Sermon.989
“Inside Out & Upside Down”
Luke 6:17-26
The Sermon on the Mount is a Biblical classic!
It’s a unique picture of what it means to live as a Christian in the world.
Jesus stood and delivered this sermon on a level place; a place where every Christian could understand its meaning.
The Sermon on the Mount answers questions like:
What exactly is newness of life? Or What does a resurrected life consist of?
From what we can tell, Jesus preached this sermon in the mountains above and north of the Sea of Galilee, and Jesus brings the pattern of values, power, and the product of His kingdom.
Think for a moment about coaching a sport like football, which is about to begin in our schools and colleges all across America.
If a newly hired coach takes over a team, he has a pattern of values.
The coach immediately will bring new management that brings in a new pattern of values and conditions the players to get them into shape for the season.
The coach decides who will play and who will sit on the bench.
He has final say about how the game is to be played.
When the coach comes into power and puts his programs in place, the team will either win or lose.
So, a kingdom always has an impact, an influence, and a result in people’s lives.
The Apostle Paul, who wrote 13 of our New Testament books, made us aware that we are a citizen of one kingdom or the other.
Paul says there are only two kingdoms, and “He has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of His dear Son” (Colossians 3:1).
Even though you may be a citizen of the kingdom of Jesus Christ, the influence of the old kingdom of our world can still be felt; for in the kingdom that Christ replaces, these values remain on top: power, comfort, success, and recognition.
The Sermon on the Mount blesses the poor, blesses the meek, blesses the persecuted, blesses you to do good to those that hate you, and blesses you to forgive.
Jesus says we live according to our value system.
If you build your life on the now, you get results I the now, but these things will crumble eventually.
If you build your life on your beauty, one day your beauty will fade.
If you build your life on other people you love and who love you, one day those people will either let you down, or they will die and leave you.
If you build your life on personal achievement and personal power, your own achievements and power will one day be shattered.
If you’re living your life for yourself, spending all your money on yourself, you’re not living like Jesus lived.
If you’re having a huge party for yourself, then the handwriting is on the wall, and your kingdom is about to crumble.
The characteristic mark of what makes you a Christian has to be a reversal of those values.
A Christian learns to prize meekness, sacrifice, poverty, and sorrow.
In other words, Christians are no longer controlled by the things that the world thinks are so critical.
We’re not controlled by power, success, comfort, or recognition.
The word “blessed” means, “deeply satisfied.”
Jesus says that a Christian is a person who can weep, be sorrowful, even be poor, and yet be deeply satisfied.
A Christian is someone who can say, “I’ve lost recognition, but I’m famous with God.”
That’s weeping, but still being deeply satisfied.
Where do you get that kind of power?
Verse 19 says it comes from Jesus.
“…The people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him…”
When Jesus comes to you, He gives of Himself, and that’s where we’re supposed to get the power, from Christ Himself.
When was the last time you’ve got connected to God in such a way?
Would you bow in your heart and ask God to make you a person who could live according to this type of kingdom?
Ask God to show us what it means to live by His Spirit, in Jesus name!
May we allow God’s Holy Spirit to turn our lives inside out and upside down, so we can be a part of the process of making things right side up; the way of God’s kingdom.
