The Blessing of Not

Matthew 5   JB Phillips NT
“Happy are those who claim nothing, for the whole earth will belong to them!

From Deitrich Bonhoeffer – The Cost of Discipleship –
“Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” …what it means is that when the kingdom of heaven descends, the face of the earth will be renewed, and it will belong to the flock of Jesus.

My Thoughts:
…In the meantime…don’t waste energy demanding, fighting, struggling or complaining.  Now that is a lifestyle that requires strength and commitment virtually unidentifiable in our powerful and rights-driven society today.  It is hard to even try to imagine how this might look in real life, in fact.  “Meek” may be the most hard to define word in MY language today.  I know my definition tends to go to the negative side and then prompts a negative reaction followed with “but…”  And yet it it’s what Jesus says.

Today I’m going to go with this group of statements which are odd because they all begin in that negative place; with that word “not” but lead to a much better ending.  And maybe that’s the secret to understanding the property rights of the meek.  You may well have to begin with that negative word but each statement carries the promise of the Blessing of Not.
• Not demanding Jesus be or do what I want…
• Not fighting against circumstance…
• Not struggling against obedience…
• Not complaining about the my rights, people and life…