1 | “Turning the World Upside Down!

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Acts 17:1-15, 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
Grace Presbyterian Church
April 17, 2016 – 4th Sunday of Easter

Based on 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 & Acts 17:1-15 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
As we make our way through the Easter Season, we continue our movement through the
narrative of the bible by focusing now on the early Christian community after Jesus ascends to
heaven. The primary witnesses to the early Christian community are the book of Acts and the
various letters or epistles written to early Christian churches, many of which were penned by the
Apostle Paul.
And so today’s text skips ahead quite a bit in the Acts narrative to chapter 17. In this
chapter, we find Paul on his second missionary journey, and establishing the church in the Greek
city of Thessalonica. And, as such, we also read the opening of Paul’s first letter to the church he
establishes in Thessalonica – 1st Thessalonians. The two texts show us a lot about what the early
Christian communities faced. Thessalonians is actually the oldest text in the New Testament,
written around 50 AD, 20 years older than the Gospel of Mark. Therefore, Thessalonians gives
us the earliest glimpse we have into the life of the early Christian church. Particularly, we get a
small glimpse into the types of persecution that the early churches faced, and the ways in which
they persevered despite oppression at the hands of the Roman Empire. And just why were the
early Christian’s and their churches oppressed by the Roman Empire? Because they were
“turning the world upside down!”
But what does that mean to “turn the world upside down?” Were the early Christians
going in and attacking those who believed differently than them? No. Were they forming angry,
violent mobs that disturbed the peace and set the entire city in an uproar? No. But what they
WERE doing was deliberately disobeying the laws of the land. They were “acting contrary to the
decrees of the emperor, saying that there is another king named Jesus.” Through their message of
a suffering and resurrected Messiah, Paul, his companions Timothy and Silas/Silvanus, and the
people who came to believe their message were staging a religious revolution. But their beliefs
stood not only against the religious establishment, their beliefs also stood against the political
establishment of the time.
When Paul and his companions enter Thessalonica, they first go to the synagogue – the
gathering of the Jews in the area – in order to engage in a healthy debate about the identity of
Jesus as the suffering Messiah who resurrected from the dead. Healthy debates about the
scriptures are a long-standing tradition in Judaism. And we have to remember that originally the
early Christian movement wasn’t a separate religion, it was a theological disagreement in
Judaism. And so Paul presents his argument, and some of the Jews in the synagogue were
persuaded as were many of the Greeks who were present to hear. And yet, the leaders of the
synagogue saw this as a threat to their long established traditions. As a threat to their religious
way of life. As a threat to all they had understood about God and the identity of the Messiah.
And like us today, the synagogue leaders don’t like it when new interpretations of the scriptures
run against what they’ve always held to be true. When seeing the scriptures in light of current
events means that we may have to call into question things that we have always believed. And
so, the leaders determine that Paul and his companions are disturbing the peace.
Yet, in a bit of irony, they are the ones who respond to Paul’s new teaching by forming a
mob of “ruffians” (or evil men) to go out and stir up the city, to set it in an uproar. And when
their search for Paul proves to be a failure, they instead arrest several of the new Christian
believers, including a man named Jason, and take them before the city government. The
synagogue leaders turn a religious debate into a political issue for the state to handle – much like
 2 | “Turning the World Upside Down!”
Acts 17:1-15, 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
Grace Presbyterian Church
April 17, 2016 – 4th Sunday of Easter

the temple leaders did when they turned Jesus over to Pilate. The charges against these early
Christians change from that of religious differences to crimes against the state – “They are all
acting contrary to the decrees of the emperor, saying that there is another king named Jesus!”
When the religious authorities can’t get their way, they turn to the political realm and try
to criminalize this different religious group – one that is almost identical to their own, but with a
slightly different interpretation of the scriptures – and they try to politically criminalize this
group because the religious leaders are uncomfortable with how this group’s interpretation of
scripture runs contrary to the way they’ve always understood things to be.
Of course, this still continues in the Christian church today. Despite the fact that we like
to say that we are all Christians, and that we all believe in Jesus, the ways in which we carry out
those beliefs can vary greatly. And for the most part, the way we live out those beliefs do not
imitate the model shown through the life of Jesus Christ or of the members of the early church.
And when they do, when people actually live out the gospel and the example of Jesus Christ –
such as the members of the church in Thessalonica, they are often met with political retaliation.
In the state of South Carolina, the state legislature has passed a bill that would require the
creation of a registry for all refugees in the state, and would hold any group – religious or secular
– who sponsors the resettlement of any immigrant or refugee fiscally responsible for any future
criminal actions the individuals may make. Needless to say, the controversial bill has split the
evangelical world – six of the bill’s eight co-sponsors are members of evangelical Southern
Baptist churches, meanwhile Southern Baptist ministers and other evangelical groups, such as
Evangelical Immigration Table, are opposing the bill – calling it a violation of their religious
freedoms. The churches and evangelical immigrant advocacy groups argue that the bill is
attempting to discourage churches from obeying the gospel, from obeying the mandates of both
the old and new testaments to care for the foreigner among them (a commandment that is made
dozens of times in just the first five books of the old testament) – especially those from Syria and
other middle east countries.
Is this right? Should these churches be held accountable for the actions of those they seek
to help? Does this bill oppress their religious freedom to obey the biblical mandate to care for
and welcome the foreigner? Or are the Christian sponsors of the bill correct – one of which
argues, “With the danger today of a terrorist infiltrating the refugee program, we have no other
option…We’ve got to choose our own citizens over those who are not citizens of our country.”
What is more important, living out our faith or protecting our country? And if so, then what does
it mean for American to be a “Christian Nation?”
The members of the church in Thessalonica were also met with much political
opposition. In his letter to the church, Paul speaks extensively about the way in which the
Thessalonians stood up to political oppression despite, saying “And you became imitators of us
and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy…” These members of
this struggling church understand what it means to be Christian. It more than just believing in
Christ, it’s also about imitating Christ. Like many other early Christian churches in the Roman
Empire, they were criticized for the way they cared for the poor, the way they mixed with groups
of different racial and ethnic background, the way in which they refused to participate in their
civic duty to show honor and praise to the emperor and the rest of the Roman Empire. Can we
say the same of our churches today in America?
 3 | “Turning the World Upside Down!”
Acts 17:1-15, 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
Grace Presbyterian Church
April 17, 2016 – 4th Sunday of Easter

Tony Campolo has been a pillar in the evangelical world for over 60 years. He is
regarded among the ranks of other evangelical greats, such as Billy Graham and has been the
spiritual adviser for many presidents. Campolo is best known and beloved first and foremost as a
preacher largely unencumbered by overt denominational or political biases. But Campolo,
despite his wide appeal throughout the American evangelical movement, is not without
controversy. He is known for once saying to a Christian audience, (and I quote)
“I have three things I’d like to say today. First, while you were sleeping last night,
30,000 kids died of starvation or diseases related to malnutrition. Second, most of you don’t give
a shit. [And third] What’s worse, is that you’re more upset with the fact that I said ‘shit’ than the
fact that 30,000 kids died last night.”
Now while I’ll apologize for the language, let’s take a moment and just let that sink in for
a second. Really focus on the full statement of what he said. (pause) Because with that one
statement, no matter how offensive it may seem, Campolo exposes the greatest problem with the
American church today. The fact that we are more upset when someone says a cuss word in
church than the fact that 30,000 children die every night while we sleep. The fact that we are
more concerned for how we appear on the outside than how dark and damaged we are on the
inside. The fact that we are more concerned about who we include in our society than about the
gospel’s call to welcome the outcast. Such a view of the Christian faith is hypocritical and spits
in the face of the gospel.
But it’s true. In America we’ve boiled down the gospel into a simple series of ridiculous
rules and passionless morals that fail to transform us into the imitation of Christ. Instead these
rules and morals actually enable us to conform to the ways of this world, and to choose ourselves
and our selfish desires over God’s call upon our lives to love our neighbor as ourselves. It’s the
reason why young people are leaving the church in droves, because they find more passion for
justice in non-profit work and political protests than they do in the church.
To young people, the church is feeble and passionless; it doesn’t walk the talk, doesn’t
imitate the life of its founder Jesus Christ. They like Jesus, but despise the church – because the
two are nothing alike. The church in America cares more about whether or not its congregations
are surviving than whether or not children are surviving. And yet within our country, a country
that prides itself on freedom of religion, those people and churches who actually walk the walk
of Christ, those who do value human life and human dignity like Christ did, those who actually
feed the poor and welcome the outsider are dragged out of their house and brought before the
authorities, saying “These are the people who have been turning the world upside down!”
In October of 2014, the city of Ft. Lauderdale, FL passed an ordinance forbidding the free
public distribution of food because city officials argued that it “enables homelessness” and helps,
“manage the parks.” And as a result, the city police arrested 90-year-old veteran Arnold Abbot
because he refused to abide by the law, and continued to feed the homeless in his community.
Arnold, who volunteers for the Christian organization “Love Thy Neighbor” argued, “you cannot
sweep the homeless under a rug…There is no rug large enough for that.”
Instead of actually helping the problem, the city officials – many of which also claim to
be Christian – are simply choosing to turn their head and look the other way while their
neighbors suffer – homeless neighbors who are overwhelmingly composed of those who suffer
from mental illness and veterans struggling with post-traumatic stress from war. And these
Christian lawmakers are choosing to make the religious expression of Christian charity a
 4 | “Turning the World Upside Down!”
Acts 17:1-15, 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
Grace Presbyterian Church
April 17, 2016 – 4th Sunday of Easter

political action punishable by law. All because Christians, such as Arnold Abbot, were turning
their little world in Ft. Lauderdale upside down.
The truth is, if we are not leaving worship everyday ready to change our lives, ready to be
transformed by the gospel, ready to imitate Christ’s model of sacrificial love, ready to turn our
own little world upside down, then why are we even coming to church? Pastor and author
Barbara Brown Taylor once said, “If we took the gospel seriously, we would come to worship
every day wearing crash helmets.” And that’s because the gospel calls us NOT to live the
American Dream but to build the Kingdom of Heaven. And one way to know that you are
building the Kingdom of Heaven, is when others, even those who claim the same Christian faith,
accuse you of turning the world upside down.
So what does your world look like? Is it your world right-side up or upside-down? And
when are you going to do something about it? AMEN.