Jesus once said Blessed are the meek – because they will inherit the earth. How can that be – it’s a dog eat dog world out there and there’s plenty of dog to go around. How is it that the meek inherit the earth?

Now meekness apparently is not a quality that we value in people these days. I haven't known many people who’s great aspiration in life is to be meek. It is a quality that Jesus values greatly. You know when you're stuck in a traffic jam, and it's just not going anywhere and someone ducks in front of you, and you hear someone blasting their horn or shaking their fist in the car or you can see them swearing, you can see their lips moving.

Or maybe we're queuing in the supermarket and our queue is the one that's moving the slowest, and you get up to the checkout and you discover there is a trainee at your checkout. And some people want to rip this person's head off as if somehow it's their fault.

Does meekness have a role to play today? I mean when Jesus talks about meekness, are we missing something?

These days we're all busy carving out our little part of planet earth. Have you ever noticed how angry people can get when there's a dispute about a fence with a neighbour? It's one of the most frustrating things that can happen. ‘Cause everyone says, "hang on, this is exactly mine, this is my part of the earth, and you can't cross over it. Whether it's career or family or home or whatever, we're all busy building a life, and we're programmed to get as much out of life as we can.

I was recently in one of the poorest villages in India, and I saw how people were living with dirt floors and in huts that weren't water-proof. The only bath in the village was some black plastic strung up around a few sticks and a bucket. And you kind of compare that to how we live, and you think how much is enough. The big difference between what we actually need and what we want - why so much? What fuels this desire?

I love what Paul Clitheroe said, (he's a financial commentator on TV). He said about investing in a motor car. He said we should buy the cheapest car that our egos will allow. That's a good line, isn't it? But it's a hint of the sickness that underlines the ethos of conspicuous consumption. It's less to do with genuine need and enjoyment, and it's more to do with ego. I'm not saying that necessarily if you drive a big flash car, it's driven by ego. But for a lot of people, that's exactly what it's about. The world is full of proud people, people filled with their own sense of self-importance, their own ego, who want the earth. In fact, they think that they own the earth.

I live in an inner city suburb of Sydney, and the roads were built 150 years ago. They are very narrow, and they're just not made for the traffic that they're meant to carry these days. It's particularly bad on Saturday mornings because everybody is out doing their shopping. There are a lot of cafes and little restaurants around where we live. So everyone is going to have their coffee and have their morning tea and their lunch. And in this terrace house that we live in on a narrow street, the front window of the lounge room, it's only, maybe a couple of meters away, and all of a sudden there was this vociferous argument going on between these two men.

One was being particularly vindictive. He was swearing at the top of his voice, and as we listened to this, my wife and I, what was going on is they had obviously had a disagreement somewhere in the traffic. The guy who was swearing thought that the other man didn't give right of way when he should have, and so it went on. It was really, really ugly.

The paradox of all of this is that we heard in the argument that this man with his wife was going off to have a cup of coffee at one of the nice little coffee shops. I wonder how much this guy actually enjoyed the cup of coffee that he had. I wonder how much he enjoyed the beautiful sunshine and the birds and the trees and the company of his wife. The reality of it is, his day was ruined, wasn't it? The anger and the swearing - there's no way that he can get on and enjoy the things that God has put around him.

When we live by ego, we have to come first, we have to be kingpin, and we always have to get our way. Isn't that right? We can be so ugly as people when we say, "I am first and you are last." It's the ugly underbelly of all these advertising campaigns and glossy magazine ads that you see that tell you, you can have it all. You deserve it. You're important. Buy the pearls. Buy the clothes. Buy the big car. That's what life is all about.

The reality is, as my auntie always used to say to me. She said, "Bernie, you can only sleep in one bed, you can only drive one car, and you can only be married to one wife at a time”. You know, there's a lot of wisdom in what she said.

So we see this ugly behaviour. And then Jesus comes along and says, "Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth." If we did a word association with "meek", what word would you come up with? I mean, black/white, apple/orange, meek, probably mouse. We think of meekness as timidity or cowardice. But that's not what Jesus meant. When He talked about being meek, He meant being gentle. He meant not having to be first. He meant being someone who has kindness and consideration for others.

And when the world acts up ugly around us, you know when we run into one of these people who just wants to abuse us, instead of abusing them back, we just hand it over to God and say, "Lord, I want to pray for this person because he obviously needs You." We are prepared to trust in God's sovereignty and God's will instead of having to win for ourselves.

But the real pearl in this little oyster is the promise that comes at the end of the sentence. "Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth." We look back at this guy who was arguing and swearing in front of my house. He couldn't enjoy the beauty and the wonder of his life, because he was so wrapped up in himself.

That's the paradox. Isn't Jesus wonderful? In one little sentence, He puts His finger right on one of the big ills and big cancers in our society. So long as we are wrapped up in ourselves, we actually can't enjoy planet earth. We actually can't enjoy our lives. It's only when we get off our little tin thrones that we can enjoy the sunsets, that we can enjoy other people, that we can enjoy the tastes and the sounds of life.

I love the wisdom that Jesus has in life. I'm one of these people who is driven. I'm one who loves to achieve a plan and make things happen in my life. All my life I've been like that. And yet before I became a Christian in order to live that life out, I wasn't me. I used to tread on people. I used to hurt people. I didn't care who I hurt, as long as I got what I wanted. And I got a big house, a big car, a successful job, a big salary. And you know something? I did not enjoy the earth. I thought I owned it. I thought the earth owned me, but there was no joy. There was no happiness, because we were not made to live that way.

What I love about Jesus is you listen to Him on the surface and He talks about meekness, and you go, oh yuk, that's not for me. But if you really listen to Him, He's setting us free with every word. He's setting us free. He wants us to live life in abundance, and God rewards the meek by letting them enjoy their lives and their surroundings in a way that's not open to most people.

Blessed are those who are happy with who they are and what their lot is in life and what God has made of them and what God has put around them. Blessed are those who don't have to be the kingpin. Blessed are those who just leave it to God and enjoy their lives.

Let me encourage you. If there is a part of this in your life, there's a part of "I have to be number one," and you know something? There is in each one of us. Let me encourage you with this promise from God.

Blessed are the meek for they will enjoy and inherit the earth in all its fullness.