Transcription
coming forth through her in Jesus name. Amen.
Thank you.
Gosh, this is like such a safe place because earlier I was thinking about what I was when I walked in here 2019 and all the growth that God's given me through the resting place, through the Jesus lab, through very hard conversations, um through heavenly confrontations with things that God was not going to let stand in my life. And so it's just like such a safe place full of my besties and my parents. I love this place.
Okay. All right. So this morning we're going to talk about the upside down inside out kingdom. So um part of this for me is understanding the context of the sermon on the mount. If you know our whole Sabbath year we're in the sermon on the mount. So the only rule is you have to preach start from Matthew 5, 6, or 7. Truthfully, there's enough information there. I think we're good. I think we're going to get more than a year's content out of that. Um, so what I like is to understand the audience, put myself in their their shoes sitting and listening to Jesus and understand what the culture, the language, the things that they were how they were hearing him because we're coming at it from Western ideology, new covenant, the idea that we just received this gift of salvation from Jesus. But those ideas were so shocking to them. And so the way that I want to illustrate this to you at first from our culture is imagine a 2,000 years from now they get our writings, they get our text messages and we don't define our text message sayings because I know the person on the other end knows exactly what I'm saying. Right? So they get our text message and they don't even know that there's a difference between a butt dial and a booty call. Right? And for the parents in the room, a booty call is when your child calls you from the bathroom because they need help. That's what a booty call is, right? When we're potty training our children. So, they would see our writing and not even know that we're talking about two different things because they sound really similar. And so, this is the importance of understanding the culture, the context, and the language of Jesus's day. So, as we go along, I'm going to bring different things to help us understand and understand why he was so shocking.
All right. So, first we're going to start with upside down. First, we're going to look at Roman culture. So, the Roman culture of the time, they had three things they loved. They loved glory, honor, and virtue. Their definitions would not be anything that we would define those three words as. To them, honor was winning, dominating, conquering public parades that celebrate how great you are. If you won in battle, it was a sign that the gods were on your side and you had divine favor. If you were losing, the gods were very mad at you. So that's the the Roman culture. The Jewish belief at the time, remember, they had been conquered by Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome. They had their land, but they didn't have freedom. So the Jewish community was believing for a political military Messiah. They were believing so for someone to come in on a warhorse, conquer everything, establish Israel as the main country, knock those Gentiles down where they belong. That's what they're longing for. Is that the kingdom of heaven as we know it? Not at all. It's an upside down kingdom. So we can see in every part of the sermon on the mount where culture is being contradicted. He is shocking all of them with every single word that comes out of his mouth.
Okay. So we're going to first look at imagine yourself. You're sitting in the sermon. You're listening to this rabbi and he says, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." What? Wait, did he say meek or blessed of me? Wait, what did he say? Okay. So in their world, humility, humilas was basically a sign of defeat and slavery. So literally what they're hearing when he says, "Blessed are the meek." They're hearing, "Blessed are the losers. Blessed are the powerless." That's what they're hearing. Can you imagine how shocking that is, right?
Okay. So, I'm going to tell you a story. My parents are here. They will attest that this is true. I know that you cannot see it at all, but when I was a kid, I'm talking like two, my nickname was Miss Bossy. No one can see it, right? Not at all. Not at all. There was this elderly gentleman at my church that would call me Miss Boss, give me his hand and say, "Okay, Miss Boss, where you taking me?" And he would just let me take him all over. And I was the boss. And he thought it was beautiful. When I did a group assignment, how dare you mess up my A. We're in a group project. I'm going to tell you what part of the project you're doing. You're gonna turn it in on time and we're gonna get an A because you're not messing with my GPA. I don't care what part you want to do. I don't care what part you're good at. You will do what I say. I was a diamond in the rough. I promise. Okay. So, literally, when I would hear, "Blessed are the meek." I would receive, "I'm not shy. I'm not quiet. I'm not meek. I'm not reserved. I guess I'm not inheriting the earth. Jesus meant other people get this, not me. He must have different promises for me. That's not for me." But through lots of healing, lots of those confrontations, I sat in the arrows classroom with Victoria and Caleb and they said, "God is calling you into growth in your meekness." And I was like, "Someone else telling me to be less, be quiet, restrain yourself." And Victoria said, "What do you think meekness means?" And we we hit something there. And so I'm going to tell you what meekness is. If you were here with Jake a few weeks ago, you've already heard it, too. Meekness is strength under control. Jesus is full of strength. He could call down anything he wants. Yet, he modeled voluntary submission to only do what the father says. Here's exhibit A. He entered on a donkey, not on a warhorse. Behold, your king is coming to you. Matthew says, humble and mounted on a donkey. Here's another one. This one's really, really hard for most of us. He stood in front of Pilate who was flatout lying about him and agitating him and trying to get a response and he didn't say a thing. I feel like from social media accounts that I've seen that is definitely a growth opportunity for a lot of Americans. And that's all I'm going to say about that. So the Greek word pros is used to describe a warhorse that has been trained power but responsive to the master's touch. He was full of strength and yet it was in control.
Okay, so here's my analogy for weakness. Meekness, not weakness. Meekness. Okay, imagine a US military arsenal, right? They've got submarines, green berets, navy seals, battleships, planes, trains, automobiles, helicopters, all the things. If they deployed every weapon they had at an enemy target, what would happen? Total world annihilation. They wouldn't just annihilate the enemy, they'd annihilate everybody. So meekness is having all of these weapons that the Lord has given you. All of these gifts and strengths inside of you and hearing God say what to deploy when. What does the person in front of you need? How does Jesus want you to respond? And I'm going to tell you a story that happened yesterday.
Okay, so yesterday we have a girls' day in downtown Tampa. We're sitting at this patio luncheon. My mom, for a millisecond, my mom's over there for a millisecond sets her phone her her purse down on a bag on a a bench. A guy, a homeless guy on a bike, drives by, grabs her bag. I mean, I'm talking in like 15 seconds. My cousin goes, "Hey, give that back." Now, my mom, who has been in therapy for six months, took off running. I It was the Holy Ghost running. And as she's running across the street, I'm praying that no car hits her because she's not waiting for a pedestrian sign. And I'm like, "Jesus, hold all the cars." And she's going, "In the name of Jesus, you give that back." The moment she says it, his bicycle hits a dip in the road and he falls. Dude turns and goes, "Here, here, here." And gives it back to her. Do you know what she did? Because meekness is strength and control. Did she go, "Does this person need justice? Does he need jail time?" No. She says, "How can I pray for you?" She hugs him. She stands there and and he says, "I'm so sorry. I just haven't eaten in days. I was just so hungry." She goes, "Let's go back to the restaurant where my family is." and I'll buy you some food. Seriously. And then she says, "Holy Spirit's on me. What else do you need prayer for? I've got I've got the food. What else do you need?" And he says, "I have these lesions on my back. I can't sit down." She's breaking off addiction. She's calling for healing in his body. And then she's walking him back to get him a band-aid 'cause he got scabbed on the road. I mean, meekness is strength under control. What is the thing inside of you that the person in front of you needs right now at that moment? Because sometimes it is justice. Sometimes it is a good kick in the pants about their identity. Sometimes it is you are acting a fool and that is not what God called you. But sometimes it's taking care of the hunger pain so that they can also be healed and receive the love of Jesus.
So meekness is knowing the person in front of you and responding to the specific moment with what the father in heaven says and only that.
All right. Here's my second point to upside down. Now, Roman hierarchy would say or Roman culture would say hierarchy matters. If you're born a leader, you have power. That's it. If you're born a slave or a servant, so sorry for your luck. That's where you stay. Servants have no slaves have no power. Leaders have all the power. But then Jesus says in Matthew 23:11 that the greatest among you will be your servant. What? I feel like they're like starting to grumble like confusion. What is happening? Did you know that at TRP our organizational chart is upside down? I can never find a Canva template to make our org chart because I have to flip everything upside down. So, executive team is down here and then Caleb, Jake, departments, ministries, and teams and service members because we are not it's my way or the highway dominant. You do what I say because I said so because God put me in charge. It's none of that. It is God gave you a vision. What can we do to help you succeed in the vision that God has given you for your team, your department, your ministry? Do you know the most successful the the best version of servant leadership I will say it over and over again is Jess Waldrip. She is constantly serving others. A bestie. She is cleaning up plates. She is do you need a drink? Can I care for you? How are you sick? Let me bring you soup. She is never barking orders. She is always a servant heart. She is a servant leader because hierarchy is upside down in the in the kingdom of heaven. And side note, if you're sitting here thinking, "I'm not a leader." You're wrong. You are a leader because you lead yourself. You lead your family. You lead the people at your customers. You lead the employees around you. You lead your boss. It's called leading up. You lead everyone. So, are you leading with a servant heart or are you dominating and saying my way or the highway?
All right. Now, I'm from Plant City. So, now I have an agricultural reference for you. Let's see those oxen up there. Okay. So, Matthew 11:39 says, "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." Okay, so do you see how these oxen are two different heights? Okay, so we use it a lot on unequally yoked. In this reference, what I'm telling you is being different heights there. It's going to hurt the animals and it's going to cause them to go in circles. They're not going to be able to accomplish anything. So, if Jesus is saying, "I'm going low," and you're trying to take his yoke, but you're up high and proud. You're hurting yourself and you're not getting anything done. So, here's the other part about the yoke. In Judaism, as he's telling this to the people, they would also know that the yoke was referred to as a teaching. They would know that that's the language of their time. So, he's saying, "Take my yoke upon you." He's saying, "My yoke is easy. My teaching doesn't crush you. It frees you." This upside down is actually freedom. It's the only kingdom where being a part of the kingdom brings you freedom, not domination. Okay, you guys with me?
All right, next part is inside out part of the kingdom of heaven. Jesus is switching them and us from an external righteousness to an internal righteousness. So for us to understand that we have to know their culture. I'm going to ask you one question from our day. Who has perfectly followed the rules of the road every time you've been driving a car? [Laughter] Caroline, who has never been behind the wheel. Yeah. Who has perfectly followed a diet all the way through? Like a whole 30. I did not. Uhhuh. I did. I I got to day 30, but I definitely ate some of that sugar-filled ketchup instead of making my own sauce because come on. Okay. So, we know what that burden feels like in a small sense. Now, imagine their burden. So, we're going to go into the um the burden they had in trying to find righteousness, try to be righteous, because again, in their mind, if I do the right thing, if I follow all the rules, if I don't break any rules, I'm going to be righteous. Actually, apparently, sorry, that was just a meme that popped out. Okay. Jewish library said this because righteousness is not an inherent human characteristic but rather a learned trait resulting from sustained performance of obligation. Man can never attain the peak of righteous perfection. So their belief was because righteousness is not a part of you. It's something you learn by doing the things over and over again. Man can never achieve righteous perfection. That feels like a burden. That feels like why am I even trying?
Okay. So, we're going to go through one example of the burden that they were carrying before Jesus said, "Take my yoke." We're going to look at the um Sabbath rule. So, in the Torah, there's a little chart, okay? In the Torah says, "Keep the Sabbath holy, do no work." We all know that that's there. Then, the Pharisees built these fences that were ways to help people follow this rule. So if you stay within these fences, if you follow these defined rules of what's work and what's not, you'll be okay and you'll be able to honor this and you'll say that you're righteous. One example is you could only do a Sabbath day's journey, which was three-quarters of a mile. So if your friend lived a mile from you, they weren't your Sabbath buddy because they were outside and that was considered working. Then Jesus comes and says, "No, no, no. It's all heart. It's all righteousness on the inside. These rules are not what make your righteousness. I make you righteous."
Okay, so imagine they're sitting at his feet and he says this. He says, "For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven." I feel at this point they're probably looking at each other like, "They made the rules. How am I supposed to follow the rules better than them? They made them. I guess like what's the point?" But here's the thing. He's not talking about doing more than the Pharisees. He's talking about becoming different than the Pharisees. He's it's the kind of righteousness that only comes from him. Okay? So when he starts talking about murder, he's basically saying God sees your heart. He sees inside you. So if you're angry and you're really good at hiding it, no one around you knows that you're not righteous because they don't know what's in your heart. But if you murder someone, unless you're really, really good at hiding the body, most people are probably going to know that you murdered somebody. So, an external righteousness can be seen by others, but an internal righteousness can often only be seen by God.
Okay, my Charlotte Drew, I don't know where she is. Charlotte helped me with this last week. So, Griffin, my four-year-old, he's the baby of four kids. I get a a note from his teacher and she says, "Listen, Griffin saying bathroom words in the classroom. He's he's performing. He's having fun. He's like doing a whole routine, but he's using words like poop and fart in a four-year-old classroom." So you can imagine what happens to the chaos in the class when he starts using these words. So we have this family conversation about not using these words. And we're all going to support Griffin by not using these words around him because we listen to weird parodies and those words are in there. Okay. So Griffin goes, "If I whisper it, will my teacher hear me? Is that okay?" And Charlotte, just like that, she goes, "God can hear what you whisper, and he even knows what's in your heart. You can't even think it. That's right, Charlotte. But see, the attitude of the Pharisees was, "I'm good. I haven't murdered anybody." And Jesus says, "No, but there's anger in your heart. There's murder in your heart." He's not after people who look good on the outside. He's after hearts that are transformed by his power.
Okay? We achieve righteousness through Jesus, not through anything we do. My recovering overachievers, please hear me. We re achieve righteousness through Jesus, not anything we do. Took me decades to learn that. Okay. So, I'm going to rapid-fire some scriptures at you that prove to you that I'm talking about what Jesus is talking about. You ready? Romans 5:17. Those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through one man, Jesus Christ. Philippians 3:9, "Not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith." Galatians 2:21, "If righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose." Romans 8:3, for God has done what the law weakened by flesh could not do in order that the righteous requirement of law might be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. Galatians 2:16, we know that a person is not justified by works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ. Titus 3:5, he saved us not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his mercy, so that being justified by his grace, we might become heirs. Hebrews 10:10, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all. By one sacrifice, he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. Ephesians 2:8, "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." Here's my evidence. Okay, so I got another one for you. There. Look at there. Look at the Bible making sense. Okay. It's like one author wrote the whole thing.
All right. So, I got some more for you. So Hebrew language is a both and. It is the beauty and the mystery of the language is that one thing means multiple things and we get to explore and and learn multiple things. So I'm going to present to you a different way to look at Matthew 6:25 through 33. Now we all know this. Do not be anxious for anything. And we summarize it to say the Lord's provision because he takes care of the sparrows and he takes care of the lilies. So he will take care of you. Right? Here's another both and interpretation. Verse 31. Therefore, do not be anxious, saying, "What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear?" For the Gentiles seek after all those things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So, is he saying, "If you seek my righteousness from the inside out, I'll tell you, eat that, don't eat that, watch that, stay away from that TV show, go see that person, keep yourself out of that location." Do you think that maybe his righteousness means he will tell you because you're listening to him? He'll guide you in what to do and what not to do. And it's not a burden of these expectations and these rules to follow, but it's a freedom and listening to him and doing what the father says. Could that be a both and interpretation? I think so.
Okay. All right. I have one more point to inside out. An inside out kingdom practices this righteousness in private and secret and purity. I'm going to touch on Matthew 6:1-6 because I have some interesting culture things that helped me understand this passage. Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets as the hypocrites do in the synagogues to be honored by others. Truly, I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly, I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your father who is unseen, and then your father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. Do you know the word hypocrite translated literally means stage actor? So do not announce it with trumpets as the stage actors do in the synagogues and on the streets to be honored by by others. And when you pray, do not be like the stage actors, for they love to pray standing in the synagogue and the street corners to be seen by others. So remember, Roman culture is look at me, have a parade in my name, look at me, I gave so much money, put my name on a statue. All about public awareness of how great I am. And then in the Jewish culture when he's what he's referencing here, the what he calls the trumpets, there are containers in the synagogue called trumpets where they would give to different categories, give to the maintenance of the tabernacle, give to the widows and the orphans, give to the poor, and they would give their money. Well, some of the wealthy people wouldn't give their money until there's a festival and all the people are in the synagogue and then they would drop their metal coins clank clank clank clank into the container that is called a trumpet. So, they're sounding the trumpet. Everyone, look at how great I am. I gave a bunch of money. And then when it comes to the prayer part, so they have a prayer. It's called the Hold on. Where is it? Where did it go? It's called a standing prayer. I don't know what the word is. Um, but they had to stop and pray at three designated times, face Jerusalem and pray wherever they were. These certain stage actors would plan their day so that when that time hit, they were in a very public place. So they could face Jerusalem and pray loudly so that everyone knows how great I am. Everyone knows how holy and righteous and pious I am because I'm praying in the Do you see me? I'm praying in the street.
So let's contrast that with Daniel. This is what this is how TRP Kids is amazing. My nine-year-old Charlotte talks to Stephanie and there. They're talking about this and she goes, "But wait, Daniel prayed in the window, but now Jesus is saying pray in silence." How is that? She made that connection like that because TRP Kids is a place where they learn some deep, deep stuff. So what's the difference? Daniel was praying in the window as an act of defiance to a culture that told him he couldn't worship Jesus. These other people are acting as stage actors to say, "Look at me. Look at me. look at me. But Jesus is actually saying your prayer should be honoring and creating intimacy with the father. That that's the goal. That's the heart posture.
Okay, let me catch up. Hold on. Thanks. Joelle has been my coach this week to help me. Everyone needs a Joelle in their corner. Okay. So, can we pray on the microphone? Can we pray on the street corner? Can we go to Communion America and have 10,000 people declaring the name of Jesus at one time? Or does that violate Matthew 6? Can you write a prayer or how much you love Jesus on your Facebook post or is that violating Matthew 6? You can do all those things if the intent of those things is to honor God. If the intent is to be braggadocious about yourself, check yourself. What is it? Check yourself before you wreck yourself.
All right. All right. Okay. Okay. So, the inside out nature of the kingdom will cause righteousness and holiness to come from the inside of you. This will shape you into Christ's likeness and you will reign with him. Inheriting the earth, you win a big prize. The kingdom of heaven reverses everything the world values. It's not about being seen. It's about being surrendered. It's not about following the rules. It's about following the king. There's no other kingdom that that fights for you to be free like the kingdom of heaven.
Okay. So, we're going to take ourselves back to the sermon. Close your eyes. Imagine you're at the feet of Jesus. You've lived under these rules. You've been striving. You've been staying in those boxes and those fences that the Pharisees put on you. And then Jesus says, "Blessed are the meek. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Pray in secret. The heavenly father will reward you." Does that make you feel like he's wrong or does that make you feel alive with the gift of the freedom that he is holding out in this upside down inside out kingdom? So ask the Holy Spirit right now. We're going to ask him, "Where am I still chasing power, performance, or approval instead of living low and free in you? Where am I performing for others instead of resting in you? And where are you offering freedom to me?" And when he shows it to you, will you surrender it? Trade striving for strength under control. Trade appearance for authenticity. Trade burden for freedom. Because when you live upside down and inside out, the kingdom of heaven doesn't just visit you. It flows through you. And that's how we inherit the earth.
Jesus, thank you for the gift that you so freely give. Thank you for the freedom that you hand out over and over again. Thank you that you take the trauma and the pain and the circumstances and what they did and you restore us to the fullness of who we are in you. Thank you for every gift in the arsenal of each one of your sons and daughters. And thank you for the voice that if we are listening, we can so clearly hear you say what to do when. We are so grateful to live in your upside down, inside out kingdom. In your powerful name we pray. Amen.