Turning the World Upside Down

Scripture:

Acts 17:1 ¶ After Paul and Silas had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.
Acts 17:2 And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three sabbath days argued with them from the scriptures,
Acts 17:3 explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This is the Messiah, Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you.”
Acts 17:4 Some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women.
Acts 17:5 But the Jews became jealous, and with the help of some ruffians in the marketplaces they formed a mob and set the city in an uproar. While they were searching for Paul and Silas to bring them out to the assembly, they attacked Jason’s house.
Acts 17:6 When they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some believers before the city authorities, shouting, “These people who have been turning the world upside down have come here also,
Acts 17:7 and Jason has entertained them as guests. They are all acting contrary to the decrees of the emperor, saying that there is another king named Jesus.”
Acts 17:8 The people and the city officials were disturbed when they heard this,
Acts 17:9 and after they had taken bail from Jason and the others, they let them go.

Observation:

Paul and Silas were developing a rhythm to their ministry. Paul had a plan for his ministry and this included going to the Jewish synagogue every sabbath. He knew exactly what he was doing and could preach well because he was a well-educated man. In the synagogue he would argue about the Messiah from the scriptures.

As a result of his preaching and apologetics a number of Jews became believers. Devout Greeks were known as “God-fearers” and a number of them kept the Mosaic laws, except for circumcision.

Macedonia was a unique region in regard to women. Here we see that a number of the leading women were coming to Christ and this was significant. Remember that in Philippi it was Lydia who first came to Christ and the church began to meet at her home. The women in Macedonia are significant to helping create a foothold for Christianity in Europe. Macedonia as opposed to Athens had different laws regarding women. The Athenian laws made women little more than the status of a slave and to educate her was to make her a prostitute. In Macedonia public statues were erected in honor of notable women and it was not uncommon for a man to take his last name from his mother. It was into this environment that God sent Paul — to Macedonia to begin the European work of Christianity.

As a result of Paul and Silas’ intentional effort to preach about Christ a number of people became believers and this troubled the religious authorities. They weren’t troubled because of Paul’s theology — they were jealous because of his popularity and that people were following what he had to say. The result of Paul and Silas’ work was that the peaceful little world was being stirred up in Thessalonica. Instead of business as usual on a day to day basis, this new faith in the Messiah was changing things and there were those who did not like change. They wanted the status quo, so much so, that the religious leaders were willing to get some “ruffians” to “ruff” up these men who were preaching about the Messiah. Not being able to find Paul and Silas they still wanted to make a point and drug Jason and some other believers to court claiming that they had turned the world upside down.

Application:

The most important thing for the religious leaders in Thessalonica was the status quo. They didn’t want anything to come along that would change the way in which they lived their lives day in and day out. They had positions of respect in the community. People listened to them and did what they told them to do and life just went on, day in and day out in a particular rhythm. Although they had preached about a coming Messiah, they probably had preconceived notions of what that was supposed to look like.

If we were to be really honest with ourselves, we like the comfort of the status quo. It feels good when life has a particular rhythm and routine and when that gets stirred up we become uncomfortable.

As followers of Jesus Christ we are not called to the status quo. We are called to a radical obedience that turns the world upside down.

Our obedience to Christ should make those around us a bit uncomfortable.

Even in today’s world the reason that people don’t want Christians around is because it changes things. Many countries are uncomfortable with people becoming Christians because it changes the rhythm of society. If we think that being a follower of Jesus Christ is always peaceful and doesn’t cause consternation in society, then we don’t really understand what it means to be a Jesus follower. Following Christ has always been counter cultural — even when it came to status quo religion. Phineas F. Bresee, the founder of the Church of the Nazarene used to talk about Christianizing Christianity. There he was — stirring up trouble among the status quo Christians of his day!

We are called to follow the example of Paul and Silas - who turned the world upside down. That’s what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. It’s not safe. It’s not comfortable. It’s world changing.

Prayer:

Lord, please help me to faithfully serve you in obedience on a daily basis.  Amen.