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Holy Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church
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The World Turned Upside Down |
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Luke
17:24 Feast
of St. Bartholomew the Apostle August
24, 2008 The date is 1643. Oliver Cromwell rules England after deposing the king. A devout Puritan, he has established policies regarding the Church and worship that cause many people to chaff. In protest a song is published entitled, “The World Turned Upside Down.” It is said that the English played the same tune as Cornwallis surrendered to Washington in Yorktown. I am sure that in both instances some people thought the world had been turned upside down. The old order had been removed, a new order had replaced it, and those who had formerly been on the top, now found themselves on the bottom. But, significant and revolutionary as the changes of Cromwell and Washington were, they pale in comparison to those of Christ. He really did turn the world, “upside down.” Nowhere is this more easily seen than in the Words of Christ in Luke 17, our Gospel Lesson for today. The disciples, soon to become the Apostles, were arguing among themselves about who would be the greatest in the Messiah’s Kingdom. Let me say again that they believed the Messiah had come to be a worldly king who would lead the Jews in a victorious military campaign that would drive the Romans out of Israel, and claim the world for the Jews. The Apostles were sure they would be princes and lords in the new Kingdom, ruling vast areas of land, and being lavishly rich beyond their wildest dreams, but who would rule the most land, have the most subjects, and be the very richest of all? In short, who would be the greatest of them all, under Christ? Jesus’ answer shocked them. He spoke to them about the Gentile rulers, saying they exercise “lordship” over their people. They lord it over their subjects. Our Lord refers here to the Romans, who conquered by the sword and ruled by the cross. Conquered people were allowed great freedom, as long as they didn’t cause trouble, but they were taxed and plundered into poverty, and the Romans considered themselves considerably better than all other people and nations, whom they called “barbarians.” Jesus is reprimanding His disciples here. He is saying they have taken their ideas about the Kingdom, and about greatness from the pagan culture that rules them instead of from the pages of God’s word. For in God’s word, leaders are never rulers; they are always servants. The “model” of leadership, according to the Bible, is not Caesar. All his pomp and glory is but the “vain pomp and glory of this world.” Many of you understand the great role Rome played in world history. Our culture is still influenced by it. Our language is still influenced by it. Our literature, art, architecture, and, to a much lesser degree, our legal system and form of government are still influenced by it. I know many people claim Rome primarily influenced our laws and government, but I think an honest review of both will reveal that we borrowed much more from the Bible than from Rome. The chastisement of Christ to His disciple was precisely because they were looking to Rome rather than God for the pattern for rulers and kingdoms, and transferring that pattern into their understanding of the Church. So Christ turns the world of leadership and authority upside down. He says, “ye shall not be so; but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve.” Now He gives the real model of leadership. He, Himself is that model. “I am among you as he that serveth.” When I read these words I see a mental picture of a man taking a towel and a basin and, as a slave would do for his master, humbly washing the disciples’ feet. When I read these words I think of the words of the Apostle Paul in Philippians 4:5-8, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who being (that is, existing) in the form ( the nature, glory, and being of God, in other words, who is God) thought it not robbery to be equal with God (it was not robbery or pretense for Him who is God to claim Divine nature and privilege) but made himself of no repute (did not assert His Divine privileges) and took upon him the form of a servant, and being found in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” God became man and served His creatures. We are not worthy to gather the crumbs under His table, yet He became our servant on the cross to forgive our sins. We are so accustomed to hearing this that I fear we miss its impact. It means the President is a servant, not a master. It means a father, is a servant, not a master. A mother is a servant not a master. A minister, even a bishop is a servant, not a master. For the only master is God. In the final analysis, it is we, in our sin, who have turned the world upside down. Jesus just put it right side up. Amen. The Rev. Dr. R. Dennis Campbell, Vicar, Holy Trinity Anglican Church,
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