Many of you know that I grew up in a small town of less than one thousand people in rural New Mexico. There wasn’t a lot to do in that town of Cloudcroft. We had two or three restaurants, a couple of gas stations, some tourist shops, and a putt-putt golf course. That was it. No chain restaurants. No malls. No theaters. No bookstores. No coffee shops. No parks or zoos. We didn’t even have a stop light. Only rarely could we receive a radio station and for years there was no cable or satellite TV service. It was like living in one of the most out-of-the-way corners on the earth. But every summer my family would visit my uncle and aunt and cousins who lived in Omaha, Nebraska. Omaha was everything Cloudcroft was not. If Cloudcroft was the place where nothing was happening, Omaha was the place where everything was happening. If Cloudcroft was on the edge of the world, Omaha was at the center of the world. It was the New York City or Los Angeles of my youth. My cousins would take us to the Omaha zoo, one of the largest in the country. We’d watch movies in giant theatres. We’d attend the enormous Fourth of July parades and fireworks exhibitions. We’d visit the neighborhood pool and swim and jump off the diving boards. And we’d eat out in restaurants with large menus and great food. During those few days I’d feel like I was part of civilization, I was in the loop, I was participating in what was really happening in the rest of the country. But at the end of the visit, I’d always have to get in the car and head home. Once back in Cloudcroft, I’d wrestle with a feeling that my cousins were getting it all and I was getting nothing. My world was so small and theirs was so big. Stuck in my small town, I was missing out on everything good the world could offer. If life was a pie, my cousins were getting all the slices and I was getting none.
Have you ever experienced that feeling? Other couples got to have children and you didn’t. Other students got into their college of choice and you didn’t. Other peers got the promotion and you didn’t. Other colleagues remained healthy but you didn’t. For many of us there is a pie in life. Maybe it’s a pie of finances. Maybe it’s a pie of family. Maybe it’s a pie of opportunity or health or achievement. But it just seems that everyone else is getting a slice and you are getting none.
That is the central emotion swirling through Psalm 37. It is a letter David has written to some people who are deeply troubled. Several times David counsels, “Fret not…”:
- “Fret not yourself…” (37:1 ESV)
- “fret not yourself…” (37:7 ESV)
- “fret not yourself…” (37:8 ESV)
David’s writing to people who are fretting. Let’s substitute the word “troubled.” These are people who are deeply troubled. They cannot sleep well. They are preoccupied. David has to write, “Don’t be so troubled…don’t be so troubled…don’t be so troubled.”
What’s caused their trouble? This: they are living in a world where one group seems to be getting it all, while they are missing it all. The ones who are getting everything are called “wicked,” “wrongdoers,” “those who prosper,” or “evildoers.”
- “Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers!” (37:1 ESV)
- “fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!” (37:7 ESV)
- “The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows to bring down the poor and needy…”(37:14 ESV)
- “Better is the little that the righteous has than the abundance of many wicked.” (37:16 ESV)
David’s readers are living in a world where one group—the wicked—seems to be getting the best, the brightest, the fullest, and the finest while they are missing out. If life is a pie, they are only getting the tiniest slice while others get the rest. That’s the world David’s readers live in.
And they cannot imagine any other world. This is just how the world is. Some will always be at the center of everything. They will always be the left out. So they fret. They fume. In fact David has to tell them “Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!” (37:8 ESV) These readers are frustrated with the way of the world. They always seem to be getting the crumbs. And it makes them angry.
But here is David’s good news for his readers: “9 For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land. 10In just a little while, the wicked will be no more; though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there. 11But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace.” (Ps. 37:9-11 ESV) David has a label for people who miss out. He calls them “the meek.” “Meek” is David’s word for people who are never quite in the loop. And David says, “The way of this world is coming to an end. The world you live in, where others prosper while you meek people perish will disappear.” Elsewhere David says that world and those wicked will “wither like the green herb” (37:1) and will “vanish—like smoke” (37:20). David is saying, “That world where you’re always on the fringe is going to disappear. And a new world will appear. In that new world, the meek will inherit the land. That is, the meek will inherit, or be given, everything they once missed. The meek will enjoy the best and brightest and fullest and finest.”
This theme continues through the Psalm:
- “for those blessed by the LORD shall inherit the land…” (Ps. 37:22 ESV)
- “The righteous shall inherit the land” (Ps. 37:29 ESV)
- “Wait for the LORD and keep his way and he will exalt you to inherit the land” (Ps. 37:34 ESV)
David’s saying: “I know the world seems like the kind of place where you are always left overlooked. This land seems to be one in which others are always getting what you do not have. But this world’s going to give way to a new world. This land’s going to be replaced with another land. Don’t fret. God’s going to bring about a new world. And in that world, you’ll get all you missed out on. To the troubled meek and missing-out, God promises a world in which they finally get their fill. They will finally get their slice of the pie.
That Psalm and its good news are what Jesus’ listeners would have heard when they heard Jesus speak this beatitude: Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. (Matt. 5:5 ESV). All of the important elements in this beatitude are borrowed from Ps. 37:
- “Blessed are” sounds like “for those blessed by the LORD shall inherit the land.” (Ps. 37:22)
- “the meek” comes from “But the meek shall inherit the land” (Ps. 37:11)
- And “for they shall inherit the earth” is echoed five times in Ps. 37.
Jesus is summarizing forty verses of Ps. 37 in one sentence: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
Jesus is talking to people who are fretting. Just listen to slices which have been handed to his listeners: So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them (Matt. 4:24 ESV). These are the crowds Jesus speaks to in Matt. 5. And what kind of slice have they been given? They’ve been served sickness, affliction, diseases, pain, demon possession, epilepsy, and paralysis.
And who’s getting what they don’t? The Romans. According to one estimate, one in four of every person alive in Jesus’ day lived under Roman rule. The Romans ruled over a vast empire that in Jesus’ day included modern day Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, North Africa, Egypt and Israel. Compared to the Roman Empire Israel was the most out of the way corner of the earth. Every Jew hearing Jesus knew that sense of missing out, of watching the Romans get out of life what they could only dream of.
An acquaintance of mine is named Glenn. Glenn took a job as the Chair of the Bible Department a few years ago at a popular Christian university. His star was rising in the academic world. But then he developed a pain in his foot. The pain increased and became chronic. The affliction grew so bad that he couldn’t keep up with his duties as the Bible Chair. He was demoted. Then he had to cut back even on his teaching load. Finally, his wife left him. And after six surgeries there’s still no relief in sight. I see Glenn sitting in the back row watching everyone else getting his slice of the pie. That’s who Jesus was talking to.
And here’s what Jesus says: Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. (Matt. 5:5 ESV). “Let me remind you of the song you’ve sung so often at Temple,” Jesus says. “Let me help you recall those words you’ve read so often at synagogue,” Jesus says. “Don’t you remember Psalm 37? Right now you can’t imagine any other world. But one day a new world’s coming. The day is coming when you will get your fill. To the troubled meek and missing-out, Jesus promises a world in which they finally get their fill.
This may be a world right now where the thin, the rich, the ambitious, the conniving, the privileged and the perfect get the faultless family, the ideal home, the great career, the comprehensive health care, and the prestigious university. But a new world’s coming. And in that world, you’ll finally get your slice of the pie. The world will be your oyster!
I’ve been reading David McCullough’s biography called Truman. He writes about the contrast between President Roosevelt who died and Vice President Truman who was then sworn in as President. FDR came from family money. Truman had hardly any money. FDR had a prestigious family and history. Truman grew up on a farm in Missouri. FDR was known as the great leader who had guided the country through economic turmoil and World War II. Truman was considered just an ordinary man. But while the nation mourned the loss of FDR, they also celebrated the rise of Truman. Initially, Truman had approval ratings higher than FDR ever had. Why? Because for the first time in memory, there was an ordinary man in the highest office in the land. People started thinking, “If Truman can become President then even my little boy can one day be President.” It was as if Truman ushered in a new world with new possibilities. This was now a world where the ordinary citizen, the average person, so long-locked-out of the highest office, was now invited into the Presidency. The meek and missing-out out finally inherited the earth.
Many of you can probably relate. You sit on the sidelines while others play starting positions. You’re name is rarely on an honor roll. You watch others get that girl or that guy. You’re forty five and still not married, though not for lack of want. You’ve been married twenty years and are still childless while everyone else has had kids. You’re retired and it seems everyone at church has forgotten you. You’re trapped at home with a toddler and your life seems to be made up of dirty diapers and dirty dishes. You watch corrupt coworkers get ahead while you stay on the straight and narrow and stay behind. But Jesus is saying, “Good news! One day, you’ll inherit the earth. One day the world you know will turn on its head. One day you’ll get your slice of the pie.”
But here’s even better news: We get to help serve that pie. We help make that world a reality when we join God in blessing the meek and missing-out. Jesus is saying that God favors the meek. God’s favorite people are the ones who are missing out in life. And God is so looking forward to seeing that they finally get their slice. One of the ways God delivers that new world to them is through us. One of the ways that pie gets in place is through us. God uses us to reverse the circumstances of the meek.
Our Special Contribution for World and Urban Missions provides the perfect opportunity to do just that. On December 5, we are asking you to give $150,000 to fund MUM, HopeWorks, Agape, FIT, Lifeline, Member Services, Soma, Melanesian Bible College and Clinic, Shiloh Christian School (Philippines), Ukrainian Education Center, Bila Tserkva Church of Christ, and the Ministry of Theological Education. Many of these ministries target the meekest people on earth. Many of these ministries bless those who have missed out the most on life. And when you give on December 5, you make this beatitude a reality.
One of those ministries supported by our contribution is HopeWorks, led by Highland elder Ron Wade. Ron is here this morning to share some of the meek and missing-out who are being blessed by HopeWorks…
Through this ministry, funded in part by our Special Contribution, the meek and missing-out are finally getting their fill. That’s why it is so critical for us to give on December 5. Our goal for that contribution is five and a half times what we currently give on a Sunday morning. But it’s a sacrifice worth making. The reality is that while some of us here today feel like we’ve missed our slice of pie, there are many others far worse off spiritually and physically. December 5 is our chance to stop eating pie and start serving it. It’s our chance to ensure that others get their fill.
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