The Sermon on the Mount 2 - Matt 5:5-6

Jesus continues, “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” I’ve really struggled with what “meek” means because I’ve always imagined that it meant submissive, cowering, and I am not those things. I think submission is part of it, but not submission to man, but to God. I’ve heard meekness defined as “not easily irritated,” which I think is a great part of it. JTC says, “the meek, who suffer spoliation rather than jeopardize their souls in contention, shall inherit the earth.” Spoliation means ruin or theft of goods. Does this mean that we should allow ourselves to be taken advantage of? I don’t think so. One example of this came from just a few minutes ago when I went to lunch. The cashier took my money and gave me some coins back. I was on the phone so I wasn’t really paying attention, but I didn’t think that he gave me my $5 in change back. I asked him if he gave me my $5 back and he said “yes” without thinking twice about it. I apologized and said that I wasn’t paying attention. Honestly I don’t think that he gave me my $5, but the only way to find out for sure is to get the manager to pull his cash drawer count out all the money, and it would take forever and I would have to make a scene requesting the manager, and all around, even if I got my $5 it would have ruined this guy’s day and probably mine too, and the managers. I just let it go because I didn’t want to make a scene, and I surely didn’t want to be wrong and end up forcing this guy to give me $5 that he already did. I don’t think that this is a perfect example, but it is a time that fits this scenario.

I think that I’ve always associated meekness with victimization, weakness, helpless but I know now, logically that it’s not those things. I feel like it means being quiet when you otherwise wouldn’t, not getting the last word in, forgiving, letting go. The IM says, “To be ‘meek’ means to be ‘Godfearing, righteous, humble, teachable, and patient under suffering. The meek are willing to follow gospel teachings.’ Meekness does not imply weakness; rather as Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught, meekness is ‘kindness and gentleness. It reflects certitude, strength, serenity; it reflects a healthy self-esteem and a genuine self-control.’ While serving as the Presiding Bishop of the Church, Bishop H. David Burton explained the necessity of being meek: ‘Meekness will allow us to be tutored by the Spirit.’ When Jesus promised that the meek would inherit the earth, He was quoting from Psalm 37:11. To ‘inherit the earth’ means to inherit the celestial kingdom. This earth will one day be ‘sanctified from all unrighteousness, that it may be prepared for the celestial glory,’ and ‘the meek of the earth shall inherit it.’” While typing this I had a thought, yesterday, and this is really embarrassing, I called my home warranty company about several issues that I’ve been having with my house. They asked me if they were broken when I moved in and I said yes, then he told me that my issues weren’t covered because the policy only covers things that are in working order when you move in. Then I blurted out, “then they just broke now.” It was a lie and I knew it as soon as I said it. Then the guy said, “you just said the opposite.” I felt so skeazy, but I still said it and it just popped out of my mouth, my brain was not involved at all. I’ve had several instances of that happening recently, where I feel threatened or irritated and just say something really awful without even thinking about it. That isn’t meekness, I’m going to have to work on that because I know that it’s not good.

“Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” The 3rd Nephi version says, “Blessed are all they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost.” The footnote for the word “righteousness” associates it with “good works.” Let’s think for a second what hunger and thirst mean. Hunger and thirst are feelings. Someone can go without eating for 2 weeks and we’d assume they would be hungry but it’s possible that they would say that they are not. Hunger and thirst are uncomfortable feelings that one actively works to resolve. If you are hungry, you eat, if you are thirsty, you drink. In a spiritual sense, if you are spiritually hungry, you actively work to resolve that uncomfortable feeling of emptiness and longing. Like the guy who didn’t eat for 2 weeks, you would assume that someone who hasn’t gone to church to prayed or done anything spiritually strengthening would have a desire for it, but many times that simply isn’t the case. The analogy of hunger is used for when someone works hard to achieve something, for instance the young boxer who trains hard and gives his all to being a champion in the sport would be considered “hungry.” Or the worker who stays late, works hard and is enthusiastic would be labeled as professionally hungry, he wants it so he goes after it.

I also think it’s interesting that the Lord says that those who are hungry for righteousness, meaning that they wanting more righteousness in their lives, will receive the Holy Ghost, or will be filled. He doesn’t say that those who are hungry will be given everything. The IM says, “The Greek word that was translated as ‘filled’ also means ‘to feed or fatten an animal in a stall’ and connotes the idea of eating until completely satisfied. This helps us understand the Lord’s promise to those who hunger and thirst after righteousness- He will feed them spiritually until they are completely satisfied.” The Lord will give us exactly how much we can handle, let us digest it, and then, when we are ready again, he will give us a little bit more. This reminds me of a time that I was talking to a friend about my journey through the scriptures and she asked me, “was there a time when God just dumped some crazy stuff on you?” And honestly, I answered, no there has never been a time when God has taught me something that I wasn’t prepared for. He has taught me things that had blown my mind and completely changed my outlooks but it was never so much that I didn’t understand it when the knowledge came.