It’s Sunday Again: Upside Down

I am preaching today–so much I would like to say and so little time. We must cease trying to operate the church in the same way other organizations operate.

Luke’s gospel employs reversals as a literary device to highlight comparisons, choices, and contrasts. The more obvious reversals include well-known stories such as the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son, Lazarus and the Rich Man, and the Publican and the Pharisee. The contrast is less visible in other narratives–the birth of Jesus, John the Baptist (Luke 3:1-3), the beginning of Jesus’ ministry (4:14ff), and events at the house of Simon the Pharisee (chapter 7) are samples.

The kingdom of God operates in a different way. God comes as the Son of Man (25 times in Luke’s gospel). God comes to serve, not to be served. Luke writes in Acts (17:6) that those who have turned the world upside down have also come here.

The church must find its uniqueness and accentuate and make it visible in at least these areas.

  • The purpose is different. Most organizations exist for the benefit of those who are members. The church exists entirely for others. The church exists to make outsiders insiders. The church exists to bring those afar off near. The church exists to reach out more than to reach inward. The purpose of inward activities is to reach outward. The church started with no insiders. Every church member was once an outsider, one who has not experienced acceptance and joy and peace and hope. The church must restore this sense of its eternal purpose, which is the same as the eternal purpose of God and the reason Jesus came (Luke 19:10). When insiders forget that they were once outsiders, when insiders begin to think that they have always been insiders, the church becomes exclusive and inwardly-focused and shifts to maintenance mode.
  • The values are different. When the world gets turned upside down, what matters in one realm does not matter in the other. Who is valued? The most capable or the least capable? Those present most often, or those absent most often? Those who teach or those who are taught? The members or the visitors? Will we value prestige and tradition and heritage (Simon the Pharisee)? Will we value law-keeping or compassion (Good Samaritan)? Will we value self and stuff or the soul (Rich Fool)? Can we really value love for the lost who come home more than the lawful loyalty of the lost who stayed at home (Prodigal Son)? Jesus came focusing on the imprisoned, hurting, helpless, and enslaved.
  • Leadership is exercised in a different way. The Gentiles justify hierarchical leaders because the leaders are benevolent. The kingdom is different. Leaders serve. The greatest is the one who serves most. When one becomes the servant of all, that one is ready for leadership. The least are the most valuable; the top is the bottom, up is down.
  • The power is different. Often lost in the casual reading of Luke is the fact that accomplishing kingdom things for God is not done by human power but by spirit power. The church depending only the human perspective of purpose, possibilities, and opportunities will not flourish. We must get out of ourselves, get ourselves out of ourselves, and allow God’s spirit within. God’s spirit takes us to a 24/7 version of kingdom culture. The question is always about God. “God wants me to….” “God wanted me to….” That was the greatest option for advancing the kingdom….

The shorthand of this brief blog may not make clear the many thoughts that are pummeling my mind. Suffice it to say–the church is an upside down organization, and can rejoice in the fact that God’s will is done in such an unusual way. Reverse gear is a terrible way to drive a car, but it is the way of the kingdom!