Is it Weakness?

All Saints day Observed Proper 26 | Year A | Matthew 5:1-12 | TJ Torgerson

The gospel reading for All Saints Day(November 1st) is Matthew 5:1-12. I preached this passage a while back, specifically focusing on the line, "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth." In the week leading up to the sermon, I was doing a lot of traveling, so my desk time was limited. As part of my "study," I decided to jump on YouTube and hear what other preachers had said about the topic. What was interesting to me is that many of them said the same thing in general about this passage, and most, if not all of them, at one point, used the phrase, "Meekness is not weakness."

It became odd listening to so many preachers back-to-back saying the same thing.

Meekness is not weakness.

Meekness is not weakness.

Meekness is not weakness.

MEEKNESS IS NOT WEAKNESS

Each of them had their own unique illustrations to explain their point. One told a story about a professional boxer on a bus being harassed by wayward youth who did not know who he was. This boxer could have laid them all out, but he didn’t he controlled his strength. The preacher said that was what meekness was. Maybe in part he is right, but what if the same thing happened to a defenseless woman (or me) who had no hope of defending or protecting themselves against harassment? Could she or I still be meek and weak?

As I listened to these sermons, I could not help but wonder why. Why did they all insist on making this one point? Is it just because it rhymes? After all, us preacher types cannot resist rhymes or three points that begin with 'P.' Or is it not possible to preach that passage without making that point?

Hearing that phrase over and over again became a little tiresome for me because it began to feel like some strange inner need to ensure that strength was asserted and clung to. Are we afraid to be or to appear weak?

We do a similar thing with the idea, "Blessed are the poor in spirit." Almost every sermon I have heard on this makes the point that it says "in spirit"; it is not about material wealth, but rather about being poor "in spirit." But what about Luke's version of this where it just says, "Blessed are the poor?" making no mention of "in spirit." Why is it that (in my experience) we use the phrase "poor in spirit" in Matthew to help interpret Luke rather than using the simple statement of "poor" in Luke to help interpret Matthew? Are we defending and clinging to our wealth?

What if "poor in spirit" was in reference to material wealth, and what if meekness was, in fact, weakness?

Here is what a few of the knowledgeable individuals say about being poor in spirit:

Craig Keener: “[Poor in spirit] refers not merely to the materially poor and oppressed, but to those “who have taken that condition to their very heart, by not allowing themselves to be deceived by the attraction of wealth”[1]

Ancient Christian Commentary Summing up Early Church writers: “One is said to be poor in spirit when one has repented and become humbled like a child (Anonymous). When the prophets announced that God would choose a humbled people who would stand in awe of his words, they anticipated the leading Beatitude: humility of spirit (Hilary). Those are truly blessed who, having spurned the riches of the world, become rich in God (Chromatius). The kingdom is the most fitting life for those who are already practicing virtue. On account of the Holy Spirit these blessed ones are poor by willing freely to be so (Jerome).[2] Word Biblical Commentary: “By the added “in spirit,” Matthew or the tradition before him has not “spiritualized” the Lukan form of the beatitude. He too means the literally poor, but he focuses on their psychological condition or frame of mind. The poor are almost always poor in spirit; the poor in spirit are almost always the poor.” [3]

Here is my point. I am not saying all of those sermons were wrong; they had a lot of good things to say and made some good points. I am simply challenging you to consider why we gravitate toward certain understandings of a passage. I am challenging you to take a minute to quietly and contemplatively consider the words of Jesus and be challenged. That is right I am challenging you to be challenged!

If meekness is weakness, are you willing to put aside strength?

If "poor in spirit" is voluntary poverty, are you willing to put aside wealth?

How can we guard against our tendency to perform exegetical gymnastics in a way where we always end up landing in comfortable and palatable conclusions?

If you are curious about how I ended up preaching on "Blessed are the Meek," you can check it out below:

[1] Craig S. Keener, The Gospel of Matthew: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2009), 169. [2] Manlio Simonetti, ed., Matthew 1–13, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2001), 79. [3] Donald A. Hagner, Matthew 1–13, vol. 33A, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1993), 91.