Who's Upside-Down? Isaiah 29

May the mumbling commence!

I expect that many of you have heard of the upside-down kingdom of Jesus.  Somehow, I do not think that Jesus would think of it that way.  Jesus poses the question to us as to who is upside-down.

Have you ever played with a toddler?  I happen to have one in my house right now.  Sometimes, his mother and I get confused and hold him wrong-end-up.  Sometimes, Micah (our nearly three-year-old son) tells us that we are upside-down.  From his point of view, we are upside-down.  His mother and I know better.  (Sometimes, I think that Micah knows better, too.)

I wonder if, when we approach Jesus with the thought that his kingdom is upside-down, that Jesus knows much better the true orientation of life – in comparison to the world we live in.  I wonder if the blood is rushing to our heads.  I wonder if our heads get too big – thinking that the world revolves around us. 

Yes, I firmly believe that these myopic tendencies can affect the most faithful follower of Christ Jesus.  I am thinking of these things today because of a passage of Isaiah that I read this morning.  Read Isaiah 29:13-16 –

            The Lord says:

            "These people come near to me with their mouth

                        and honor me with their lips,

                        but their hearts are far from me.

            Their worship of me

                        is made up only of rules taught by men. 

            Therefore once more I will astound these people

                        with wonder upon wonder;

            the wisdom of the wise will perish,

                        the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish." 

            Woe to those who go to great depths

                        to hide their plans from the Lord,

            who do their work in darkness and think,

                        "Who sees us? Who will know?" 

            You turn things upside down,

                        as if the potter were thought to be like the clay!

            Shall what is formed say to him who formed it,

                        "He did not make me"?

            Can the pot say of the potter,

                        "He knows nothing"?

How do we seek to honor the Lord?  Sometimes, I believe that I only give lip service to God during worship on Sunday.  You know, I am going through the motions.  The Lord wants more than that from us.  The Lord wants us to have a burning desire for Him in our hearts – just as He has a burning desire for us in His heart.

God wants us to lay aside our great wisdom and intelligence.  God wants us to lay aside the scientific method for a time, so that we may wonder anew at the miracles of God.  Wonder at the miracles of God rather than try to explain them away or ignore them fairy tales with no scientific proof to base them as fact. 

God has made us creative.  It is a part of being made in the image of God.  But, when we get caught up in our own petty creations, we see ourselves as the Creator.  We speak back to our Great Creator, as if we made Him – not He us.  Now that is upside-down!  How can we say that God does not exist or that God knows nothing?!?

I grant the Lord this day my heart and soul.  I grant Him the awe and wonder and worship only He deserves.

Enough mumbling for now… 

Peace Out