1. Down Is Up Series

Check out the book called "The Upside Down Kingdom by Donald Kraybill

https://www.amazon.com/Upside-Down-Distinguished-Professor-Emeritus-Kraybill/dp/1513802496/ref=sr_1_2?crid=226Z0R7BQKLQ3&keywords=donald+kraybill&qid=1669518981&s=instant-video&sprefix=donald+kraybill%2Cinstant-video%2C182&sr=1-2-catcorr

-In 1968 a school teacher named Jane Elliot gained national attention when she conducted an experiment on her third grade class.

-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had just been assassinated and the whole nation was embroiled in the civil rights movement.

-The experiment took place in the tiny town of Riceville, Iowa and came to be known as the “Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes” experiment.

-I put the link in your message notes if you want to read about it.

-The students were asking her about Dr. King and why he was assassinated and so she asked if they’d like to try an experiment.

-The teacher explained to the class that day that new scientific evidence showed people with brown eyes were smarter than people with blue or green eyes.

-Even though the kids knew it was a role-playing exercise they quickly started segregating themselves by eye color.

-The brown eyed kids began mistreating the blue/green eyed kids.

-Segregation occurred. Elitism reared up.

-Brown eyed kids suddenly gained confidence they hadn’t previously had.

-The previous class leaders with blue/green eyes, starting disengaging and withdrawing when told they were inferior.

-The brown-eyed kids with power started acting the part and the kids with blue/green eyes started acting defeated/deflated.

-That was Friday, on Monday they switched places.

-Thirteen years later after that experiment in Riceville, Iowa I was in 2nd grade when my teacher Mrs. Shipman tried the same experiment on us.

-I remember kids crying.

-I remember kids protesting.

-I remember feeling angry that someone treated my blue eyed friend like they were something less.

-And I remember the shame I felt when she switched it around and I was the second class citizen.

-It made a powerful impression on me as a second grader.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/lesson-of-a-lifetime-72754306/

-There is a narrative some people are pushing in our society that all people are either oppressed or they’re oppressors. I reject that.

-It’s too simplistic, politically charged, and it’s not true.

-But I think something we could all agree on, is that there have always been oppressors and always been the oppressed.

-It’s true today, it’s true in the past, and it’s going to keep happening in all places where human beings live.

-What might surprise you is that Jesus spoke about these things.

-But perhaps even more surprising is that he didn’t address these issues the way that people might have expected.

-I am really excited to be starting this series today.

-Cody and I have been talking about this for months and we assembled a small group to help study this topic.

-There’s a classic Christian book called the Upside Down Kingdom which is our series title.

-And the author, Donald Kraybill, took all these teachings of Jesus and observed something extremely interesting about Jesus and his Kingdom.

-That Jesus takes all the things the world values, cares about and pursues and turns them completely upside down.

-You know what I mean right?

-Jesus said things that no one else had ever said: Upside Down things

*Love your enemies.

*Pray for people who persecute you.

*Go the extra mile for people who don’t deserve it.

*Do your good deeds in private.

*Giving, not getting, is the secret to happiness.

*The greatest people are the least.

*And the least are the greatest.

*It’s not the outward that’s important but the inward.

-Jesus was always saying the opposite of what everyone says said.

-He was always doing what people didn’t expect him to.

-And he was exactly opposite of what people expected.

-And this is so critically important for us to understand.

-Today we’re going to look at a few key passages that highlight the Upside Down ministry and message of Jesus Christ.

-First, let’s look at Luke chapter 1.

-Mary was a young woman chosen by God for a special role.

-She would be the one to give birth to the King of kings and Lord of lords.

-And she also wasn’t what anyone would have expected.

-Mary, wasn’t the wife of a king. She wasn’t from a royal line.

-She wasn’t rich. Wasn’t educated. She wasn’t famous.

-In short, Mary wasn’t what anyone would have expected.

-But God has this way of doing things Upside Down and opposite from what the rest of us think and do.

-Mary was the woman chosen to give birth to the Messiah; for reasons known only to God.

-And in the moment when it really sunk in, she sang this little song of praise that some people call the “Magnificat”.

-And I want you to listen carefully to what was said about the arrival of our Savior Jesus Christ. Here’s what she said:

Luke 1:46-53 “Mary responded, “Oh, how my soul praises the Lord. 47 How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!