Good Morning. I’ve spent most of the week trying to rid
myself of some kind of flu bug. As we
all know, they usually work on their own schedule, no matter what we try to do. It feels like it may have finally decided to
move on, but I’ll make sure it “leaves home” completely so that Sunday shall
be a joyful day.
In today’s epistle lesson we are
reminded once again that being Christian isn’t always “practical.” How often do we read or hear the clear
mandates of Christian faith and respond by saying, “Yes, but that isn’t really
practical!” You know the arguments. They range from “I have to earn a living!” to
“We have to defend ourselves!” to the slightly more mundane “I don’t want my
kids to miss out on any of the school activities – even on Sunday!” to “I need
my sleep and Sundays are the only days that I can sleep late!”
Christianity isn’t a hell-avoidance
plan nor a stairway to a pie-in-the-sky notion of heaven. Christianity is about the new life – the new
creation – that we have been called to enter here and now. It’s not meant to be “practical” if by
“practical” you mean being just like everyone else in the world. It’s not meant to be “practical” if by
“practical” you mean living a life that no one ever notices is different from
the rest of the world.
The early church knew that it wasn’t
practical to be a Christian in the Roman Empire or within the confines of a
Jewish subculture. And people noticed
that they were different. They
especially noticed on those occasions when the proclamation of the Gospel
caused “practical” problems in the community.
In today’s lesson a group of
silversmiths in Ephesus who specialized in making and selling representations
of the goddess Artemis were worried about the Gospel message that Paul and some
of his friends were preaching. They saw
the message as a potential impediment to the continued success of their
business. Like people everywhere in
every time and place whose primary interest is money, they hid their greed
behind supposed allegiance to Artemis. They stirred up angry crowd not around
the protection of their greed but around the honor of Artemis, and the crowd
attacked two of Paul’s friends.
Eventually the “town clerk” came to their rescue pointing out that Paul
and his friends had done nothing to insult the honor of either the city of
Ephesus or the goddess Artemis. He
recognized that the silversmiths really had their own commercial interests at
heart and suggested that if they had a real complaint they should take it to
the town magistrate.
For better or worse, in contemporary
American society wealth doesn’t separate Christians from non-Christians. Christians often don’t stand out in any
crowd. The threat to our faith that pits
the love of money against the love of Jesus is all too often a threat that we
must face within the church. People who
believe that taking Christianity “too seriously” is a threat to their ability
to earn a living – or their ability to just fit in – are found within the
church as well as outside the Christian assembly. The question is not whether one lives in
wealth or in poverty. The question is
which do you love more: Jesus and his
message of new life or just fitting in to the world’s “good life;” Jesus and
his message or the false comfort and security of money in the bank (or in your
land); Jesus and his message or the message of the “old creation” that still
defines the world?
Let us pray: Lord God, make us instruments of Your will so
that Your will is carried out here and now “as it is in heaven.” Give us the tools and the resources that we
need to spread Your gospel message of redemption and new life, and “give us
this day” those things that we need to sustain our lives. Teach us to forgive in such a way that all
who see us will know the forgiveness that You bring to us all. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.
Today’s readings are Esther 8:1-8,15-17;
Acts 19:21-41; Luke 4:31-37; Psalm 88,
91 & 92.
Blessings.
Pastor Jim
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