Upside Down Kingdom: Greatness
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Movie: Sandcastles with read over/after:
24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” 28 And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, 29 for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.
Tension
Good Morning Friendship Church…how are we?
So last week we talked about how Jesus liked to use a teaching form called parables, which are simple, memorable stories, often with humble imagery…but always overflowing with meaning beyond the story itself. They are earthly stories that carry heavenly meanings.
Jesus often told these stories to the crowds who could easily relate to the simplicity of the imagery, but they were not always able to grasp the deeper meaning of what Jesus was saying, even as they recognized the authority in which He said it.
This was one of Jesus’ early parables that helped to set up his future parables on the “Kingdom of Heaven”. And the big idea here is that wise men (and women) will build the foundation of their life on what Jesus has taught us. That is the only sure foundation that will weather any storm, anything else is foolishness that will eventually prove disasterous.
As we continue in our “CHRISTOS” series we are at the place in Jesus’ story where has switched gears from teaching the masses to training his Disciples for His coming departure. These men more than anyone else need to be able to recognize what the Jesus’ Kingdom looks like. They needed to be “wise” men who build their lives on the rock solid foundation of the teachings of Jesus.
But as we will see, they still have a ways to go. They are still operating under the idea that Jesus’ Kingdom, will have at least some similarities to the earthly Kingdoms that they are more familiar with…but that is sandy ground that must be abandoned for something much better.
As Jesus talks about the Kingdom of God the Disciples start to see that it is nothing like they expected. So much so that many have come to call it the “Upside Down Kingdom”, because none of what Jesus says fits with their understanding and experience when it came to Kings and Kingdoms. And if we are honest, it doesn’t line up with how we naturally think of Kingdoms either.
But the truth is that the Kingdom of God that Jesus describes is actually the “Upside-Right Kingdom” it is just that we have our expectations Upside Down. So over the next several weeks we are going to see how Jesus trains His Disciples to see how His Kingdom operates so different than anything they would have expected. We are going to see how unlike earthly Kingdoms, “The Kingdom of God” does not operated on values like Pride, Prejudice, Profit or Pedigree. And we may find ourselves turned on our heads as well, as some of our wrong expectations of what God’s Kingdom looks like are revealed.
So to begin our exploration of the “Upside-Down” Kingdom lets turn to the Gospel of Mark chapter 9, p. 845 in the Bibles in the chairs. As you are turning there, I’ll pray and then we will get into the text together.
Truth
30 They went on from there and passed through Galilee. And he did not want anyone to know, 31 for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.” 32 But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him.
So here we have Marks version of events that we have already looked at from the book of Matthew. If we were to look back just one chapter we would find where Jesus asks these disciples “Who do you say that I am” and then Peter makes the good confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. He got it right, but when Jesus tells them of plan for his suffering, death and resurrection, Peter objects and Jesus calls Him Satan because he was standing in opposition of the word and will of God.
Remember all this? You tracking with me?
So this is the second time that Jesus tells His Disciples these things with the instruction that “he did not want anyone to know”. Then listen to what Mark places directly after that event.
33 And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” 34 But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest.
Our First Them this week is...
1. When we focus on ourselves, conflict arises (Mark 9:33-34)
1. When we focus on ourselves, conflict arises (Mark 9:33-34)
The Disciples knew that Jesus was working His way towards Jerusalem and while they clearly didn’t understand how Jesus was going to usher in His Kingdom, they knew that it was happening soon. So taking what they thought they knew about “Kingdom” these Disciples began lobbying for the top positions in the Kingdom. Of course, Jesus would be King but who would be the new Kings “right hand man”. Who would be next in power, authority and control. Who will be the greatest.
The word “greatest” here is the Greek word μέγας (megas) which is where we get our word “Mega” that is often used a prefix to describe somethings as being very large, huge, enormous or to mean a million units of something. Like the megaphone, the mega-gulp, megabytes or the Mega Nerf Gun.
Don’t know if you knew this or not, but the parent haters over at the Nerf factory came out with a Mega Nerf Gun. It wasn’t enough to find regular sized Nerf darts all over the house, now my Son has bigger, faster, louder and longer range darts to attack me with. It’s the greatest Nerf Gun. It’s the most powerful one. It’s the one that you want by your side. It’s the “Mega gun”. These Disciples were arguing over who would be the “Mega-Disciple” in the coming Kingdom of Jesus.
And of course because of who Jesus is, He already knew what they were “discussing on the way”, He just wanted them to consider it. And from their response, we have some idea that they thought Jesus would not approve of the topic of their argument because they never did answer His question.
Regardless of what the disciples had heard and seen from Jesus to this point, they still expected Him to establish an earthly type kingdom and so they began to develop personal ambitions to be a “Mega” force in this new Kingdom. But that is an “Upside Down” way of looking at the Kingdom of God. Anytime we prioritize OUR individual desires like this, it will create a competitive environment that leads to conflict.
APPLICATION>> Unfortunately, this wrong idea of how the Kingdom of God works didn’t end with the 12 Disciples. Many in the Christian Church today struggle to see how their “personal ambition to do great things for God” can actually be a very destructive force in the Kingdom. It is the difference between an attitude that says, “I am going to do this great thing for God” and the one that says “God, you are so great - what would you have me do?”
Do you hear the difference between these two? One starts with us, the other starts with Him. One is focused on lifting ourselves up in how great our service is, where the other is focused on how “great” God is and that leads to His getting the glory no matter how or where He asks us to serve. Sometimes it can be a tricky thing to recognize the difference between these two attitudes.
When we focus on ourselves, conflict arises, but...
2. When we focus on Jesus, attitudes change (Mark 9:35)
2. When we focus on Jesus, attitudes change (Mark 9:35)
As Jesus never got an answer from the arguing Disciples, He decided to take this opportunity to train all the Disciples on how “Greatness” is measured in the Upside Down Kingdom of God.
35 And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”
Talk about upside down! If you wanna be first, you have to be last of all? But if you are last of all, then by definition you can’t be first…so what is Jesus talking about here? How can the one who wants to be the greatest, be the servant of everyone else?
That doesn’t make sense, in their world or ours. The servant was never the most important. They had the least power, the least freedom, the least ability to do what they want. In our world today, it is the bossman, the owner, the guy with the corner office who takes 3 day weekends and goes fishing whenever he wants that is considered the greatest - not the new guy with the least seniority who answers to everyone else in the company.
That is all upside down…yes, it is. It is also a perfect picture of Jesus.
Too many people are selling a picture of Jesus that is upside down from what he taught and did. “Just obey Jesus and you too will be healthy, wealthy and slappy happy”. You will have servants to do everything from washing your clothes to piloting your privet jet.
I don’t know where they get that from. It is certainly not from the example of Jesus. If anything, He left the “corner office” with the most spectacular view ever. He left the glory and majesty of heaven in order to come down here and serve all of us…the very first among us became last - the servant of all.
I would like to tell you that the Disciples got the message, but like it does for most of us, it took the Disciples a few times before they understood what this way of having true power was all about. Looking ahead in chapter 10 we see Mark’s account of the third time that Jesus told His Disciples of the plan for him to be betrayed, suffer, die and then rise again. And again a couple of the Disciples starting fighting over the top positions in the Kingdom.
35 And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” 36 And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” 37 And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.”
To sit on the left or the right was to sit in positions of power in an earthly Kingdom, and these two brothers were taking this opportunity to put in their request for thee positions before they reached Jerusalem and everything started happening. I guess they were thinking ahead…but Jesus questions them to see if they had any idea what following Him into the next stage would look like.
The Sons of Zebedee saw themselves as “able” but they were still thinking earthly kingdom. Probably something close to, “We are ready to fight by your side to the bitter end Jesus”. They didn’t yet understand how Jesus’ Kingdom operates.
However, just as Jesus prophesied, they would both taste some of the same kind of suffering and humiliation that Jesus was about to endure. James and John were both severely punished for the “hate speech” or teaching what Jesus taught. Acts 12 records James being beheaded by Herod Agrippa while John was shipped off to a slave encampment on the Island of Patmos.
But listen to what happened when the other Disciples heard that James and John were power-grabbing
41 And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. 42 And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.
The Great Ones, or Mega - ones in the Kingdom of World operate this way...
43 But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Notice the intentional progression from the word “servant” to the word “slave”. The Greek word for “servant” here is the word diakanos where we get the Church leadership term of deacon. It is someone who volunteers to sacrifice time and energy in ministry to others. But the word for slave is “doulos”. This is not just giving of some of your time and energy, it is giving up your whole life in bonded service to others.
In other words, it the “Upside Down Kingdom” if you wanna be great than be a servant of others, if the want to be even greater than great... then give your whole life in service to others. This is how greatness is measured in the Kingdom of God.
1. When we focus on ourselves, conflict arises, but...
1. When we focus on ourselves, conflict arises, but...
2. When we focus on Jesus, our attitudes change from selfishness to service.
2. When we focus on Jesus, our attitudes change from selfishness to service.
And lastly...
3. When we focus on service, we grow closer to God (Mark 9:36-37).
3. When we focus on service, we grow closer to God (Mark 9:36-37).
36 And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, 37 “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.”
One of the remarkable things about Jesus in His day was His great love for other peoples children. Most every parent loves their own children, but it is not always easy to deal with “other peoples children”. Even in Jesus’ day, parents loved their own children, it was even common for them to bring them to various Rabbi’s to have them bless them, but the attitude was more of a “Children should be seen and not heard” kind of thing. But not for Jesus. He loved to be with and to bless these young children and He valued them individually and as a whole.
We see this again later in Chapter 10, starting in verse 13 we read
13 And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them.
Parents were bringing their children to be blessed by Jesus, and the Disciples were refusing them, with an attitude that said, “Jesus time is too valuable this. He is a King who is working to establish His Kingdom, stoping for these children wil not help Him in that?”…they still had Jesus’ Kingdom “Upside Down”. In His Kingdom there is always time to serve.
14 But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.
The thing that the Disciples were failing to grasp…these children already have it. And Jesus goes on to make this point even stronger:
15 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” 16 And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.
APPLICATION>> We don’t see a universal valuing of the next generation in Jesus’ day, but we still find signs of it in ours. I believe that this is because of our nations roots in a Christian Worldview. It is very popular to criticize our countries history with the Christian worldview, but few of these people realize how valuing the next generation is rooted in the followers of Jesus Christ obeying His teaching and example. And I see our apathy or even acceptance of horrors like abortion and the rise of human trafficking in our county to have a direct correlation to the crumbling of the Christian worldview in our culture. You just cannot love Children like Jesus did and allow them to be treated like this…
14 But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.
And how is it that these children have this intuitive grasp on something that was so hard for the Disciples to understand. What is the intrinsic value in loving other peoples children? Welcoming a young child like Jesus did is a lot of work. They have a lot of questions. They have a lot of needs. And they have really have nothing tangible to offer back to you in exchange for your time and effort.
And there is the key. That is why Jesus made a repeated connection with the receiving of the Kingdom of God and the receiving of a child. It is a service done “in the name of Jesus” where you are purely giving yourself away with no thought of what you might get in return. When we focus on serving like this, then we are growing closer to God.
Gospel Application
Because isn’t that what The Father, in Jesus, did for us? When it comes to eternal things…We are all like children, helpless on our own. We are a lot of work. We have a lot of questions. We have a lot of needs and we come to God with nothing to offer Him but those needs…and that is the only way we can enter the Upside Down Kingdom of Heaven.
Like young children who trust their parents to meet their needs, we are to trust our Heavenly Father in that we have everything we need through the death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Our faith is not about knowing everything or doing everything right, even though we do strive to grow in these areas. At the end of the day, our faith is about knowing that, no matter what happens, our Father who art in Heaven will take care of us.
That is why young children are such a great example of what life in the Upside Down Kingdom looks like. They are not trying to make deals or lobby for more power in the Kingdom, they are just putting their faith in the ones they know they can trust. Even when life is terrifying, or sad or makes no sense, a child trusts in the one whom they belong to.
Landing
So what are you trusting in? What is your foundation built on? It is the rock of Christ Jesus or have you build your live on some other Kingdom, or some other King? Are you still focused on all the “great things” that you can do for God, or are you focused on the Great God who has done the greatest thing for you.
25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.
Let’s pray and prepare our hearts for Communion