"Unbreakable"

"Why are you smiling?" (Wesley) "Because I know something that you do not know." (Inigo) - from the movie "The Princess Bride"

There's an exceptional amount of power in that statement isn't there? This is the point of tension among siblings - "I know something you don't know". This is the element of advantage that every poker player strives for, even if they have to bluff. They want their opponent to think they know more than they do - that they have an edge.

If you're seeing a movie for the second time with someone who hasn't yet seen it you have this power over them - you both know that you could either relieve their stress and tell them the outcome or you could ruin the movie by telling the ending or the twist in the plot.

This is the sense in which knowledge is power. This is why we have a fascination with knowing the future. If we could know what others don't.If we know the future we can play the stock market with great results - Investment Brokers are successful to their clients if they seem to know the future.

We have a sense of good fortune if we hear about news before someone else. We enjoy knowing more than others - it makes us feel secure.

If we know the difference between the false and the true we have even more power. I know something you do not know - I am not left-handed.

In the movie M. Night Shymalan wrote, "Unbreakable" Bruce Willis plays an ordinary man who comes to realize through a series of events that he is unbreakable - he survived a train wreck where everyone else on board died. The final scene of the movie (speaking of ruining movies) has him taking on a much bigger, stronger bad buy. But the bad guy doesn't know that he can't hurt Willis' character the way most people get hurt. Willis takes him on because he knows something the bad guy doesn't.

I know something you don't know.

You don't hear fearful people say this. you don't hear confused people say this. you don't hear unstable people say this. the people that say this kind of thing are those who have confidence because they believe something to be true - something that makes them stronger, more stable.

For the first few weeks in August I gave a series of talks referring to the reality of God's Kingdom, Heaven, on earth. In the first talk I focused on Jesus' main message while on earth - "The kingdom of the heavens is now available to you - turn around and put your weight on this good news." I spoke about the fact that our vision of reality determines the quality of our lives. What is the quality of our lives? What do we believe to be true? What's really real?

I used the illustration of Vertigo - a condition that pilots of small aircraft have sometimes found themselves in. It was most likely vertigo that lead to the death of JFK Jr. off the coast of Martha' Vineyard in July of 1999. Vertigo is a misperception of reality brought on by the minds inability to read gravity due to the flight path of the airplane. In a state of vertigo, a pilot can be flying with the airplane wings titled off to the right and the nose of the plane pointed way down and the airspeed of the plane way past redline - they can be flying this way but believe that they are actually flying right-side-up, perfectly level. Even when the planes' instrument panel is screaming out the really real - that the plane is going to crash - the pilot will often believe their misperception of reality - that everything is fine.

The main message Jesus shared while on earth brought our reality to light. He told us that we are flying up-side-down and then demonstrated what it looks like to live right-side-up. He demonstrated it and then invited us into it.

From there I spent the next couple weeks talking about Jesus' description of living right-side-up. That description is found in his famous sermon, the Sermon on the Mount. At the outset of that sermon, Jesus describes 8 characteristics of people who are living in the reality of God's kingdom on earth. Those 8 characteristics are called the beatitudes. (Read with congregation)

It should be said again that these are not natural human qualities. As Lee Barbour once said, living this way by our effort would be like trying to hit a nickel on a fence post a mile away. What Jesus is saying here is that people who trust his good news - and turn to live in that reality - those people will be transformed. And these 8 qualities are the result of that transformation. the result of turning to Jesus again and again. It should also be said that when Jesus 'blesses' these people, he's not doing so because this is how they feel about themselves (it's not about us), he's congratulating them because this is how he feels about them. When he says "Blessed", he means, "Congratulations on your condition, you are now right-side-up."

Today we'll look at the 3 rd quality: Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Like the first two qualities, we immediately ask ourselves, "Do we want to be blessed as meek?" Aren't those the people who are last in line? That get beat up? They get insulted and have no recourse. Aren't they're always on the bottom rung? Well, again here, there is more than meets the eye.

Before we go on we need to get an accurate definition of the word meek. First, what it doesn't mean:

The way it is used in the Bible has little to do with how we usually use it in English. We know this because the people in the Bible that are described as meek don't sound like how we often mean the word.

.  it doesn't mean having no guts;

.  It doesn't mean having no backbone;

.  It doesn't mean being a doormat;

.  It doesn't mean having no sense of justice.

I'll give you two definitions of what it is to be meek. The first is from a man named Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones:

He said, "Meekness is essentially a true view of oneself, expressing itself in attitude and conduct with respect to others."

This definition is helpful because it takes into consideration the first two beatitudes. I said these 8 qualities explain each other and it seems to be true here. To be poor in spirit is to know that we have nothing, ultimately, to bring to the table - we are impoverished where it counts. To be a mourner is to acknowledge that something is wrong in us and in the world. Add those two together and put them into action and you get the attitude of meekness: a true view of oneself, expressing itself in attitude and conduct with respect to others.

Here's a second definition and here's where I'll focus today:

Meekness is poised humility, a quiet confidence generated out of trusting something to be true.

This is what I want to focus on today. I believe it is this confidence in the reality of the kingdom of God that will develop something in our core being that makes us incredibly strong and stable - unbreakable.

I'll tell four stories leading to the ultimate example of the unbreakable meek. But before I do that I'll share some signs that will tip us off to being un-meek. How do we know if we struggle with meekness?

.  We hate not being "in the know". Flannery O'Conner said 'mystery is a great embarrassment to the modern mind'. The truth of the matter is that the Kingdom of God isn't as obvious as we'd like. We can know all about things outside the kingdom so when we encounter this mystery we try to make it more manageable than it really is.

.  We try to control things. Trust doesn't come easy. We are willing to manipulate people to get our way. We're willing to step on people to get higher up the ladder. We are willing to push, pull and grab so that we can get where we think we need to go.

.  We take our reputations into our own hands. We boast. We work conversations so that they focus on ourselves. We can hardly talk about someone else without drawing a comparison to ourselves.

.  We judge others. One of the opposites of meekness is judging. We feel most secure when we can undermine someone else's security. Even our compliments of others with come with a qualification.

John Stott said this about the un-meek: "The un-meek may boast and throw their weight about but real possession eludes their grasp."

For us to live our lives in the way of the un-meek will lead to a terrifying realization someday. Everything we cling to, grab after and control will someday slip through our hands like water - and we'll find that we're very breakable.

I remember watching Wyle E. Coyote as a kid. I remember one time when we was climbing a ladder and as often was the case with Wyle E., he over-climbed. He went up so fast that he kept climbing in the air, far beyond the top rung. Of course he was terrified when he finally realized this. and he helplessly fell into a canyon, again.

This is the terrifying realization facing us, the un-meek. One day, after we've clutched and grabbed our way up the social ladder or the corporate ladder or the possessions ladder, we'll realize that we're holding tightly to nothing at all.

"The un-meek may boast and throw their weight about but in the end real possession eludes their grasp." What does it look like when kingdom meekness invades our lives?

In grade 5 I got into a fight at school. For some reason with this fight, even though I was 3 years younger, I decided to take on a grade 8 kid. He was bigger, stronger and at the end of the day, he could clean my clock. The worst possible thing happened in this fight. I didn't get beat up. In fact, to most of the kids watching (including his grade 8 friends) I got the better of him. The problem was that I got in a lot more punches than he did before the fight was broken up. But we both knew that if the fight hadn't been broken up, he'd have mopped up the playground with me. So, the fight was broken up and he had taken quite a few punches and was embarrassed more than anything.

That began a 16 month period when he would follow me around and request another fight, threaten me and stalk me. I knew my day was coming. Then one day my brother and I got to talking and I mentioned my stalker to him - I think he knew what was going on. My brother was four years older than me and decided to do something with my problem. The next time my brother met up with my stalker in the halls at school he had a "talk" with him. My brother told me about the talk and suggested that things might be different from here on in.

I continued to see my stalker and he still went out of his way to make sure I saw him but things had changed. It was like there was an invisible wall that kept him from getting too close to me (I think they call that wall fear). And slowly my fear of being around him was erased. I didn't beak off to him - I knew better than to toe that line - rather, I carried around this quiet confidence that the reality of our relationship had changed. Soon, my worries were replaced with poise and stability. I had poised humility that was generated out of the assurance that my brother's "talk" changed the reality of my situation.

This is meekness at its most basic: poised humility because I trusted something to be true. And that something transcended my fears. But this is only the tip of the ice-berg regarding meekness. Listen to this next story.

There's a guy in the Old Testament part of the Bible named Elisha? He was one of God's representatives - he went around letting people know what God was about and what that meant in their lives. Since Elisha helped the good guys against the bad guys with divine wisdom, the bad guys wanted to do away with him - he proved an unfair advantage in war. So they tracked him down and sent their mighty force to capture him. During the night they surrounded the place where Elisha was staying. When Elisha's helper went outside first thing in the morning he saw this mighty army surrounding them and he was overcome with fear. Elisha was the one they were after though, and instead of fear, he was poised. Elisha saw his enemies - he saw their large brave army, their mighty weapons and their clear advantage. He saw all these things but his vision was larger than that. He knew something more was going on.

Elisha said, "Don't be afraid, those who are with us are more than those who are with them." And then he asked God to show his helper what he saw. God pulled back the veil for Elisha's helper and showed him the real odds. He gave him a glimpse at the really real - the end from the beginning. When his helper looked up again he saw an enormous army all around Elisha.God's army. And suddenly, Elisha's helper could demonstrate this poised humility as well, this mysterious confidence that grew out of his trusting the reality of God's realm. The odds of 10,000 to one no longer bothered him - he knew something the enemy didn't.

This is meekness - poised humility, confidence in the face of opposition. Confidence derived from knowing something to be real in the face of the untrue. But again, this isn't meekness at its most powerful.

Here's another true story about meekness: There was an evil ruler. A ruler who had the worlds' resources - money, power, followers, everything to make it onto the lists like fortune 500, GQ, and the cover of TIME magazine's most influential people in history. This guy made Donald Trump and Bill Gates look like rookies in the game of money, power and influence. This evil ruler loved one thing about what he did - he loved his influence to bring everyone and anyone into his camp. Nothing was more gratifying than luring some noble man or woman into his world. And he was good at what he did. Many men and women had lost themselves in his empire.

There came a time when a man of great reputation was making his mark in the world - he was a real up-and-comer. It was perfect. The evil ruler knew how appealing $, fame and power could be to a young man so he waited until this young man was at his weakest and then pounced.

The young man was weak, vulnerable and grasping for strength. So the evil ruler brought him to a high peak to overlook his empire. Once at the top, the evil ruler showed the young man the best of his empire. He showed him the fruits of the deepest bank account. He showed him a VIP pass with the young man's name on it - access to the who's who in the world. He showed him the right-hand seat to his empire - the highest rung on the corporate ladder. All the young man had to do was give the evil ruler his allegiance and the worlds' largest empire was at his fingertips.

But the young man knew something the evil ruler did not. He knew that money could not only not buy happiness, it could destroy contentment. He knew that power wasn't found in position or in financial resources or influence - power was about self-control and humility. He knew reputation had no significance at all apart from how God the Father thought of him.

And so Jesus, this young up-and-comer, at the outset of his career said no to the evil ruler - no to a bank account larger than Bill Gates; no to instant fame; no to controlling influence. Even in his fragile state, he was unbreakable. This story is found in Matt.4.

This was meekness: Poised humility, confidence in the face of temptation. Confidence grounded in knowing something to be true against what is false. This is the confidence I pray teenagers will have to overcome pressure to do the popular thing. Jesus knew something and he was anchored to it. But even this wasn't meekness at its fullest potential.

Meekness in it's fullness - anchored, unbreakable meekness - happened 3 years later for Jesus, at the end of his career. He was no longer an up-and-comer. He was hardly a has-been. His career, as most would see it, was a disaster with a humiliating ending. He was, as Paul Simon sang, sat upon, spat upon and ratted on. He had no money. He had a terrible reputation. His friends turned on him. His enemies were winning.

Sit in that for a moment. Imagine a couple of your best friends. now imagine them leaving when you need them most - even betraying you. Imagine the comforts of your home or your paycheck or your freedom being taken away by your enemies - the people who want to see you fail. Imagine being miss-represented: instead of people talking about the good things you've done, you hear lies about yourself. with no one to defend you. Now imagine your dad next to you. what would you say about those people - your enemies and so-called friends?

Well Jesus did turn and talk to his Father and here's what he said from the cross they nailed him to. he said: "Father, forgive them, they don't know what they're doing." In other words, "I know something they don't know, Father."

Unbreakable. Jesus looked at his enemies, he looked at his situation and he looked right through it, into the reality of God's kingdom. He knew something to be true against the hell he was experiencing. and the result was poised humility, confidence when he should have been feeling like we do when we are sat upon, spat upon and ratted on. This was unbreakable meekness in its fullness.

As Dale Brunner said, "It is poise born of not having to assert oneself to be strong. It is the poise of faith." It's when we don't have to prove intelligence to be smart; don't have to spew advice to be wise; don't have to be seen with influential people to be secure; don't have to be first to have importance; don't have to have the last word to be right.

Saint Augustine said this about the meek: "The meek are they, to whom in all their good deeds, in all the things they do well, nothing is pleasing but God; to whom, in all the evils they suffer, God is not displeasing."

The meek are unbreakable.

But I should point out the other perk here as well. Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth.

Rudolf Stier said this: "Self-renunciation is the way to world-dominion." When we turn to trust Jesus and accept his invitation to live in his kingdom we are actually adopted by God. And when your Father is God, the inheritance is pretty cool. When we are adopted all God's stuff becomes ours. Contrary to what we have often taught in the last 200 years, God is not about destroying his creation in the last days. He called it good and he meant it. The meek inherit the earth. This includes the Rocky Mountains. This includes the waterfalls of Hawaii. This includes the Rain Forests. Or do you prefer white-sand beach-front property? How about the beaches of Thailand? It even includes the prairies of SK.

As Brunner said, "the promise of the earth in this beatitude points to one of the most breath-taking facts in scripture: that this earth is to be the sphere of the Kingdom of God (of Heaven). renewed, but this earth."

Folks, there's no need to keep reaching and grabbing and pushing - there's a different reality available to us. And someday that reality will be unrivalled.and we'll inherit all of our Father's stuff.

So, congratulations to you when you are insulted and your reputation is dragged through the mud and you respond in your heart, saying, "I know something you do not."

Congratulations to you when you hear that you have cancer and then see that cancer does not have the last word - you know better.

Congratulations to you when your bank account is empty but you know that you are rich.

Congratulations to you when you have messed up for the 10 th time and have finally rolled yourself onto the feet of Jesus, no longer trusting yourself to fix things.

Congratulations when you have walked through the valley of the shadow of death and have seen to the other side where life defeats death.

Congratulations to the grieving Russians, who in the face of terrorism and death can turn to Jesus to hear him say, "I am the resurrection and the life. I hold the keys to death. and have overcome death."

Congratulations to you when you are told you need alcohol or drugs or a new car or pornography or a new job to be satisfied. and you respond, saying, "I know something you do not."

Congratulations when you trust the mystery of the kingdom - when the reality of God's kingdom generates in you poised humility, a deep confidence from knowing the right-side-up from the up-side-down. You are the unbreakable meek. and the kingdom of God is yours.