Flipped Revelations

Message Title: Flipped Revelations
Theme: Revealing Revelations
Season: Epiphany
Main Text: Micah 6:1-8;
Scripture Reading: Matthew 5:1-12
RCL Scripture: Micah 6:1-8; Psalm 15; 1 Corinthians 1:18-31; Matthew 5:1-12
Focus: God’s kingdom does not operate like the world’s kingdom.
Function: To live in the upside-down kingdom.
Other Notes:

SCRIPTURE READING: Matthew 5:1-12 ¹ Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up a mountain. He sat down and his disciples came to him. ² He taught them, saying: ³ “Happy are people who are hopeless, because the kingdom of heaven is theirs. ⁴ “Happy are people who grieve, because they will be made glad. ⁵ “Happy are people who are humble, because they will inherit the earth. ⁶ “Happy are people who are hungry and thirsty for righteousness, because they will be fed until they are full. ⁷ “Happy are people who show mercy, because they will receive mercy. ⁸ “Happy are people who have pure hearts, because they will see God. ⁹ “Happy are people who make peace, because they will be called God’s children. ¹⁰ “Happy are people whose lives are harassed because they are righteous, because the kingdom of heaven is theirs. ¹¹ “Happy are you when people insult you and harass you and speak all kinds of bad and false things about you, all because of me. ¹² Be full of joy and be glad, because you have a great reward in heaven. In the same way, people harassed the prophets who came before you.

REVEALING INTRO:

1. AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT: Can you think of any inventions or innovations that didn’t go as planned?
   1. Inventions that failed in the best ways
      1. Ford Nova didn’t work out in Mexico because the name translated in to Spanish literally means “No Go”
      1. Inventor of sticky notes was trying to make a super sticky glue but made the sticky substance on the back of these notes
      1. unsuccessful inventions:
         1. HD DVD lost to BluRay
         1. Betamax lost to VHS
         1. Microsoft Zune lost to Ipod/Itunes

TRANSITION:  Our plans don’t always line up with the grand plan. God’s plan doesn’t line up with the world.

MAIN TEXT: Micah 6:1-8; Hear what the Lord is saying: Arise, lay out the lawsuit before the mountains; let the hills hear your voice! ² Hear, mountains, the lawsuit of the Lord! Hear, eternal foundations of the earth! The Lord has a lawsuit against his people; with Israel he will argue. ³ “My people, what did I ever do to you? How have I wearied you? Answer me! ⁴ I brought you up out of the land of Egypt; I redeemed you from the house of slavery. I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam before you. ⁵ My people, remember what Moab’s King Balak had planned, and how Balaam, Beor’s son, answered him! Remember everything^[a] from Shittim to Gilgal, that you might learn to recognize the righteous acts of the Lord!” ⁶ With what should I approach the Lord and bow down before God on high? Should I come before him with entirely burned offerings, with year-old calves? ⁷ Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with many torrents of oil? Should I give my oldest child for my crime; the fruit of my body for the sin of my spirit? ⁸ He has told you, human one, what is good and what the Lord requires from you: to do justice, embrace faithful love, and walk humbly with your God.

EXPLAINATION:

1. Context:
   1. Prophet: Micah of Moresheth (location unknown)
   1. Date: 8-6^th century BC (during Judean kings Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah)
   1. Audience: Both Northern & Southern Kingdoms thought the Northern Kingdom is destroyed in the midst of Micah’s message.
2. Scripture context:
   1. Vs 1-5 God’s voice – lawsuit & covenant breakers
      1. Listen mountains, hills, foundations of the earth – I’ve got beef with Israel
      1. Israel: I’ve loved you and cared for you -examples– yet you treat me poorly and ignore my commands
   1. 6-7- the Voice: voice speaking rhetorically as Israel, clearly they are out of touch with God’s expectations. You hear it in their language.
      1. What does God want from us? (reminds me of the prophets of Baal in their contest with Elijah to summon their god) Forgot the terms of the covenant.
         1. Reasonable – burned offerings
         1. Less reasonable – thousands of rams w/ many torrents of oil
         1. Unreasonable – sacrifice first born son
   1. 8 -Micah: God doesn’t want ritual; God wants changed hearts & lives.

INTERPRETATION:

1. Flipped Revelation: Connect to Beatitudes–
   1. In Matthew, Jesus starts his Sermon on the Mount with a series of statements that contradict normal expectations. Society operates 1 way; God operates a completely different way.
      1. I normally love the translation I use on Sundays – Common English Bible – but for the Beatitudes I think it falls short.
      1. The translators chose to translate “markarioi” as “happy.”
         1. Μακάριος – can translate as happy but blessed or “to be envied” are better choices.
         1. The meaning of happy in English is so fleeting. The emotion is here one minute and gone the next.
         1. But in God’s upside-kingdom, you are to be envied when you are lost or at the end of your rope (MSG).
   1. The kingdom of God revealed tells us the world’s priorities are not God’s priorities. The world’s plans are not God’s plans. The world’s favorites are not God’s favorites.

APPLICATION: Where the world sees hopeless God is hope-filled

1. The voice speaking with God in Micah 6:6-7 was so disconnected from God’s truth that he didn’t know how to satisfy God.
   1. God doesn’t require religious pomp and circumstance. God wants transformation.
      1. God doesn’t want you to go to church àGod wants you to be the church
      1. God doesn’t want you to tithe (minimum)àGod wants you to give joyfully of yourself (time, resources, $)
      1. God doesn’t want you to go on mission trips àGod wants you to serve in all ways and all times
      1. God doesn’t want you to sing hymns (or worship songs)à God wants you to celebrate him in all times because it radiates from you.
   1. God wants to see us transformed by God’s truth

CONCLUSION:

Benediction: Do justice, embrace faithful love, and walk humbly with God