2. Mountain Politics Series

Check out the book "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

-I’ve always been fascinated by mountains.

-I climbed my first real mountain when I was about 16 years old.

-My youth pastor took 12 of us to climb a central Oregon mountain called Three Fingered Jack.

-There is an infamous section on this mountain called “the crawl”.

-It is a flat wall with a tiny little ledge and a huge drop.

-You thread a rope through some rings that are installed and then everyone can travel across safely attached to the rope.

-Except the first person. The first person is the one to thread the rope and if they slip they fall a long way.

-Several people have died over the years attempting this.

-And so, when it was time for someone to go across…our youth pastor sent me.

-Not because I was a great climber or the bravest, but because I had small feet for that small ledge.

-(And was dumb enough to say yes…there was this girl I wanted to impress…long story)

-So we made it to the top and lived to tell the tale.

-There is something about mountains.

-They are massive, unyielding and immovable.

Mountains are places of solitude for mystics and gurus.

Places for mighty men to build fortresses and strongholds.

Mountains are metaphoric for power and strength.

-And, in the Bible, many pivotal moments involved mountains.

-A quick run through the Scripture reminds us of some of those:

*Noah’s Ark landed on top of Mt. Ararat.

*The 10 Commandments were given on Mt. Sinai.

*God spoke to Israel audibly from that same mountain.

*Moses gazed on the Promised Land from Mt. Nebo

*Elijah’s showdown with false prophets was on Mt. Carmel

*In Matthew 4 Jesus was tempted by Satan on the top of a mountain…we’ll talk about that next week.

*Jesus was transformed in front of three disciples on the top of a mountain Mt. Tabor (according to tradition)

*Jesus famously prayed on the Mount of Olives on the night that he was betrayed.

*And the most famous teaching of Jesus was on a mountain; a message we call The Sermon on the Mount

-And the beginning of that message is a special portion that is called the Beatitudes.

-I’d like to begin by just reading that portion to you and it’ll probably sound familiar.

Matthew 5:3-10 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

-If you’ve spent any time in church you’ve probably heard those words before. (Picture of Jesus)

-Many of us have heard these words so many times that maybe they’ve become old news rather than good news.

-They’re so common for us that we might miss just how world changing they words were for the people that first heard them.

-Let me share a bit of history with you.

-Before Jesus arrived the Jews were conquered and ruled by foreign countries for a period spanning about 500 years. (pg 35)

-It started with the Babylonians.

-Next came the Persians.

-All things considered they were better; they allowed the Temple to be rebuilt.

-But then came the Greeks. Not so nice.

-When the Greek empire fell, Egypt gained control over God’s people again.

-And that lasted about 100 years and then an evil Syrian king named Antiochus Ephiphanes came to power.

-His nickname was “the madman”. Not usually a good sign.

-He’s the guy who infamously defiled the temple.

-Under the leadership of the Maccabeans, the Jews rebelled and actually gained freedom for about 100 years.

-But then came Rome, same old song, different verse and God’s people were once again under the thumb of merciless outsiders.

-And they conquered Israel for the same old reasons.

-The same reasons that Russian attacked Ukraine.

-It’s about money, power, resources, control.

-It’s about the egos and ambitions of powerful people.

-This may seem like the stuff of kings and armies.

-But if you study all of this you’ll find something really interesting; there were also culture wars being waged.

-Each one of these dominating cultures tried to impose their culture on God’s people.

-We should take note of that, because the same thing is happening today with us.

-But it wasn’t through social media, pop culture, celebrity spokespeople, or political parties.