Who Laughs Best
Where Character Is King • Sermon • Submitted
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Introduction
Introduction
The apple didn’t fall far from the tree.
Don’t call them weak. Even if the earth sees to belong to the go-getters. To those who exert power, influence, charisma. To those who stake their claim on the earth. And go after it with all their might. Who are willing to pay the prize for success. Like an old, popular tune says:
I’ve paid my dues
Time after time
I’ve done my sentence
But committed no crime
And bad mistakes
I’ve made a few
I’ve had my share of sand kicked in my face
But I’ve come through
(And I need just to go on and on, and on, and on)
Are you humming yet?
We are the champions, my friends
And we’ll keep on fighting ‘til the end
We are the champions
We are the champions
No time for losers
‘Cause we are the champions of the world.
(1)
(1)
Never mind the bravado. A little arrogance is invigorating. Tonic to the muscles. It comes with the territory. Territory of winners.
Blessed are the winners for they shall conquer the earth! There, I said it. Maybe the beatitude should sound more like that. Sounds exhilarating. Realistic.
Sounds American. Bigger is better. Society is primed for arrogance. In sports. In politics. In life. Some this is the American Dream. To be bigger and better—and happier—than the previous generation. To exert power with swagger. God forbid you should find yourself worse off. It’s unAmerican.
When my family and I announced our departure from my previous church a year ago, one question kept popping up. “Pastor, is it a bigger church?” Hmmm. Is this a trick question? “No, no, it’s about the same size.” And the bewildered stare! Shoulda said, “Oh, definitely bigger.” Makes me wonder what kind of look I would have gotten then. “Ah, bigger! Go get ‘em, pastor! You’re leaving us for a bigger, better church.” For after all, it’s very biblical for pastors to move on to bigger and better territory. For the sheep to send him off to greener pasture. It’s called The Prayer of Jabez.
“Jabez cried to the God of Israel, ‘Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory...And God granted his request.” ()
(2)
(2)
We say, “Blessed are the go-getters—the winners, for they shall take over the earth.”
But Jesus says, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” And we are left scratching our heads.
“Where did you get that one from, Lord?”
“From my mother.”
And Jesus’ eyes sparkle as he recalls those happy moments with his gentle mother. “Mama, tell me the story about how I was born. Please! The part when the angel Gabriel appeared to you and told you about me.” “Again? I must have told you a dozen times already.” “Yes, mama, again.” And Mary, gentle Mary, scoops her son up and sits him in her lap, and goes over the story again to her firstborn. Crafting the story so her son gets the right picture. I can hear Mary’s voice clearly now. I can see the boy in rapt silence, taking every word in. And she retells the story in the third person.
• “Were you happy, mama?”
• “Oh, very happy.”
• “Are you happy now, mama?”
• “Oh, very happy.”
• “Then sing me the song again, mama.”
• “What song?
• “The song you wrote when the angel Gabriel told you about me.”
• “Again?”
• “Again, mama, again.”
• “Alright, again.”
(3)
(3)
• See how Mary’s meekness penetrates deep into the heart of her firstborn son. The apple didn’t fall very far from the tree!
• “The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” (, )
• And Mary lets herself be carried along by the Spirit. Happy to be put out to sea. So happy she writes a song about it, before the promise is fulfilled.
• And the apple didn’t fall far from the tree!
• “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness...” ()
• And Jesus stays in the wilderness for forty days and nights, without food, and harassed by the devil. It takes strength of character to be allow one’s self to be carried along by the Spirit. For you have no idea where he might take you.
• No, the meek aren’t weak. Wimps. Doormats. Meekly submitting without protest to abuse or indignities. Lacking will power to grab the bull by the horns. Deficient in spine and stamina to be winners. No, no. Think of the meek as a Clydesdale draft horse. Beautiful, majestic, and strong. Muscles rippling.
• Yet the Clydesdale is subject to the reins of its training.
• Picture the meek as a person of great inner strength. It takes strength of character to allow yourself to be mastered by God. To be put out to sea by the Spirit. And to be happy and content in one’s own skin however and wherever you are led to.
(4)
(4)
• The meek is the person totally mastered by God. Who feels no need to toot his or her own horn. Who feels no need to stake his or her own claim on the earth. And yet God is pleased to give it to them as an inheritance.The meek understand that the earth is not to be conquered but to be received as inheritance.
• Just what do the meek inherit?
• Friends.
“When you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’” ()
• The meek is keen on reining in themselves. To listen. To enjoy letting someone else flourish.
• They inherit happiness.
• The winner rarely goes out the door happy. She keeps muttering, muttering, muttering—“I need to go on, and on, and on”—rarely satisfied. The meek is happy despite the circumstances, because she knows who is leading her.
• They inherit wisdom.
• The meek is prepared to give up every preconceived notion, and let God lead him wherever he pleases. his posture of openness and surrender allows God to show things one has never dreamed of or imagined.
• They inherit their own abilities.
• A person who refuses to be impressed with his or her own achievements and endless accolades, is trustworthy person. There’s something believable in a person like this.
• They were going to crown him king. His day has finally arrived. On to Jerusalem. Mary’s son is about to claim his throne. And Jesus is not impressed. He goes and borrows a donkey! And rides it all the way up to Jerusalem!
“See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” ()
• They inherit the land of promise.
Conclusion
Conclusion
• “Blessed are the meek,” Mary’s son says. “For they shall inherit the earth.” I can almost hear him say, “Blessed is my gentle mother—and everyone like her, for she—they—will inherit the earth.”
• The apple didn’t fall very far from the tree.
• Praise be to God.
Blessing
Blessing
• God almighty, make your people like the majestic, beautiful, and strong Clydesdale whose training lets it be subject to your rein. May it please you to lead them always, like you led Mary—Jesus Christ, or Lord and Savior—your son. Mary’s firstborn. Amen.