{"id":3449,"date":"2018-03-11T11:57:02","date_gmt":"2018-03-11T16:57:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/salvagedfaith.com\/?p=3449"},"modified":"2018-03-11T11:57:02","modified_gmt":"2018-03-11T16:57:02","slug":"under-dogs-top-dogs-and-the-kingdom-of-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/salvagedfaith.com\/2018\/03\/11\/under-dogs-top-dogs-and-the-kingdom-of-god\/","title":{"rendered":"Under Dogs, Top Dogs, and the Kingdom of God"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In 1887, a new term was coined in the English speaking world \u2013 the \u201cunderdog.\u201d<br \/>\nThis was the opposite of the top dog \u2013the dominant person in a situation or hierarchy, the winner, the victor in a fight or contest of wills.<br \/>\nThe term likely comes from the world of dog fighting, but soon the phrase was applied to politics, games, matches, and life in general.<\/p>\n<p>We have seen the term \u201cunderdog\u201d change from describing the outcome of a contest to the expectations for the outcome\u2026.<br \/>\nThe underdog is the one who is expected to lose.<br \/>\nThe underdog is the one facing the uphill battle.<br \/>\nThe underdog is the victim of injustice who starts off at a disadvantage.<br \/>\nThe underdog doesn\u2019t have the power, the money, the strength, or the system on their side.<\/p>\n<p>And our scriptures are full of underdogs:<br \/>\npeople who march into battle with nothing but slingshots to face a giant\u2026<br \/>\npeople who head into the seats of power as prophets\u2026<br \/>\npeople who fight with trumpets instead of swords\u2026<br \/>\nwho are not afraid of what might happen to their own lives if they speak the truth\u2026<\/p>\n<p>Our gospel reading this morning is Luke\u2019s version of the Beatitudes and in many ways, Jesus is calling the people of God to become underdogs.<br \/>\nInstead of aligning ourselves with the rich and powerful \u2013 those who have everything in this world\u2026<br \/>\nwe are called to become poor, hungry, and despised by the world.<br \/>\nWe are called to side with the \u201chave-nots.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There we find the kingdom of God.<br \/>\nThere we will be blessed.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve been exploring throughout this season of Lent some of the superheroes that fill our cultural imagination. We\u2019ve heard about Batman\u2019s fight against evil, the way Spiderman tries to do what is right. Last week, we talked about how Wonder Woman offers a vision of unity.<\/p>\n<p>A common thread of these heroes is that they side with the underdogs of this world. They help to bring justice to the oppressed, are strength for those who are weak, and offer protection for the vulnerable.<\/p>\n<p>Our superhero this week, however, took a long time to understand this reality.<br \/>\nIn a world of haves and have-nots, Tony Stark lived at the top of the heap.<br \/>\nWealthy beyond measure, leading a successful technology company, everything he could ever want at his fingertips, there was nothing in this world that could stop him.<\/p>\n<p>Had Mr. Stark been present in the time of Jesus he would have been the subject of those warnings towards the rich and well-fed, who think that life is all fun and games.<\/p>\n<p>But something changed for Mr. Stark. During a demonstration of his latest weapons in some remote country, his caravan was attacked, he was captured, and he sustained life-threatening injuries.<\/p>\n<p>But he put his knowledge to work and modified the weapons around him to not only create a battery that would keep him alive, but also a suit that would help him escape.<\/p>\n<p>In the process, he realized that all his wealth and power was coming at the expense of other people. The weapons that made his company so successful were not always being used for good and just ends.<\/p>\n<p>When he finally makes it back home, he holds a press conference and vows to change the way his company works.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/czGVBgptknM\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>I find it interesting how he even sits down, humbling himself, being real and authentic and inviting people to also sit down so they can chat.<\/p>\n<p>His experience has changed him and he wants to change his ways and put his gifts to use for good rather than simply wealth.<\/p>\n<p>But, Tony Stark doesn\u2019t always get it right.<\/p>\n<p>As he continues to work and develop the technology to become Iron Man, Matt Rawle reminds us in \u201cWhat Makes a Hero?\u201d that \u201che doesn\u2019t quite overcome his human faults. He doesn\u2019t always get right from wrong. He is phenomenally wealthy, but sometimes he exploits those who aren\u2019t as fortunate. He has developed amazingly powerful weapons and armor, but he doesn\u2019t always use those to fight for the purest of social causes.\u201d (p. 79)<\/p>\n<p>And perhaps that is because until the moment that he was captured and fighting for his very life, Tony Stark has never been an underdog. Even in that moment, he had all of the knowledge and technology that he needed at his finger tips in order to successfully get out of the situation.<\/p>\n<p>Any other ordinary person would have been lost in such a situation.<\/p>\n<p>Even when everything appeared to have been taken from him, Tony Stark still belonged to the world of the \u201chaves.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Even in that moment he appeared to have been blessed.<\/p>\n<p>In our society, the language of blessing often points to those who have, not the have-nots.<\/p>\n<p>We are blessed by children.<br \/>\nWe are blessed by health.<br \/>\nWe are blessed by friends and family.<br \/>\nWe are blessed by wealth and possessions.<\/p>\n<p>And yet, by claiming these things as a blessing can unintentionally say that those who are without such things are not blessed.<\/p>\n<p>One of my best friends in the entire world struggles with infertility. She and her husband have been trying for years to have a child, including expensive visits to doctors in other states for treatments.<\/p>\n<p>When those around them speak of the blessing of children, it is hard to not inwardly cringe and because it feels like the implication is that they haven\u2019t likewise been blessed by God.<\/p>\n<p>Many among us struggle with health concerns that seem to pile on top of one another. The language of blessing often makes them feel forgotten by God\u2019s outpouring of blessings.<\/p>\n<p>But this is because we have bought into the language of the world and not the language of God. We think that blessings are gifts of status\u2026 that blessings are rewards for good behavior&#8230; that blessings come as a result of who we are or how loved we are.<\/p>\n<p>But Jesus turns our understandings of blessings upside down.<\/p>\n<p>It is the hungry and the poor and the grieving and the weak who are blessed in God\u2019s kingdom.<br \/>\nIt is those who are without who are the closest to God\u2019s love and power.<\/p>\n<p>They don&#8217;t take for granted what God offers.\u00a0 They know its true value.\u00a0 And they know what it means to share.<\/p>\n<p>Matt Rawle invites us to reject the way that society uses the language of blessing and instead to talk about gratitude and thankfulness for the gifts in our lives.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m thankful for my health today.<br \/>\nEven though I, personally, don&#8217;t have children, I can still be thankful for the opportunity to teach children and I&#8217;m unbelievably thankful for my nieces and nephews.<br \/>\nI\u2019m thankful for the gifts God has given me like the ability to sing and preach.<\/p>\n<p>This language leaves room for others, whether they have or have not, to also express their gratitude for what is in their lives in that moment.<\/p>\n<p>Gratitude is a lesson that is sometimes hard for the \u201chaves\u201d of this world to express.<\/p>\n<p>Tony Stark takes everything for granted. It is expected that people will adore him and that he will have everything he need.<\/p>\n<p>It is also the reason it takes him so long to truly appreciate and learn to love his assistant, Pepper Potts.<\/p>\n<p>Until he faces death and realizes that he has something different to offer this world.<\/p>\n<p>One of the things we saw in that video clip is that in this moment Tony Stark begins to reflect upon his life and his relationships, even turning his eyes back to his father, wondering what he would have thought of all they had done.\u00a0 He had never thought to ask the question or to appreciate the role his father played in his life before this moment.<\/p>\n<p>When we learn to be grateful for the gifts that have been given to us, instead of just accepting them as blessings &#8211; as rewards for what we have already accomplished, then we also learn how to share them with others.<\/p>\n<p>One of the ways that Jesus calls us is by inviting the people of God to use their gifts and their talents for the sake of others.<\/p>\n<p>It is not that the rich are forever condemned\u2026 but that they will always be outside of the Kingdom of God unless they let go of their status and allow the line between the haves and the have-nots to disappear.<\/p>\n<p>In God\u2019s Kingdom, that line fades into the distance.<br \/>\nThe poor are blessed because the wealthy share.<br \/>\nThe mournful are comforted because others offer comfort \u2013 like folks from our church did this weekend by hosting a funeral and a luncheon for a complete stranger.<\/p>\n<p>As Matt Rawle points out, this isn\u2019t because God is like Robin Hood, stealing from the wealthy and giving to the poor, but because God invites every one of us to share our very selves with one another. We all have gifts to offer one another that go far beyond wealth or power.<\/p>\n<p>Iron Man\u2019s suit is a tool of the \u201chaves\u201d that fights for the \u201chavenots\u201d \u2013 but the difference between Christ and Tony Stark is that Jesus doesn\u2019t put on a suit in order to fight for us.<\/p>\n<p>Jesus empties himself.<br \/>\nJesus becomes like those he is saving.<br \/>\nJesus dives into our suffering and hunger and pain.<\/p>\n<p>And there, in the midst of our lives, we are blessed by the presence of Jesus who teaches us what the Kingdom truly means.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 1887, a new term was coined in the English speaking world \u2013 the \u201cunderdog.\u201d This was the opposite of the top dog \u2013the dominant person in a situation or hierarchy, the winner, the victor in a fight or contest of wills. The term likely comes from the world of dog fighting, but soon the<span class=\"excerpt-ellipsis\">&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/salvagedfaith.com\/2018\/03\/11\/under-dogs-top-dogs-and-the-kingdom-of-god\/\" itemprop=\"url\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3450,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[96,116,1279,321,498,1377,542,614,742,750,846,1378],"class_list":["post-3449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kenotic-words","category-lent","tag-beatitudes","tag-blessed","tag-blessing","tag-empty","tag-hungry","tag-iron-man","tag-jesus-christ","tag-luke","tag-philippians","tag-poor","tag-rich","tag-share","post_format-post-format-image"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/salvagedfaith.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Week4_Meme2horizontal.jpg?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7cYpi-TD","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/salvagedfaith.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3449"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/salvagedfaith.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/salvagedfaith.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salvagedfaith.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salvagedfaith.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3449"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/salvagedfaith.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3449\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3451,"href":"https:\/\/salvagedfaith.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3449\/revisions\/3451"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salvagedfaith.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/salvagedfaith.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salvagedfaith.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salvagedfaith.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}