Introduction to Theme
[Show Duck-Rabbit image.]
But we aren’t here to talk about ducks or rabbits, but about God.
[I also had an overhead transparency that said “GOD”, but when placed on the overhead projector on the wrong side said “DOG”.] See, it is very important to get things the right way up!!!
I was going to call today’s theme ‘Jesus turns the world upside down’, but that is the opposite of what it should be. The world is already upside down; it is Jesus who turns it back up the right way.
I want to show how Jesus does this by highlighting five points from today’s Bible readings. [Show the five-point summary.] Now that you’ve seen these points, you can go to sleep if you like!
Five Points
- Jesus turns defeat into victory
In Psalm 22 we read the words quoted by Jesus on the cross: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
But neither the Psalm nor the cross end in defeat. As verse 24 declares: ‘God has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.’
Jesus turned the defeat of death into the victory of new life. Jesus’ resurrection is perhaps the greatest reversal possible: the reversal of death itself; the negation of humanity’s greatest fear.
- Jesus is not impressed with riches
As we saw in the drama, Jesus loved the rich young man, but was not at all impressed with his money. How different to the way the people around him determined people’s importance, and how we determine the status of people today!
Some have claimed that when Jesus used the analogy f the camel and the eye of the needle, he was thinking about the small gate within a larger gate. [Draw on O/H.] Now how would you get a camel through there? It would be hard, but perhaps not impossible. But the first step would have to be this: take off the load from the camel’s back. The rich man must do likewise. In fact, all of us need to strip bare before God, not allowing anything we carry to prevent us from complete openness to him.
But really, Jesus is quite comfortable taking the analogy to the extreme. The listeners were shocked: ‘how can anyone be saved then?’ Jesus point was to show that with us, regardless of our abilities or riches or influential connections, it is impossible. BUT, but with God even getting a camel through the eye of a sewing needle is possible!
- Jesus turns away potential supporters
What a bad marketing strategy Jesus used! At the end of his life he left his whole campaign in the charge of a handful of largely uneducated, unimportant and poor disciples. Why didn’t he spend more time attracting a more influential following? In fact he did attract large crowds, but frequently scared them off by his confusing parables and unusual demands.
Even though he had compassion on the rich young man, he spoke of exactly the requirement which he knew the man would not be willing to meet.
- The first will be last and the last first
Jesus final words on the topic were a warning to anyone who thinks they have life sorted out: ‘Many who are first will be last and the last first.’
In a simple phrase, this neatly summarises the way Jesus turns the priorities of the world back up the right way.
Who are ‘the last’? Who are the lepers, the beggars, the tax collectors and the prostitutes around us? How can we give them the priority that Jesus gives them?
- Jesus is a high priest who mixes with sinners and yet remains without sin.
The stereotypical high priest is high above the normal person and separated from the daily grind of normal human life. Its as though they hope that they can remain spiritually clean if only they keep away from us ‘sinners’. Nevertheless, for all the outward appearance of holiness, they are as sinful as the rest of us.
But note Jesus. The Hebrews reading calls him our great high priest, but points out that he lived as one of us. He mixed with ‘sinners’, touched lepers and dead people. And yet the dirt didn’t rub off on him. He remained without sin!
Once again he has turned the world back up the right way!
What does all this mean to us now?
In all these ways, Jesus’ priorities are shown to be the reverse of the world’s. So world so often gets things backwards, or upside down.
We are immersed in propaganda which continually and deliberately promotes a materialistic, individualistic and self-centred worldview. Good looks, extravagance, comfort, sex, indulgence and independence are today’s gods. They are the idols to which we offer worship and obedience.
How do we align ourselves with Jesus’ priorities rather than those of the dominant worldview? We need to immerse ourselves in the word of God and the thoughts of Jesus.
Jesus himself immersed himself in the world. He became one of us: a human, with all of our limitations. He immersed himself in human society not so much to understand what it is like to be human, but to prove to us that that he understands what it is like.
We can turn to God with confidence because he is not a remote autocrat with no knowledge of his subjects, but a compassionate father and caring brother who share our pain.
As the previous song pointed out:
Come to the Father, though your gift is small
Broken hearts, broken lives, he will take them all.
The power of the word, the power of his blood
Everything was done so you would come.
We can come without fear, knowing we will receive mercy and grace.
Let’s pray:
Heavenly father, holy spirit, and our brother Jesus,
help us to see the world through your eyes.
May we walk by faith rather than by wealth.
May we follow your marketing strategy rather than the world’s.
May we give the least important people around us the most respect.
Give us confidence to approach you so that we can immerse ourselves in your priorities and join with you in turning the world up the right way.