The Upside-Down Kingdom – or ‘A twist of lemon’
The ‘Upside-down kingdom’ is one of those catchy phrases that bible teachers use to rip away at the familiar wrapping paper surrounding the message of the New Testament.
In the UK and other countries where Christianity has had a foothold for centuries, there is a real problem: the ticking clock that you can’t hear anymore.
We drive past churches, even visit the ones that are open, without wondering too much about the beliefs that drove men and women to build them. Or we have bibles on our bookshelves but rarely open them. It’s as if we’re inoculated against the Christianity that peers at us curiously from some past era that we’ve outgrown.
To get past that deafness and blindness preachers and teachers hunt for ways of presenting the message with a twist of lemon, hence using non-biblical phrases such as the ‘Upside-down kingdom’ to engage our curiosity. We’re all used-car salesmen at heart!
The idea it tries to convey is that the ‘kingdom of God’, that Jesus invites us to be part of, is unlike any other kingdom or political power that is seen on the earth that relies, like Rome in its day, on wealth and power to execute its rule.
So, here are some thoughts about the Upside-down kingdom. And it’s to do with letter writing protocols and etiquette, not, it would appear the raciest of titles. But hang on…everything is upside down, remember?
Point One: writing to the Queen Etiquette & Protocol – Kent Lieutenancy (kent-lieutenancy.org.uk)
‘There is no strict protocol about how a letter should be written, though some people wish to observe the traditional forms. In which case, people may write to The Queen with the formal opening ‘Madam’ and close the letter with the form ‘I have the honour to be, Madam, Your Majesty’s humble and obedient servant’.
In the New Testament, there are 27 books of which 19 (arguably 20 if you count Revelation) are letters written by the apostles Paul, Peter, and John to churches and some individuals.
The letters follow a loose protocol and etiquette which may appear to our circumspect British eyes as mere formal courtesies like ‘Dear…’ when the truth may well be that the person you are writing to is anything but Dear to you!
All Paul’s letters: ‘Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ’ Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon
Hebrews – not written to a particular person or church
1 and 2 Peter: ‘Grace to you and peace be multiplied’
1 John – as Hebrews
2 John – ‘Grace, mercy, and peace will be with you from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ…’
3 John – ‘Peace to you’ written to close the letter
Here’s the ‘upside-down kingdom point 1:
We need to invert our thinking. The apostles are not at the top of some pyramidal structure called the church to which they are deigning to share their spiritual insights like gurus. – for a fee! Nor are they trying to herd cats and keep them on the straight and narrow by exerting authority and power.
In the kingdom of God they are the servants writing to ‘kings’ – ordinary’ pew filling, hymn singing, hand raising, tongue-speaking, Holy Spirit saturated believers.
In 1 Corinthians Paul writes: ‘You are already rich…you reign as kings…God has displayed us apostles as…fools for Christ’s sake…as the filth of the world, the offscourings…’ 1 Cor 4 v 8-13
And Peter writes: ‘But you are a royal priesthood…’ 1 Pet 2 v 9
And John: ‘To Him who…has made us kings and priests…’ Rev 1 v 6
It is so hard to shake free from the grip that of the usual picture of a kingdom where one person reigns and is fabulously wealthy and powerful and whose reign and authority trickles down through a hierarchy to the lowly servants. Even many churches mirror this view in their structures if not in their spiritual ethos with a pyramidal authority structure, a Pope or equivalent, then layer upon layer of administration, until we reach the humble believer not allowed to wear priestly robes. In the New Testament, every believer is a king and a priest and wears robes of righteousness.
In the New Testament the apostles did not rule over any church, they were its servants. Delivery boys. They came with supplies. Fresh supplies. Supplies for each believer who they considered to be Kings.
Fresh supplies of grace, and mercy, and truth.
Paul put it like this:
‘For if by one man’s offence (Adam) death reigned…how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace…reign in life the rough the on (Jesus Christ)’ Romans 5 v 17
And the Upside-down kingdom point 2:
Fresh supplies. Not of money or power or influence. Not a worship band upgrade or pimping up the church website. Or wearing a sharper suit. Or by elevating those with theological degrees. Or by increasing tithes.
Apostles are not CEOs in the hiring and firing game, protecting and promoting their brand.
No. They come with supplies of fresh grace. And mercy. And the cooling streams of peace.
The whole kingdom is sustained by grace. Our reign as kings and priests in Christ is not dependent on our hard work. The kingdom is not a meritocracy. It’s grace. Freely you have received freely give. That’s what Jesus taught the disciples. Jesus, The King, didn’t take a salary. Didn’t ‘earn’ the power to do miracles through his moral uprightness and hard work. It was grace.
John put it like this:
‘We beheld his glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth…and of His fulness we all receive, grace upon grace’ John 1 v 14-16
Grace doesn’t make you lazy, it frees you to be filled, just like Jesus, and live like Jesus, in thankful dependency on the Father. Many of our struggles are because we live in a world that preaches meritocracy. It’s hard to be re-tuned. But in the kingdom of God, we can’t earn a penny, and nor shall we ever deserve it. Everything is different. Upside-down, Inside out, back to front – just not as we’re so used to. And the apostles arrive with fresh supplies.
Mercy too. Yes, we might need fresh mercy ourselves at times. But God fills us with others in mind as well. In the parable of the Good Samaritan Jesus concludes ‘go and do likewise’. The man who was robbed, beaten up, and left for dead, received mercy. He then could ‘go and do likewise’. It’s a parable, a description, of how the kingdom works. We may identify with the man, beaten and robbed, left on the side of the road, but God will have mercy. He will pour oil on our wounds, and pay for our recovery, filling us with mercy so we can be merciful to others.
Peace. Peace was more than a greeting. When Jesus appeared to the disciples the first words he said were ‘Peace to you!’ It wasn’t a formal or even a casual ‘Shalom’. They needed that peace. They were confused, in grief, shock, and fear. Sometimes our need for peace is acute.
But the point about the upside-down kingdom is this. We run on good fuel: grace, mercy, and peace. And just like cars, we need to be taken to the garage every so often for a good spiritual MOT.
Out from our thinking goes the old oil of meritocracy, or the worn brake linings of our hardness of heart, or our forever blinking indicators of inner turmoil. In comes fresh supplies: grace mercy and peace.