According to Jesus. And he says that the payoff is pretty high. So that’s good.
But, dang, it’s hard to be meek.
It’s disadvantageous to be meek in a world whose own beatitude says that the powerful and presumptuous are blessed. Those who seek after power and are pushy with with their influence in order to get their way. The winners of the world are the bullies.
But only temporarily.
The kingdom that Jesus preached, that he will one day return to rule in its fullness over the entire earth, is a Kingdom—surprise!—characterized by meekness. From the top down. As in the vision John received and wrote down in Revelation where a lamb is sitting on the throne, presiding over all heaven and earth.
A lamb on the throne?
Yes, a lamb. And no mere mascot—he’s the King!
The two most common creatures in the Revelation of John, which are regularly juxtaposed against one another, are beast and a lamb. Oppression and meekness. Power and weakness. Human empire which rules by violence and the kingdom of God which is ruled by gentleness.
The kingdom of God is a ruled not by a beast but by a lamb. The one who wins not by strength, but by weakness. The one who who conquers not by military might, but by allowing evil to expend all of its destructive energy on himself–only to come back from the dead. Never to die again. To rule forever and ever. Amen.
The reality in this world is, of course, that the meek get shouted down. They get silenced. They get walked all over. They get taken advantage of. They get spit upon. They get made fun of. Much like Jesus, who turns to the meek and says, “You’re gonna get the whole earth as your inheritance! Because I myself am meek, and I have already inherited the whole earth, and I will give it to whomever I darn well choose. And I choose you.”
Meekness doesn’t mean not fighting. Meekness doesn’t mean not standing up for justice. Meekness doesn’t mean not raising our voice when it is needed. Meekness means we do it in a different way.
Let us not be pushy and brash like the powerful beasts and bullies of our world. Let us work hard for justice and truth and goodness with the gentleness and meekness of Jesus, the Lamb of God.
