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THE WORLD AS IT SHOULD BE > WEEK 2
Upside-Down KingdomJesus' parables highlight how different the Kingdom is from how his contemporaries thought it would be, and how "upside-down" it is compared to his society's and our society's values. The Kingdom starts small, but grows to be great. It starts growing, but it is surrounded by weeds. Sometimes the signs of the emerging Kingdom can be disappointing, but we need to stay hopeful and watch for the signs that it is appearing.
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The Kingdom of Heaven is like...
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someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away.
← a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches. yeast that a woman took and mixed in with[a] three measures of flour until all of it was leavened. Matthew 13:24-33 (NRSV)
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Jesus' Three Temptations
In his book The Upside-Down Kingdom, Donald B. Kraybill highlights the three temptations Jesus' resisted during his 40 days in the desert. Each represented a broader temptation in his ministry to follow cultural values, each of which Jesus turned on its head.
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Mountain - Political/Power[T]he devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, “To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” (Luke 4:5-7, NRSV) When Jesus came on the scene, the Jewish people were looking for a Messiah -- a powerful political leader who would overthrow the occupying Roman rulers. In fact, many tried to step into that role and hundreds of thousands of Jewish people were ultimately killed. This was the setting in which Jesus grew up.
The mountain was the symbol of God's power -- Jesus could have chosen this kind of power, but chose the opposite. He chose to be a servant leader who even suffered, instead of using brute force to lead others. He resisted the use of violence, up to his death. Jesus view on power was an inversion: that the last shall be first and first shall be last. Love and compassion came first. |
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Temple - ReligiousThen the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’” (Luke 4:9-11, NRSV) The devil tempted Jesus to use a miracle at the temple in Jerusalem to unambiguously prove that he was the Messiah to force the loyalty of the religious leaders. It is hard to overestimate the prominence of the temple and its centrality in Jewish life. But the religious environment was caught up in ritual purity and piety, strictly following Torah regulations, and a huge temple-oriented bureaucracy and industry.
Instead of aligning himself with the religious establishment, Jesus offered an alternative. He elevated love above piety, ritual sacrifice, and Torah rules. He intentionally broke Sabbath rules and undermined religious leaders. He overturned vendor tables in the temple and upended the religious pecking order, saying tax collectors and prostitutes (sinners) will enter the kingdom before the chief priests and elders. |
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Bread - EconomicThe devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” (Luke 4:3, NRSV) The devil was playing on Jesus' own hunger, but this temptation had broader implications. Why shouldn't Jesus perform a miracle to solve poverty and hunger once and for all? Over 90% of the population in Palestine in Jesus' time was lower class, mostly poor peasants who did not always know where their next meal was coming from. They contrasted with a small, elite upper class. Major civil and religious taxes made the situation worse.
Jesus chose against this short-term quick-fix that would not have outlived him. Instead, he offered himself as living bread, which would help transform his followers into people who shared the material resources they had with those in need. He taught how hoarding wealth was not a way of embracing blessing, but a stumbling block to the spiritual life. He continuously criticized the rich and lifted up the poor. |
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Topsy-Turvy Scripture
Then Jesus spoke: -- Luke 6:19-26, The Message by Eugene Peterson
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From Mary's Magnificat:
What God has done for me will never be forgotten, the God whose very name is holy, set apart from all others. His mercy flows in wave after wave on those who are in awe before him. He bared his arm and showed his strength, scattered the bluffing braggarts. He knocked tyrants off their high horses, pulled victims out of the mud. The starving poor sat down to a banquet; the callous rich were left out in the cold. He embraced his chosen child, Israel; he remembered and piled on the mercies, piled them high. It’s exactly what he promised, beginning with Abraham and right up to now. -- Luke 1:48-55, The Message by Eugene Peterson
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Waiting on the World to Change?John Mayer faced criticism for his song, "Waiting on the World to Change," which addresses his generation's limited action for social change. Some said it amounted to a list of excuses. Mayer said of his song:
It's saying, "Well, I'll just watch American Idol because I know that if I were engaged in changing anything for the better, or the better as I see it, it would go unnoticed or be completely ineffective." A lot of people have that feeling. The song's lyrics allude to corruption, limitations of the mainstream media, a lack of power, and more. Whatever your opinions of Mayer, how do we maintain a commitment to fight for God's Kingdom when the odds seem stacked against us?
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Hope
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Engaging the world as it is, it's easy to get discouraged when faced with pervasive and growing problems in the world like poverty, homelessness, violence, war. Most of the time, it's hard to look at the world around us and feel like we are making any progress on any of these things. But when you break it down into a set of specific steps -- five hundred units of housing here, seventy-five units of housing there -- we begin to feel hopeful and encouraged.... Rev. Jeffrey K. Krehbiel,
Reflecting with Scripture on Community Organizing Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; |
Show the WayFolk guitarist and songwriter has a gift for telling stories with just his voice and a guitar. Here he sings of hope and the reason to fight against fear, despair, and complacency.
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What Sort of KingCatholic liturgical musician Jesse Manibusan wrote this song about the upside-down nature of Jesus' kingship and the Kingdom he preached.
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Hope in a Hopeless WorldVeteran Christian musician Margaret Becker sings this challenging call-to-action in response to a broken world.
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Action Steps
Here are some ideas for how you can live out this message in your life this week.
Questions of the WeekHow do I need patience or hope to work toward the Kingdom?
How might I live my life more by the upside-down values of the Kingdom in the three areas where Jesus found temptation? |
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