image by Nahuel Hawkes from Unsplash Ephesians 4:1-3 "I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beseech you to walk worthily of the calling wherewith ye were called, 2 with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love..." A thought-provoking sermon was preached on this verse, which challenged me to examine the qualities listed here. Lowliness and meekness. These two words have almost vanished from our vocabulary today, yet they describe different aspects of humility which would do us good to think more on. The preacher emphasized that meekness does not equate with weakness, an important point given the popularizing nowadays of what I call an aggressive-defensive attitude. We're told to stand up for ourselves and not to take sh*t from anyone, that haters are going to hate, not to let anyone put us down... Which has more than a grain of truth in it, yet is imbalanced and incomplete as a mindset in itself, from a Christian perspective. Biblical meekness as modelled by Moses--whom the Bible called the meekest man on the face on the earth--and of course, the Lord Jesus Christ, requires spiritual and moral strength. Remember Moses' life work. Resisting Pharaoh and bringing the Israelites out of slavery to freedom. Leading and judging them through wars, food/water shortages, plagues, rebellions, etc. It takes a lot of moral and spiritual strength to stand up to a king, and confidently perform supernatural miracles--just as much as the less glamourous, but just as difficult job of dealing with the endless complaints, criticisms, and fears of the Israelites during their 40 year journey. Far from being a weakness, Moses' meekness was what enabled him to stay stable (and sane, because I would have lost my wits) because he did not treat his role and his work (and the inevitable criticisms and challenges) as the basis for his identity and self-worth. His meekness and lowliness kept him grounded, kept him from self-pity, from entitlement, from greed and abuse of power, from many of the temptations that leaders face. Likewise, Jesus demonstrated the same stability and strength in how He ministered, healed, taught thousands of people; dealt with threats and hostility from the established community leaders; patiently mentored His disciples; and endured the suffering and humiliation of the cross. This lowliness and meekness enabled Him--the Son of God--to love and relate to the social outcasts, the weak, the sinful: "...for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest for your souls." Why we can come to Him without hesitation or fears. Both Jesus and Moses were the Bible's standards of God-honouring meekness and lowliness--men who did not seek their own honour and power, did not covet people's admiration and approval, who simply did what pleased God and served others, without wanting credit for it or seeing it as a way of establishing their identity. And neither of them were anything close to pushovers, or doormats--what we tend to think of as the inevitable consequence of meekness and lowliness. That's food for thought for us! Lowliness and meekness as demonstrated by Moses and Jesus reflect how one's priorities, above all, are not on secular things. I've been studying Jesus' Sermon on the Mount in the book of Matthew, and I find myself understanding the "treasure in heaven" theme in terms of priorities. God's will, or ours? God's commands to live a holy life, or the desire to live out a sinful idea of pleasure? Spiritual values of righteousness, mercy, humility, or earthly values of wealth, possessions, power, affirmation, comfort? Lowliness and meekness are only possible when our actions and mindset are directed by a different set of priorities. to be continued in part 2
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