UPSIDE DOWN KINGDOM
First Shall be Last; Last Shall be First
I’ve noticed that the Kingdom of God is counter-cultural.
When pop culture says, “take”, Heaven says “give”.
When pop culture says “sue for what you’ve been robbed”, Heaven says, “bless your enemies”.
Heaven says, “Love those who hate you, pray for those who persecute you.”
Heaven says, “those who try to save their lives will loose it, and those who lose their lives for my sake will find it”
Jesus turned mindsets and believing on their heads when He taught the perfectly illogical and life-giving gems of the faith journey. What Jesus modelled and taught so often seems back-to-front and upside-down. I might add that His concepts were equally as challenging 2000 years ago as they are today.
In our desperate pursuit of filling the insatiable appetite for individual rights and self-interests we are not joining some very obvious dots. The bag we are constantly trying to fill is somehow always empty, and we are left wanting.
CS Lewis beautifully wrote:
“If I find within myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”
There is one such Upside-Down principle that is among the most miss-understood topics of our generation. We don’t get it, we don’t like it, it makes us uneasy, confused, and vulnerable. Because we don’t understand its power we avoid it. In Western consumer culture, with its capitalist core beliefs, this topic is perhaps one of the most taboo, shunned, despicable even stupid notions anyone could hold.
HUMILITY
Jesus addressed hypocritical, harsh, burdensome religious leaders by saying, “But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Matthew 23:11-12 (NKJV)
He corrected his own disciples on two separate occasions by saying, “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last and servant of all.” Mark 9:35 and Mark 10:43-44
Somehow we read the Word of God, we can sit under Biblical teaching every Sunday, and yet we continue to doubt the heart and intent of God.
“It doesn't even makes sense,” we ponder, “it can't possibly be true.”
“He’s holding out on me,” we convince ourselves. “I should take what’s mine and look after myself.”
We forget that we are but fallen vessels in a fallen corrupt world. Trying to preserve ourselves in that state will never lead to the life we so crave. Only a supernatural antidote, an upside-down principle, will resuscitate these dead bones.
The progressive story shared between Saul, David and Absolom in the scriptures of First and Second Samuel is a heartbreaking reminder of the eternal battle between self and God; between pride and humility.
When we look at these three men, we can easily group Saul and Absalom together as prideful men, while David stands alone as humble.
It was Saul and Absalom who lived according to the worldview of self-promotion and self-preservation. David, on the other hand, had spears thrown at him by Saul and defamatory accusations thrown at him by his son, Absalom, yet he never rose up to challenge either one of them.
He allowed their attacks to violently and consistently destroy any part of him that resembled pridefulness.
What Saul and Absalom failed to realise was that David would allow God to use their assaults on him to harvest the very best in him. And as David emerged years later from an internal death so brutal, he was barely recognisable. The only remaining remnants of David were altogether humble, broken, and God-honouring.
It reminds me of a Mexican Proverb that says, “What tried to bury me knew not I was really a seed.”
We are seeds! Just seeds!
And a seed will never reach its potential unless it falls to the ground and is buried in the cold, dark lonely Earth. Within that hidden place, the seed surrenders itself to the process of being broken open. Only then does new life emerge (after a period of time alone and undone), eventually piercing the Earth again. There is an orchard inside that seed, but it will never be realised until the seed is broken.
Beneath the surface there is so much miraculous activity taking place, but no one sees it. There is a tumult of painful reckoning occurring, but no one knows about it.
God does indeed do His best work in obscurity.
Jesus put it this way, “unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” John 12:24-25 (NKJV)
So when we feel as though we are being broken by people and situations, what is to be done? When blades and accusations are piercing our skin and our heart, what is to be our response? Quite simply this: Keep our tongues free from guile. Keep our actions above reproach. Resist becoming the thing we hate. Be a light in the darkness and Grace abounding in lawlessness.
The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still. (Ex 14:14) Now, if that be true we can only TRUST GOD!
Saul and Absalom refused to be taken down. They refused to “die” to self; they were ruled and controlled by selfish desires. Ultimately following their feet into their own graves. They both died seeking promotion, seeking self.
Herein lies the sobering truth:
A REFUSAL TO DIE, WILL ULTIMATELY KILL ME.
Yet David, choosing to die over and over again, was upheld by God Himself.
A prideful person will look for quick-fixes and self-gratification. A humble person understands that the small hidden seeds of wise choices over a long period of time will bear healthy strong fruit in the long term. A humble person knows what it means to die now in order to live later.
Dying to self starts with believing that there is a God who created me and did so for a purpose. I am not alone and aimless in the world. When I believe this, only then can I abandon myself to my Heavenly Father and know that living according to His purposes will bring me the life I am actually craving for. It is about becoming empty of self-will and being fully immersed in the Will of God (Galatians 2:20).
Saul, David and Absolom did all have one thing in common with each other, and with the rest of us. They all sinned; but this is where the similarities end between these three men.
Saul and Absalom allowed their sins and their failures to infuriate themselves and fuel their selfish passions even more.
However, in the moment of David’s pride and sin, when he took another man’s wife for himself, and grieved the heart of God, he remembered how to become small again.
On his knees He cried out to God for forgiveness, and God inclined His ear.
As well as learning the art of dying to self, we must always remember how to get smaller. John the Baptist put it perfectly, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30)
From that lowly perspective we can be thankful, grateful, and posses true joy. From there we can deny our pride and thank God.
Do you know what I’ve realized? I can travel the world over, see all the sights and accumulate all the things, yet still feel empty, bitter and desperately unsatisfied. Yet from a the posture of a kneeling heart I can say, “Thank you God that I am healthy and I get to be here, doing this.”
It is pride that tells me I deserve more while humility reminds me of what I really deserve. And so I get smaller… by choice… I humble myself again. I reconnect with the Grace of God, through thanks and obedience.
Humility leads to obedience, obedience leads to life. It's that simple.
It surely is upside-down and back-to-front, but it is not complicated. We find our lives by losing them in His. We live through dying to self. We are filled only when we empty ourselves. We are seeds.
[Inspired by Gene Edwards, "A Tale of Three Kings" | Ann Voskamp, "One Thousand Gifts"]
