Meekness ain’t weakness: Sunday reflection

This morning’s Gospel reading is Matthew 11:25–30:

At that time Jesus exclaimed:

“I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to little ones. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.

“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

One of my favorite comic strips has been Dilbert, having lived the cubicle life for too many years to count in corporate America. The characters of Dilbert display all of the usual human foibles, although rarely much of their grace, in ways instantly and hilariously familiar to anyone who has ever worked in an office environment. For many years, posting photocopies of favorite Dilbert strips was de rigueur in offices everywhere.

Today’s reading reminds me of Alice, Dilbert’s co-worker that usually had more sense than others. The lack of comprehension of others around her would frustrate Alice to the point of rage, and at least in a few panels would mutter, “MUST … CONTROL … FIST OF DEATH!”

And that, oddly enough, comes to mind for me when we read about meekness in scripture and Gospel.

What does it mean to be “meek and humble”? Jesus teaches on meekness in the Beatitudes and again in this passage, this time using Himself as a model. In the Ignatius version of the Bible, those are the only two passages in which Jesus explicitly mentions the term. Paul and James discuss it in their epistles. Paul’s most significant mention comes in Ephesians 4:

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, beg you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all lowliness and meekness, with patience, forbearing one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Paul again stresses the same to the Colossians in 3:12, and to the Corinthians in his second letter. James makes it sound more active in his epistle at 1:21-22, and adds a clear warning, emphasis mine:

Therefore put away all filthiness and rank growth of wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

Sometimes meekness can be mistaken to mean passivity or docility, a state of mind rather than a choice and an action. James’ epistle comes closest to teaching the meaning of the word “meek” in the scriptural sense, which is anything but passive or weak. It is, rather, the choice to set aside one’s own power for the sake of another.

Jesus may not have taught on this in an explicit manner, but His life is a testament to meekness. As John 3:16 states, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” But Jesus did not come to the world in the form of a deity, a king, a prince, or even a warrior. He came as an infant born into poverty among an oppressed people without much hope.

Even as Jesus grew up and into His mission, He could have chosen to use His divine nature to reorder the world. Jesus does use it to heal the sick and raise the dead as signs of His true power, not to overwhelm people but to get them to listen to the Word. Does anyone doubt that Jesus had the power to simply flatten the armies of the world and seize control for His own purposes? Satan in fact tempts Jesus to do just that in the desert, because Satan knew who Jesus truly was and wanted to tempt Him into rebellion against the Father as well.

Jesus had all of the power of Creation at His hands, as Jesus explicitly says in today’s Gospel. “All things have been handed over to me by my Father,” Jesus tells the disciples. Rather than use that power, Jesus instead not only teaches meekness but exemplifies it, all the way to the cross on Golgotha.

Why? Jesus knew — and taught repeatedly — that eternal life mattered more than this fallen world handed over to humankind in the exit from Eden. The only way for us to get there would be through Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins, and through His grace and the Holy Spirit afterward. The purpose of His life was to do the will of the Father to accomplish salvation for the rest of us.

And that required Jesus to set aside His power and interests to serve the Father — and all of us as well.

This is what Jesus means about meekness and humility. It does not mean weakness, nor does it mean passivity and fatalism either. James understood how meekness could get misinterpreted in that way, which is why he made clear that meekness is an action, a purposeful choice to submit to the will of the Father and do His work rather than the work that suits our own interests alone. Humility accompanies meekness because it requires the recognition of our right relationship with the Lord — that we must strive to put aside our desires and temptations in order to serve His will rather than our own.

Without humility, meekness becomes impossible. And without meekness, we cannot align ourselves to the will of the Lord, as we choose to flex our own muscles rather than focus on His mission.

To return to Alice, let’s assume for the sake of argument that she actually has a Fist of Death. Why not use it? For one thing, murder is bad, mm-kay? But it won’t get her what she wants, other than a momentary satisfaction through petty revenge. It won’t further the mission of the company, and it will only make her life harder and difficult. In the end, flexing our own muscles for our own desires and appetites means little in terms of happiness, let alone in serving the Lord. Usually, it results in the opposite, leaving us further mired in sin, further burdened by its consequences, and more distant than ever from our salvation.

And this is precisely what Jesus teaches in today’s Gospel. Revenge, avarice, lust, and betrayal may sorely tempt us, and at times get the best of us. But if we can set those aside and take Jesus’ yoke — His mission — on us, we will find it easy, and the burden of His Word light. It takes strength to make the choice to forego all of those human impulses and our power to feed them in order to serve the Lord and spread the word of salvation. That is meekness, and it is not weakness. When we choose that, we know the Lord’s strength will be with us as well.

The front-page image is “Sermon on the Mount” by Cosimo Rosselli, c. 1481-2. On display in the Sistine Chapel. Via Wikimedia Commons.

“Sunday Reflection” is a regular feature, looking at the specific readings used in today’s Mass in Catholic parishes around the world. The reflection represents only my own point of view, intended to help prepare myself for the Lord’s day and perhaps spark a meaningful discussion. Previous Sunday Reflections from the main page can be found here.