^ESV  Matthew 5:5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. (Mat 5:5 ESV)

When I just read this verse, if you are like me, it is easy to dismiss as something unrelatable or too pie in the sky.  First of all, we do not use the word “meek” to describe people in common speak.  Right?  “Hey, honey you were so meek with the kids at supper.”  “Hey, kids remember to be meek toward your friends on the playground today!”  Nope.  That doesn’t really work.

What does it mean to be meek?  Meekness has been defined as strength under control.  That to be meek does not mean weak.  These definitions are far too basic to garner a promise as Jesus gives to people he calls meek.  By the way, what does it even mean to “inherit the earth?”  Still, Jesus’ formula is clear.  If you are designated as meek then you receive the whole earth (some say, “the whole universe”). 

To me, this promise makes for a curious Beatitude.  It begs two questions: “What does it mean to inherit the earth” and “Why should I care?”  Not so fast if you are tempted to gloss over Jesus’ words with a blasé attitude.  Nope.  Jesus wants you to get this, so you will find joy in it today.  Inheriting the earth might seem way out there but allow me to make this real-life by suggesting everyone is talking about inheriting the earth these days!  Actually, people always have been.    

Just stretch your mind back a few days to the last Presidential debate and you’ll find all kinds of back and forth banter fighting over rights to the earth.  Reps and Dems coming from polar extreme arguments were both working to get the win – what our country is fighting over – why votes are being cast.    

Just review the main arguments of the debate. 

• We can do better with Covid than you can.
• We can keep the people alive longer than you can.
• We can provide better healthcare, so sick people get better than you can.
• We can manage world energy resources better than you can.
• We can protect wealth better than you can.
• We can keep people from hating each other better than you can.
• We can make the earth safer from world enemies than you can.
• We can define marriage, law, and sex better than you can.

Both sides of the political spectrum are making strong assertions to have the answers to these realities.  Round and round the debates go.  Make no mistake, though I make the case that both sides are fighting each other; I still have very strong convictions for the side of conservative politics.  I for one want to preserve religious freedom and am pro-life versus being pro-murder.  I will vote accordingly. 

But, this is not the point Jesus is making.  People want to inherit the earth, but only meek people will.  The Jews in Jesus’ day wanted the earth by means of political power.  Yet, Jesus tells us the one true way to ensure that you can have the whole world!  One way, one kind of person, and not merely for four years.  Ironically, meekness appears to be the one single attribute missing from our presidential debates and election in general.  The very thing Jesus says ensures inheriting the earth is missing and it is missing because our world does not naturally think in terms of being meek.  The quality that gets you what you want is nowhere present.  On large and small scales, people have always craved the “earth.”  World conquest is a theme throughout all of our history lessons in school.    

According to Christ, the whole world is given to the meek and only to the meek.  People instinctively trust their personal strength and power and abilities for achievement.  Self-assurance and aggressiveness are the resources they claim!  If you do not have what you want, then just press harder! 

For the Christian, it is the exact opposite!  The Jews in Jesus’ day also wanted Jesus to give them the world through a military overthrow.  When Jesus came, he clarified, “This was not the reason he had come.”  Are you still convinced that getting ahold of this promise is not practical?  It is easy to dismiss it as a Sunday school promise with no quantifiable blessing for now.  No shoe leather.  Instead of being meek, I will just get down to work and survive our nation’s problems like the rest.  Leave this promise of inheriting the earth for the afterlife.  If that is you, then I say you are acting like an agnostic!

Let me ask you to consider this promise from another vantage point.  “How worried are you regarding the outcome of this presidential election?”  “How fired up you are when certain issues come up?”  “Is your world threatened?”  Be honest as to whether Jesus’ promise comes into play at all.  “Does this promise apply for now or are we supposed to give it a cursory nod and file it for our days when we are in hospice care?”  Apply this once in heaven.

The answer to applying this promise now comes with how we interpret meekness.  The simple way to apply being meek is being content.  When you are content, I mean truly content, then you inherit the earth.  First of all, to be meek like Jesus you have to be a believer.  To be in Christ means God has made you his child and given you a new heart.  Meekness is a fruit of the Holy Spirit meaning God produces this quality of meekness in you as you rely on him (cf. Gal. 5:22-23 “the fruit of the Spirit is…gentleness” also translated as “meekness”).  Being meek means when you die you will inherit the earth in terms of heaven, but it also means that while you live you are content with the earth right now.  Contentment is not a ho-hum attitude.  Contentment is being free from want and being happy with the world God has given you.  Today.  The political fight over a temporal and superficial inheritance.  Christians possess an eternal and meaningful inheritance.  Being satisfied with God’s provision in your life, for your whole life is the blessing of being meek.  Pray for it and walk like Jesus.