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We live in a world drunk on power—where the loudest voices win, the richest get all the breaks, borders define belonging, outrage is currency, and “winning” means someone always has to lose. Everyone’s climbing, canceling, curating, performing, protecting their tribe while the weak get crushed under the ladder of success.
Then Jesus walks in and flips-the-script, overturns the rules, and upside-downs the world. His kingdom runs on a completely different operating system: the last are first, the poor are the VIPs, enemies get prayers instead of punches, and the broken are the ones God brags about. Strength looks like weakness, winning looks like losing, and the guest of honor is the person the world never looked at.
This isn’t a polite adjustment to the way things are; it’s a divine insurrection against everything we’ve been trained to worship. And it’s not coming someday—it’s breaking in right now, daring us to defect from the empire of first and self and step into the Upside-Down Kingdom where Jesus, not us, sits on the throne.
Are You ready to lean in and live upside-down? Let’s look back and name eight values we’ve encountered in this Upside-Down Kingdom series.
1. Today, Not Someday — Live Heaven on Earth
The kingdom of God isn’t waiting for heaven. It starts here, now, within us and among us. When Jesus said, “Repent,” at the beginning of his ministry (Mark 1), He wasn’t saying, “Feel guilty.” He was saying, “See differently. Think differently.” Repent literally means, “go beyond the mind you have.” It’s not “feel bad” but turn toward something good. It’s not “try harder,” it’s “come closer.” It’s an invitation to joy, curiosity, and transformation. It doesn’t so much look like someone ashamed but someone like this . . .
It’s truly seeing, not blind faith. It’s a gift, not a punishment.
And Jesus said, “Today, the kingdom of God has come near.” Not someday. Not after you fix your life. Not after death. Today. The kingdom is not just where we go when we die; it’s how we live before we die. It shapes how we treat the vulnerable, the immigrant, the poor, the stranger, and even our enemy – now, as if heaven were already here. Jesus didn’t just save souls—He restored lives. He healed bodies, affirmed dignity, and challenged harmful practices. And the kingdom is heaven coming to earth through people who live like Jesus—starting today. The sermon quotable: We are to repentantly listen to Jesus’ way, Jesus’ time, Jesus’ mission, and invert everything that is not as Jesus intends it to be. For those of you who might only wish to ask, “Are you saved?” Jesus would add, “Do kids have enough to eat today?” To those who might only worry about economic concerns, Jesus would ask, “Do you need forgiveness now?”
2. The kingdom is built for you not on you.
In Matthew 4 and Luke 4, we watched Jesus in the wilderness as He faced a battle between two types of kingdoms: God’s and Satan’s. We learned the battle was Jesus’ do-over of Adam’s and Israel’s failure to conquer sin and bless the world. His victory showed us this (sermon quotable): the Upside-Down Kingdom is not centered on me. It includes me. It invites me. But it does not revolve around me. It’s not built on my talents, opinions, or abilities—it’s built on Jesus’ faithfulness. That’s good news. Because if it rested on us, it would fall apart. But because it rests on Him, it stands forever. The kingdom has everything to do with you—but it’s not built on you. You can courageously fail, fantastically flop, and still be with this kingdom.
3. Cross Before Crown
The way of Jesus is not the path of comfort, but of sacrificial love. In the wilderness, Jesus was tempted three times and each temptation was basically an offer to get the prize without paying the price. It was an invitation to get the crown without the cost by choosing power over obedience, demanding proof instead of having trust, and grabbing for glory while dodging suffering. But Jesus chose a different way. This beloved son of God revealed that the means of the kingdom matter as much as the ends. In the same way, “child of God” isn’t just some title that you are given but an identity that we are also asked to live out. It's kind of like a marriage vow. The “I do” is declared publicly at the ceremony, in front of family and friends. And – boom – you’re married. But the vow is really proven in the tough, private moments through sickness, disagreements, and hard times. And that matters particularly to the one you made all those promises to. Jesus showed us that obedience matters, humility matters, sacrifice matters not just to God but to people in need. In this kingdom, we do not grasp for power—we take up our cross and follow Him.
4. Embrace Before Fixing
Jesus didn’t wait for people to change before He loved them. He loved them, and that became the space where change was possible. In Mark 1, when a leper said, “Are you willing to make me whole?” Jesus didn’t just heal him—He said, “I am willing.” And he touched him - first. Before anything changed, Jesus became “unclean” himself so the man could belong again. It's this idea called “the will to embrace” that Jesus and his kingdom movement affirm a person's worth, their dignity, their basic humanity as being worthy of love without conditions. That’s the heart of God. Love over laws. Embrace before evaluation. We don’t first see a problem—we need to see a person. Jesus’ way reminds us that people don’t become worthy of love—they discover their worth in love. People aren’t invited to believe so that they may belong. They are invited to belong so that they may believe. And what are we asked to believe: that God’s love is so extravagant that he would leave ninety-nine of those who are safe for one that is lost and look until he finds them (Luke 15). The sermon quotable: The response to people struggling with sin, isolated by sin, harmed by sin, isn’t to hate sin but to listen to people, to forgive people, to embrace people. It isn’t to separate from sin but to lean into people with touchable compassion.
5. Mercy Over Merit
We noticed in Matthew 20 that the kingdom isn't earned—it’s received. Jesus told a story of workers in a vineyard—some worked all day, some only one hour—but all received the same reward. And it bothered people, just like it bothers us. Because we love fairness. But the kingdom isn’t built on fairness—it’s built on mercy. God doesn’t give us what we deserve; He gives us what we need. Grace levels the ground because we know that we have all been that last worker to show up. Sermon quotable: “Because in the end, the kingdom of God isn’t about who worked the hardest — it’s about who’s willing to rejoice that everyone got paid.”
6. Shared Work, Shared Welcome
In this Upside-Down Kingdom, everyone serves and everyone belongs. In Luke 10, Jesus shattered categories of who gets to do what. In Mary and Martha’s home, we saw Mary sit at Jesus’ feet—a place reserved only for male disciples. But Jesus didn’t send her back to the kitchen. He protected her right to learn, to grow, to lead. In Jesus’ kingdom, there are no “men’s roles” or “women’s roles”—there are only kingdom roles. Everyone gets to serve, learn, lead, and love. The question isn’t, “Am I Mary or Martha?” The better question is, “Whose burden can I lift so they too can sit at Jesus’ feet?” Show the sermon quotable.
7. Bless the Broken
In Luke 6, Jesus changed the meaning of “blessed.” In His culture, like ours, “blessed” meant wealthy, successful, powerful, favored by God. But Jesus looked at the poor, the grieving, the weary, the lonely, and said, “You are blessed.” Why? Because blessing is not about having it together—it’s about being noticed and held by God. Blessing isn’t a reward—it’s a relationship. The Upside-Down Kingdom starts not with strength, but with weakness, not with our faithfulness but with God’s faithfulness. God doesn’t wait for the polished and impressive—He starts with the broken and honest. Because in this kingdom, blessing is not found in being important—but in helping others know they are important. The sermon quotable: God's kingdom, true blessedness, is not found when you've got it all together. It's found in the exact opposite place, in the places of our need. The kingdom of God is built specifically for the frail and the fragile. It's a space where it's genuinely 100% okay to not be okay.
8. Love Your Enemy, Not Just Your Friends
Kingdom love isn’t wimpy—it’s courage. It crosses lines. It breaks cycles. It speaks to love and truth to the powerful. Jesus said, “Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” This isn’t weakness—it’s freedom. He seeks to free us from the tyranny of others by not allowing them to determine our response or dictate our actions. He teaches us that people are never the enemy – injustice is. He encourages us not to spread hatred but to live imaginatively into way of being that seeks to remake the world through mercy, generosity, and blessing. You can’t shame someone into transformation. You can’t bully someone into blessing. Kingdom love transforms bitterness into forgiveness, anger into compassion, enemies into neighbors, by receiving grace ourselves and using it as our secret weapon - killing them with kindness. The sermon quotable comes from one of the mad-libs created by a parishioner where you were asked to finish the statement from Isaiah2:4: They will beat their swords into cookies. That’s the imagination that will enable us to live upside down.
Friends, the Upside-Down Kingdom is not just an idea—it’s how we fight. It’s not safe – it’s infuriating to some and dangerous for others. It will take you into lonely places, just like Jesus. It may get you misunderstood, rejected, or labeled. But don’t be afraid. Because this way of Jesus—ultimately is the work of Jesus and he has already won. When we live this way, we don’t so much build the kingdom—we reveal it. When we live this way, we don’t so much secure our place in heaven – we help heaven be a place on earth. Amen.
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