Upside-Down World
Acts 17:1-9
I was 11 years old and it was summer and I was in my element.
Every morning we’d pack up our stuff, climb on our bikes and head down to the neighborhood swimming pool.
There were usually a gang of about 6 of us, sometimes more, sometimes less.
We got to the swimming pool, headed straight for the diving board and never left it ‘til it was time to go home.
That’s all we would do.
Jump – or dive – into the water, climb back out and do it again. And again!
And like little boys will, we would challenge each other to do the most dangerous things we could think of.
Flips, belly flops, nose-bleeders, you name it, we tried it.
With the exception of one especially difficult maneuver that no one even brought up.
It was the double flip off of the high dive.
Now, the big kids did doubles and two and a halfs and all kinds of other crazy things.
And we dared each other to do all kinds of things, but NEVER the double flip.
Because, as every little boy knows, dares go first, right?
So, nobody dared to dare the dreaded double flip.
Until the day that Steve Cox did a double.
To this day, I think it was an accident.
I think he was trying to do a one and a half, and just stayed tucked too long.
But there was no doubting that he did it. Everybody saw it.
And everybody cheered and slapped him on the back, all the while with stomachs churning.
You know why, don’t you?
Because all of us knew that NOW Steve Cox could dare us to do a double flip.
And he already HAD gone first.
So, maybe because he was my best friend and I couldn’t let him show me up, I was the first to try.
I climbed to the top of the high dive and looked down into the great gulf below.
I took four carefully measured steps to the end, said a short prayer, launched myself into the air in a tight tuck and proceeded to lose all control.
I might have flipped twice, I might have flipped a dozen times, I have no idea.
All I knew was that after about ten minutes of terror, the water hit me like a freight train directly on my face.
Now, did you ever try to scream underwater?
Well, don’t, because A) no one can hear you, and B) you blow out all your air!
I screamed, swam to the surface and realized something was very wrong.
Someone, while I was screaming underwater, someone…had poured concrete over the top of the pool!
I couldn’t believe it!
I touched it, I knocked on it, I tried to breath it. Nothing!
And then it dawned on me! This wasn’t the top of the pool, this was the bottom!
Turns out I was so disoriented that I swam to the bottom instead of the top!
Well, I say all that to say this: That reminds me of the world today!
Sin has distorted our view!
Sin has smacked us in the face and disoriented us to the point that we think that right is wrong and wrong is right!
To think that down is up and up is down!
Do you know that prisoners are suing their victims today?
If you fight back during an attack or a break-in and you injure your attacker, it can be labeled self defense in criminal court and that’s that.
But it’s not that simple in civil court.
It seems that criminals have rights, even if they’re attacking you and sometimes they’re even able to collect a settlement!
And even if they don’t win, they can drag you into court as many times as they want.
The state pays for their lawyer and you pay for your own!
That sounds backwards, doesn’t it?
A lot of things are backwards in this world.
We live in a time when homosexual marriages are becoming acceptable.
And anyone who suggests that homosexuality might be a sin is labeled intolerant, homophobic and hopelessly behind the times.
I wonder if that’s what they said about Lot just before Sodom was destroyed?
The point is this: Jesus came to make things right. To set things straight.
He came to an upside-down world…to show us how to live right-side up!
In short, he came to orient us.
Do you know what I mean by that?
Have you ever been to a strange city somewhere and been totally disoriented?
And you wander around until you find something familiar and then you can figure out where you are.
In Seattle it was easy. As long as I could see the Space Needle I was fine!
That was my reference point.
Here it’s pretty easy, too.
Find the “M”! When I first came to town, people would give me directions and I would stop them and say, “Now, where is that in reference to the M?”
And that would orient me.
When I’m in the woods, my reference point is that little red arrow that points north!
And you know what? When I’m lost, it doesn’t matter how I feel about it.
I don’t care if I FEEL like I’m heading for the truck, if that little red needle says I’m not, I’d better believe it!
Because it keeps me oriented.
The word “orient” means “to position yourself with respect to a specific reference point.”
In Seattle it might be the space needle. In Missoula the “M”.
In the woods, magnetic north.
But in life it’s Jesus Christ! Amen?
He came to be our reference point!
He came to show us up from down, right from wrong.
He came to show us that sometimes our instincts…are dead wrong.
For instance, in Palestine it was the law that any Roman soldier could compel any civilian to carry their pack one mile.
It didn’t matter what else you were doing, or how important your own business.
If the guy said carry it, you carried it.
So, it was the custom to carry that pack exactly 1,760 paces and not one step more!
And that was the common man’s way of dealing with it.
Jesus comes along and says, “Hey, you want to know how to handle these soldiers?”
And they gather around, eager to hear this.
And he says, “If you really want to get to them, you carry that pack one mile.
And then, when you’ve fulfilled the letter of the law and walked your 1,700 steps.
And they’re crowding in, “Yeah, what do we do then, Jesus?”
And he says, “Carry the pack another mile!”
Another time Jesus said, “Let me tell you how to handle yourself in court. Let me give you some legal advice. If somebody sues you for your tunic, here’s how to really get ‘em.”
And they crowd in, “Yeah, yeah, tell us how to get ‘em!”
And he says, “First, give them your tunic, and then hand them your cloak, too!”
“If someone slaps you on your left cheek…”
What then, Jesus? Come back with a right cross?
No. “You say to them, ‘That was pretty good. Now try this side!”
Jesus came to show us that the world’s way of doing things is upside down and backwards!
The world says, “Put your best foot forward. Hide your flaws and accentuate the positive.”
Jesus says, “Confess your sins. Get them out where everyone can see.”
The world says, “If you do something good, make sure somebody knows about it!”
Jesus says, “If you do something good, do it in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.”
But what does all this have to do with Acts 17?
Glad you asked.
In Acts 17, Paul goes to the city of Thessalonica.
And he goes there…to turn their world upside down.
Begin reading with me in Acts 17 and verse one.
Acts 17:1-5
1 When they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue.
2 As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,
3 explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. "This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ," he said.
4 Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women.
5 But the Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd.
Allow me a couple of side roads before we get to the main highway.
First, take a look at how Paul evangelized.
He didn’t come to town, rent a building and hold services.
And he didn’t invite people to come and hear the gospel.
Paul took the gospel to them!
Verse 2: “As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue…”
Now, there’s nothing wrong with having a church building.
There’s nothing wrong with inviting someone to church.
But Jesus Christ said, “You are the salt of the earth!”
And if the earth is ever going to be salted, we have to get the salt out of the salt shaker!
We have to get out of our church buildings, out of our comfort zones and take the gospel to people!
The other thing Paul did was to “reason” with them. Not preach…reason.
You know, the word “preach” has a terrible reputation today.
I looked it up and the dictionary gives three meanings.
1. To deliver a sermon.
2. To advocate earnestly.
3. To give moral advice, especially in a tiresome manner!
People will look at you today and say, “Don’t preach to me!”
And what they’re really saying is, “Don’t shove your morals down my throat.
Don’t get up on your religious pedestal and look down your nose at me!
People don’t want to be preached to.
And Paul didn’t do that. Paul “reasoned” with these Jews.
Actually, the word is “dialoge”, from which we get our English word “dialogue.”
Paul had a conversation with them!
And I like that, because it takes the pressure off, in a sense.
If I asked you to preach the sermon next week, most of you would either turn me down flat or have a nervous breakdown getting ready for it.
The number one fear in America is the fear of public speaking.
So we’re scared to preach. We don’t want to preach. And people don’t want to be preached to.
So I say, “Don’t preach! Have a conversation.”
Dialogue with someone about Jesus.
Well, Paul “dialogues” with these folks, and it works!
Verse 4 says,
4 Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women.
So, they started a church and lived happily ever after, right?
Nope.
You can write it down that anytime someone is converted to Jesus Christ.
Anytime someone’s world turns right-side up, and they become oriented to the Lord, Satan is going to get involved.
When I baptize someone I almost always tell them this.
For instance, right there in the changing room, I told Evan this:
“When you belonged to Satan he left you alone. He didn’t have to worry about you. But that’s all about to change.
Now, you’ve declared your allegiance to his arch enemy, and now you’re fair game. He’s going to pull out all the stops.
And he’s going to do everything he can do to get you back.”
And I hope that’s not too depressing, but it’s true!
When did the devil turn up the heat on Jesus?
Wasn’t it right after his baptism? Right after he declared himself to the world?
Well, these people turned to Jesus, were baptized into Him, and look what happens. Verse 5:
5 But the Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd.
Now, listen closely to what they say next. To the charge they bring against Paul.
Verse 6:
6 But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other brothers before the city officials, shouting: "These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here,
Now, the NIV translators tried to give you the sense of the Greek words here.
When it says, “these men who have cause trouble all over the world,” that’s an accurate translation.
But I want you to listen to the literal translation from the Greek.
It says, “These men who have turned the world upside down…have come here also.”
I wonder if Paul smiled when he heard that.
Because he knew the irony of that statement.
He knew that the world was already upside-down!
And he was there to turn it right-side up!
And he knew that there was no power on earth that could do that, except the gospel of Jesus Christ. Amen?
“I’m not ashamed,” he would later write.
“I’m not ashamed of the gospel, for IT is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.”
That sounds backwards, doesn’t it?
The power of God for the salvation of the world…is a story?
Oh, it’s a true story and it’s power is in it’s truth, but the bottom line is that it is basically a story.
Let’s say you had cancer and you go to the doctor for treatment.
And instead of chemo-therapy, or surgery or any hands-on medicine, he sits you down and says, “I’m going to tell you a story. And when I’m finished, if you believe that story…your cancer will be gone.”
How much sense would that make?
That’s crazy, isn’t it?
And that’s why Paul says, “
“Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom,
but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,
but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”
Sin is worse than any cancer in existence.
It doesn’t kill your body, it kills your soul.
It turns things upside down and backwards.
It tells you that dark is light and light is dark. And it’s a lie.
But God created a cure for the cancer of sin.
And it’s no powerful drug, or major surgery.
No, it’s a story. A story of a God who became a man.
Who lived and died…so that even though you die…you’ll live.
Listen closely when you hear that story. Because if, at the end of the story, you believe it…you’re cured.
Your sins are forgiven, and your life is now oriented to Jesus Christ.
Which means that the world will think you’re a little strange.
When you…carry their pack an extra mile.
When you…turn the other cheek.
When you…chase them down after they’ve stolen your coat, grab them by the collar and say, “Hey wait a minute…you forgot my shirt!”
Upside down and backwards.
That’s what the world will think.
Paul would later write: “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved…it is the power of God.”
