Last weekend, I curled up on my couch to watch a movie. It is relatively rare for me to do this, but the socks were matched, the work of the day was done, and Mary Poppins Returns was in the cue. There is an amazing scene in that movie where Mary Poppins and the children visit Mary's cousin, Topsy-Turvey. For Topsy, the world turns upside down on the second Wednesday of every month. At their visit, the kids walk into a house flipped over. Concerned, they ask Topsy, "How do you manage? Topsy replies, "When the world turns upside down, the best thing to do is to turn right along with it."
When Jesus sat down, and his disciples came to Him, we don't know if it was the 2nd Wednesday of the month, but what we do know is that when He opened His mouth and spoke, His sermon turned the world upside down. Most likely, what the disciples and the crowds thought He was going to say was not what was spoken.
Before He opened His mouth (Matthew 5:2), the presence of God came to dwell, He sat down with His people. That in and of itself was upside down. On a previous mountaintop, Mt. Sinai (Exodus 19), God spoke to his people in a loud thunder; the chosen people were not permitted to come near the mountain; there were rules and boundaries set. Now, here was Jesus calling, with a calm voice to all people, and sitting down with them.
Did He leave His home in glory with a political agenda, a conquering military force, like the world expected of the promised King, the Messiah? No, He turned the world upside down and came with a spiritual agenda as a meek servant and humbly conquered sin.
The Jews who expected the political agenda wanted to see victory over the surrounding nations, but Jesus gave them the opportunity for victory over sin instead!
On Mt. Sinai, God wrote the commandments on tablets of stone; on this unnamed mountain, Jesus is teaching a new commandment, speaking to hearts of flesh. "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this, all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35)
The Jews may have expected a reminder of their story, but Jesus turns the world upside down and is telling us His story; he is describing Himself.
If the disciples yelled out, "Jesus, our King, our Rabbi, has arrived; the Messiah is here, and He is teaching us how to follow Him! Learn how to obey his commandments, learn how to love one another as citizens of the kingdom!" I am sure many around wondered, like you and I, "How do we do this hard teaching?" Some walked away (John 6:66), but as one commentator said, "Jesus didn't chase down people or force them to hear and apply His teaching or love one another. He was training leaders to be Kingdom-focused— Kingdom Minded. They made the decision to follow Him. His teachings were never meant to be absent of Him. Each idea is upside down, mind-altering. The truth is, we can't do it in our own flesh, not without Christ in us. "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)
Jesus' topsy turvey teaching begins with a personal heart check—character correction. It is as if He could have started with, "Do you want to know the character of the citizens in My kingdom?" The Jews may have expected political correction or curses to flow from his mouth, but instead, Jesus spoke blessings. Though we deserve curses, we receive blessings (beatitudes) because Jesus became the curse for us. Now that is upside down, undeserved grace.
Matthew 5:1-11 and what is to come is challenging, not because it doesn't align with the world's teaching, not because it is impossible, but because it is impactful, life-altering. Christians engaged in Kingdom-Living in a depraved, sinful, and corrupt world looks upside down. It looks different. But, we shouldn't just look different (outward appearance) from the world around us but we ARE different (inward change). Jesus picked us up and turned us around. We have been transformed by the Holy Spirit and flipped on our heads, hearts of stone turned to hearts of flesh. We are forever changed because of the cross and Christ's love for us.
When the Bank's children opened the door, they found a different world, and they asked, "How do you manage? Topsy replies, "When the world turns upside down, the best thing to do is to turn right along with it." This upside-down world, as Jesus describes is the Kingdom of God, and, as Pastor Kyle said in the sermon last week, "The doorway to the Kingdom is not opened by trying harder but by surrender." So we can stop all that striving! I think, Topsy and Kyle have the same idea, Jesus too. Surrender to Jesus and give Him the control you are gripping in your hands, not because you ‘must’ but because this is the only appropriate response to our King.
❤️ Meghan
P.S. If you want to spend some time worshiping our King, check out this song, That's My King by Cece Winans.
