Introduction and Ice Breaker
Name the top three traits people in your industry/school/social sphere need to be successful.
If you could identify or create a motto for our city/country what would it be?
Themes to Consider
Beatitudes of our culture versus ways of the Kingdom
Nature of meekness
Jesus as embodiment of meekness
Humility
Gentleness
Wisdom
We are participants in his divine nature and co-heirs with Christ (inheritance)
Discussion Questions
Where have you recently recognized humility, gentleness and wisdom in our world and culture?
What stands in the way for you to walk in:
Humility
Gentleness
Wisdom
What do you think is the nature of spiritual inheritance?
Guided Prayer
Silence / Remove distractions as much as you can and spend two minutes (time it, if helpful) in silence, noticing your body, your emotions and thoughts. Perhaps use a simple phrase to pray silently so that you stay focused.
Consider this command towards embodied meekness:
Micah 6:8 — He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
Reffect on this prayer from Jackie Griffin expressing the desire for justice and honoring the image of God:
Lord, your very image is under attack in this country—the image you gave to us when you created this world.
We stand with the family of Breonna Taylor and the families of our black and brown neighbors and families of every tribe, nation and language, who have been forced to place a finite value on the lives of their loved ones—human beings created in your image.
Lord, we know that in your eyes and in your kingdom, we each have infinite worth and value. And we know that in your eyes and in your kingdom, the oppressed, marginalized, poor, and those without status and community—the least of these—are granted special care and attention.
Lord, we long to see the value system of the kingdom of God reflected on earth. We long to see our neighbors of every nation, tribe and language treated with dignity, treated with inherent worth, and given the mishpat. Amen.
Supplemental Content
Meek. Humble. Gentle. Jesus is not trigger-happy. Not harsh, reactionary, easily exasperated. He is the most understanding person in the universe. The posture most natural to him is not a pointed finger but open arms. — Dane Ortlund
What might you add? “Blessed are the driven, for theirs is the kingdom”? “Blessed are those who are true to themselves, for they will be happy”? I like “blessed are the comfortable, for they will never have to sacrifice.” And to borrow a line from Kendrick Lamar, “Blessed are the liars, for the truth can be awkward” — Jonathan Dodson
If we put these first three beatitudes together, we find Jesus blessing the oppressed and the poor for their powerful trust in God, their willingness to wait on God for justice and the kingdom, and for their devotion that runs so deep they mourn over the condition of Israel and implicate themselves in the causes of that condition. These are the sorts of people, not the typical ones, that are (and will be) in the kingdom. — Scot McKnight
The Beatitudes, in particular, are not teachings of how to be blessed...they are explanations and illustrations, drawn from the immediate setting, of the present availability of the Kingdom through personal relationship with Jesus. They single out cases that provide proof that, in him, the rule of God from the heavens truly is available in life circumstances that are beyond all human hope. — Dallas Willard
Jesus is not suggesting that these are simply timeless truths about the way the world is, about human behaviour. If he was saying that, he was wrong. Mourners often go uncomforted, the meek don’t inherit the earth, those who long for justice frequently take that longing to the grave. This is an upside-down world, or perhaps a right-way-up world; and Jesus is saying that with his work It’s starting to come true. This is an announcement, not a philosophical analysis of the world. It’s about something That’s starting to happen, not about a general truth of life. It is gospel: good news, not good advice. — NT Wright
