The Upside-Down Gospel

I wonder…if Jesus should have asked the crowd that was with him that day…

…that day when he spoke the beatitudes..

I wonder if Jesus should have asked them to stand on their heads while he taught them

Because Jesus was turning the world they knew---upside down!!

They might have expected something like we might expect—still today:

Blessed are those who are strong…they can bully whomever they want.

…impose tariffs, make threats, accept bribes

…declare sovereignty

With limited consequences…minimal accountability…

Blessed are those who are wealthy…they will never go hungry…or cold…

Their kitchens will not be outdated

Blessed are those who are wise to the world---they shall not be scammed or abused…or played

for a fool…

Blessed are those who have invested well: they shall be financially secure in old age

Blessed are those with high self-esteem (warranted or not)—they shall make places for

themselves…

Blessed are those who know how to (wink-wink) have a good time

Those who can hold their drinks…

Who can hook up without guilt

---they shall be satisfied and…they shall have stories to tell.

You know, it doesn’t matter where in the world you happen to be, or which particular culture

shapes you…there are beatitudes of sorts…

--descriptions of the preferred life

The good life

The wholesome life—for better and for worse….like:

Blessed are you if you have a partner of some kind…

Blessed are you if you have many children, preferably sons.

Blessed are you if you have two children…one son and one daughter

There’s a television commercial I saw some time ago…

A fellow shows you his fabulous home, brand-new vehicles, backyard pool, immaculate

yard…and then he says—you’re wondering how I can afford all this????

I’m in debt up to my eyeballs.

Blessed are you if your cash flow allows you the lifestyle you want…think you deserve…

And then Jesus comes along…

And Jesus speaks these “Blessed are…” words…

And you wonder—what do you do with these words?

---do you simply needlepoint them and hang them above your piano?

---or do you try and listen to what they actually say?

Jesus says---it’s the meek.

The mournful

The poor in spirit

The people aching for righteousness

The reviled and the persecuted---

the ones others think are unclean, or disposable

or brush-off-able

These are the blessed…with reason to rejoice and be glad!

Really?

Who’s kidding who?

No one defines the good life the way Jesus does…

And yet—there’s no sense here that Jesus is just offering an opinion of sorts…

This set of sayings comes from Jesus with the force of a royal pronouncement.

A declaration.

A straightforward, unapologetic statement of fact.

--a royal pronouncement: a king, speaking with authority.

There are a couple of things that can help us understand Jesus and what Jesus says here….

--at least, they will get us started in a good direction…

It’s important for us to know that Matthew wrote this account of the good news of Jesus the

Messiah…to a Jewish audience.

--and so Matthew focused on some of the remarkable connections between Jesus and

the history of Israel in the Hebrew Scriptures…

That’s why Matthew begins in chapter 1 with a family tree, a genealogy that shows Jesus to be

the great son of David…

…And then Matthew goes on to tie Jesus in with the might acts of God in the exodus!

So—in Matthew chapter 2 we hear about the wicked king who announced—all the baby boys

must be killed…

--that was King Herod…talking about the babies in Bethlehem…

…and it almost exactly what Pharaoh had said so many years before. Baby boys to be

thrown into the Nile

And both times, one boy escaped the slaughter…

And both times, that boy became the one who set his people free.

Jesus by traveling to Egypt.

Moses by floating into Egypt’s royal family

In chapters 3 and 4, the connections continue. Jesus goes into the wilderness for 40 days…

like Israel into the wilderness for 40 years…

Both Jesus and Israel went there to learn that “man does not live by bread alone…”

And now in chapter 5, where you find these “blessings” and the rest of the sermon…

In chapter 5, where Jesus goes up on the hillside/mountainside…

Matthew once again has something very specific in mind. Which is?

Another mountain. Mount Sinai.

Another proclamation –the giving of the law…

There’s something about what happened at Mt. Sinai….and what happens here with Jesus…that

is connected. And Matthew wants us to catch that…

Often when we think of Mount Sinai—we think law. It’s the ten commandments right? Thou

shalt, and thou shalt not…

We remember it as the place where God laid out the law…

And what we forget too easily, is that God framed, anchored, wrapped these law-words,

these commandments—in the reality of grace.

I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of slavery, away from death

I am the God who gives life… and who sustains life…water, manna, quail, and the

promise of more still coming!!

I’ve set you free from Egypt…---but if you really want to be free, here’s a description of

what the free life looks like: and then came those ten commandments…

My laws spell out the way life can be lived so that it honors me. Gives me glory…

And blesses you!!!

Ah. So when Jesus speaks on the mountain…

Jesus is following up on Mt. Sinai….

He speaks a word about what life looks like when the law is really lived…

When its filled full of its inner spirit…

Doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly

Micah 6 language…not just keeping the law as a set of rules…a way to tick

some boxes …and see how you stack up in the righteousness department…

The “good boy, good girl” department…

But catching the heart of who God is and what God intends….

Jesus…a new Moses…

A new deliverer sent by God…Jesus says…

This is what it looks like when you are truly free. When you live like the images of God that you

are…when you fulfill the law…you are blessed…and others are blessed through you…

Oh—make no mistake, says Jesus,--this isn’t always popular or valued…Sadly, no.

Those who hope in me and trust in me and walk in my ways..

--they will be out of step with the mainstream…

They will be considered fools. Naïve. Weak…

…and in some cases they will be despised by those who are more “enlightened.”

Even persecuted and mistreated. Brushed aside.

But listen,

when you’re at the end of your rope—you are blessed. Huh! That’s when you know your

dependence on God like no other time…and knowing that—for real—that’s a blessing.

You’re blessed when you sense what is broken in life…in the world around you and in your own

life, you’re blessed when you know that this isn’t the way things are supposed to be…because it

isn’t! And it will be mended. And you will be comforted.

You’re blessed when you are content with just who you are. No more. No less…..because then

you know yourself to be rich, and guess what—you then know yourself to be—purely by grace--

-an heir to the entire world.

You’re blessed when you show mercy, because it means you are sharing from the wealth of

mercy you yourself have received. You are living life in the image of God!!

You’re blessed when your heart and mind are in the right kind of focus, because it will open up

your eyes to see God and to see God’s hand not only in your own life, but all around you.

You’re blessed when you work in a spirit of cooperation, not competition or confrontation…you

are an agent of reconciliation

--which makes you a child of God and a sister of Jesus.

You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes reaction…in fact, count yourself

blessed every time people put you down or twist your words because of your trying to

represent me…

--you can be glad when that happens, because even if people don’t appreciate you, I do.

And you’re in good company, you know,---this is the kind of experience that prophets and

witnesses to me have always been having.

This isn’t the way our society would define the blessed life…the good life…

--but this is the kind of life that Jesus himself lived..

He became one of the poor and helpless…

Meek as a lamb

Pure in heart, resisting every temptation

Persecuted for the sake of righteousness…merciful…

--and then---it culminated in the cross!!! The way of Jesus ---foolishness!!

This is power? This is how the kingdom comes???

Yes…oh yes, says Paul to the Corinthian church: trust the truth of this!!!

You know---depending on where you are sitting, Jesus words can sound quite different.

If you are at the back of the bus…bottom of the heap…struggling in a life dominated by those

who have the upper hand….

These words of Jesus can sound tender, lovely…blessed are you…hope…comfort..

If you or I hear them from seats in first class…way nearer the top of the heap than we would like

to admit….they can sound a call to repentance…a reality check.

Here’s how Barbara Brown Taylor sums it up:

“The world looks funny upside down, but maybe that is just how it looks when you have

got your feet planted in heaven. Jesus did it all the time, and seemed to think we could do it

too.

So blessed are those who stand on their heads, for they shall see the world as God sees it.

They shall also find themselves in good company, turned upside down by the only one who

really knows which way is up.’