

Introduction
            Last week I began a series titled, “The Beatitudes.”  This series was inspired by a book by Erik Kolbell titled, “What Jesus Meant; The Beatitudes and a Meaningful Life.”  I began with “Blessed are the Poor in Spirit.”  Today I continue with “Blessed are the Meek and the Merciful.”  In January, I will finish the series on “Blessed are the Persecuted.”
            First, a comment about Jesus of Nazareth.  I remember an incident that occurred in the life of a church member in Raleigh, NC.  The man’s name was Mike.  He was Jewish.  He married, Maggie, a Presbyterian.  Unitarian Universalism was their compromise.  When Mike was introduced to the family the father of the bride said, “We are Presbyterians.  We believe in Jesus.”  Mike responded.  “So do I.  You know Jesus was a good Jew.”  The father of the bride had a blank look on his face.  The message of Jesus was that of the Jewish prophets of old.  It is that message I seek in this series.
 
Blessed are the Meek
            Let’s look at “Blessed are the Meek.”  Meek, according to Webster, means mild of temper, patient under injuries, long suffering, gentle or kind.   Kolbell concludes this is not what the gospel writer or Jesus meant by, “Blessed are the meek.”  To be meek he says is not to be lacking in spirit or courage.  It writes:

 

Meekness is any one of us, at any time and place, encountering a rage born of injuries as great as the subjugation of one people to another or as modest as a bad day in an otherwise good life, and persevering with steady calm and solid faith until such time as those injuries are consumed.

 

Kolbell defines meekness as “doing what is right and good in the face of strong political and economic forces.”  It does not mean submissiveness.  This is consistent with the beatitude we discussed last week, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”  Kolbell sees the heart of Jesus’ message is to have the individual take control of their lives.  All the beatitudes then speak to that one desire.  To be “poor in spirit” means to be concerned about the poor.  To be “meek” is to be patient, but resolute in doing what is right and good in the face of others who choose otherwise. 
I have known individuals who have had to endure great pain, poor people who struggled from paycheck to paycheck, or faced a violent husband at night, who would come to church with bruises on their face.  I would question their patience, their meekness, their courage.  I wanted them to stand up for themselves, stop enduring the pain, do what was necessary to change their lives.  This was the message of the Jewish prophets, including Jesus of Nazareth.

 

Jesus, as a Jew, knew what the prophets and the psalmists of the Old Testament wrote about being patient and enduring pain.  We find in the books of Psalms these words:

 

Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!
            Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
For the wicked shall be cut off. . .
But the meek shall possess the land,
            And delight themselves in abundant property.  (8-11)

 

The Psalmist writer is a wise man who has seen the wicked fall, the rich man have no more, the powerful lose their power.  He advises the Jews to be patient, not to take up sword, or follow the path of the wicked.  He truly believes that God will be with those who do good and will turn against those who do evil deeds.  They may have the power, the land and the money today, but their day will come.
            This is what Jesus meant when he said, “The meek will inherit the earth.”  He is reiterating the Psalmist who wrote:

 

            Mark the blameless man, and behold the upright,
                        For there is prosperity for the man of peace. . .
            The Lord helps them and delivers them;
                        He delivers them from the wicked, and saves them,
                        Because they take refuge in him.

 

The prophets of old spoke to the Jews when they strayed from their covenant with their God.  They were tempted to do as the people who controlled them, owned the land, had power over their captives.  So it was in the days of the Psalmist.  Six hundred years before Jesus lived the Jews were in exile after losing their land to the Babylonians.  The Psalmist knew they did not have the power and the army to overthrow the Babylonians.  So he advised them to be patient, that Yahweh would in time help them and turn the tables against their transgressors.
            Jesus spoke to the Jews in a similar situation.  I quote from Kolbell:
           
The psalmist audience, like Jesus’, was a band of outcasts who quaked at the thought of being swallowed up by their enemies, so to their fears he counseled patience leavened by resoluteness.  He urged that they be calm but steadfast before those who “draw the sword and bend their bows, to bring down the poor and the needy,” not because it was their fate in life to . . . suffer unjustly, but because in due time their enemies “swords shall enter their own hearts, their bows shall be broken,” and “the meek will inherit the land.”  

 

            The prophets were speaking to a lost community, people who yearned for their homeland, who were tempted to take up the sword.  They foretold that they would one day return to their homeland if they would stay true to their God.  Kolbell concludes:
            It is not necessarily supplanting the rule of nations but planting the seeds of hope, and then abiding with them, protecting them from whatever storms may loom large on their horizons, feeding and watering and beseeching them, nurturing them into fruition.  Inheriting the earth means wresting a piece of creation that has been ceded to the demons and reclaiming it for God.  (pp. 67-68)

 

Blessed are the Merciful
Meekness is quiet perseverance when some are losing all control.  It is commitment to change, and having hope for the future.  But meekness is not enough.  We also need mercy.  If there is one passage in the Scriptures that summarizes the Judeo-Christian values more than any other, it is the passage:  “Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy.”  (Mt. 5:7)
            We are all familiar with this message.  Remember the 23rd Psalm when it says:  “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” (vs. 6)  Later the Psalmist writes:  “Who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies.”  (103:4)  In Hosea we find a God who “will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy.”  (2:23)
            So it is clear from the Old Testament that the Jewish people believed not just in a vengeful God, but a God of love and mercy.  The question I want to ask first this morning:  How does one become merciful?
            Webster says mercy comes from the Latin and means to pardon, give thanks, or reward.  It has come to mean in the penal system to refrain from punishing an offender.  I want to take the meaning much further:  to be compassionate, or kind, or forgiving.
            We are living in a world that is not so merciful.  Pardons are far and few between often at the end of a presidency or governorship.  “Three strikes and you are out” is the motto of our day.  Mandatory sentences are the way to go.  Death by injection is the preferred punishment.  George Eliot wrote in the novel Adam Bede these words which summarize the ethics of our day:  “We hand folks over to God’s mercy and show none ourselves.”
            What is involved in showing mercy?  I would like to present three ways this morning:  First, to acknowledge our own shortcomings, is the first step to showing mercy to others. The line between the wrongs of others and our own is often a fine line.  Second, is admission of wrongdoing and the act of forgiveness.  Third, to combine truth and justice with mercy makes mercy more complete. 

 

1.      Acknowledge our Own Humanity
The first step on the road to mercy is an acknowledgement of our own humanity, and admit to our shortcomings.  Erik Kolbell  reminds us that in America we are so set on being number one that we overlook those that are less fortunate than we, and we make harsh judgments about the lives of others that are different.
A story about John Wesley might be helpful for us to understand the need for mercy in our times.  Erik Kolbell tells the story in his book, What Jesus Meant:

 

Legend has it that John Wesley learned that a British general by the  name of James Ogelthorpe had caught one of his servants stealing a bottle of wine and beaten him severely for it.  Wesley confronted Oglethorpe and asked that the general find it in his heart to forgive the poor servant.  “Sir,” said the officer, “ never” forgive.”  To which Wesley replied, “Then, sir, I hope you never offend!”

 

2.  Act of Forgiveness
            The first step in showing mercy is the act of admission of human frailty.  The second step is confession of wrongdoing and the offer of forgiveness.  He writes:
            Erik Kolbell writes: 

 

            Just as compassion is grounded in our shared sense of need, forgiveness is grounded in our shared sense of contrition, . . .  In forgiveness we come face-to-face with our own failures of will.  We accept them, confess them, repent them.  We are humbled by them.  Only then do we redeem them, and we do this by seeing ourselves in others and extending to them the very understanding we want so much to receive from them.  When forgiveness is requested, offered, accepted, and reciprocated, it becomes like a blossoming field of Easter tulips, fragrant, vivid, life affirming; a contagious force the likes of which relationships, marriages, families, even whole civilizations can be born of and built upon.  As Peter Ustinov once said of love, it is an endless act of forgiveness, a tender look that becomes a habit.  (p. 93)
             
3.      Mercy and Justice
Mercy requires both—admission of wrongdoing and the act of forgiveness.   And, finally, mercy requires justice.  Kolbell expresses it this way: 

 

. . . Mercy without action is pity and action without mercy condescension, when we wed the two together we have a formidable basis for . . . justice.  As Shakespeare wrote, “mercy seasons justice.”  (p. 94)
 
I believe in mercy and I believe in justice.  They must compliment one another.  Mercy requires a belief in common humanity, admission of our shortcomings, reaching out to one another in love and compassion, and committing ourselves to acts of justice.  Ruth Smeltzer has written:

 

You have not lived a perfect day unless you’ve done something for someone who will never be able to repay you.    

 

This is wise counsel for us as individuals, as a church, and as a nation.  To be merciful is to compassionate toward others, especially toward those who are left out of the wealth of society.  I encourage us to encourage the meek to take control of their lives, but we should also be compassionate, forgiving and just toward those who do not. Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.  Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy.  Amen.

 

 
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