The Blessing of Being Totally Dependant

Blessed are the Meek for they will inherit the earth

Matthew 5:5

The man fell off a high cliff.  As he fell he caught hold of a branch.  Holding on to that branch, suspended 100s of feet above the ground, the man began to cry out, “Help me!  Help me!  Is anyone up there? Can anyone help me?”  “I’m here,” said a deep voice.  “Who are you?” the man cried out.  “It’s me.  It’s the Lord.”  “Lord, can you help me?” said the man hanging on for dear life.  “I can,” said the Lord.  “Just trust me.  Just let go of the branch.”   The man thought for a moment.  He looked up towards the voice. He looked down at the long drop beneath him. He looked up again. He cried out, “Is anyone else up there?” 

That man wanted to believe he had another choice. But the reality was he didn’t.  We like to think we have other choices too.  We each have our own branches that we hang onto instead of God.  For some – being in control, getting your own way is the branch you hang on to.  For others it’s hard work.  For some it’s having enough money.  For others it’s exercise, good food, working hard to stay young and healthy.  Now there is nothing wrong with those things, except when we let them take God’s place in our lives. For you see there is no beatitude that says, “Blessed is the man who takes charge of his own life and makes things happen… There is no beatitude that says, “Blessed are those who know what they want and go after it, for they will dominate the earth… There is no beatitude that says, “Blessed are those who can stay young and healthy for they will never die.”  Those other branches will fail us. 

Why is it so hard to let go and trust God?  Why is it so hard to depend totally on God?  Is it that we don’t believe this beatitude.  “Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth.”  To us meekness is about laying down your defenses and just trusting God. It means refusing to fight for your rights.  We think the meek person is the doormat.  He’s the one people take advantage of.   He’s the person who gets slapped on one cheek and turns the other so people can slap him there too.  He’s the person who gets stuck with all the dirty jobs no one else wants to do.  How can that be blessed?

Well let me tell you the meekest person who ever lived.  His name is Jesus.  He let go of the branch and put Himself in the Father’s hands.  He did not consider equality with God something to be held on to but made Himself nothing taking the very nature of a servant.  He did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.  When the disciples were too proud to be foot washers, Jesus let go of the branch. He washed their feet.  When they came to arrest him, Jesus didn’t fight.  He surrendered. When they lied about Him at His trial, he refused to defend  Himself.  When they nailed Him to the cross, Jesus prayed for the forgiveness of those men with the hammer. Jesus had no home, no money, no income, no place even to lay his own head.” Give us this day our daily bread,” was His prayer.  His strength was in His heavenly Father.  His security was in the fact that He was the Father’s Son.  Jesus knew that the gates of Hell were being stormed by His life and death.  He knew those gates didn’t stand a chance.  He knew He couldn’t lose no matter what evil was done to him. Those who find security in themselves, who refuse to let go of the branch eventually lose everything.  But the Son, who trusts the Father, inherits the earth.  He did indeed.  He rose again.  Now “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.”

Because of him there is blessing in meekness.  We have nothing to fear from letting go of our branches.  After all is not God our Father in Jesus Christ?  Have we not been adopted into His family at baptism?  Does He not invite us to sit and eat at His table?  Yes!  Yes! Yes!  And Again Yes!    We can’t lose!  The earth and everything in it is ours in Christ.  “Take they goods, fame, child and wife.  Let these all be gone.  They yet have nothing won.  The kingdom ours remaineth.”  There is nothing for us to fear in letting go of our branches!  There is nothing to fear in becoming one of the meek!  When I think of meekness, I think of Herman Weertz.  His wife had Alzheimer’s.  He took care of her at home for years but eventually had to put her in the nursing home.  Every day he went to visit her.  Every day she would throw shoes at him, curse at him, accuse him of cheating on her.  He never got mad.  He never stopped going.  He took it all. He continued to love her. He continue to take care of her.  That’s meekness.  That’s strength.  Where did that strength come from?  From letting go of his branches and letting God catch him.  That’s what this beatitude means.  Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.  Let go, my friends. He’ll catch you.  Indeed He already has you.  That’s the blessing of being totally dependant. Amen!