December 24, 2001
Sermon by Rev. Laurel Bobb
Once upon a time there was a
kingdom called the Kingdom of Upside Down. It was a pleasant
place, but everyone who didn’t live there thought it was
rather odd. You see everything there seemed upside down--not physically,
just in the way the citizens thought about things.
In most kingdoms people look for ways to be honored and gain recognition--to climb the social ladder, to make more money and gain power over others. "It’s the way of the world," they say. But the Kingdom of Upside Down is not like that. Instead of trying to climb the ladder of success and become famous or influential, these people would get up every morning looking for people to whom they could show love . . . and serve!
While it was true they seemed to be the happiest people on earth, it just wasn’t normal the people in the surrounding areas thought. No, more than that--it was insane! Instead of trying to become wealthier no matter what it took, these people looked for opportunities to give away their money. They sought out those who were less fortunate and didn’t care about with what class of people they associated. The Upside Downers, as they were called, were simply a strange breed. Even when they themselves were hungry they would share their food with others. When people would ask the Upside Downers why they did this they replied they believed their king would reward them and meet their needs.
The talk about their king is ridiculous in itself. No one has seen their king and many even doubt if there is a king. If there had been a king I’m sure that long ago he would have run off in embarrassment over the kind of people he was ruling. But most think that this king is just a figment of these poor mixed-up peoples’ imaginations.
One day an author heard about the strange goings-on in the Kingdom of Upside Down and wanted to find out about it and experience it for himself, so he could write a book. So Mr. Author set out on his journey. When Author finally reached his destination he began immediately taking it all in. He saw a man on the square and introduced himself. He discovered the man was Citizen Saint and he had been a resident of the Kingdom of Upside Down for many, many years.
Author was curious about this renowned place and asked, "Has the Kingdom always been like this?" "O, no," replied Saint, "There was a time when our land was the only place we knew in existence. It was a peaceful place, ruled by our King--those were in the days when the King could be seen face to face, but something went horribly wrong and everything changed. The ancient lore has it that the kingdom was beguiled by a serpent and greatly altered. The king no longer talked with people face to face. Instead of beautiful flowers and fruit trees weeds took over. The peace and harmony of the Kingdom was broken and the people began to fight one another. Eventually the citizens began to notice that there were other nations around. The more rebellious began to moan that they wanted to be like all the other peoples."
"They began to doubt the existence of the now unseen king and they wanted a visible king like every other nation had," he continued. "Their king indulged them in this, but things went from bad to worse. Most of the people forgot they ever served the unseen king, but there were a few who held out the hope that some day their unseen king would again exert his righteous reign and things would be put back to the way they should be."
"Did it ever happen; did your king appear?"asked Author. "Well that’s an interesting question," the citizen began. He sent his son and his son reminded people of the way things were supposed to be. He talked about the King loving us and wanting us back; he spoke of loving our enemies, giving honor to the king, and living forever with the king. He brought healing and wholeness wherever he went. But many of the people didn’t believe he was who he claimed to be. They accused him of fraud, trying to pretend he was the king so he could control the people; they even hinted that he was of disreputable birth. Those who were in control were afraid of losing their influence and fortunes, so they worked it out for him to be killed. Those of us who pledged allegiance to the king were devastated; we thought that all hope was gone."
"How awful for you,"Author said trying to follow the story, "but what happened to change your mind?" "He came back!"replied Citizen Saint. "You can’t be serious!" the writer charged. "O, but I am--dead serious. Many of our folk saw him with their own eyes. He even began to explain how he had to die to bring the people back into the kingdom and break the curse the old serpent put on the land. Yes, he proved he was the rightful king."
"But I thought you still had an invisible king," countered Mr. Author. "Ah, just so," Saint answered. "Then what happened to him?" the writer demanded. "He’s still in the unseen throne room." "And the Son?" "He went back to his father and now rules right alongside. He’s the one that turned things upside down. Those of us who believed he was who he said he was claimed our rightful citizenship. It was the others who didn’t believe who gradually moved away, fearing our oddness, as they like to call it, might rub off on them or their children and point out that the way they live isn’t the way the king planned. They were the ones who started calling us Upside Downers, but we kind of liked the name, so it stuck. Now we’re proud to be known as citizens of the Kingdom of Upside Down."
"I know you think you’re happy and everything, but how can you be without focusing on owning things and getting ahead?" the writer wanted to know. "The King’s Son showed us what was really important in life and that these things were all temporal. They aren’t going to last. The only lasting things we have are our relationship with our king and the good we do for others in this life."
"You say that like you believe there’s going to be another life, Mr. Author stated skeptically. "Aye, and so I do. The King’s Son promised to come again and take his faithful citizens to be with him forever," Saint responded.
"But that’s preposterous isn’t it? How can you believe someone you can’t see is coming to take you to live somewhere that can’t be seen?" asked Author. "O, now sonny, I can’t see it with my eyes, but I can see it with my heart and that’s the most perfect sight we have."
"So you want me to believe that because some folks told you long ago that the King’s Son came to this land and told you how to live, but he was killed, and came back to life, but then went to be with the King, you built a whole society around his teachings?" queried the incredulous writer. "We didn’t build our society around his teachings. That would never work; he built the kingdom around himself. He’s the One who gives us the power to live the way he showed us. He’s the One who sent the Helper to remind us of his words. He’s the One who died in our place. Wouldn’t you live for someone who gave his life for you?" rejoined Saint.
"I suppose I would, but who is this helper? Maybe I can talk to him, or is it her?" asked Mr. Author. "Helper is the One who communicates with us, but you can’t see Helper either," answered Citizen. "So there’s an invisible King with an invisible Son and an invisible Helper who rules this Kingdom and makes everyone so loyal that they will serve this King in spite of the fact that they can’t see him?"stated the would-be writer now utterly confused. "That’s about the long and short of it, except you make it sound like there are three in charge and there’s really only One," said Saint.
"My head is beginning to hurt. All I wanted to do was to come here and find out how this kingdom got turned upside down and why all the people lived so differently from the rest of the world, yet seem so happy, and what I get is more and more confused. I guess I’ll never be able to write my book; I can’t even jot an article about this. My trip was a failure," said Author sadly.
But Citizen Saint responded, "No trip to the Kingdom of Upside Down is ever a failure. You don’t understand because you have not experienced our Great King for yourself. The King is always looking for more people to become Citizens. Why not try it and see for yourself?"
"How would I do that? Certainly I’m not worthy to be a citizen of this Kingdom," Mr. Author said more to himself than out loud, but Saint replied, "None is worthy, but the King’s mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. All you need do is allow the King to show you His mercy. You’ll want to cross through the waters to show you are loyal to the King. Then you, too, will be given power and learn how to live upside down, and you’ll be filled with more joy than you could ever imagine," proclaimed Citizen Saint.
And that brings us to the end of our story. But as with many stories there is a moral. The moral is that friend, you too, can become a citizen of the Kingdom of Upside Down or learn how to be a be a better citizen. You can become a citizen by trusting in God’s mercy; you can be baptized into the family of believers and discipled by a faithful community. Those who are already citizens can become better ones by remembering what God’s priorities in life are and living by them--serving the lowly, feeding the hungry considering God to be your ultimate treasure, and giving Him the honor that is due.
Copyright 2000 by Rev. Laurel Bobb