The fruit of the Spirit is…

Meekness/Gentleness – 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12

A slogan scrawled on a wall read: ‘the meek shall inherit the earth – if that’s alright with everyone else.’ Meekness is equated with weakness. People speak of gentle Jesus, meek and mild, a bit of a spineless creature. But this gentle Jesus made a whip and drove the traders from the temple, denounced the scribes and Pharisees in language that makes us wince (Matt 23) and spoke boldly to Pilate when on trial for his life (John 18:28-19:16).

The Greek word rendered meekness or gentleness is the word that was used of taming wild animals. A horse that had been broken in and was usable for riding and pulling loads was called meek. So meekness has the connotation of controlled or channeled strength. And this is the quality that the Holy Spirit grows in those who keep in step with him.

1) Meekness takes a realistic, honest view of oneself

Moses: the great example of meekness (Numbers 12:3); he knew his origins and didn’t try to hide them for his own advantage (Heb 11:24). When commissioned to lead Israel out of Egyptian bondage he stressed his limitations to God (Ex 3:13ff.)

What about us? Matt 5:5 is in the context of 5:3,4 – the meek are those who know they are spiritually bankrupt. Rom 12:3, 1 Cor 1:26-28, Gal 6:3-5 all recommend that we have a realistic, honest assessment of ourselves. But note that this is not cringing false modesty or a constant tendency to put ourselves down but a realistic assessment of our strengths and weaknesses and our position before God.

2) Meekness takes a realistic view of others’ needs

Moses chose ill-treatment as a slave rather than life as an Egyptian prince, sharing the lot with his people: (Heb 11:25). Someone has said ‘when in doubt, take the losing side,’ that’s what Moses did and that’s what Jesus did for us (Phil 2:6-11) because the losing side is the one that God has chosen to share his victory!

Moses was gentle in ministry and leadership: Ex 32:7-31; Num 11:26-30; 12:10-13; 14:11-20. See also 1 Thess 2:1-12 where Paul describes himself, Timothy and Silas as gentle parents to the new Thessalonian Christians.

What about us? Meekness will be seen in: care for the poor (Gal 2:10 cf. 2 Cor 8:8-15; Philemon 4-7; Jas 2:1-7); concern for peace and justice (Ex 3:7; Jer 29:7); and compassion in relationships (Gal 6:1f, 1 Pet 3:15, 2 Cor 10:1ff.; Eph 4:25; Col 3:12,16.). Our behaviour towards others – both those inside and outside the church – should display the meekness of Christ: Eph 4:32; Ti 3:2; Phil 4:5.

3) Meekness takes a realistic view of God

Moses (Heb 11:26f) – not without argument and doubt (Ex 3:13ff.)! Faith anticipates that God can do it even against the odds: Ex 16:2f, 4-7; 17:1-7. What about us? What’s our view of God? Three options:

ü the divine slot machine – punch in the request, get what you want.

ü the stingy, crotchety old man who gives us nothing worth having – partly because we are so sinful we don’t deserve anything nice.

ü the loving Father who trains us through our experience and how we respond to it (Deut 8:2-6 Heb 12:3-11), who teaches us if we are willing to learn (Ps 25:9)

The meek inherit the earth (psalm 37:9, 11; Mt 5:5). The thrusting grabbers end up empty handed. It’s the story of the tortoise and the hare. The fruit of the Spirit is gentleness/meekness: is it growing in us?

Possible areas for discussion

· What is gentleness? What is meekness? How are they related?

(The same Greek word underlies these two English words in the New Testament)

· Is gentleness a female attribute?

· How do blokes react to being called gentle?

· Are mothers always female? Does God have female attributes?

(Paul says that he, Silas and Timothy were like mothers to the Christians in Thessalonica (1 Thess 2:7 cf. Gal 4:19). God describes himself as the mother of Israel (Isaiah 46:3f. – the Hebrew is pretty gynecological including words for womb, uterus, carrying (in the sense of being pregnant) and bearing (in the sense of giving birth). See also 66:7-11 where it is uncertain whether it is God or Jerusalem who is portrayed as the mother of the people.) Jesus pictures God as a woman looking for a lost coin (Luke 15:8-10) and describes himself as a mother hen (Luke 13:34). Finally, when God made people in his image he created both male and female, the implication being that God’s image has both male and female attributes.)

· How easy do we find it to have a realistic, honest assessment of ourselves? Are we too hard on ourselves? Are we arrogant?

· Moses prayed for those who attacked him (Nu 12): how do we react to criticism?

(I suspect that part of Moses’ prayer was ‘Lord, have I got it wrong?’

· How do we treat Christians who have fallen into sin? Are we proud and judgmental or gentle or forgiving? (See Galatians 6:1-6)

· Does gentleness ever express strong views, opinions and emotions? How?

· ‘If in doubt take the losing side’: in what way did Jesus do that for us? How should we do it in our church life and our life in the world?

(see Gal 2:10; 2 Cor 8:8-15; Philemon 4-7; Jas 2:1-7; Jer 29:7)

· What is our picture of God: divine slot-machine? Stingy, slightly crotchety old man? Loving Father who trains and teaches us in our experiences and how we respond to them?

(This is a big question. Most Christians hold one of the first two views, not the third! The challenge is to gently help people to see that their picture of God is slightly out of focus, fuzzy all over and clarify it according to the picture presented in Scripture.)

· ‘Faith anticipates that God can do it even against the odds’: do we agree? How do we see that at work in the stories of Scripture? and in our own lives?

(You could look at Abraham cf. Rom 4:18-25; Moses e.g. Ex 16:2f, 4-7; 17:1-7; and Elijah on Mount Carmel 1 Kings 18. You could also get people to share times when God has done something unexpected, unlikely, against the odds.)