When I was a camp counselor during the summers of my High School and College years, I looked forward to the many theme days that we would have throughout the summer. We’d have international food days—complete with French Toast, Tacos, and Hungarian Goulash (that you’d eat with your fingers), or we’d have Christmas in July, or sometimes we’d have an entire theme week based around the Olympics.
One of my favorite theme days was “Backwards” day—where we’d wake the campers up with “Taps” played on the trumpet, take them out lower the flag, and then go to campfire service. This would be followed by games, supper, free swim and craft time, lunch, crafts, morning Bible study, breakfast, and finally we’d conclude the day with morning cabin devotionals. The campers who really got into it would wear their clothes backwards or inside-out, walk backwards, and even try to talk backwards.
You know, in a lot of areas of life, there really is no such thing as “backwards.” Most of our definitions of “backwards” are culturally defined, as opposed to absolutely defined. For instance, I’m not sure that there’s anything particularly backwards about starting the day with the campfire service and ending the day with cabin devotionals. Does it really matter that we had Chop Suey in the morning and pancakes at night? Certainly, while clothes might look funny when worn backwards or inside-out, most hikers and athletes prefer clothes that have the seams and stitches on the outside instead of the inside, because they irritate the skin less.
At the same time, there are black-and-white issues in our lives that are much more absolutely defined—not so much as backwards or forwards—but as right and wrong. God’s teaching is not really negotiable, and those who break His commandments usually discover the consequences for their behavior. It would be a mistake to assume that the moral teaching of the Bible is simply a collection of cultural constructs that only apply to the authors and the original readers.
At the same time, we know that Jesus came, not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it; we also know that he did so in such unconventional ways that he seemed to turn everything Upside-down, Backwards, and Inside-out. All of the human conceptions of religion were completely renovated by this new Rabbi—and to follow Him meant to abandon many of the rituals and practices that had become institutionalized portions of your faith.
You’ve already heard a bit of this “Upside-down, Backwards, and Inside-out” nature of Christianity this morning. Paul wrote, in Second Corinthians 12, verse 10: “That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.” That sounds like quite a list of things to delight in—we would say that Paul must be a “glutton for punishment.” Who would want all of those things to happen to them? Who would want any of those things to happen? But then, just when you think Paul is done presenting his Upside-down view of life, he pens these amazing words: “For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
How can Paul say these things that appear to make no sense? Because he is following the Christ who turns everything Upside-down, Backwards, and Inside-out. He has just finished writing about the “thorn in his flesh” which has tormented him—and while we don’t know exactly what this “thorn” was, we know that three times he asked God to remove it—but God reminded him that His grace was sufficient, and that His power was made perfect in weakness. Since Paul places all of his confidence in God’s strength, and not his own, he is able to say “when I am weak, then I am strong.”
Paul doesn’t boast about those things that would be easy to boast about—he doesn’t boast about his Damascus-road vision—he barely even claims it as his own. Instead, he boasts in his weaknesses—why? Because it’s in his weaknesses that God is revealed. In other words, Paul is not interested in doing and saying those things that will advance himself or his reputation—but only those things that will bring greater glory to God.
In our Gospel lesson today, found in Mark chapter 6, Jesus begins teaching in his hometown….where people around him said, “Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Where did he get this wisdom and these teachings?” In other words—“we know this guy…we’re not going to follow Him.” Jesus responds with a quote that has gone down in history and is often quoted simply as conventional wisdom today—“A prophet has no honor in his own hometown.”
While today’s conventional wisdom may be based upon that quote, it probably wasn’t the conventional wisdom of Jesus’ day—at least not to anyone who was well-versed in the rise of King David to the throne of Israel. I invite you to hear our Old Testament lesson today, found in Second Samuel 5:1-10--
[Read I Samuel 5:1-10]
I find it substantially ironic that in our Old Testament lesson, the elders approach David and say, “You are our flesh and blood—we want you to rule over us,” while in our Gospel lesson, the people in Jesus’ hometown are offended at Jesus—not so much because of what he taught, but because he was one of them—someone from their town—someone they had watched grow up from a little boy. David was a good choice for King because he was “one of them.” At the same time, Jesus was rejected by people in his own home town because he was “one of them.” John 1:10-11 says, “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive Him.”
Oh, to be sure…there are many similarities between David and Jesus—both from the same tribe—in fact, Jesus was born in the house and lineage of David. Both were described as shepherds—which is certainly a unique description for a king—not a warrior or great commander, but a shepherd—one who offers care and guidance. Both were said to have an eternal kingdom or dynasty—with David’s perpetual dynasty being fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus the Christ and His eternal Kingdom.
And yet, their rise to leadership came in two very different ways. While David made great pains to demonstrate that his trust was not in chariots, horses, swords, or javelins, we know that the people around him wanted him to be their king because he had led them in battle. They knew David—he was a known quantity, therefore he was a good choice as a king to succeed Saul. However, it was precisely the fact that Jesus was a known quantity (or so they thought) that caused people to distrust him—viewing him as an arrogant upstart who had no business teaching. David was a virtual “nobody” who became a “somebody” when he became King. Jesus was God Almighty, and He had to become a “nobody” in order to be the Messiah—and even then, we didn’t immediately follow Him.
Later in his life, it becomes apparent that those who view him as the Messiah are expecting him to be a great military leader, who (like David) leads them to victory against their enemies. David led the Israelites in battle against the Philistines, the Amalekites, and the Jebusites—and so they wanted to follow Him. Scholars have suggested that one of the reasons the crowds were so willing to execute Jesus was because He seemed unwilling to lead them in battle against the Romans. What kind of a Messiah talks about “loving your enemies” and “praying for those who persecute you”?
For the Kingdom that Jesus came to establish is not a physical kingdom. It is not a Kingdom established by political structures or weapons of war. This battle is not against “flesh and blood,” but against the “spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” It is not a Kingdom which will have geographical boundaries, its armies will not have armor of bronze, iron, steel, or even titanium, and it won’t be guided by the prevailing conventional wisdom of this world.
No, the Kingdom of God will be nothing like any Kingdom this world has ever seen—it will be an Upside-down, Backwards, Inside-out Kingdom—
--where the poor in spirit inherit the Kingdom, where the mourners are comforted, the merciful are shown mercy, and the peacemakers are called the Sons of God. It will be a kingdom where those who are insulted, persecuted, and lied about will be blessed.
It will be a Kingdom where the first will be last and the last will be first; where the those who wish to save their life must first abandon it; where life comes only through dying, success only through taking up the cross daily. In this kingdom, the children will be valued—in fact, the only people invited to the Kingdom are those who have become like little children. The greatest will be those who are the servants—the poor will say that they are rich, the weak will be strong, the blind will see, the lame will walk, the mute will shout for joy.
The conventional wisdom of this world tells you to work hard, earn money, buy toys, climb to the top (even if you step on others on the way), lie, cheat, and steal—as long as you succeed in the end, it doesn’t matter how you got there. The conventional wisdom of this world places a high value on reputation—even at the cost of personal integrity. Political gain is valued over truth and honesty. Power is to be chased at all costs.
But the Kingdom that Jesus describes throughout His teachings is one where you help someone else to the top—where you consider other’s interests as more important than your own. This is a Kingdom where you serve those around you—instead of expecting them to serve you. In the Kingdom of God, you truly must pick up your cross and lay down your life. Only then can you truly live the abundant life that you have been promised.
Jesus challenged all of the old conventional wisdoms of his day—I think that’s why he got such a different response than King David got from His subjects. That’s not to say that David was a bad King—not at all…he was the best King that the nation of Israel ever had. But, outside of the prophetic fulfillment found in Jesus, the line of David failed. His descendants did not all live up to the standard that he set for the throne. His kingdom did not last forever, for his was a physical kingdom. The Kingdom that Jesus began to establish, and is continuing to establish, is an eternal kingdom, built on principles that will last forever. His Kingdom is what we call “The Church,” and by this, I don’t mean a building, or a congregation, or even a denomination. The Kingdom of God, the Church, is the Body of Christ, working together with Christ as its head to bring glory to God.
And yet, I have to wonder what would happen if Jesus stood in our midst today? What would He think of our houses and cars? What would he think of our collections of entertainment and the way we spent our time? How would we respond if we heard Him say, “He who wants to be a Christian must sell everything he owns and give to the poor”? What if He said, “If you want to find your life, you must lose it”? Or, “if you want to follow me, you must lay down your life every single day of the year, you must crucify yourself and your own desires”?
And then we need to ask what He would think of our churches. Do they resemble the Kingdom of God? Or are they human structures that are more concerned with making “us” feel good than bringing glory to God? Does our church make decisions based upon discovering and fulfilling God’s purpose for us? Or do we look at what would benefit us and make us feel good? Are our denominational structures useful in advancing the Kingdom of God? Or are they built upon the conventional wisdom of power and prestige? Does the church growth movement really seek to bring new people into saving knowledge of Jesus Christ? Or is it primarily focused on building bigger and better churches in a desire to be like the rest of corporate America?
Our churches should primarily be about equipping and mobilizing the Body of Christ to do that which God has called it to do—namely bringing Him glory and serving as His ambassadors upon this world. When we deviate from that purpose, we fail to be what He has called us to be.
I have to wonder if we have adopted our own sets of structures and rituals that have nothing to do with following that Rabbi from Nazareth. Surely we don’t follow the conventional wisdom as presented by the religious leaders of His day, but is it possible that we have simply replaced it with our own? Are we truly laying our own interests aside, crucifying ourselves, serving others? Are we striving to be first by being last? Are we making all of our decisions for the benefit of the person who doesn’t know Jesus? Are we boasting in our weakness because that is when God’s strength shines through?
I’ve said that the Kingdom of God, as presented by Jesus seems to be Upside-down, Backwards, and Inside-out. It goes against all of the conventional wisdom that this world has to offer. And yet, it would be better to say that the Kingdom of God is Rightside-up, Forwards, and Rightside-out, and that it is our world that is Upside-down, Backwards, and Inside-out.
It is up to us to examine our own ideas of success and happiness. It is up to us to consider how our plans and goals mesh with the goals of the Kingdom of God. This is not a cultural issue like “backwards day” at camp. We’re not talking about whether you eat pancakes in the morning or at night, or whether you wear clothes with seams on the inside or the outside. Unlike Backwards Day, it really does make a difference which way you are going and how you are living your life. You are either aligned with the Kingdom of God, or you are aligned with the Upside-down, Backwards, Inside-out kingdom of this world.
Perhaps you are listening today and are thinking to yourself, “but it really does sound like the Kingdom of God is the Backwards and Upside-Down one. I’m not sure I can change my perspective so that I see the Kingdom of God as Rightside-Up.” Maybe you can’t change your perspective…perhaps your vision is cloudy and poor. Maybe the values of this world have so corrupted your perspective that you can’t see the Kingdom of God at work around you.
What we need is to have our vision adjusted—so that we no longer look at ourselves and our interests, but we become consumed by seeing God’s vision. We ask Him to sanctify our imaginations so that we can see—not what is—but what could be. We ask Him to show us His vision and purpose for us—that we might fulfill it. We ask Him to be our wisdom, our vision, our best thought.
Before we sing our closing hymn today, I’d like to ask you to close your eyes and bow your heads and listen to its lyrics—allowing them to become the prayer of your heart. But know this—if you pray this prayer, you may just begin to see the world around you as Upside-down, Backwards, and Inside-out.
Be Thou my vision
O Lord of my heart
Naught be all else to me
Save that Thou art
Thou my best thought
by day or by night
Waking or sleeping
Thy presence my light
Be Thou my wisdom
and Thou my true word
I ever with Thee
And Thou with me Lord
Thou my great Father,
I Thy true son
Thou in my dwelling,
And I with Thee one.
(Listen to this sermon online @ http://www.capenazarene.org/ftp/sermonaudio/cecn_071606_backwards.mp3 Or, you can subscribe to the weekly podcast at http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=129585252)
