An Upside-Down Kingdom

Jeremiah 29:1, 4-14                                                                                        John 14:27

Thanksgiving abundance

As a child, I remember Thanksgiving as a day of all the best food my mom could create – in more quantity than we could ever eat!  Walking into the dining room on Thanksgiving was like stepping into a new world, where everything was available! 

I enjoyed the abundance of that day (especially sweet potatoes with marshmallows and sugar dripping off them…not to mention turkey and stuffing…it went on and on).  We were privileged in countless ways.

You might have a similar story.  Yet, let me ask you.  Is it possible to "be grateful for what you have" and at the same time recognize that this world is not as it should be? 

Israel Crushed by an Empire

The lesson we just read from Jeremiah points to a people suffering.  Israel had been crushed by an empire (named Babylon).  Babylon invaded, conquered their home, and carried them off to another land.  To such a people, under the thumb of an empire, God sent this word of hope comfort:

“…I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm,

to give you a future with hope.”

Last week we heard from Isaiah, with rich and beautiful poetry to give the people of Israel hope for a future.  One day a Wonderful Counselor and Prince of Peace, would lead them. 

These prophets, Jeremiah and Isaiah, they must have sounded almost unbelievable to many in Israel.  I bet some of you here today remember what it was like to hear Martin Luther King Jr. when he preached his “I Have A Dream” speech.  He spoke of a world, completely different than the one he lived in.  When he dreamed of a world where, “the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood” – I bet a lot of Americans couldn’t imagine a world where it was possible.

When the Old Testament prophets spoke about a new world beyond the empires crushing them…it must have been hard to imagine…a world flipping upside-down. 

Jesus Acted Out the Alternative to Empire

In the first century, Jesus came on the scene, and it’s not so different…there was another empire.  This time it was the Roman Empire.  But Empires have a lot in common.  They extract money, labor, and resources from the poor to make it possible for a select few to live in opulence.  The “King” in an empire ensures all of that.  In Jesus’ day the Roman Emperor was King.  At his command, minorities were enslaved, resources were hoarded and given to white European Roman citizens. 

It was Roman citizens who had the privilege to fill their dining rooms with abundance, at a cost to those oppressed minorities.  Masses of people were treated like commodities, without respect or care - in order to accumulate abundance for the few.  That’s what kings and empires do in this world. 

The Upside-Down Kingdom of Jesus

But Jesus appears in the Roman Empire…as a whole different kind of king.  Jesus taught and lived out an alternative to the Empire.  He called that alternative the Kingdom of Heaven… said it’s among us now.

A masterful theologian, Dr. Walter Brueggemann, describes the contrast between “Empire” and the Kingdom of Heaven.  He does it so well.  Dr. Brueggemann says the “Empire” is a system based on scarcity, anxiety, and accumulation.  Everyone is anxious to accumulate more for themselves, because the belief is that there just isn’t enough!  Scarcity, Anxiety, and Accumulation – lead to Death.  S-A-A-D – I’m going to call that SAAD.  But it is basic to the culture of every empire – and the culture of the United States is no different.

What is different, is The Kingdom of Heaven.  Jesus flips it all upside-down.  Instead of scarcity – The Kingdom of Heaven is based on God's abundance.  Empires assume that there are limited resources and so you better get yours.  The miracles of manna from heaven, water from a rock and so much more point to a different assumption: the Kingdom of Heaven assumes that God is always providing – enough for all.  ASSUMPTION #1 = God’s Abundance.

The Empire prioritizes efficiency and control (in order to accumulate)…but the Kingdom of Heaven prioritizes justice.  So if God’s abundance is true and there really is enough for everyone – but masses are starving, or without homes, or oppressed…then the problem isn’t scarcity…the problem is HOW things are DISTRIBUTED.  ASSUMPTION #2 = JUSTICE means redistributing from hoarders to share with equity and dignity for all. 

Jesus models a system that is completely different than any Empire.  Walter Brueggemann calls that system a “Neighborly Economy.”  An economy organized around the love of neighbor.  This Neighborly Economy is committed to respect and a sustainable life for vulnerable persons too.  It’s about sharing.

Jesus demonstrated throughout His public ministry - as he went out of His way to find solidarity with all these people who were marginalized: Samaritans, lepers, women, and many others.  Not only does He prioritize a neighborly economy, He also opens the idea of a “Chosen people” to include any and every people group around the globe. 

Pastor Doug Cox

Vista Lutheran Church

I am throwing out a lot of ideas!  And these kinds of ideas got Jesus killed.  But the early Christians really understood this message.  That early church was ‘off-the-charts’ multi-ethnic and multi-racial.

They were also deeply committed to caring for the poor – inside and outside their own communities.  

These teachings – GOD’S ABUNDANCE, JEUSTICE, INCLUSION... these set them apart in ancient Rome. 

They had a different King, even within the Empire. 

We have documents from Roman officials, writing how they are amazed by these qualities of the early Christians – their commitment to care for the marginalized, multi-ethnic communities, and more. 

But there was a turning point in the history of Christianity, in the year 313 CE, when the Roman Emperor Constantine declared that the religion of the Empire is Christianity.  You might be tempted to cheer and say, finally…a government run by Christians, to promote Christianity and expand the kingdom of heaven. 

But, the opposite happened.  The Empire puts on the costume of Christianity.   All it’s power and structures are still based on Scarcity, Anxiety, Accumulation.   They are all SAAD. 

 Christ the King calls you and I to enact the Kingdom.

The Kingdom of Heaven has a king who turns all this SAAD thinking upside-down! In the first century and still today, Jesus, Christ the King, is leading us to reject the Empire’s values in our hearts and in our actions, and to live based on God’s abundance and a neighborly economy.

Jesus got killed for doing it, but that's what Christ the King calls us to do…with joy.  In the gospel John 10:10 -I should have put that in the gospel reading today. We had a wonderful gospel reading about peace. God also comes in Jesus and says, in John 10, verse 10, I came that all people might have life and have it abundantly. The abundance of God is real for you, but not just for you…for all.

So, our first task, If we call Jesus Christ the King, is to identify the Empire. Because none of this happens if we're seduced to think Jesus and the Empire are the same. We’ve got to identify it.

Number two task is to Identify the contradictions that put us on that SAAD route to death. Scarcity, thinking, anxiety, and accumulation just don't fit.

And number three: The third task is to somehow articulate that upside down Kingdom that God has promised and that God is birthing before our very eyes. If we have eyes to see it? I want to break now and take an hour and a half and do a workshop on this. Okay, that's not why you came to church.  But that's what we need. This isn't a quick sermon, But it's got to end, so I want to just tell you something.

I'm so proud to be here. You people are responsible…This congregation is among those responsible for founding STEP, The St Louis Park emergency Partner Program.  It Is beautiful.  Do you know that is one way that we are able to share? We're also starting a toy drive today for STEP, aren't we? If you didn't notice it, look at the back of your bulletin. It's going to go on for a few weeks where we're just going to bring toys. I got an email from someone last week who knows your reputation.  In the email someone said, mychildren are such and such. I don't have anything. Can you help me find some presents?  And I was able to say praise God!  Come on over to the church on such and such a day, and you can pick something out because we've got some things coming in. And I know these people are good for that.

Okay, that's a piece. It may be teeny, but we love teeny pieces. Welcoming the stranger or marginalized, is a peace of creating that Kingdom of Heaven on Earth as it is in according to God's will.  Or solidarity with people who are persecuted even by our government. Are you a place?  A safe place? Are we?  God is doing something lively in our world? This upside-down King Jesus Christ, may be slow, thousands of years, but it is sure. It is happening.  And that new world is coming into being. It will discredit and dismiss the Empire. It's going to happen. The spirit is moving among us. It is the spirit of Jesus…who is King. Amen.  

Pastor Doug Cox

Vista Lutheran Church