ESGAL16 Fruit of the Spirit Part 10 Gentleness/Meekness
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25 At that time Jesus answered and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. 26 Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. 27 All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. 28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
Today we are looking at gentleness. You may have noticed we have left out faithfulness but this is because I already preached this to you in January. However, I put the sermon on our website this morning for those of you who would like to review it.
So, back to gentleness:
Gentleness can also translated as meekness, mildness, courtesy, being considerate, humility, and leniency.
It means to act in a manner that is gentle, mild and even-tempered.
Let me give you an ullustration:
According to Bill Farmer's newspaper column, J. Upton Dickson was a fun-loving fellow who said he was writing a book entitled Cower Power. He also founded a group of submissive people. It was called DOORMATS. That stands for "Dependent Organization of Really Meek And Timid Souls -- if there are no objections." Their motto was: "The meek shall inherit the earth -- if that's okay with everybody." They symbol was the yellow traffic light.
Mr. Dickson sounds like he'd be a lot of fun, doesn't he? What is disturbing about all of this, though, is that many people assume that the ridiculous ideas behind DOORMATS and Cower Power represent the quality of meekness set forth in Matthew 5:5. Many, even in the church, think that to be meek is to be weak. But the opposite is true. What the Bible is talking about is a powerful virtue. The slogan "strong enough to be gentle" comes close to defining it.
Gentleness/meekness is best illustrated by an animal that had been tamed; the wild spirit and nature of an animal is brought under the control of its owner. A tamed horse has yielded or submitted its strength; the strength of the animal is no longer wasted wildly, but has been focused in order to fulfil a purpose. Gentleness then is power under control, submitted strength.
The power and force of water can be focused and brought under control to flow through a dam turning large turbines to produce electricity to give power to an entire city. However, the force and power of water can also be out of control bringing death and destruction through a flooded river or the massive tsunami wave like that occurred in 2004 killing hundreds of thousands of people.
The world counts this aspect of the fruit of the Spirit as one to avoid if you want to get on in the world. It is no good being gentle, mild and even-tempered if you want to achieve something in the world for instead the world will tread all over us. At least, that is the perception. It is also a rare piece of the fruit that is spoken about despite verses such as we this morning:
Blessed are the meek,
For they shall inherit the earth.
However, as we have already seen…meekness is strength under control and has nothing to do with being weak.
God Himself is an example:
He will feed His flock like a shepherd;
He will gather the lambs with His arm,
And carry them in His bosom,
And gently lead those who are with young.
Should we accuse God of weakness?!
Jesus spoke about Himself to be an example which is what we read at the beginning:
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Then there is the verse we read last week:
A bruised reed He will not break,
And smoking flax He will not quench,
Till He sends forth justice to victory;
And then on one of the famous day’s, Palm Sunday,
“Tell the daughter of Zion,
‘Behold, your King is coming to you,
Lowly, and sitting on a donkey,
A colt, the foal of a donkey.’ ”
As King of Kings should have been on a horse and chariot with legions of angels but instead He came humbly with gentleness; with meekness.
We have that great Graham Kendrick song that sings of Jesus:
Meekness and majesty, human and deity, in perfect harmony the one who is God. Lord of eternity dwells in humanity, kneels in humility and washes our feet.
Wisdom unsearchable, God the invisible, love indestructible in frailty appears, Lord of infinity, stooping so tenderly lifts our humanity to the heights of his throne.
O what a mystery. Meekness and majesty. Bow down and worship, for this is your God.
The Old Testament says of a forerunner of Jesus:
Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth.
Yet such a man was face-to-face with the most powerful man on earth: Pharaoh, and also face-to-face with the most powerful person in the universe: God.
Yet he was sometimes impetuous and certainly passionate but what is meekness except strength under control. When his leadership was challenged he bow down before God and let God deal with the rebellions.
And we are to follow:
"Meekness is humility toward God and mildness toward people."
But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.
The Greek word to be meek is also the root for gentleness. Meekness has everything to do with being humble. When you are humble you cannot be anything but gentle. If we are not gentle then we are proud and arrogant. If we are arrogant it means that we think that we are better than others and if we think we are better than others then we become arrogant therefore we are not humble, therefore we are not meek, therefore we will not be gentle in all our practices.
Hear what Scripture says about helping those who have been found to be in sin:
Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.
Gentleness is the key to restoring someone else because no matter what we think about someone else’s sin it is clear from this verse that whatever they have fallen into is something that we can also be tempted to do. Note that we are not called to condemn them either but to restore. The following story is the opposite of this:
Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?” This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.
So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?”
She said, “No one, Lord.”
And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”
Jesus did not condemn her, did not throw her out, did not throw a stone at her but instead treated her with respect and gentleness though she had been caught in sin.
And let us remember that not one of us is without sin before we start condemning others.
Nelson’s Complete Book of Stories, Illustrations & Quotes Lesson of the Goldfish
Richard L. Dunagin of Denton, Texas, writing in Leadership Journal, said that his children won four free goldfish at the school carnival, necessitating a Saturday morning family outing to find an aquarium. The first several they found were too expensive, but then he spotted a used one right in the middle of the aisle: A discarded ten-gallon tank complete with gravel and filter. It was five dollars.
“Of course, it was nasty dirty, but the savings made the two hours of cleanup a breeze. Those four new fish looked great in their new home, at least for the first day. But by Sunday one had died. Too bad, but three remained. Monday morning revealed a second casualty, and by Monday night a third goldfish had gone belly up.
“We called in an expert, a member of our church who had a 30-gallon tank. It didn’t take him long to discover the problem: I had washed the tank with soap, an absolute no-no. My uninformed efforts had destroyed the very lives I was trying to protect.
“Sometimes in our zeal to clean up our own lives or the lives of others, we unfortunately use “killer soaps”—condemnation, criticism, nagging, fits of temper. We think we’re doing right, but our harsh, self-righteous treatment is more than they can bear.”*
And as if to reiterate it
to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men.
Peace, gentleness, humility go hand-in-hand and a guarded tongue to boot.
Gentleness does not mean it cannot come with some hard words and actions as we can see in the lives of Jesus and Moses. Paul talks of rebuking sharply (Titus 1.13) but it was so that the Cretans would be sound in their faith. It is strength under control. The aim is always restoration.
Andrew Murray said,
The humble man feels no jealousy or envy. He can praise God when others are preferred and blessed before him. He can bear to hear others praised while he is forgotten because ... he has received the Spirit of Jesus, who pleased not Himself, and who sought not His own honour. Therefore, in putting on the Lord Jesus Christ he has put on the heart of compassion, kindness, meekness, longsuffering, and humility.
On Sundays and at other times we are not to be proud thinking we know and understand everything but instead come with the attitude of coming to learn:
Gentleness and meekness comes as we think about God’s greatness and our relation to Him in comparison.
Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
Again, those who are not gentle and meek are people who think that they are something; whether they realise it or not they think that they are better than others. They do not realise they are liable to fall into the same temptations, things they think they would never do but judge others about. Humility is needed.
Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.
Pride comes before a fall.
The gentle and meek don’t conquer the earth as people on this earth are apt to try to do and lose their souls in the process. People try to conquer other people because of a variety of things whether jealousy or bitterness or non-contentedness but we are not called to be any of these things. We are called to flee them. Instead we are called to pursue gentleness and meekness where God achieves His purposes in our lives and the lives of everyone else in this world. No, the gentle and meek do not conquer the world but instead they inherit it.
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
He didn’t condemn the woman caught in adultery or Zacchaeus the dishonest businessman and He didn’t condemn us either. He wants us saved.
His great love for us, His gentleness with us should also be reflected in our relationships with each other and with those in the world. This is achieved through practising humility, forgiveness and by remembering who we are compared to God.
Like all of the fruit of the Spirit it is the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives that produces each element. It is not a ‘try harder’ next time but it is about allowing the Holy Spirit to do His work in us and in others. Yet, there are words like ‘pursue’ and ‘avoid’ or ‘flee’ which means that there is something that we can do. Again it seems we have a choice: to obey or disobey, to be fleshly and worldly or heavenly and spiritual.
Being unloving, lawless, impatient, unkind, bad, faithless, ungentle, and lacking self-control come naturally in the world. But we are to be unworldly and do the things that are natural in the Spirit, the things our hearts says that, actually, we should be doing instead anyway.
Gentleness and meekness is strength under control. Such a person knows that in themselves they are nothing; but in God, everything.
Next time we will conclude Galatians, God willing, and we will be looking at more control; self-control.
Benediction
Benediction
I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
To God our Savior,
Who alone is wise,
Be glory and majesty,
Dominion and power,
Both now and forever.
Amen.