Acts 17:6

Upside Down And Right Side Up

These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also. Acts 17:6.

When we read those words I think our first inclination is to smile; they are such “upside down” words themselves. Here is a city mob led by the very rabble of the city, the habitual disturbers of the peace, and they are accusing a few quiet Christian missionaries of turning the world “upside down.” But that is often the way in this world. When people are in the wrong they are very fond of blaming those who are in the right. They think they must be right themselves, so, naturally, everybody else must be wrong.

Of course these wild men didn't care one bit whether Paul and his friends were turning the world upside down or downside up. All they minded about was having an excuse to create a little disturbance. The people who really cared were the jealous Jews who had stirred them up to make the disturbance, so that they might get rid of the missionaries.

Paul and Silas and Timothy had come to Thessalonica which is just the modern Salonika to preach the gospel. They had been showing the Jews how the prophets had foretold that Christ should suffer, and die, and rise again. But the Jews did not like their message. They had looked for a Messiah who should be an earthly king to lead them on to great victories. And they did not like the influence of the missionaries over the Gentiles who had adopted the Jewish religion, for a great many of these had believed Paul's message and become his followers. They were too crafty and too dignified to create a disturbance themselves, but there were plenty of lazy good-for-nothings who would be glad to do it for them. So while they remained in the background, the rabble set the city in an uproar. And this was the accusation that they put in the mouth of the mob “These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also.”

Now the Jews were nearer the truth than they thought when they accused the apostles of turning the world “upside down,” only they made one important mistake. The poor old world was already as upside down as it possibly could be, in fact it was standing on its head; and it was the message which the apostles brought that was going to turn it right side up.

I want you to think first of what turns the world upside down, and second of what is going to put it right again.

1. And first, What turns the world upside down? Of course there is just one answer to that, and it is Sin.” God did not mean the world to be upside down. He meant that it should be good, and beautiful, and noble; but sin entered and spoiled it. And what turns the world upside down is just what turns you and me upside down; for the world is made up of the men and women in it. When we are angry, when we are selfish, when we are untruthful, when we are disobedient or dishonorable, we are just upside down, and we are helping to keep the world upside down too.

2. But, second, What is going to turn the world right side up? Again we can answer in one word “Love.” Jesus Christ was just Love Incarnate, and it is the love which He sheds abroad in men's hearts that is going to set the old world right again.

When Christ came down to earth He found things in a sad state. The Romans were the conquerors of the world in those days and they were supposed to be highly civilized. Yet in the Coliseum at Rome men were torn to pieces by wild beasts while emperors and fine ladies looked on and applauded. Tiny babies were left outside the city gates to perish of cold and hunger. And when people grew old and frail and of no more use, they, too, were turned out to die. For the weak, and the poor, and the helpless, there was no pity and no help. There were no hospitals and no asylums. Slaves were over-burdened, ill-treated, tortured. And the worst of it all was that very few people thought there was anything amiss in these things.

But Jesus came into the world. He healed the sick, He comforted the sad, He blessed the little children. And wherever they went His followers tried to imitate Him. Gradually people came to have new ideas about things. Instead of neglecting and oppressing the weak and the helpless they began to try to help them.

And is the world still upside down? I'm afraid it is still pretty topsy-turvy, but very slowly and surely it is coming right. Sometimes we think it is going back a bit, but that is only because we are so shortsighted. God, who sees all, knows that it is coming right.

But we must do our part. Jesus Christ can set the world right, but He cannot do it without men to help Him. Every deed of love and kindness, every piece of self-sacrifice, every act of forgiveness, helps to turn it in the right direction.

The world can only come right side up when the men and women in it are right side up. So first we must get right ourselves by letting the love of Jesus into our hearts to drive out all that is bad, and then we can help to put the world right by loving and serving others.