This morning we are going to begin by reading a story from Acts 19.  It is an interesting story on several levels. 
-It is an interesting perspective on the ancient city of Ephesus.  Remember our history lesson from last week?  Ephesus is all about Artemis.  The pagan worship of Artemis was a big deal.  It was one of the most popular of the pagan religions.  Christianity was going head-to-head with one of the major ancient religions.  The story we are about to read shows how Christianity impacted the pagan world of the 1st century. 
-But it also interesting because it shows the nature of humans hasn’t really changed much in 1,950 something years.  This is going to be the focus of this sermon.  Luke does an amazing job in showing raw human emotions under stress. 

As I read this story I want you to watch for the character’s motivations.  I want you to attempt to relate to the reasons why the people in this story did what they did. Then, as you might guess, we will explore our own motivations.  

Acts 19:23-27  About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way.  A silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in no little business for the craftsmen.  He called them together, along with the workmen in related trades, and said: "Men, you know we receive a good income from this business.  And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that man-made gods are no gods at all.  There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited, and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty."

You are asking yourself, what is Demetrius’s motivation; pretty obvious. Also what is Paul motivation for what he is doing in Ephesus. 

Acts 19:28-32  When they heard this, they were furious and began shouting: "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!"  Soon the whole city was in an uproar. The people seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul's traveling companions from Macedonia, and rushed as one man into the theater.  Paul wanted to appear before the crowd, but the disciples would not let him.  Even some of the officials of the province, friends of Paul, sent him a message begging him not to venture into the theater.  The assembly was in confusion: Some were shouting one thing, some another. Most of the people did not even know why they were there. 

We have Paul’s friends who kept him from going and why is the crowd going crazy?

Acts 19:33-41  The Jews pushed Alexander to the front, and some of the crowd shouted instructions to him. He motioned for silence in order to make a defense before the people.  But when they realized he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours: "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!"  The city clerk quieted the crowd and said: "Men of Ephesus, doesn't all the world know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell from heaven?  Therefore, since these facts are undeniable, you ought to be quiet and not do anything rash.  You have brought these men here, though they have neither robbed temples nor blasphemed our goddess.  If, then, Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a grievance against anybody, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. They can press charges.  If there is anything further you want to bring up, it must be settled in a legal assembly.  As it is, we are in danger of being charged with rioting because of today's events. In that case we would not be able to account for this commotion, since there is no reason for it."  After he had said this, he dismissed the assembly.

Who is this Jew named Alexander and why did he want to speak?  And the city clerk; what was he protecting? 

I think Luke’s point in this story is the success of Christianity. Christianity was having so many converts that it was hurting business. As it competed with the most popular of the pagan religions; Artemis worship, it was having success.  Remember our theme verse?

Acts 1:8  “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

You will be my witnesses to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth.  Well, this witness thing has gone all the way to what we call Turkey and is moving in power!  The power of the Spirit was shaking the foundations of pagan religions! That is Luke’s point.

I want to go beyond Luke’s point and think out loud.  I suspect the point of my sermon may not be really what Luke had in mind.  I typically attempt to make the same point Luke makes. Most of my sermons attempt to track with Luke and deal with the issues he deals with.  But this morning I want to go in a different direction. As Luke has accurately recorded these events, he gave us an insight into how we, as humans, operate.  That is what I want to explore this morning and perhaps help us to see what our motivations might be under stressful conditions.  We most often show our true selves under stress.  Let’s go back again and look at the six groups of people from our story and explore their motivations.  Each group is primarily asking a different question. 

1) Demetrius the Silversmith asked, “What does it cost?”  You get the feeling from the story that Demetrius is more concerned with Christianity costing him business than he is with whether or not Christianity is right.  We can certainly relate to Demetrius.  Often our beliefs coincide with our finances.  Certainly, we are motivated by how much something is going to cost us!

2) Paul, Aristarchus & Gaius asked, “What is right?”  Their goal is not to bankrupt Demetrius and his buddies, but they are concerned that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Only One True God.  They want the people of Ephesus to know that they are worshipping a statue that isn’t even a god.  They want the people to experience the joy of worshipping a Living God.  They want all the people of Asia Minor to come to Jesus and experience the forgiveness and the gift of the Holy Spirit which come in baptism.  Paul is concerned for what is right, true and real!   Wow, that is a great motivation. 

3) The crowd in the story was portrayed by Luke as clueless.  They asked, “Who can we hang?”  Isn’t that true?  So, often we get caught up in the emotion of something when we really don’t know even what is going on.  It is this mob mentality that says, “Get a rope!”  This is a scary motivation. 

4) Paul’s friends asked, “How can we help?”   They were concerned for Paul’s life.  They knew if Paul went to the theater he would end up like Abraham Lincoln, when he went to the theater. They were concerned and compassionate toward Paul and wanted to help him.  That is a good motivation.  At that point they weren’t in agreement with Paul who wanted to go stand before the mob and argue Jesus.  They wanted to keep him safe.  How can we help him?  

5) Alexander the Jew asked, “Can you leave us out of it?”  This part of the story is a little confusing as was the whole scene.  They want to string Paul or somebody up for preaching against their goddess, Artemis.  Paul and the Jews preached monotheism- one God – and Artemis wasn’t it.  So, Alexander wanted to get up and say leave us out of this we aren’t Paul.  But he was almost lynched as well.  He wanted to stay out of this mess.  That is a powerful motivation; self-preservation; “Can you just leave us out of it?” 

6) Then we have somewhat the hero of the story the City Clerk. This position of clerk is more than we think of as city clerk.  He really is more like what we would call the sheriff or the mayor.  He is the one who was in charge of the town meetings.  He was the one who answered to the Romans about all that happened.  He knew that if he lost control of this mob, the Romans could come in and stomp all over their independence and put someone like Pilate in control. The Romans were all about order, at all cost. His job was to keep the status quo, to keep things as they were.  He asked, “How can I keep the peace?”  He was a peacemaker and he was able to do his job well.  He settled the crowd down and kept the peace without a lynching.  

Now we get to the question of the morning.  You may have guessed it already; who are you?  When it comes down to the core of who you are which of our six questions do you ask first?  What is your first response to a stressful situation?  How are you wired to react in a conflict? 

1) Is your first response one of cost? Do you ask what is this going to cost me?  What is the price? Money or time or grief; are you concerned first with how much is it going to cost you?

2) Is it the right thing to do? Are you concerned with right and justice and fairness and being correct?  Do you attempt to find the right thing?  “I don’t care how much it costs.  We have to do what is right!”  

3) Is your first response, “Get a rope! Someone is to blame for this?”  Do you feel the need to find out who is to blame? If there is a problem, then someone caused it. And Someone should pay for it. 

4) Is our first inclination to go help?  Someone must be hurting.  How can I help?  What can I do ease the pain?  Does compassion take over when you are in crisis mode?  Are you like Paul’s friends who kept him from going to the theater?  I want to be involved in helping.

5) Perhaps your initial reaction is to get out of town.  I need to avoid the situation. I don’t want any confrontation.  We just want to stay neutral. We don’t want to pick sides.  We don’t want to get caught in the middle.  You may be like Alexander the Jew, who wanted out. 

6) Perhaps you are like the city clerk who wants to keep the peace.  Status Quo is fine and dandy.  Let’s just don’t risk anything.  Let’s take it easy and be careful not to lose what we already have.  I just want things to stay the way they are. 

So, who are you?  It might be fun to go around and let everyone say. “I tend to be number 4 I want to help.  But we won’t.  But it would be helpful to you to know how you tend to react.  “Because knowing is half the battle,” to quote from… GI Joe.  

Now at this point in the sermon you might be expecting me to say, “Well, you need to react this way and not that way.”  You may be expecting me to hammer you for who you are and encourage you to be different. That is not exactly what I am going to do.  What I am going to advocate is that all six of these responses are wrong… and all six of these responses are right. 

All of the responses can be appropriate or inappropriate.  “What?”

1) Sometimes it is the right thing to ask what is the cost?  Didn’t Jesus tell us to count the cost before we commit?  Often times in real-life situations we need to count the cost before we get involved; before jumping into the middle of something! Sometimes the cost is too high.  Sometimes we need to step up and pay the price. Inappropriate/Appropriate  

2) Is it right? Is a good question to ask.  But sometimes the grace of God and his mercy is what is called for not justice and fairness.  What about a little tenderness?  The prodigal son needed love not “rightness.”  It is a good question; it’s not a good question. 

3) “Get a rope!” Might be the right thing to do.  Sometimes people are cold and hurtful and they need a reality check. They need someone to rebuke and correct them. Sometimes it is right to be straight up with someone.  Sometimes it is not right.  But, we must be very careful before we ever hammer someone. 

4) Is being helpful always the right thing?  Well, no.  You all have heard what happens if you help a caterpillar out of its cocoon?  It dies.  Sometimes helpful is good. Sometimes it’s better to let someone struggle. 

5) Sometimes staying out of the situation is the right thing to do.  Not picking sides, but loving both sides can be exactly appropriate.  We are not called to always pick a side and point to the other as wrong. Not getting involved; not sticking our noise in it, can be right.  Also getting involved can also be right. 

6) Perhaps you are like the city clerk who just wants to keep the peace. Let’s don’t rock the boat or upset the apple cart and leave well enough alone and let the sleeping dog lie and don’t pitch the baby out with the bath water and don’t look a gift horse in the mouth and don’t let the cat out of the bag and you are what you eat.  Somebody stop me.  Well, peace is good but sometimes the apple cart needs to get upset.  Some things are wrong and need to get fixed.  Sometimes you have to break a few eggs to make an omelet and that could be a horse of a different color; anyway.  Sometimes peace is crucial; sometimes the status quo needs to change.

“Well Tim, that was real helpful. Now we don’t have a clue what to do!” Sorry about that.  I wish I could give you a formula. “First, you do this and then you do that.  Always, do this.”  But that is not the nature of how God calls us to serve.  The only advice I have is something that Luke recorded last year.  At least we studied it last year.  Jesus said,

Luke 11:9-13  "So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.  "Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead?  Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?  If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

Whenever you find yourself saying:
1) What is this going to cost me? 
2) What is the right thing to do? 
3) Get a rope!
4) How can I help? 
5) Keep me out of it 
6) Let’s keep the peace

Whenever you find yourself in one of those situations, stop and pray this prayer, “Father, you know how to give good gifts to your children, give me your Spirit so I may have wisdom.” And then listen for the wisdom to know how to respond.  Ultimately, the point of this sermon is the same as Luke’s, God will lead you through the power of his Spirit to be his witnesses to the ends of the earth! 

Los Alamos Church of Christ
August 24, 2008