SIDEWAYS GRACE AND MERCY UPSIDE DOWN: THE BEATITUDES
BLESSED ARE THE MEEK AND BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO HUNGER AND THIRST AFTER RIGHTEOUSNESS
DR. JIM DIXON
MATTHEW 5:1-12
JANUARY 14, 2001
It was V. I. Lenin who once said that the surest way to overthrow a national government is to undermine its currency. In the year 1919 when the Nazi Party was formed in Germany, one German mark was equal to 25 cents US. Just four years later, in 1923, it took one trillion German marks to equal 25 cents US—four trillion German marks equal to one US dollar. Hyperinflation. In Germany, overnight, the middle class just disappeared. Overnight, savings accounts and pension plans were destroyed. People were destitute, and people were desperate. The situation was ripe for any man who could offer any measure of hope—no matter how twisted—to rise to power in Germany. Adolph Hitler was that man. In his ascendancy, he came to rule all of Germany and to control many parts of the European continent. Had it not been for the allied powers and the grace of God, the European continent today could be controlled by the Nazi Party.
The Bible tells us that the arrogant will not inherit the earth. The earth does not belong to such as these. Our Lord Jesus Christ, in the Sermon on the Mount, tells us that the meek will inherit the earth. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” The Greek word for meek is the word “praus.” The noun is “prautes.” We encountered the noun form of this word when we dealt with the fruit of the Holy Spirit because the fruit of the Spirit is meekness. We begin this morning with this third Beatitude, “Blessed are the meek.” Who are the meek? Who are the people that we might describe as praus, the meek?
This word is used in the Bible in two ways. First of all, it’s used to describe people who live in submission to God, people whose lives are surrendered to the authority of God. Blessed are those who live in submission to God, for they shall inherit the earth.
Now, in Yemen today, there is a wealthy class of Muslims, the highest class. Many of these Muslim families attained their wealth through Saudi Arabian oil. There is a tradition within this upper class of Muslims in Yemen to purchase a ceremonial dagger as a gift for their children when their children reach puberty. These ceremonial daggers cost $50,000 apiece because the handles on these ceremonial daggers are made out of the horn of a rhinoceros. In Yemen, the Muslims believe that the rhinoceros, in particularly its horn, has supernatural power.
In India today, and particularly in northern India, the horn of a rhinoceros is ground up and used as an aphrodisiac. Rhinoceroses, in their mating rituals, take an hour and a half. People in India believe that the rhino has sexual powers and that power is centered in the horn, so they grind up the horn and sell it as an aphrodisiac. They sell it at exorbitant prices. A single rhino horn in India costs $40,000. In China and in Taiwan and Thailand and in South Korea, a rhino horn is ground up and sold as medicine. It’s believed to have great medicinal power. There, too, the rhino horn is sold, each horn, for $40,000. Of course, when the horn is ground up and mass marketed, it’s worth far more than that.
Because of all these mythologies and because of all this superstition … I mean scientists and pharmacologists tell us that the rhino horn has no medicinal properties at all. It simply consists of a common protein called keratin which you also have in your fingernails. But because of these superstitions and because of these mythologies, the rhinoceros is becoming extinct on the earth. It is a majestic animal. It looks prehistoric and powerful, and zoologists tell us it is prehistoric and powerful. It is the second largest land animal on the earth. A rhino can weigh up to 7,000 pounds, more than 3-1/4 tons, and yet the rhino is fast. There’s not a human being that’s ever lived on this planet that is as fast as a charging rhinoceros. Unbelievable.
In the year 1900, on the continent of Africa, there were two million black rhinos. Today, there are only 3,400, and most people don’t care. The rhino is becoming extinct, and most people don’t care because rhinos aren’t of much use to man. They don’t serve man. You can’t eat a rhino. You can’t remember the last time you had a rhino burger! Of course, you can’t harness the power of a rhino. You can’t teach a rhino. You can’t tame a rhino. They are wild. You don’t plow your fields with a rhino. You don’t haul your wagon with a rhino. You don’t ride on a rhino’s back.
In the ancient Greek world, they distinguished between two types of animals, those animals useful to man and those animals not useful to man. Those animals not useful to man were inedible and wild. They used the Greek word “therion” to describe them and categorize them. Those animals that were useful to man were called “ktenos,” and those that could be taught, trained, and used greatly by man were called “prautes,” meek. That’s how this word was used. You see, a horse was called prautes because a horse could have its power harnessed and that power could be used by man.
The word prautes was used in the ancient world by teachers to describe students who were teachable and obedient. The word prautes was used in the ancient world by kings to describe citizens who were loyal and obedient and useful to the empire or kingdom. But in the Bible, this word prautes, when used of man’s relationship to God, describes a person, a man or a woman, who is humble before God—a man or a woman who is teachable, obedient and submissive before God. It referred to someone who can be domesticated and brought into the house of God—the prautes, the meek. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
As you sit here this morning in this worship center, you know in your heart whether or not you are meek before God, whether you want God to serve you or whether you want to serve God. You know in your heart whether or not you live to obey His Word and honor His Word. Jesus said, “Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do what I tell you to do?” Jesus said, “Not all who call Me Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but those who do the will of My Father who is in heaven.” Jesus said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” Blessed are the meek. They shall inherit the earth, those who live in submission to God. Moses was called the meekest man on earth because his power, his gifts, his talents, were fully relinquished to the service of God.
This word meek, prautes, is used in a second way in the Bible. When it’s used vertically, when it’s used about relationship to God, it means submission. But when it’s used horizontally, when it’s used about relationship to other human beings, it means kindness. “Blessed are the kind, for they shall inherit the earth.”
In the year 1851, in Griffin, Georgia, a man was born. This man would be called Gentle John. That’s what people called him. That’s what his own parents called him, Gentle John. That’s what his friends called him, Gentle John. He was born into a wealthy family, a prominent family, reared in a stately house. He was taught courtly manners and proper bearing. His father was a rugged man who had served as an officer in the Confederate Army. John’s father wanted John to be rugged, but John with withdrawn and shy and soft spoken. His father taught him to use a gun, but John hated violence.
When John was 17, he was fully grown, 5 foot 10 inches, and an ectomorph—all skin and bones. His philosophy was that it took two people to make a fight. Therefore, he would never be in one. He would never fight. But one day, at age 17, somebody picked a fight with him, and he just stood there. He did not resist, and this guy just beat him up. John’s father thought, “What am I going to do with my gentle son? What am I going to do with Gentle John?”
In the year 1868, his father sent him to dental school in Baltimore. John turned out to be an excellent student. He graduated with honors. He did his residence in Atlanta, Georgia. Then in 1873, he returned to Griffin, Georgia, because he was homesick. There, on the corner of Coronado Street and State Street, Gentle John established a small dental office. As far as he was concerned, that’s what he was going to do for the rest of his life.
Later that year, doctors diagnosed John with tuberculosis, and they told him that his life would be short. They told him if he wanted to extend his life, he would have to go to a drier climate. So, in 1875, Gentle John moved to Dallas. That was the Old West. Things were different there. He set up a dental office. In 1875, in a dispute with a client over a dental bill, John shot the man. He lost his dental practice. His life would never be the same.
Nobody knows exactly what happened in John’s life or in his mind in those subsequent years, but John died 14 years later in 1889. He died of tuberculosis, and he died infamous—infamous because he had been an alcoholic and a gambler, but most of all, a gunslinger. He died with 30 notches on his gun. He had executed 30 people in duels. Wyatt Earp said, “There was nobody fiercer, nobody quicker, nobody more deadly in a gunfight than Gentle John, John Holliday, known to history as Doc Holliday.
There’s a mystery to his life. I mean, how did this guy, Gentle John in Griffin, Georgia, become Doc Holliday in Dallas, Texas? How did it happen? Historians discussed it, and they don’t know. I mean, maybe it was because he lost his dental practice. Maybe it was because of the tuberculosis or maybe he just didn’t like being called gentle. I mean, maybe he didn’t like spending his whole life being called Gentle John.
I think a lot of us can understand that. I mean, there are a lot of us here who really don’t want to be thought of as gentle. A lot of men don’t want to be called gentle because it sounds a little effeminate. A lot of women don’t want to be called gentle because it sounds compliant. But even though in the Bible the word prautes is sometimes translated by the word gentle, it’s not the best word in terms of our culture and time. The best word is kind. This is what it means. Kind. It’s just like the Greek word “chrestos,” which also means kind. What Jesus wants from you and what Jesus wants from me, every day, is acts of kindness. He wants us to treat people with kindness. That’s what He looks for, and that’s what He wants from you beginning this day and every day forth. He wants you to seek, every day, to be kind. “Blessed are the kind, for they will inherit the earth.”
I know that some of you have read the novel “Les Misérables” by Victor Hugo. Some of you saw the play, the musical drama at the Denver Theater for Performing Arts. Some of you have seen the movie. If you’ve seen Les Misérables in any form, you know that it’s about a man called Jean Valjean. Jean Valjean was a man whose only crime was stealing a loaf of bread to feed the starving children of his sister. For that, he was incarcerated for 19 years.
In his incarceration, he became hardened. When he was released, he couldn’t find a job because nobody wanted to hire a felon. Nobody wanted to hire an ex-convict. But there was a kind priest who, in the midst of Jean Valjean’s destitution, took him in, fed him, and gave him lodging. But then, as Jean Valjean was alone in this priest’s house, he was tempted when he saw the silver plates that the priest had. He stole them and he took off, knowing that those silver plates had value.
He was apprehended by the authorities. They said, “How does a man like you afford silver plates like these?” Jean Valjean said, ‘‘Well, this priest, this kindly priest, gave them to me.” The authorities said, “Well, let’s check this out,” and they took Jean Valjean back to the priest’s house and said, “This man says you gave him these silver plates. Is it true?” The priest smiled and said, “Yes, it’s true.” He said, “Jean, you forgot the candlesticks. You should have taken those too. I want you to have it all.” That single act of kindness, if you know the story of Les Misérables, transformed the life of Jean Valjean. It is true that kindness can transform lives, particularly in the life of a Christian by the power of the Holy Spirit. As you show acts of kindness to people in your sphere of influence, acts of kindness to your children, acts of kindness to your spouse, acts of kindness to people at work, acts of kindness to your boss, the Holy Spirit’s power is released through those acts and lives are transformed.
I know many of you don’t feel very kind when you’re driving in your car, but the call of Christ is upon us. “Blessed are the kind, the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” So, meekness means submission to God and kindness to people.
Now, there’s a fourth Beatitude here and this is our final subject this morning. This fourth Beatitude is, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” I can remember in the late 60s as I was driving my car, over the radio I would sometimes hear that song by the Rolling Stones, “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction.” It seems like, as I was driving my car, it just came on again and again. I really liked the song because I liked the beat of the song. I liked the rhythm of the song as I was driving my car. It occurred to me then, as it occurs to me now, that in a way, that title, “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction,” really summarizes the human predicament. In this world, there is no satisfaction.
People try money. They try sex. They try power. But there’s no satisfaction. You see, the Bible says the reason there’s no satisfaction in this world is because the world is the dominion of Satan. The Bible says that Satan is the “archon”—the Greek word meaning “prince” or “ruler”—of this world. And you see, Satan doesn’t offer satisfaction. To understand Satan, you just look at the Greek mythological character of Tantalus. Tantalus was the King of Lydia in Greek mythology. He was the son of Zeus. He angered the gods, and he received the most severe punishment. He was banished to Hades forever. There in Hades, Tantalus was made to stand in the middle of a river for eternity. Above him, there was this beautiful tree with luscious fruit. This bountiful fruit was suspended over him. Whenever he was hungry, he would reach up, but the fruit would ascend. It would rise just out of his reach, always just out of his reach. Whenever he was thirsty, standing in this freshwater stream, he’d dip his head down but the water would recede. The water was always just beyond his reach so that for eternity, forever and ever, he would have food just before him, drink just before him, and hungry and thirsty but never satisfied. Never satisfied.
Of course, we get the English word tantalize from the Greek mythological character of Tantalus. Who is the master tantalizer? It is the devil. It is Satan. He entices, he lures, but he does not satisfy. The philosophies of the world are his philosophies. Through materialism and hedonism and self, people seek satisfaction, but they never find it. But Jesus Christ offers satisfaction. He alone. He offers satisfaction. He said, “I have come that you might have life and you might have it abundantly.” He offers satisfaction. He says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” It’s those who hunger and thirst after righteousness that will find satisfaction.
The word for righteousness in this Beatitude is “dikaiosune.” This word dikaiosune is used in the Bible in two ways. First of all, it’s used to refer to social justice. Oftentimes in the Bible, the word dikaiosune means “social justice,” “the liberation of the oppressed,” “the elevation of the poor,” “the prosecution of the criminal.” Social justice. The just society. Righteous. Dikaiosune comes from “dikaios,” which, in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament, renders the Hebrew word “mishpat.” The word mishpat almost always refers to social justice.
It was 2,400 years ago now that the Greek philosopher Plato told the world about the lost continent of Atlantis. He claimed that it was beyond the Straits of Gibraltar. He claimed that Atlantis was beyond the Pillars of Hercules. He claimed that it was out somewhere in the vast Atlantic. He said that it was a place of beauty, laden with flowers and trees. He said that Atlantis had a capital city that consisted of concentric circles with alternating land and water, the land connected by bridges and tunnels. He said in the middle of that capital city there was a temple made of ivory and silver and gold. But according to the philosopher Plato, the greatest thing about Atlantis was that it was a just society. It was a perfect world. It was a place where men and women were equal under the law regardless of gender. That’s what Plato said. And it was a place where there was no poverty, no lower classes, and all people were treated with fairness. The government was just. The society was just. It was fair, and no one was ever oppressed.
Now, there are some historians who believe that Plato was speaking of some historical realm. They believe he just was off geographically and temporally and that even in his description of this place he had exaggerated its majesty and beauty. They believe that Plato was really referring to the ancient Minoan civilization that was destroyed by the volcanic eruption of the island of Thera or Santorini. But most historians believe that Plato was just dreaming. That’s what they think. He was just dreaming, kind of like Hilton did when he spoke of Shangri-La or Coleridge did when he thought of Xanadu. Just dreaming. There is, I think, in all of our hearts this dream of a perfect world, this dream of a just society with no oppression, no poverty and with fairness for all. That dream exists.
Of course, tomorrow is set aside to honor Martin Luther King. You remember his speech, given on August 28, 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial where he said, “I have a dream.” And what was the dream of Martin Luther King? It was the dream of righteousness, social justice, and the just society. It was the dream of a nation where people would be judged, not by the color of their skin but, King said, “by the quality of their character.” What a dream it was. He gave his life hungering and thirsting for righteousness in the sense of social justice.
You see, the call of Christ is on us all to seek social justice as long as we draw breath. And so, we are to seek liberty for anyone who is oppressed. We are to seek to elevate the poor. This is the call of Christ upon us if we hunger and thirst after righteousness. That’s why, as a church, through the years we have supported Food for the Hungry and we have supported World Vision, because we want to help poor people wherever they are. That’s why we have Manna Ministries here at the church. That’s why we invite you to go into the inner city and join hands with Friends in Transition and help African Americans, Hispanics, and the poor. That’s why we invite you to become inner city tutors with our Whiz Kids Program and with Save our Youth, because we hunger and thirst after righteousness. The reality is, there’s a part of every dollar you give here that goes to social justice because we hunger and thirst after righteousness, and this is the call of Christ upon His people and it’s the call of Christ upon us.
Of course, one day we will be satisfied, and we see that in Isaiah 11 where the Bible says, “There shall come forth a root from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his root. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him—the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what His eyes see nor decide by what His ears hear. But with righteousness He shall judge for the poor and He shall decide with equity for the meek of the earth. He will smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be the girdle of his waist and faithfulness the girdle of His loins. In that day, the wolf will dwell with the lamb. The leopard shall lie down with the kid. The calf and the lion and the fading together, and a little Child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall feed, and their young shall lie down together. The lion shall eat straw like the ox. A suckling child shall play over the hole of a venomous snake. The weaning child shall place his hand in the adder’s den. They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the oceans cover the sea. In that day, the root of Jesse will stand as an end sign to the peoples. Him shall the nations seek, and His dwellings shall be glorious.”
Who is the root of Jesse? It is the Messiah. It is our Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God. He is the root of Jesse, descended from Jesse, descended from David, and one day He will usher in a New World. The Bible prophesies He will “beat our swords into plowshares, our spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation again. Neither will they learn war anymore.” He will establish righteousness, the perfect and just society, and we will be satisfied.
But there is a second meaning to righteousness in the Bible, a second meaning to this word dikaiosune (we close with this) and that is personal holiness. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness” also means blessed are those who hunger and thirst for personal holiness. They will be satisfied. Do you hunger and thirst for personal holiness?
If you’re old enough, you may have heard the expression “Holy Toledo!” You don’t hear it much today. We might be grateful for that. Sounds like something Batman would say to Robin. “Holy Toledo!” The reference is not to the city of Toledo, Ohio, but the reference is to the city of Toledo, Spain, which, through history, has been viewed as a religious center and a holy city, particularly since 1085 when the Moors were driven out of Spain and out of Toledo. Cathedrals were built there. Churches. Monasteries. Ecclesiastical offices.
Really it began far earlier, in the 4th century when the Roman Catholic Church began to convene councils in the city of Toledo. More than thirty church councils were convened there. Decrees, official papal ecclesiastical decrees were issued from the city of Toledo, a holy city. And yet the city is not holy and never was. There’s no city in this world that is holy, “hagios,” “set apart from sin.” No city in this world is set apart from sin. You see, churches cannot make a city holy. Cathedrals cannot make a city holy. Monasteries do not make a city holy. Ecclesiastical offices, councils, ecclesiastical decrees—none of these things make a city holy. There is no holy city in this world.
The Bible says there’s one holy city, which the Bible calls the New Jerusalem, and it awaits us. It awaits the saints, and it will indeed be separated from sin. The Bible says there’s only one holy man, and that one holy man is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ introduced himself to the church of Philadelphia in the book of Revelation as the Holy One. The angel Gabriel announced His birth to Mary. The angel said, “Therefore, the child to be born shall be called holy.” Hagios, separated from sin. Jesus alone. You know it’s not true of us. I’m not holy. You’re not holy. We’re sinners in need of grace.
Just this past Wednesday in The Denver Post there was an article about the Kumbh Mela Festival in India in the city of Allahabad by the Ganges River. This festival began this past Wednesday. In the next 43 days, 65 million Hindus are going to bathe in the Ganges, seeking forgiveness of sin. It was a special article in The Post entitled “Washing Away Sin.” It’s admirable that people around the world want forgiveness for sin and are aware of sin. I think most of us are aware of sin. Of course, that’s why we responded to the gospel, and that’s why we preach the gospel “to every tribe and tongue and nation and people.” That’s why Christ died on the cross, that He might atone for our sins in substitutionary atonement. That’s why He is able to offer us forgiveness, because He died for your sin and mine.
There’s a kind of imputed righteousness that we receive when we accept Christ. In the courtroom of heaven, we are declared righteous. And yet we have no personal holiness, not yet. But do you hunger and thirst for it? Do you hunger and thirst for personal holiness?
As we close, I want to tell you the story of a woman named Pauline. Pauline was born in 1780, and she was born in France. As she grew up, she was the gossip of the city of Paris. Her life was extremely immoral. Historians tell us that by the time Pauline was 16 years of age, she had literally slept with most of the generals in France. If there had been a National Enquirer in France in those years, Pauline would have been front-page news all the time. People loved to talk about her, and they were stunned when she announced that she was going to get married.
She wasn’t really more immoral than some of the other people in Paris at that time, but she was of the nobility. She announced she was going to get married to a man named Leclerc. What she didn’t know is that Leclerc was about to be reassigned. He was a general. Leclerc was about to be reassigned to St. Dominique, to the region of Haiti. When Pauline found out, she refused to go. It took six French officers as well as Leclerc to get her on the ship and take her to St. Dominique. There, her husband Leclerc took 25,000 French soldiers into the jungles, that he might fully conquer that region for France. Pauline stayed back at the Haitian palace, and there she entertained the men that remained. She was known for her milk baths, and she rarely bathed alone.
Leclerc died in the jungles. He never came out. Pauline took the first ship home to Paris. She continued her debauched life. She married again, but she continued to sleep with as many men as she could. When she was 40 years old, she looked in the mirror. She saw her beauty fading, and she began to grieve. She came down with a horrible illness, and she died at the age of 45 in the year 1825. People in the city of Paris grieved. They grieved over Pauline because they wouldn’t have her to gossip about anymore.
Perhaps Napoleon Bonaparte would have grieved except that he died four years earlier, in 1821. But Pauline was Napoleon Bonaparte’s sister, Napoleon’s favorite sister. Pauline is considered by historians to be one of the most immoral women to have ever lived. And yet, perhaps, she was no more immoral than Napoleon, no more immoral than her sister Caroline.
You see, the Bible says there are three types of sin. The Bible describes these sins as the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. The lust of the flesh is hedonism, and that was the sin of Pauline. The lust of the eyes is materialism. That was the sin of her sister Caroline, who spent her whole life trying to accumulate things, spent her whole life trying to accumulate wealth. The pride of life is egoism, and that was the sin of Napoleon.
How do you rank those sins? God alone knows, but I can tell you this: These three sins still summarize all the sin of the world. It has impacted the church. When you look at the church of Jesus Christ through the ages… in the ages past, the great sin of the Church was the pride of life. That was the great sin of the church, and that’s why the church launched the Crusades and the Inquisition. Today, the great sin of the church of Jesus Christ, or the great sins of the church of Jesus Christ are the lust of the eyes and the lust of the flesh, materialism and hedonism. These are the great sins of the American church, and that’s why the American church has failed to impact the world fully.
Maybe, just maybe, you’re beginning to think, “I want to change. I don’t want to live for stuff. I don’t want to live for money. I don’t want to use pleasure outside of the will of God, and I don’t want to focus on self.” Maybe you’ve begun to hunger and thirst after righteousness. Jesus promises that if you do you’ll begin to find satisfaction. The power of His Holy Spirit will begin to sanctify you as your life is transformed by His grace. Let’s close with a word of prayer.