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• (Acts 17:5-7 NRSV) But the Jews became jealous, and with the help of some ruffians in the marketplaces they formed a mob and set the city in an uproar. While they were searching for Paul and Silas to bring them out to the assembly, they attacked Jason's house. {6} When they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some believers before the city authorities, shouting, "These people who have been turning the world upside down have come here also, {7} and Jason has entertained them as guests. They are all acting contrary to the decrees of the emperor, saying that there is another king named Jesus."
• The first generation of followers of Jesus Christ were simply known as the people who are turning the world upside down.
• Of course from the Christian perspective, this Counter Revolution is actually turning the world right side up.
• The world is upside down already, capsized in the middle of a sea of a worldly thinking that has factored God out of the equation.
• Jesus comes along and says let’s get this boat afloat again, let’s see what can be done to save a drowning world.
• Of course it is extremely difficult to save people who don’t know or think they are drowning.
• The Church is called to Impact the world
• Jesus challenges his followers with this proclamation in His Sermon on the Mount.
• (Mat 5:13-48 NRSV) "You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. {14} "You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. {15} No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. {16} In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.
• John Stott if the house is dark at night, there is no sense in blaming the house. That's what happens when the sun goes down. The question to ask is, "Where is the light?" If meat goes bad, there is no sense in blaming the meat. That is what happens when the bacteria are allowed to breed unchecked. The question to ask is, "Where is the salt?" If society becomes corrupt like a dark night or stinking fish, there's no sense in blaming society. That's what happens when fallen human society is left to itself and human evil is unrestrained and unchecked. The question to ask is "Where is the church?" --, " Christians: Salt and Light," Preaching Today, Tape No. 109.
• The Church is too critical of the world for not being Salty or filled with light.
• It is not the world’s fault, it is the Church.
• When followers of Jesus live lives that are Salty, the world is preserved, saved. Followers of Jesus are supposed to add flavor to the world. Often we just add a bitter taste.
• We curse the darkness, but we never shine.
• Jesus calls his followers to a Higher Law.
• {17} "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. {18} For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. {19} Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. {20} For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
• There seems to be a conflict in the thinking of Jesus.
• (Mat 23:15 NLT) Yes, how terrible it will be for you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. For you cross land and sea to make one convert, and then you turn him into twice the son of hell as you yourselves are.
• At one point it sounds as if Jesus is saying the Pharisees weren’t doing enough to keep the law, and if you can’t exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees you can’t enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
• Jesus also is correcting the Pharisees who think that ritual and law keeping will produce Righteousness.
• Jesus is actually telling His followers that it is impossible for the law to make you right with God.
• The purpose of the law was to teach us how to live together in community, and righteousness would be the outgrowth of our relationship with God and others.
• In no way, though, would keeping the law make you a righteous person.
• Human nature wants to know, “What’s the minimum.
• {21} "You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, 'You shall not murder'; and 'whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.' {22} But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, 'You fool,' you will be liable to the hell of fire. {23} So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, {24} leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift. {25} Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. {26} Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny. {27} "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' {28} But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. {29} If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. {30} And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell. {31} "It was also said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.' {32} But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. {33} "Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, 'You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.' {34} But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, {35} or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. {36} And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. {37} Let your word be 'Yes, Yes' or 'No, No'; anything more than this comes from the evil one. {38} "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' Murder is the minimum, not the maximum.
• Adultery is the minimum, not the maximum.
• Divorce is the minimum, not the maximum.
• Anger is the Higher law.
• Lust is the Higher Law.
• Divorce treats marriage as a contract. God’s plan for marriage is a covenant, a union, the two become one. Divorce is so painful, so that when a person divorces and remarries they will bring the pain and shame of that failed relationship and that brokenness will affect all relationships.
• Jesus says this not to heap condemnation on people who have failed marriages, but more as a warning to how serious marriage is.
• A failed marriage is not a death sentence, it is just the reality of our brokenness and the sober reality of how trivialized marriage is in our culture, even in the Church where the divorce rate among Christians is now almost the same as it is for non-believers.
• John Fischer writes about the legalism of religious people in his book, Real Christians Don't Dance (the book can be read online at http://www.ccel.us/dance.toc.html)
• Note the word Dance is crossed out.
• He writes: The legalist always reduces the requirements of the Law. He has no choice but to shrink it to something that he can maintain so that when he compares himself to another, he will always win.
• I am righteous if I don’t murder, don’t commit adultery, don’t get divorced, don’t dance, don’t chew or don’t go with girls that do.
• Jesus says the law is even higher.
• You should not have to swear on a stack of Bibles in order for people to believe you. If you are a Christ follower, honesty starts to come naturally because of the light of Jesus Christ in you.
• The Law is easy, you poke my kids eye out, I poke somebody in your family’s eye out. You knock out a tooth, I knock out a tooth, you kill my wife in a car accident, I sue for everything just to punish you. That’s simple.
• {39} But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; {40} and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; {41} and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. {42} Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you. {43} "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' {44} But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, {45} so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. {46} For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? {47} And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?
• The Law is simple to fulfill, but the attitudes of our heart are very difficult.
• It is natural to strike back; it is supernatural to turn the other cheek.
• Donald Trump, Think Big and Kick ……. Describes the way of the world in its upside state.
• Top achievers don’t act passively or let others push them around. When someone crosses them, they redouble their efforts to get even rather than turning the other cheek.
• Achievers do whatever is required to defend themselves and their interests.
• The Roman Law stated that a citizen of Rome could ask for a person’s coat, but you couldn’t be asked for your cloak too.
• Jesus says when you give your coat, that is not a sacrifice, that’s what the law says.
• If you give your cloak, then you have done an act of love.
• A Roman soldier could ask any non-citizen to carry his backpack for a mile, but that was all.
• Jesus said you are a slave if you fulfill the law.
• If you carry it an extra mile, you are making a choice. Now you are free and no one can enslave you.
• You can grumble and moan about carrying it one mile, or you can carry it the second mile to show your love.
• The Counter Christian must do the maximum!
• {48} Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
• The law makes you do the minimum, love seeks to do the maximum.
• Law has limits, love has no bounds.
• Perfect is not measured by your ability to keep the law, but by your ability to love, to show grace to people who need grace, to go the second mile, to share unselfishly, love recklessly, to forgive freely.
• When we do that we shine, we add flavor, we do what Jesus did.
• Calvin Miller’s fictitious first Century view of the church, The Philippian Fragment, talks about a disciple named Scrubjoy. The name is descriptive of many people in the church who prefer legalism to grace: Scrubjoy came to emphasize personal purity as the ideal for the believer. Under his spell many in the church have become disciples by “notting.” If you do not drink and you do not dance and you do not leer at the hemlines of the short tunics, then you may go to heaven where presumably everybody will get together for celebrating an eternity of Scrubjoy’s discipline….. Scrubjoy is, indeed, keeping himself unspotted from the world and his countenance is stern. Clement, it is not God’s commandments but our own that become so grievous. We make the world miserable in measuring each others moral maxims….Rules blunt the appetite for Christ. Joy intrigues. I can tell you it has been many a season since Scrubjoy has bubbled anyone into the kingdom.
• Fischer writes as he quotes Jesus’ parable in Luke 18 about a religious leader and a dishonest tax collector: In the final analysis, there are only two types of people in the world, and believe me, they’re not Christians and non-Christians. It’s a different division, one that Jesus himself made. One stands on the corner in public and prays with his arms outstretched to God…”Lord, I thank you that I am not like this man, and points to the other who is in the alleyway, on his knees in the mud, crying, ‘Lord have mercy on me, a sinner! That’s it. Those are the two types of people. The Law has been reduced to a standard of comparison by the first man, but it has broken the back of the second. It is the one on his knees who will know the love of God.
• Which of these are you?
• Are you the one crying out for all to hear, look at how well I keep the law, look at my self-righteousness.
• Or are you the one who still cries, Lord be merciful to me a sinner, even when I keep the Law, it is just the minimum, I want to do the maximum, go the extra mile, love the unlovely, heal the broken, turn the world right side up.

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