Upside Down Kingdom: Gentle Power

Introduction

Jesus teaches us that if we are empty handed we will receive His Kingdom. There is nothing that we can bring to Him that will make Him accept us. He makes us citizens of His kingdom in spite of who we are. We are beggars, He makes us children of God. Blessed are the poor in spirit.

Jesus also teaches us that when we mourn over our sins and look to Him for comfort, He will comfort us. The stain of sin is disgusting. The weight of sin is crushing. The punishment of sin is destruction. And Jesus paid it all. He became disgusting. He was crushed. He was destroyed. And in His death, death was destroyed. In the crushing of His body, He crushed the serpent’s head. By becoming filthy, He made us clean. He rose again and give us life. Blessed are those who mourn.

Jesus’ next statement in His introduction to the Sermon on the Mount once again shows us just how upside down the kingdom of this world is. We are taught evolution and natural selection: survival of the fittest. If you want to make it you must be the strongest, bravest, fiercest.

We love athletes that show explosive power. The greatest athletes are the ones that can crush a fastball out of the park. Push through the blockers and get to the quarterback the second he says hike.

We gravitate to the people who are typically the loudest, the cockiest, the smartest, and the toughest person in the room. Social media is full of influencers that are followed by hundreds of people because they have the “best hot takes.”

Even the American Church reveals this about ourselves. People flock to the churches with the best sounding worship teams, the large auditoriums, and the most passionate and charismatic preachers.

Not all of this is bad. There is nothing wrong with being smart and confident. There is nothing wrong with talented musicians and good public speaking skills. There is nothing wrong with being a great athlete or even being the best in whatever you do. It’s not even wrong to have a following. However, pride and arrogance is.

Pride and arrogance have destroyed the lives of so many people. Pride and arrogance makes people bullies. They’re strength becomes domination. They’re success becomes an idol.

Jesus says in Matthew 5:5

Matthew 5:5 ESV

5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

The BIG IDEA for tonight is that we are called to have humility and gentleness in this proud and abrasive world

Big Idea: We are called to be humble and gentle in this proud and abrasive world

1. Humility is Strength

What is humility?

“Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.” -CS Lewis

Often times when we think of humility we think it means that we almost have to demean ourselves. We can fake humility by responding to compliments with “Oh I’m not that good.” We shrug off compliments or hold back a little because we don’t want to come across arrogant. This is not humility.

As CS Lewis said, humility is thinking of yourself less. It’s focusing on the needs of others before your own. It’s seeking reconciliation even if you don’t think you did anything wrong. Humility is serving others, not leading heavy handed.

People falsely equate cockiness and arrogance with strength and power. But Jesus shows us what true strength is.

Philippians 2:3–8 ESV

3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Jesus is God. He is creator and sustainer of all things. And yet, he became like us. He became a man, obeyed the will of the Father, and died on the cross. Why did Jesus do this? He did it for us! He was thinking of us when He was on the cross! He didn’t consider equality with God to be something to grasp and cling to, but clothed Himself as a man, lived with sinners, suffered, and died for us.

Jesus counted us more significant than Himself. He got down and washed the feet of His disciples. He showed compassion to the broken, was counted as a sinner so that sinners could be counted as righteous.

Would any of us say Jesus was weak? Absolutely not. He was silent in the face of his accusers. He healed the broken. He wept over his dead friend. He became friends with outcasts. He bore the wrath of God on our behalf. Jesus shows us that true strength is found in humility.

The best leaders to follow are those who are humble. Those that want to see others succeed. They could care less about making a name for themselves as long as their people are cared for and succeed. The highest award given to people in the military is the Medal of Honor. The stories of those that recieved it showcase courage, strength, selflessness, and humility. It is humility to put the well being of others above your own.

Christians have no excuse not to be humble. We were given grace and forgiveness. We are now children of the King because of the love of Jesus. How can we be anything but humble? How can we not put others first?

We who mourn over our sins and come to Jesus empty handed, how can we live proudly and arrogantly? We love because we are loved. We forgive because we are forgiven. We are called to be humble because Jesus humbly died for us.

But this is not weakness. This does not mean we are doormats. But it does mean we do not seek glory for our own good and for our own name. We do not domineer others. True strength is quiet and gentle.

2. Humility Brings Inheritance

Matthew 5:5 ESV

5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Jesus tells us that those who are humble will inherit the earth. Does this mean that we will own everything? Does this mean that Jackson will be the next king of England?

No. But it does mean we will have an inheritance in the Kingdom of God. Let’s look at what Paul says in the rest of Philippians 2

Philippians 2:3–11 ESV

3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Jesus humbles Himself, dies on the cross and what does Paul say happens? Jesus recieved the name above every name. There is no one greater than Jesus. Everyone will bow down and worship Jesus. Everyone will declare that Jesus is Lord. Jesus recieved glory because of His humble obedience.

We too, will receive glory and honor when we humbly obey God and live for Him. Ephesians 1:11

Ephesians 1:11 ESV

11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,

What is this inheritance? Our inheritance is the same as Jesus’. We will receive glory from the Father. We will not be worshipped as gods but God will glorify us. Romans 8:17

Romans 8:15–18 ESV

15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

We are heirs with Jesus. What belongs to Jesus belongs to us. We will live with Jesus for eternity. We will have no pain, no more suffering. We will have an eternal joy and will enjoy God forever.

One day, when God makes all things new, we will dwell with God on the New Earth in a glorified body.

This is our inheritance.

Conclusion

Humility is not weakness. Humility is strength clothed in gentleness. Live humbly. Live as Children of God and point others to Him. Put others first. This world views strength in terms of power and charisma. Jesus models strength through humility and obedience to God. Follow His example. Obey God, live humbly, and love others.