God’s Upside-Down Kingdom
Week 5 Public Meeting | Luke 6:17-24
Most of you know I didn’t grow up in Australia. I was born and raised in Singapore. Coming here as a migrant, my story isn’t anything unique at all. In fact, I’ve since found out that 30% of Australia’s population were born overseas. Since coming here I’ve had to make lots of adjustments. There are things I had to get used to, like getting all your shopping done by 5, learning to eat Weetabix and vegemite for breakfast, saying thongs rather than slippers, which always gets to me because everywhere else in the world a thong is a woman’s underwear.
But you have to because you’re in a different country now. At least where money is concerned, the Singapore dollar and Aussie dollar are pretty close. It’s not as bad as if I were coming from South Africa with the Rand being 10-1 with the dollar. That’s got to hurt. And there’s nothing you can do about it. It would be silly for someone to insist on using foreign currency to pay for things here.
Here’s my question: does the same apply when it comes to the kingdom of God? The bible often talks about Christians as citizens of heaven rather than earth. While we live in the world, we don’t belong to the world. We are tourists so to speak. Actually the word used in the bible is ambassadors.
When you become a Christian, you are transferred from one kingdom to another. From darkness into light. But what currency do we use in God’s kingdom? You ever think about that? You know it’s different right?
It’s not an exaggeration to say that if you don’t get this right, you will never grow as a Christian. Why? Because you can’t use a foreign currency in a country that has its own. Everywhere you go, no matter how many times you go to church, to a camp, a conference, a bible study, it will feel like you’re window shopping.
This passage will teach us what currency is in God’s kingdom. I think you’ll be surprised at what it is.
God rewards those who are patient in suffering
Luke 6:17 And he came down with [the 12 apostles] and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, 18 who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. 19 And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all.
All the crowd sought to touch Jesus and Jesus healed them all. No distinctions, no partiality. He even healed people from Tyre and Sidon, gentile cities. People of other races came to Jesus and experienced not a hint of racism. Even those who have diseases sought to touch him, and Jesus let them. He doesn’t require people to observe social distancing or use PPE. He’s not afraid that he’ll become infected. Not just that, Jesus isn’t precious about his personal space.
And notice who were the people who sought Jesus: those who were diseased and those who were troubled with unclean spirits, which in those days meant second or third class citizens. These were the outcasts and the minorities. They all flocked to Jesus and he welcomed them.
20 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said:
“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
It can get pretty depressing sometimes to read the news and see all the inequality in the world. I’m not talking about the difference between us and Elon Musk. I’m talking about the 75% of the world’s population who live on less than $10 a day, even after averaging the difference in purchasing power. Did you guys know that? 1 out of 10 people today live on less than $2 a day. How many of you guys knew that? But God does. He is not ignorant of those who are rich nor is he blind to those are poor. Let’s read on.
“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.
“Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.
And then he says,
“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
“Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry.
“Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.
Blessing vs. Woe
There is an obvious parallel here. Jesus is contrasting the poor with the rich, those who hunger and those who are full, those who weep and those who laugh, those who are rejected and those who are celebrated. And he flips them around. Jesus takes everything the world values – money because it gives you security; physical comforts because yolo; happiness because who wouldn’t want that, and says woe if you have them. The world says to have these things is to be blessed. Jesus says if you have these things you will be miserable.
But why? Because I can tell being poor is miserable as well. And if there’s a choice I’d rather be miserable but rich than miserable and poor. That’s like a double whammy. Don’t you agree?
So why would Jesus say blessed are poor and woe to the rich? Because the kingdom of God has a different currency. There’s something fundamentally different about the Kingdom of God that means the poor are blessed. And that difference is eternity. Let’s read the passage again.
“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.
“Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.
22 “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! 23 Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.
24 “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
25 “Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry.
“Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.
26 “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.
Did you notice the emphasis on the now? In order to understand this passage, we have to see the division between the now and the then. The present and the future.
The kingdom of God is fundamentally different because it is future oriented. Christianity doesn’t just say there is life after death. It says that you start living after you die. Everyone believes that you live now and then you die. That’s the end of your life. The bible says you die and then you start to live.
You know what this translates to? What’s the currency? Patience! God rewards those who are patient in suffering.
22 “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! 23 Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.
Take away verse 23, and you take away the blessing. Time is what makes changes everything. Jesus defines the present by the future. I’ll give you an illustration.
Consider the best restaurant in the world - MacDonald’s. Is the food good for us? You bet! There’s nothing like hot chocolate fudge on cold soft-serve ice cream. It’s so good right? Only as you’re eating it that is. 30 mins later you’ll start questioning your life choices. That’s when you realize it may not be that good for you after all.
The future determines the present. For example when it says,
24 Woe to you who are rich for you have received your consolation.
This is talking about a specific kind of riches. Money gives us security. That’s neither good or bad. But when we start trusting in our money rather than God, it becomes an idol, our consolation, then watch out. The richer you are the more at risk you are. But you know what, the poor are not immune either.
The tension in these verses is not about what you have or what you don’t have. It’s about our present circumstances and the promised future. Being rich doesn’t automatically disqualify you. At the same time There’s nothing inherently virtuous about being poor. It is about where our hearts are focused.
An application
Let me just give you one application to end. Our present does not define our future. You know what that means? Your degree isn’t what will determine whether you are successful or not. Your success or failure on campus will not define your success or failure as a person.
The currency that the world operates with says you need money, pleasure, health, happiness to be blessed. To have “made it” in life requires a good career to start with.
The kingdom of God is different. Our future is secured. And rather than being dependent on our present, it shapes our present. Can’t you see what Jesus offers is way better?
Blessed are the poor for theirs is the kingdom of God. When we have the kingdom of God, everything else becomes nothing.