(Adapted from Steve’s book, When Everything Changes)
“I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!” LUKE 12:49
The Kingdom of God brings a revolution, a new order that challenges and changes the status quo. The Gospel was so revolutionary, so threatening to the political, military, economic and religious Powers That Be (and the dark spiritual powers behind them) that they executed Jesus and chased down his disciples. This was not because Jesus cared for the poor or healed the sick; it was because he declared a whole new order. From that time until this, the Powers That Be have done, and continue to do all that they can to domesticate the revolutionary message of Jesus. In large part, this is why such a small gospel is preached in our day.
Thirty years before Jesus began his ministry, God announced His revolution when He sent an angel to Mary. Her son, Jesus the Messiah, would bring a whole new order. Mary prophesied this new order in Luke 1 in a prophetic proclamation known as the Magnificat.
“Oh, how my soul praises the Lord.How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior! For he took notice of his lowly servant girl, and from now on all generations will call me blessed. For the Mighty One is holy, and he has done great things for me.He shows mercy from generation to generation to all who fear him.His mighty arm has done tremendous things!
He has scattered the proud and haughty ones. He has brought down princes from their thrones and exalted the humble.He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away with empty hands. He has helped his servant Israel and remembered to be merciful.For he made this promise to our ancestors, to Abraham and his children forever.” (Luke 1:46–55 NLT)
I do not think it can be overstated how revolutionary this passage is. The Magnificat is both a promise to those at the bottom of the social order and a warning to those at the top. “He has scattered the proud in the imaginations of their hearts. He has put down the mighty from their thrones ... The rich he has sent away empty”. In God’s new order, where up becomes down, no longer is value given according to a person’s wealth or status. This is not only counter-cultural; it is counter-intuitive.
We live in a world that says, and has always said, that value is based upon performance, wealth and power. James, in one of the earliest letters written to the church, addressed this very issue, challenging the church not to give preferential treatment to the wealthy and influential. James tells the church that showing partiality is sin, plain and simple. This calls for a value adjustment, the value of God’s Kingdom. “Listen my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom?” (Jas. 2:5 ESV). Martin Luther called the honoring of the successful, “the greatest and most universal belief or religion on earth.”
When we truly embrace this revolutionary Gospel of the Kingdom, it challenges our motives, causes us to see our failings for what they are, and presses us into the grace of our Savior.
The gospel that Jesus proclaimed was revolutionary; its purpose has always been to call out a new community, counter- cultural in its allegiance to a new Master. By its very nature, this revolutionary gospel positions this new community of disciples in conflict with the values of the world around it. Following Jesus means committing to live counter-culturally, rejecting the world’s systems that falsely offer security and significance. Following Him means saying, “Jesus is Lord, and Caesar is not,” or “Jesus is Lord, and my retirement plan is not, my national identity is not.” Following Him means being a prophetic voice against injustice. It means living a very intentional and purposeful life. If we truly decide to let Another One rule, if this decision is real and sustained, then it will change the direction and priorities of our lives.
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