Rocking the Boat

Text: Acts 19:21-41

Central Idea of the Text: The enraged idol worshippers of Ephesus needed to listen to reason.

Proposition: The Gospel interrupts the world’s systems naturally and the church must meet the world’s ire with the love and grace of Christ.

Purpose: All hearers should expect and respond to the hatred of the world with the Love of Jesus.

Intro

Warning: the following story has scant details in the mind of the teller, so the details may or may not be accurate or close to the actual reality of the situation. The names may or may not have been changed. Listener discretion is advised.

It was not just another day in Middle School. Some days there were jock fights (where everyone got their money’s worth). And some days there were girl fights (complete with slaps from chicken wing arms). But this day? There were two nerds that had rubbed each other the wrong way, and there was about to be a nerd fight. In one corner was Orville, who was all of 85 pounds sopping wet. In the other, a 190 pound behemoth named Eugene. What the dispute had been over? Well, one could not quite put one’s finger on it. Orville may have seen Eugene pick his nose in class and made a comment about it to others. Eugene might have just thought that Orville was Ugly with a capital U and thought the way he wore his kneepads during basketball practice looked ridiculous (though he wasn’t wrong). There may have been some jocks stirring the pot, like they were enraging two pitbulls for a dog fight, even if they were two very scrawny and ill trained mutts. But word was sent after Orville had just had enough during the lunch recess outside: “YOU, and ME. In the Locker room! PE class!” P.E. was wisely the last class of the day, so you could get the middle school boys to their sweatiest point before sending them home.

It was at this point that Orville should have chickened out, but he did not. He walked into the locker room with chants of Fight! Fight! Fight! And as the two combatants faced off, the proverbial David tried to go high with a right hook, only to be met with the proverbial Goliath’s large and low wrecking ball to the gut. It was thus that Orville’s fighting career ended: 0-1, 0 knockouts.

I know you didn’t come here this morning for a confessional of a middle school fighter. You came here for God’s word. But the fights of our yesterdays remind us of other moments when passions rise, when tempers flare, when there is shouting and it may come to blows. These are not new issues. They are part of the human condition. And yes, even Christians and the church can end up stirring up those passions and rocking the boat. We are bound to see some of those outcomes as we return to the book of Acts this morning, and continue in Acts 19:21-41: [Read Text/4 Min]

This is the Word of the Lord for us this morning.

Please pray with me: Lord, we thank you for your church that was faithful to the Gospel that they had been given. They are an example to us of how to stand faithfully and win the hearts and minds of those around them. They were God-fearers, not people-pleasers. You rewarded their faithfulness with great fruitfulness and growth. Would you do the same for us, God? We pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.

All of this week’s text centers around the large and influential of Ephesus, and we will get into that location and culture throughout this week’s sermon, but I want to start by focusing on Paul for a moment to see both where he has been and where he is headed. Back in verses 8 through 10 of chapter 19, we noted the timeframes here, that Paul was there speaking in the synagogue for 3 months, and later speaking in the hall of Tyrannus for 2 years. So, within the scope of Paul’s life and ministry, he has poured a significant amount of time and energy into the Ephesian church and her disciples.

It is from this point in chapter 19, still early in the 3rd missionary journey of Paul, that the roadmap is laid out for the rest of the book and for Paul’s life and ministry. He’s going to head back to Jerusalem first. He has a mission to accomplish there by delivering the collections of offering that have been taken to minister to the widows in Jerusalem. Each of the churches Paul has established or visited have been contributing, and he must deliver it. But from there? Paul says in verse 21: “I must see Rome.” Now I would like to see Rome too … there are a great many sights to see there. But Paul’s intention is fully rooted in taking the Gospel where it has not been. He has spent much time with others (such as Priscilla and Acquilla) who have told him many things about the mission field that is there, and Paul knows that it is ripe. He makes it his goal to go to Rome. And now Paul prepares the way for his journey northward into Macedonia by sending Timothy and Erastus ahead of him.

Now we all set goals for ourselves: I want to travel here. I want to work here. I want to retire here. And we may accomplish these things. But are those journeys toward those goals typically straight lines with no troubles, interruptions or delays? No way! No matter what journey you are on, there will difficulties along the way you will have to overcome. There will be speedbumps that will seek to hinder your progress. And what we see in chapter 19 is a speedbump in the forward progress of the church.

This is what happens when a group of tradesmen and craftsmen of Ephesus get upset. Their anger is directed at the Paul, his workers and the church. It is as Luke says: “a disturbance concerning The Way.” Ultimately, Jesus is the one causing the disturbance, and he is causing it through the work of his Gospel. You see, when people come to understand that Jesus is Lord, it interrupts the worlds systems, the worlds mindset, the world’s way of doing business. In other words, when People come to faith in Jesus, he changes everything. The Lordship of Jesus interrupts the falsehoods of this world.

We don’t go looking for trouble. At least, we ought not. Paul did not. What had Paul been doing? Note the use of the Greek word “dialegomai”. It is seen 10 times in the book of Acts, and the bulk of those uses are in the chapters and verses leading up to this confrontation. When Paul reasoned, he was dialegomai. Words going two ways, a conversation of persuasion. He seeks to use logic and reason to win people to Christ, especially as he comes more out of his Jewish context into Greek/Roman contexts. If there is truth to the Way (Jesus), then it must be argued daily in the court of public opinion. Paul does it. And I believe he does it in the same gentle spirit that Peter encourages the believers to practice in 1 Peter 3:15–16 “15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, 16 having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.”

So as we look at today’s situation, we see both the results and the reasoning behind the church’s method of ministry. What we see in this near riot in Athens is the Storm before the Calm. Let’s take a look and see the great effect of the Christian reasoning that Paul communicates and models:

The Storm that Christ and the Church Create (v 23-34)

To fully understand the issues at play regarding these gentile cultures and their anger, we need to use this chapter as something of a case study as to how the church, by her nature and work, creates a storm that rocks the world’s boat.

Rocking the Religious Boat

Before we even look at the people that were upset, we need to look at the location where they are upset. Ephesus, a large and influential city, sat near the West coast of Macedonia. It was most well known for having one of the seven wonders of the Ancient world: The Temple to Artemis. It was a place for pilgrimage and great festivals. In fact, some hypothesize that this event took place during one of those festivals as an expression of frustration at the lack of worshippers. The large temple was larger in size than a football field, and within contained the huge statue of Artemis. Artemis was the great goddess of fertility, both representing fertility of the earth (the farmers would pray to her) and the fertility of humanity (mothers would pray to her). As to her appearance, she is described as: “a mummylike goddess, standing stiffly straight with her hands extended outward. The original statue was made of gold, ebony, silver, and black stone. The legs and hips were covered by a garment decorated with reliefs of animals and bees, and the top of the body was festooned with many breasts; her head was adorned with a high-pillared headdress.”

Now, just based on knowing the centrality of idol worship to this place, do you think Paul and the church went along with it? Not at all! We’ve already seen the way that Paul taught against the folly of worshipping images made by the hands of men. “those images can do nothing for mankind” Paul would have said. They could not make themselves, but had to rely on people to be made. There is no power there. And because of dialegomai (the use of reason) Paul would argue this repeatedly everywhere that idols were worshipped (which would have been the entire ancient world). Paul would have taken the logic of scriptures like Isaiah 44:12-17, and applied that folly to his arguement. Why would a man want to carve something with his hands, and then say to that thing “You are my god.” That thing that man created is not a thing. It is an idol and that idolatry must be challenged. For as Paul says in Gal 5:19-21: Those who practice … idolatry … will not inherit the Kingdom of God. As Luke says, the disturbance comes against The Way, Jesus. Calling Jesus and his church “The Way” is an exclusive claim, and it must be addressed, reasoned out and resolved.

As we cross the bridge to now, the mission of the true church has not changed. We are called to reason with the same reason and challenge the other religions of our time. The world would like to have us be pluralists, one of the many, living and letting live. But the church cannot and must not abide by lies, because there is one way, truth and life in Jesus Christ. There are not many ways, but there is one way. We can certainly contend in the marketplace of ideas. “There may be many gods, there may be no god, there may be one God”, but not all of these can be true at the same time. Different religions present different moral structures. they could in turn be eavh considered, but they cannot all be true. It is simply not possible. As Peter said, we must each be ready to give a reason for the hope that we have. We believe we serve a Risen savior in Jesus, and we must be able to reason that out. Every religion that makes a false god is meant to be made to bow to King Jesus.

Rocking the Economic Boat

Now look at the case of Demetrius in verse 24. He is a silversmith, and he makes small souvenirs of the Temple to Artemis. (Yes, they even had Souvenir shops back then, though probably with better handcrafted wares.) He is upset (v 25:26): ““Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods.” Paul’s persuasion and dialegomai has been quite effective, to the point that many who would worship the temple or frequent the region to buy Demetrius’ wares are no longer doing so. His shelves are fuller and his pockets are emptier. If Paul continues this, we will be out of business. This is worse for him than it is for a small business owner that’s afraid of a walmart coming to town. If these people keep converting, there will be no market for his wares! (and the wares of the other tradesmen, all built around Ephesus and Artemis.) This is what is about to get all of craftsmen, and the community with them quite stirred up.

Paul writes to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 5:17 “17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” When the new comes, the old ways will pass away. As people come to Christ, they stop doing certain things and giving in to certain pressures by the local economy in works that are wicked. That is what Paul was pressing against here. You’re turning to Christ? Oh good. Now stop worshipping idols. Get rid of them. And don’t frequent the places they are worshipped, where their sacrifices are given or where their wares are sold. Groups of tradesmen, something like labor unions of our day, put great pressures against the church to shut up and conform. We saw that in Revelation as we studied the seven churches of Rev 2-3. They needed to resist the strong pressures of the tradeguilds and tradesmen in order to say no to idols and yes to Jesus. Paul was clear that as Jesus was proclaimed, Idols and the ways that our money and time contribute to sin would need to change. The Ephesian church was faithful and followed Paul’s lead.

But do we? Church, if we looked at the economy of the nation around us, would we say that sin is prospering? I think that we do. And sadly, people who call themselves Christians are contributing to the issue. The abuse of substances like alcohol, pot, and other illicit drugs indicate a culture where we have a desire to be controlled by the Substance, rather than being controlled by the Holy Spirit. The rise of internet gambling and gambling addictions that continue to grow and fester across our communities indicate a culture that throws away money looking for a get-rich-quick solution, rather than valuing hard work. The growth of the $10 Billion porn industry advances all sort of promiscuity gone wild indicate a culture that places its money on temporary pleasures over eternal ones and devalues the family and marriage at every turn. Brothers and sisters, this should not continue. If the church is on large scaled advancing, then the drug dealer will go broke, the slot machines will shut down, and the pimp and the only fans model will find a new line of work. What did Jesus say in Luke 12:34 “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” If your heart belongs to Jesus, put your money where your heart is. Stop supporting evil. That is what the church does.

Rocking the Passions & Popularity Boats

When the people heard Demetrius, they were enraged! “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” They shouted it over and over! Not only that, but they gathered a bigger and bigger crowd, they continued to chant. They grabbed a couple of Paul’s companions, and drug them down to the Theater at Ephesus. It was the largest theater of it’s time and it would hold more than 25,000. They packed the place and continued to chant. The crowd is getting wound up, and they are nearly to the point that they will want blood. Paul wants to go in and make a defense, but the other Christians stop him … “No way Paul. This crowd is going to tear you limb from limb.”

The boats that I would contend were being rocked by the church were those of Passion and of Popularity. Remember, they were in the city with the temple to the fertility goddess that was “festooned with breasts” and whose temples were filled with temple prostitutes for ritual sexual acts of worship and all kinds of “porneia” (sexual immorality) Again, as Paul was persuasive and the dialegomai was effective, people were turning to Christ and were turning from sinful attitudes and pride. No longer were the sexual attitudes and appetites a “do what feels good” free for all. No longer were the attitudes of the people “fight for my right to party.” No longer where the attitudes of these new Christians “go along with what the crowd is doing”. Now they were as Paul would write to the Romans (Rom 6:19) “Slaves to Righteousness”. Jesus Christ is Lord, so now they would “honor God with their bodies” (1 Cor 6:20) and love the Lord with their “heart, soul and mind (Matt 22:34-36). Jesus as Lord would mean for some of them the most drastic of lifestyle changes. And those lifestyle changes could certainly include not longer going to the places that “everyone” goes, and no longer doing the things that everyone does. I’m sure it felt to the sexual idolaters engaged in the temple prostitution and orgies that took place to “honor and worship” that the Christians had pooped on their Artemis parade.

In our own day and age, in the same way, Sex and the gratification of the temporary pleasure is our god. Our culture pushes it in every corner to gratify the flesh. And it enflames our passions if people try to attack our god of hedonism. There seems to be those who would chant or shout mantras that would be connected to defending the sexual proclivities of our day. Trans women are women? No they are not. They can’t give birth, a basic thing that it is inherently possible for a woman to do. Gay marriage is marriage? No it isn’t … it’s a mirage. Not when it can’t reproduce and produce a family. Abortion is Healthcare? No it isn’t. One of the people who enters the clinic doesn’t come out alive. There are many things that masquerade as truth that do not live up to scrutiny. But they have all been pushed as the things that we are ALL supposed to believe, or we have become antiquated and are on the “wrong side of history.” Christians need not give into this pressure and we need not conform. Remember Romans 12:2 “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” We are called to be fully devoted to Jesus Christ in every way, and that includes our dating and marriage commitments, our sexual engagement, our living within the gender that has been given to us by God, to say no to addictive substances and patterns, and say YES to Christ as our King and Lord.

So we’ve encountered the storm that was stirring against the Christians. Some of them were cornered. Would they survive? They would because of the calm that came after the storm ...

The Calm of a Reasonable Faith (v 35-41)

At other cases in this book, Christians have taken their stand and either found freedom (like Paul) or their demise (like Stephen). But the unlikely defender of the church comes in the form of a local official. We see him finally get the attention of the crowd after hours of shouting, and in doing so he provides the dialegomai that will shut the crowd up and send them home. And in his words, there are a few small truth nuggets for us to realize about the early church and about 2025 Disciples of Jesus.

This Riot is Useless.

The Clerk looks all of these men in the eye, and he says: look, everyone knows Artemis. Everyone knows Ephesus. Everyone knows the history of how the Temple and legend of Artemis came to be. Do you think that your yelling will produce anything? No! It is a pointless exercise. If you all are this upset, maybe try a different tactic.

But he has a point, right? Saying something over and over doesn’t make the thing so. And it does very little to convince. I noted a couple of those things that people chant a moment ago. There are many examples. In certain religions, one would call them mantras. People who do not have truth on their side try to push, press, intimidate. That is what was happening here. But it is the exact opposite of what the Christians were doing. They were not shouting loudly. They were reasoning peacefully. And their peaceful reasoning was having great effect.

This is a reminder for the church. We need not shout others down. We need not chant. We need not mindlessly repeat things. We have been given the words of God. Isaiah 40:8 “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” WE must lean on them fully and use them effectively. It will set us apart from the world, devoted to Christ, ready to give an answer for the hope we have.

This Riot is Unjustifiable.

The City Clerk reminds the rowdy crowd in verse 37: these people (the Christians) have done nothing wrong. They do not blaspheme the goddess, and they do not stir trouble here. If you are looking for a law they have broken, good luck, because they have done nothing wrong. They are blameless in the sight of the local laws. In this way, you really have no demonstrable way that they have sinned to draw such ire from you.

Again, this ought to remind the church of a very relevant truth: When the church is doing what is right and not sinning, there is nothing that those around us can say to truly condemn us. Anytime we truly see the world have a valid critique against the church, what is it for? It is for wrongs done or crimes committed. That pastor, that youth leader, that person who attended and served at that church, they fell short. They sinned greatly. They were hypocrites for years. This is where the church truly takes a black eye, and we remind one another to do better, and live in the grace and goodness of Jesus daily. But we also seek to live according to the standard of the believers in Ephesus. When the world gets angry, may be be said that we have done nothing wrong. In this way, we will truly stand as the city on a hill that Jesus spoke of.

This Riot is Unnecessary.

Finally, the City Clerk declares in verses 38-40 that this whole kerfuffle has been quite unnecessary. If you have truly been wronged, Demetrius, there is a court. Go and get a hearing with the judge. If these Christians have in some way hurt your business, there is a way to get justice. But it is also very unnecessary in that we are about to get accused of rioting. That would have been a very serious charge indeed, and these Ephesians would have felt the wrath of the Romans if they had been found to be Rioting. If something has been done wrong, the courts are in place to hand down justice.

Christians should abide by and pray for those in government to do what is just and right. Paul even instructs the church in Romans 13:1 “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” God has placed the systems of justice over us and around us so that justice may be executed in this world. And aren’t we glad, when it comes to criminal activity that there is a means for the wicked to go to jail and be punished for their crimes. We should pray for those who are our law enforcement, lawyers and judges, because they truly serve under the authority of God. But even if those earthly authorities abuse their authority, there is a king of kings to whom they will one day answer. The church, both ancient and modern, should know that this is true and pray for the return of Jesus Christ to one day make ALL right and bring final justice. Our prayer should also be that we would all be ready for that day.

And once the town clerk had reasoned with the dialegomai with the crowd? It brought full calm to the situation. A reasonable witness won the day, and the church’s faithful witness in Ephesus would continue because of it.

Summary:

This morning, we have seen the storm that has rocked the boats of both Ephesus and Auburn: Religious Boats, Economic Boats, Boats of Passions and Boats of Prides. Where the church has faithful witness and influence, boats are sure to be rocked. But there is a calm that has followed the storm, and that calm is experienced when people use and listen to reason. The reasoned, consistent and lawful witness of the church assure that the church will remain and endure.

And in the end, what happened to Ephesus and that great Temple of Artemis? This is it. You know what finished her off? The church and Christians. Consistent in witness over hundreds of years. Winning minds and hearts. Ending the practices of temple prostitution, and eventually bringing that once great monument to nothing. That is what will happen to all the falsehoods of this world. The grass withers, and the flower fades, but the Word of the Lord stands forever. And as the church stands on the Word and a reasonable witness will continue to stand.

Do you want to know life and salvation in Jesus’ name? Respond today. Repent and Believe in Jesus Christ. Be baptized and follow the savior Jesus. Receive the Holy Spirit and be known as a Christian.