#ThinkAheadThursday
The last shall be first.
What you do to the least of these, you did also to me.
Love your enemies.
Blessed are the poor.
Christ is Lord.
These are phrases from Scripture you are likely familiar with. By now – some 2,000 years after they were penned – they seem normal. But these are revolutionary words. The Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Good News of Resurrection, the Kingdom of God all turn the world upside down.
Jesus says the last shall be first. The world says the first shall be first.
Jesus says that the way you love your poorest neighbor is the way you love him. The world says to ignore your poorest neighbor.
Jesus says love your enemies. The world says hate your enemies.
Jesus says blessed are the poor. The world says the opposite in so many ways.
Jesus says that he is Lord. The world says Caesar is lord.
The world has had “turning upside down” moments.
There is an old English Christmas song called “The World Turned Upside Down,” based on this week’s reading, which speaks of Jesus’s birth as an event that turned the world on its head. Jesus was born a king, no longer were Herod and Caesar kings.
It is said that when General Cornwallis surrendered, ending the Revolutionary War, this song was played. The British were defeated, America would become its own nation. In other words, the world was turned upside down.
Fast forwarding to today, we’re in the midst of a pandemic that has turned the world upside down.
So when we read this in Acts 17 about the church in Thessalonica, “These people who have been turning the world upside down have come here also…” we know how disruptive the gospel of Jesus was in this Greek city.
Has the gospel disrupted your life? Has your world been turned upside down?
Zooming out, has the church lived out the gospel in such a way that our world has been turned upside down? If we’re not turning the world upside down, if we’re going along with the world as the world goes, are we successfully preaching the gospel with our words and actions?
Pastor Drew's Desk 