Several years back, I remember hearing a Contemporary Christian song called "Kingdom UpsideDown." Of course, the song was about how God's way is not necessarily our way, but the titlealways reminded me of a game I used to play as a small child. I can remember having long afternoonswith nothing to do. In my boredom, I became creative and invented some of my own games.
One of my favorites took place in the living room on the couch which faced the large picture window. I used to climb onto the couch and then flip upside down with my head hanging down the front ofthe couch and my feet resting against the back. In that position, I used to imagine what the worldwould be like if everything were upside down. We would have to step over the doorways, and lightfixture would be in constant trouble of being smashed by feet whose eyes had led them astray. Thecarpet provided such a nice green roof and the ceiling texture would be difficult for bare feet to tread. Outside, the flowers and trees seemed to hang suspended from the earth, and the creatures whichcrept about, hanging from their feet defied the gravitational force which should pull them off theearth, flying off into the beautiful blue sky, which provided an uncertain carpet of clouds on whichI would walk. It was such an interesting world I imagined in my upside down game, where none ofthe rules of our own world applied anymore and anything was possible.
Perhaps Jesus should have asked the crowd to climb onto a large rock and turn upside down beforehe began speaking to them, for that was just exactly what he was doing. He had turned the socialorder upside down so that the ones who had been gasping for breath at the bottom of the human heapwere now the ones who found themselves closest to heaven, while the ones who thought they wereon top discovered that they were now flat on their backs on the bottom. (1)
The people of Jesus' time were accustomed to hearing platitudes delivered by various prophets in thesame format: blessed are the wealthy, for they will never be hungry; blessed are the wise, for they willnever be fooled; blessed are those who are strong, for their enemies will fear them. But Jesus didn'tdeliver such platitudes. Jesus asked everyone present to stand on their heads, think about the worldin a different way where none of the same rules apply.
If we begin by looking at things right-side up, we see the world in which we live. In our world, wehave a certain set of moral values by which we try to live. We grow up learning that education is aquantity to be valued. We use that education to secure a job and make enough money to livecomfortably. We marry and raise a family, hoping for raises and promotions which will enable us tokeep our families safe, secure and well-fed. Then there's education again. More money, morepromotions, better education for our children. Then there's sports and music opportunities and theright clothes, a nice home and a reliable car. Soon, in our right-side up world, we begin to understandthat money, and lots of it, are really the driving force that keeps us healthy and happy. We'reinterested in the world around us, but unless it can help us to get more money to help our family'shappiness, we'd rather just watch. Soon, competition becomes fierce at work or in the sports oreducational programs which will secure better scholarships, and we realize that we have to take careof our own in order to survive. And time? Who has time to even think about someone else, I'm toobusy running my family from one event to the next, off to meetings, and on to the next event. Thisis the right-side up world of social Darwinism. A world of fierce competition and hard-drivingsurvivalism - Survival of the Fittest.
Darwin's claim is that the strongest survive through competition and success, passing on their goodand healthy genes, allowing their offspring to compete and survive. The strong continue. The weakaren't able to compete and so they cannot survive. The weaker traits die with them and the speciesbecomes stronger as a result. In the natural world, there are many examples of this - with the cheetahand gazelle, only the fastest cats will be able to pursue and catch their prey; only the fastest gazellesout-run their pursuers and survive. We might even look to our own societal structures for examples. In government, the quickest, wisest or richest are the ones who are able to continue. A wrong move,a sign of weakness, spells political death. In our courts, the best lawyers are the ones who win, butthey are only accessible if they are affordable. Even judgment seems to be handed down differentlyfor the rich and famous. But is this a fair assessment of the right-side up world in which we live? Perhaps it is a bit cynical and one-sided.
Perhaps our right-side up world is not based so much on the free competition of individuals, but butmore on cooperation, working together to overcome the elements and hardships of survival. Again,there are many examples in nature, but one of the easiest to find is the ant. Ants have a commoncause and all work together to accomplish all the tasks necessary for the survival of the colony. Howelse could such a small creature manage to survive in the world of the wild? In our right-side upworld of business, we can see the cooperative model at work wherever we turn. In a business, theowner hires others to work in order to produce a service or product, enabling the owner to gainwealth. In exchange for their work, the owner gives the worker a percentage of the profits. If theemployee performs well and the profits rise, the owner may pay more money as an incentive tocontinue producing well, making the company profitable and owner wealthy.
But this model of cooperation may not quite be yet what Jesus was talking about. This cooperativemodel still has personal gain at its heart. The ant fights for survival and so works with its ant colonyso each may survive and the colony continue. In business, the employee works to earn money andthe business owner pays the employee for the assistance necessary to make him or her successful. They work together because they have each realized that personal gain comes more quickly whenthey cooperate.
In each of these models, we are still working from a right-side up view of life and the world. The right-side up version says:
Blessed are the pushy people, for they get ahead in the world.
Blessed are the tough guys, for they never let life hurt them.
Blessed are they who complain, for they will get their own way in the end.
Blessed are the slave-drivers, for they get results.
Blessed are the trouble makers, for they make people take notice of them. (2)
I'm sure you get the idea. In reality, whether we choose to accept it or not, this is the way our worldtends to work. Of course, we do catch glimpses of a world upside down from time to time. This isthe world to which Jesus referred when he delivered his sermon. This is the kingdom world whichGod desires for us, and works in and through us in order that his kingdom might be fulfilled, even ifonly in part.
In this upside down world, it is the poor in spirit who win. They get the kingdom of heaven! In thisupside down world, the meek get the earth! Those who mourn receive comfort and the hungry andthirsty receive satisfaction.
In our right-side up world, these are the ones who struggle just to have their voices heard, and whenit is not, they fall away, only to be forgotten. They are the ones who gasp for breath at the bottomof the human heap. But in this upside down world that Jesus talks about, they are the ones who arepulled from the bottom and find themselves closest to heaven! In the world devastated by hurricane,war and famine, you can imagine what a breath of fresh air these words may hold. In a world wherethe rich pass by, and employment only taunts those who are unable to work, Jesus holds out hope. In a world where falling behind is a way of life and marriages fall apart and death is imminent, Jesusgives encouragement and a hand up.
So I guess that means everyone else is shoved down to the bottom, flat on their backs, wonderingwhat happened. Is that what Jesus has in mind in this upside down world of his? If this is the worldhe has in mind, are we going to be blessed to find ourselves at the bottom of the heap?
But Jesus didn't stop with these. He went on to address the rest of the crowd gathered that day, thepeople who owned their own homes, the ones who were able to educate their children and secure agood job. He told them that in this upside down world, the merciful are blessed and they will receivemercy as well. In this upside down world, the pure in heart, those who work for peace, those whoreceive insult and abuse because they work to make things right, all these are also blessed. They willsee God. They will be called God's children. To them belongs the kingdom of heaven.
So maybe we don't find ourselves on the bottom of the heap, but Jesus has a message for us as well. We may want the best for ourselves and for our families, but we also call ourselves Christian. To beChristian means that we belong to Christ and to Christ's body. In that body, we recognize that weare all unfit, but each of us is created and gifted by God. Because we are God's creatures, we eachhave equal worth. To be a Christian means we live in relationship with God and with God's people. To realize that relationship means that we can no longer pass judgment on anyone, nor pass anotherby, for each is sister or brother to us, a part of our own family, a part of our body. We may not thinkor act the same. We may hold differing values, but we are all alike, in that we all belong to the samefamily and God is our creator.
And so it is our birthright to show mercy to all others. It is our inheritance to work for peace. It isour duty as children of God to help our brothers and sisters in whatever way is necessary. If each ofus were to make a decision today to help Christ turn this world upside down, we might begin to liveinto the words of the prophet Micah when he says that the Lord requires of us to seek justice, lovekindness and walk humbly with God. If our entire congregation, and we number close to 800, if weall made a decision to work together to begin to make things right for all people, this right-side upworld might begin to turn itself upside down. We can begin to see God's blessed ones in places itwould never have occurred to us to look.
As one preacher put it, "The world looks funny upside down, but maybe that is just how it lookswhen we have our feet planted in heaven. Jesus did it all the time and seemed to think we could doit too. So blessed are those who stand on their heads, for they shall see the world as God sees it. They shall also find themselves in good company, turned upside down by the only one who reallyknows which way is up." (3)
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Notes
1) Thanks to Barbara Brown Taylor, "Blessed are the Upside Down," Gospel Medicine (Boston:Cowley Publications, 1995) 145.
2) Thanks to Bill Whiston, for his Internet contribution "Be Different," delivered 31 January 1999.
3) Taylor, 149.
© 1999 Michelle James, all rights reserved