9/24/2023

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING:

“Blessed are the meek: for they will inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5.5)

“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to Him. For He laid the earth’s foundation on the seas and built it on the ocean depths. Who may climb the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in His holy place? Only those whose hands and hearts are pure, who do not worship idols and never tell lies. They will receive the Lord’s blessing and have a right relationship with God their Savior. Such people may seek You and worship in Your presence, O God of Jacob.”

(Psalm 24. 1-6)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

The way things are going these days in the world, it would be easy to understand someone responding the the third “Be Attitude”: Why would anyone want to inherit the earth? Except, scripture makes a strong argument for the difference between “the world” and “the earth.” The “earth” is the physical place on which we dwell. It is in a constant state of flux such as the changing of the seasons as we are not in the second day of Autumn 2023. We see the storms move over the face of the waters such as the tropical storm which marched against the eastern seaboard this weekend. We know of earthquakes which shake, rattle and crumble land and dwellings such as those in Morocco recently. Plains rise up. Mountains fall. Rain pours. Droughts exist where little to no rain has fallen. Yet, we marvel at it all from sunrise to sunset and sunset to sunrise. The beauty and wonder of it all challenges the simple and the wise, the rich and the poor, the old and the young. But, the world, on the other hand is not a place or a space. It is a people, a community, an ideology which when empowered wants control of the earth and those who dwell on it. What we are promised by God is an inheritance of the created earth which exists under His control of freewill to be and to do what it was created to do. None were and nothing was created to do evil, yet evil exists. In the vastness of God’s providence and love, selfishness is as much a part of the DNA of creation as selflessness. What is the difference between the two? Jesus proposes that it is “meekness” which defines the true order and future of hope for all things. It is a power which exerts control of one’s self not a power exerted with the intention of controlling others. Meekness is not “weakness.” Meekness is servanthood for the common good. It is not making others servile to another for their own good. That line of thinking is worldly and contributes to the decimation and humiliation of all people. Such thinking is not godly. It is unrighteous and contrary to God’s command to “love one another.”

It was with this in mind that I included the defining scripture from one of David’s psalms, Psalm 24. In it we are reminded by David, as were the people of the Kingdom of God on earth called Israel, that “The EARTH is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof (verse 1.)” Capture the caveat of the second verse: “The world and all its people are His.” David would later declare “We are God’s people and the sheep of His pasture.” (Psalm 100.3) The distinction exists between world and earth. In some rabbinic teachings, the “earth” is viewed as that which existed in the Garden of Eden before “the world” infected it with sin. Adam and Eve did not create sin. They were infected by the Tempter who brought a worldview into their field of vision. Adam and Eve were not meek in the Garden. If they were they would have resisted the temptation to understand life and creation in any other way than what God proposed. They were weak in that they allowed themselves to be complacent in obedience to God’s Word and Will trusting in the beauty, awe and intrigue which a talking serpent presented as creature of subtle beauty. He caught “the fancy of their eye.” They had no reason to believe that such a unique creature could be anything but “good.” Yet, we know that “good” means “abiding in and accordance with the Word of God.” Satan, the Fallen Lucifer, was anything but good. He had no intention of abiding in accordance with the Word of God. He was weak himself as proven by his being an outcast from the Kingdom of Heaven. He presented himself as strong with cunning subtlety and verbal mastery. He was not meek at all. Think of a number of other synonyms people consider when hearing the word “meek”: quiet, passive, sheepish, gullible, fallible, etc. But, none of those words actually apply to authentic meekness. Authentic meekness is self-control, peaceful, loving, kind, good, merciful, compassionate, joyful, patient and faithful. Ah yes, you recognize that list from Paul’s description of “the fruit of the Spirit.” (Galatians 5)

What the world needs now is a huge dose of meekness. Authentic meekness is known only in one’s relationship with God. Out of that relationship comes the ability to relate to others appropriately up to and including “love your enemy.” Wow. Now that is in short supply these days! What? You think “tolerance, inclusion, loose freedom” is authentic love? Those are the fruit of lust for power, control and the abuse of freedom which bind themselves fiscally, physically and spiritually to financial slavery. The biblical word for that is mammon. And we know from the teachings of Jesus that we cannot serve two masters lest we love one and hate the other. Who are those two masters? Jesus said they are: GOD and mammon. Remember, it is not “money is the root of all evil but the love of money.” I would daresay that Satan believed God so loved “the world” that He would bankrupt the Kingdom of Heaven in order to redeem all His people from the debtors’ prison. Satan is the Warden of such a prison. Except, Satan wasn’t counting on God giving the keys to the gate into the hands of His Son and all those who would believe in Him. Jesus and all His disciples practice the call of meekness. They make themselves freely servants of God and God’s will. By aligning with Jesus as the Christ, they become joint heirs of the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in Heaven. We know have the power! Strange that we practice more weakness than meekness. Time for a serious “Be Attitude” adjustment, don’t you think?

TODAY’S PRAYER IN LIGHT OF GOD’S WORD:

Father, You have revealed to us best in Jesus the Christ. By Him and Him alone shall we gain the eternal life and our place in eternal rest, living for You always. Show us more and by Your Holy Spirit instruct us in the way we should go, the truth we should reveal and the life we shall live with you forever. In Jesus’ name, we pray. AMEN.