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…from the end of the earth I call to You when my heart is faint. (Psalm 61:2 ESV)

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Everyone has someone they reach out to in certain situations.  Well, maybe not everyone. 

But when a Christian’s heart is faint, we have a common person on whom we call.

The world turns to Psychology, political power, financial success, our own abilities, knowledge, experience, and donuts.

But we, God’s people, turn to the One True Living God.  We turn to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 

And the world does not understand that. 

The world cannot understand that.

And so our hope and our help turn their world upside down.

Celebrate!

God, you are my God. I celebrate you. I praise you.  (Psalm 60:2 ESV)

Celebrate

Some grumpy people, when being grumpy, are grumpy.  No matter what we tell them, they do not like it.  Sun is shining? Don’t cheer, it is probably causing skin cancer.  Yummy food? Don’t cheer, it is unhealthy.  Fun event?  Don’t cheer, we’re wasting time. 

Recently we have seemed to live in an age of eggshells.

Our enthusiasm (in any direction) might hurt someone, so we keep it tamped down.  Our joy might be someone’s sorrow, so we keep it to ourselves.  Our exciting experience might trigger pain in someone else, so we do not talk about it.

But when it comes to God, do not walk on eggshells.

We do not have to!

We can praise Him unabashedly.  We can be honest about our hurts, our fears, our concerns, and our feelings.  We do not need to fear His reaction (because He loves!) We do not need to fear others’ reactions (because they are not God!) We do not need to do anything but praise Him!

That kind of celebration turns our immediate communities upside down!

Keeping Rules vs. LIFE

And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. (II Corinthians 3:3 ESV)

Keeping rules vs.  LIFE

Guitar chords have nearly become a part of my being.  I am usually able to play an A sharp minor seventh suspended without thought.  I just know what it is, because those chords had been written on my heart, in a way.  Of course, some moments I do better than others…

When I began to learn the banjo and mandolin, however, things did not go so well.  I had to slowly and purposefully choose the placement of my fingers.  I had to be very conscience of what chord was needed, and how to play it.  It was written on the musical score, but not in my fingers or my heart.

God’s Law (more than merely the ten commandments… but His Laws of how He works, how the universe works, and how we fit in with all of that) is written on the hearts of His people, through the Holy Spirit.

A Christian living by faith has God’s Law written on our hearts.  We do not always access it, but it is a part of us.  We do not always notice it, but it is a part of us.  We do not always act like it, but it is a part of us.

But the orchestra of our lives is more beautiful because of it.

It should not lead to arrogance, but rather wonder.  It should not lead to complacency, but rather excitement.  It should not lead to intellectual sleepiness, but rather an attitude of investigation.  It should not lead to self-awareness, but rather walking comfortably with the Lord.

And when we realize that we live amongst a world of people without that connection, it turns everything upside down.

The Right Side

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  (Genesis 1:1 ESV)

The Right Side

As you look around today, be assured that around half of the people you see are disappointed, and half of the people you see are pleased.

But both sides have an opportunity to think God’s thoughts after Him.

God is God.

Whether considering the movements of comets, or bringing snow to Northwest Kansas.  Whether considering the formation of black holes, or providentially providing a surprising good night’s sleep.  Whether the cancer disappears, or the baby is born early.

God is God.

Because God is God, whether the Republicans think they have power, or the Democrats think they have power.

If you are afraid this morning because of the political situation, then cry out to God and believe that the God who loves His people so much that He killed His Son for us is still God.  Let fear drive you to Him.

If you are exuberant this morning because of the political situation, then praise our good God, not the electoral college system, statistical analysis, wily stratagem, or anything else.

I wonder why we saw a lot of pre-election prayer meetings… but not so many post election prayer meetings.  Both the fear kind, and the glad kind.

Maybe it shows who our god really is….

BUT the gospel can turn this upside down.  Because Jesus is King and has delegated authority.  Because God was not surprised, nor heaven shocked at any election results.  Because God isn’t overly glad or worried about last night.

Because HE is God.

Menu

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, I am the Lord your God.  You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. (Leviticus 18:1-3 ESV)

Menu

I have a delightful friend who is annoying in one way.  When eating out, he never seems to just choose from the menu.  Perhaps it is ala carte, or perhaps it is adjusting the offerings, or perhaps he is merely very fussy.

But when he orders his meal, he stands out.

I imagine the servers, cooks, and managers asking, “Why can’t he just be like everyone else?”

But God’s people are like my friend, perhaps.

They were not like the other nations on the menu.  They did not live like the Egyptians.  They did not live like the Canaanites.  They did not live like the Philistines.  They did not live like the Assyrians.  They did not live like the Babylonians. They did not live like the Romans.

They lived like God told them to live.

They stood out.  They were different.  They did not fit in.

And when done in love, in humility, in awareness that we only can live that way through God’s grace, mercy, and Son…

It turns the world upside down.

Slave

Paul, am a devoted slave of Jesus Christ on assignment, (Romans 1:1 The Message)

Slaves

No one… absolutely no one… wants to be a slave.  Great stories are told of slaves who yearned for none-slavery, fought for non-slavery, and found non-slavery.

But Paul brags about being a slave.

Not just a slave though; a slave of Jesus Christ.

Paul, probably the greatest theologian, bragged about being a slave.  Paul, the Jew of Jews, bragged about being a slave.  Paul, author of thirteen books of the Bible, bragged about being a slave.  Paul, the most famous convert and preacher of his day, bragged about being a slave.

That turns our ambition upside down.

Bigger church or slave of Christ?  More notches on our Bible or slave of Christ?  Political power or slave of Christ?  Mental data base of knowledge or slave of Christ?  Best behaved family or slave of Christ?  Prestigious job or slave of Christ?  Dreams accomplished or slave of Christ?  Fanciest car or slave of Christ? 

Jesus Himself left heaven for dusty Judea.  Jesus Himself left the right hand of His father for the road to the cross.  Jesus himself, the perfect man, took our curse on Himself.

Be His slave.

Legalists

Then He said, “The Son of Man is no slave to the Sabbath; He’s in charge.” (Luke 6:5 The Message)

Legalists

No one loved the Law like Jesus.  No one kept the Law like Jesus.  No one obeyed the Law like Jesus.

In fact, His perfect obedience provides a replacement for our DISobedience.  We could not be saved without it.

But sometimes we are more legalist than Jesus.

The purpose of the Law is to help God’s people.   The purpose of the Law is to show us God’s desires.  The purpose of the Law is to introduce us to our need for Christ, and then pull us into Him.

The purpose of the Law is NOT simply to obey the Law.

We are not Law-ians… we are Christians.  We are not Obedienc-ians… we are Christians.  We are not Perfect-ians… we are Christians.

And that turns the religious world upside down.

Relent

When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it. (Jonah 3:10 ESV)

Relent

The  Bible has examples of foolish folk who keep promises they should not have kept.  For instance, a judge vowed to kill the first person he saw, if only God would give the victory He had already promised.  When he won, that judge foolishly killed the next person he saw:  His daughter.

But God relents of threats God has made, that in the end would harm His people.

He softened His heart towards the Egyptians, the wandering Israelites, and those who nailed Him to a cross.

And here, when the Ninevites turned from their sin, even past the last warning, God saved them.

Demanding God’s justice is a scary and dangerous thing.  Unexpectedly, He is gracious oh so very often.

And that turns MY world upside down.

Complaining

“It’s not you I’m complaining to—it’s God.Is it any wonder I’m getting fed up with his silence? (Job 21:4 The Message)

Complaining

Football coaches do not like complaining fans.  Employees do not like complaining bosses.  Children do not like complaining parents.  Drivers do not like complaining state troopers. 

I do not even like it when my dog complains.

We expect that God is dtispleased when we complain.

And if our complaints are dressed in selfishness, whining, and faithlessness, then He is not pleased.  (In fact, He killed His Son to pay for those sins…)

BUT, if our complaints are crying out in fear, then He inclines His ears.  If our complaints are made in faith that He CAN help, then He hears us.  If our complaints honest, un-gilded, faithful reminders of His faithful promises, then God might even smile.

God’s people turn the world upside down because we know how to complain, get to complain, and rest in complaining. 

Complaining

“It’s not you I’m complaining to—it’s God.Is it any wonder I’m getting fed up with his silence? (Job 21:4 The Message)

Complaining

Football coaches do not like complaining fans.  Employees do not like complaining bosses.  Children do not like complaining parents.  Drivers do not like complaining state troopers. 

I do not even like it when my dog complains.

We expect that God is displeased when we complain.

And if our complaints are dressed in selfishness, whining, and faithlessness, then He is not pleased.  (In fact, He killed His Son to pay for those sins…)

BUT, if our complaints are crying out in fear, then He inclines His ears.  If our complaints are made in faith that He CAN help, then He hears us.  If our complaints honest, un-gilded, faithful reminders of His faithful promises, then God might even smile.

God’s people turn the world upside down because we know how to complain, get to complain, and rest in complaining. 

Restart

Upside Down

And the king went up to the house of the Lord, and with him all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the prophets, all the people, both small and great. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in the house of the Lord. II Kings 23:2 ESV

Restart

Usually, restarts are not satisfying.  When I am losing at a computer game, and I start over, somehow later success seems lessened.

When I am trying to work on the plumbing under my sink, and it gets so messed up that I have to start over, somehow the eventual success seems lessened.

When I am reading a difficult book, and my mind gets so confused that I have to start over, somehow the final knowledge seems lessened.

Maybe it is not lessened.  But it seems like it.

But the Gospel allowing us repeatedly to start over is not lessened by the repeat.

God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, forgives us over and over and over and over and over.  And each time it is not less wonderful, but more-so.

There is nothing else like it in the world.

And it turns the world upside down.

Know-It-Alls

Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” (Revelation 21:5 ESV)

Know-It-All

At my elementary school was a student who almost got jumped up a grade, and who had an opinion on nearly every subject.  He was smart, knew it, and was somewhat arrogant about it.

He was a know-it-all.  We all took note the day he no longer seemed to know it all.  The day he was wrong.

Christians have a source of knowledge that is always correct.  However, we interpreters are no so reliable.  We might sometimes act like WE are always right, but WE are not.  God’s Word IS.

When God’s Word was brought by God’s people through the Roman Empire that brought truth.  Not truth about which horse to purchase, or who would be appointed pro-consul, or the precise distance between two towns.  But truth about reality.  Truth about God.  Truth about salvation.

And in a world of know-it-alls (just like today) I expect that was unusual. 

Those times when the bringers presented true truth as their own, it probably had little effect on the world.

But when the bringers presented the truth as God’s truth… it turned the world upside down.

Because truth is truth.

Not because we know it… but because God tells it.

Victory

In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed be Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.” (Isaiah 19:24,25 ESV)

Upside Down Victory

This is an amazing message.  We think victory only means death and destruction for the enemy.  But that is not God’s plan.

Even Egypt, the enslaver… and Assyria, the conqueror… will no longer be God’s enemies NOT because they are destroyed.  But because HE is drawing them in, through Christ Jesus!

We are not used to thinking about God’s victory in those terms…  but God’s Upside Down gospel does exactly that.

Egyptians become believers.  Death becomes the entrance into heaven.  Divisions come under the Lord’s unifying umbrella.

Only Sin is ultimately completely wiped out.

And since Sin started the whole bad game, that makes a lot of sense.

Even our world is turned upside down when we consider that.

In fact, our way of thinking about winning is not winning at all. 

The Gospel turns the world upside down.

Someone Else, Later

Upside Down

Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Why not, if there will be peace and security in my days?” (II Kings 20:19 ESV)

Someone Else, or Later

While we might see that the terrible effects of our actions, our decisions, our attitudes will someday hit home, we mostly think it will hit someone else.

This is why we rarely consider the effects of our actions, decisions, and attitudes on the economy, the ecology, or history. 

Hezekiah made a foolish decision concerning Babylon.  He bragged to them about how much wealth his nation had.  He showed off his power.  And the Babylonian Envoys went back home and started planning the fall of Jerusalem.

When Isaiah warned Hezekiah about the future, the King thought it sounded ok.

Why not?  The future would pay for yesterday’s mistakes.

But in truth, effects always have an effect. 

Cause and effect.  Just desserts.  The end comes because of the means.

But for Christians, HE takes our effect on Himself.  HE ate our just dessert.  HE saves us from the terrible effects of our thoughts, words, and deeds.

And if you are thinking, “ok, then… I’ll let HIM carry that burden and do what I want!”  then He is probably not doing it for you.  Because the Love between us and Christ is both what stops us from saying that… AND is the reason He does it.

Someone else, yes:  Jesus Christ.  Some other time: on Calvary.

Payment

And if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be clean.” (Leviticus 12:8 ESV)

Payment

The Old Testament Law had careful and complete requirements for offerings and sacrifices, all of which were intended to cover every unrighteous thought, word, and deed.

And that felt comfortable.

Sin?  Here are instructions for what to do.

Somehow became unclean?  Here are instructions for what to do.

Had unrighteous thoughts, words, or deeds?  Here are instructions for what to do.

The thing is, those things did not really do anything.

Perhaps they made those who brought the offerings feel better, but nothing really changed.

Those instructions simply and merely pointed to the One who WOULD make things right, the Messiah.

But for the people who wanted THEIR work to count, THEIR sacrifice to count, THEIR actions to count… that Messiah, when He arrived, was hard to take. 

But Jesus the Messiah was the only way.

And that turned the religious world upside down.  It still does.

Ears that Hear

Upside Down

And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. (Isaiah 30:21 ESV)

Ears that Hear

I usually practiced my guitar in privacy.  Mostly because my mother had perfect pitch.  She could hear any note and know exactly what note it was.  She could hear if it was slightly sharp, or slightly flat.  Or just wrong.

And for a young guitar player, just learning to tune my guitar, that was beyond annoying.

When someone else can hear something we cannot, it easily becomes offensive.  Whether it is an A sharp, a rattle in the engine, a phone buzzing, or a neighbor muttering… ESPECIALLY when that thing that is heard is more correct, more accurate, more useful, and more true.

Christians know Christ’s voice.  We do not always understand it correctly.  We do not always act like we hear.  We do not always enjoy hearing. 

But uniquely in the world, God has given us ears that hear.  Through our faith, through the Holy Spirit, through our relationship with Him and His people.

And those that do not hear, do not understand.

And when we hear truth, and others believe non-truth… that turns the world upside down.

Not merely in ethics, economy, and relationships.

But in salvation itself.

Hearing the truth leads to salvation.  NOT hearing it leads to death.

And that turns the world upside down.  Forever.

News

He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord. (Psalm 112:7 ESV)

News

What do you expect to hear or learn today?

If God is indeed love, we can expect good news.

If God is indeed sovereign, we can expect good news.

If God is indeed at work, we can expect good news.

If God is indeed all powerful, we can expect good news.

If God is indeed at work, completing the good work He has begun in us (Philippians 1:6), we can expect good news.

If God has indeed adopted us as His children, we can expect good news.

The world expects bad news, and usually receives it.  But God turns our world upside down.  He brings Good News.

Unexpected

…He has brought down the mighty from their thrones

and exalted those of humble estate; (Luke 1:52 ESV)

Unexpected

I sometimes enjoy a card game that we call Rich Man, Poor Man.  This game has odd rules, in which it seems that success breeds failure, and failure breeds success.  Winning the game is tricky, because the results are not what we are used to.  In this strange game, the end is not usually predictable.

The predictable is often comfortable.

Mary points out that by mankind’s standards, God is unpredictable.

Because He saves by Grace, regular status does not matter.

Because He loves unconditionally, popular status does not matter.

Because He is Almighty God, our squabbles over status do not matter.

He lifts and lowers, and turns the world upside down.

Peace

Upside Down

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (II Thessalonians 1:2 ESV)

Peace

 I once worked as a telephone salesman for a janitorial supply company.  The company had developed a sales technique in which we pushed one of our products, a spray-on chemical that supposedly bonded with each individual fiber to protect fabric (carpets in particular) from stains.  We began by describing a horrid stain event, in which some unprotected material was completely ruined by a series of stains.

We did not always complete a sale.  But one customer was memorably annoying, in that he laughed at our danger warnings.  He had a frustrating peace with the condition of his customers’ carpet. 

Other peoples’ peace can be hard to take, when we do not share their sense of peace.

When Christians began to bring the Good News to the Roman world… a world of chaos, danger, political intrigue, injustice, violence, and fear (although they DID make great roads), Christians’ peace would have stood out.

Their peace in Christ’s sovereignty, peace in God’s grace, peace in the Trinity’s full-orbed salvation, peace in their saviors power, and peace in their future would have been strange, inexplicable, and non-sensible.

And that peace turned the world upside down.

It still does, or can, or would today.

If God’s people, living in Christ, forgot our fears and had peace.  If God’s people, living through Christ, forgot our fears and had peace.  If God’s people living for Christ, forgot our fears and had peace.

Wonder

Upside Down

Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days

that you would not believe if told. (Habakkuk 1:5 ESV)

Wonder

Talking with children and old people can be inspiring.  Both extremes of age have such wonder when they consider the world.  The young because they have so much to learn, and are just starting to comprehend and apprehend what God has done.  And the old because they have learned so much, but are realizing that they still do not comprehend and apprehend everything God has done.

Our modern brains work pretty hard to try to understand everything. Sometimes we think we have arrived.  Somethings we think we have drunk knowledge to the bottom of the mug. Sometimes we think we can stop learning because we at least know all that is important, if not all of everything.

But God’s people can see things differently.  We know that God knows all, and we get to think His thoughts after Him.  And because of that, we can be not only BORN in wonder, but LIVE in wonder, and CONTINUE in wonder.

And that is wonderful.