Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Daily Guide grow. pray. study. for Tuesday, 21 October 2014 "Two years of preaching in Ephesus"

Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Daily Guide grow. pray. study. for Tuesday, 21 October 2014 "Two years of preaching in Ephesus"
Daily Scripture:  Acts 19:8-10 Paul then went straight to the meeting place. He had the run of the place for three months, doing his best to make the things of the kingdom of God real and convincing to them. But then resistance began to form as some of them began spreading evil rumors through the congregation about the Christian way of life. So Paul left, taking the disciples with him, and set up shop in the school of Tyrannus, holding class there daily. He did this for two years, giving everyone in the province of Asia, Jews as well as Greeks, ample opportunity to hear the Message of the Master.
Witches Came out of the Woodwork
11-12 God did powerful things through Paul, things quite out of the ordinary. The word got around and people started taking pieces of clothing—handkerchiefs and scarves and the like—that had touched Paul’s skin and then touching the sick with them. The touch did it—they were healed and whole.
13-16 Some itinerant Jewish exorcists who happened to be in town at the time tried their hand at what they assumed to be Paul’s “game.” They pronounced the name of the Master Jesus over victims of evil spirits, saying, “I command you by the Jesus preached by Paul!” The seven sons of a certain Sceva, a Jewish high priest, were trying to do this on a man when the evil spirit talked back: “I know Jesus and I’ve heard of Paul, but who are you?” Then the possessed man went berserk—jumped the exorcists, beat them up, and tore off their clothes. Naked and bloody, they got away as best they could.
17-20 It was soon news all over Ephesus among both Jews and Greeks. The realization spread that God was in and behind this. Curiosity about Paul developed into reverence for the Master Jesus. Many of those who thus believed came out of the closet and made a clean break with their secret sorceries. All kinds of witches and warlocks came out of the woodwork with their books of spells and incantations and made a huge bonfire of them. Someone estimated their worth at fifty thousand silver coins. In such ways it became evident that the Word of the Master was now sovereign and prevailed in Ephesus.
Reflection Questions:
Ephesus was a major travel and commerce center (three main Roman roads ran through the city). Paul preached there for two years, first in the synagogue, then in Tyrannus' lecture hall. Luke said that after two years, "everyone living in the province of Asia—both Jews and Greeks—heard the Lord's word." Some traveling exorcists tried to "borrow" Jesus' name as a gimmick. The results showed clearly that "Jesus" was not a magic word, but a real Lord to take seriously.
Luke's description of Paul's ministry showed the presence of what we call "knowing God" ("convincing arguments"), "loving God" ("the Lord Jesus in the highest regard") and "serving God" ("unusual miracles" of healing). In what ways have you been able to include all three dimensions in your faith journey? If one or two are weak, how might you allow God to strengthen them in you?
Earlier in Acts, Luke told of a man named Simon who offered to buy the apostles' power for his own use (cf. Acts 8:9-24). Here the exorcists just assumed that "Jesus" was a magic word—that all they had to do was repeat it, without any understanding or life commitment. Have you or someone you knew ever tried to invoke the name of Jesus to bail you out of a problem or crisis without a life commitment to his lordship?
Today's Prayer:
Living Lord, sometimes I'd like your power to work on my problems or challenges. Remind me that what I need most is your power at work inside me, rather than on the things outside me. Amen.
Insight from Rev. Glen Shoup
Rev. Glen Shoup is the Executive Pastor of Worship and a Congregational Care Pastor.
Today’s reading gives us a very interesting part of the story.
Essentially, right after Paul had told those in Ephesus, who had gathered to hear him, about the Holy Spirit…which is the Spirit of the resurrected Christ…who is God self-disclosed—that’s the Trinity (The Trinitarian nature of God is holy mystery—and therefore by definition, it is beyond our capacity to fully understand—but we can sometimes make that mystery more complicated than needed)—so after Paul had told them about the Holy Spirit and baptized them in the name of Jesus, he goes into the synagogue and compellingly shares the gospel. But because some there had already predetermined they weren’t going to listen—he sets up shop next door (not quite literally but in “Tyrannus’ lecture hall” [vs 9]…probably the home-base of a local philosopher who was willing to host Paul) and continues preaching the gospel with powerful results.
So much so that pretty incredible miracles start happening just from people coming in contact with everyday items (handkerchiefs, pieces of clothing, etc) that have come in contact with Paul—and as word of these miracles began to spread, some opportunistic sorcerers decided to try and capitalize and they started using Jesus’ name to perform magic tricks and find out that this isn’t something you should try at home—because when they try to cast a demon out by throwing Jesus’ name around, they wind up with a good old fashioned tail-whipping by the fella (or by the demon—or both) they were trying to cast out…like I said, a pretty interesting part of the story.
But what to make of today’s reading—especially the most entertaining parts…demons cast out…miracles occurring when you touch a handkerchief Paul touched—what do we make of this?
Well I’ve got to tell you, I’m as skeptical as they come relative to this kind of stuff. I grew up in a church tradition that primarily came out of the early Methodists; but it also had in its history some Pentecostal groups that were part of its formation.  So from my perspective growing up in that expression of the Church (which by my time, had long since left behind any association with the Pentecostals), the charismatics or Pentecostals were like the crazy uncle that nobody really wants to admit is part of the family (and the more closely related you are to the crazy uncle, the more adamant you are about distancing yourself from him).  So instinctively, there’s nobody more skeptical than I am or more inclined to label as shysters the TV evangelists with their prayer cloths and miracle anointing oil that they’ll be glad to send to you “for your best love offering”…and the better your love offering, the more they’ll send you—I just tend to dismiss out of hand anything that even has a whiff of that kind of thing.
But when it comes to what we read in verses 11-12 of today’s reading, as I’ve grown and matured (at least somewhat) in my thinking, I’ve come to believe that sometimes—both in biblical times and now—God chooses to reveal His power and presence in extraordinary, unbelievable and some might even say bizarre ways (at least when compared to our “normal”) for the purpose of making His message—and the truth and veracity of His gospel known.  And it actually seems perfectly logical to me that in Paul’s day, in a place like Ephesus where there was no previous awareness of Christ or the gospel, God might choose to do some incredible things…like healing people because they came in contact with a handkerchief that could clearly be traced back to Paul so that the veracity and legitimacy of what Paul was proclaiming could be backed by some undeniable God-like power…for the purpose of being a catalytic spark in the spread of Christian gospel.
And when it comes to what we read in verses 13-16 of today’s passage, I also continue to believe that anytime individuals try to co-opt God’s name or power for their own purposes—whether in biblical times or now—they are playing with fire…and you know how that maxim ends.
So as I read today’s passage, I walk away asking God (1) to keep me open to the moving of His Holy Spirit—in ordinary and in extraordinary ways; and (2) I walk away from today’s reading intending to be very careful to never seek to use God’s name or influence for my own agenda.
Two pretty good reminders for me from an interesting passage of scripture.
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