mob mentallity

Once they heard this, they were beside themselves with anger and began to shout, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” The city was thrown into turmoil. They rushed as one into the theater. They seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions from the province of Macedonia. Paul wanted to appear before the assembly, but the disciples wouldn’t allow him. Even some officials of the province of Asia, who were Paul’s friends, sent word to him, urging him not to risk going into the theater. Meanwhile, the assembly was in a state of confusion. Some shouted one thing, others shouted something else, and most of the crowd didn’t know why they had gathered. The Jews sent Alexander to the front, and some of the crowd directed their words toward him. He gestured that he wanted to offer a defense before the assembly, but when they realized he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” This continued for about two hours. The city manager brought order to the crowd and said, “People of Ephesus, doesn’t everyone know that the city of Ephesus is guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell from heaven? Therefore, since these facts are undeniable, you must calm down. Don’t be reckless. The men you brought here have neither robbed the temple nor slandered our goddess. Therefore, if Demetrius and the craftspeople with him have a charge against anyone, the courts are in session and governors are available. They can press charges against each other there. Additional disputes can be resolved in a legal assembly. As for us, we are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since we can’t justify this unruly gathering.” After he said this, he dismissed the assembly. (Acts 19:28-41, CEB)

People will follow on a whim. If you convince them that something is awry, and it does not have to be convincing by truth.

We see this in the triumphal entry, the handing over of Jesus for crucifixion, and here.

Here, though, a voice of reason disperses the crowd.

Who is the voice of reason today?

Who stands in the gap to help us see the truth?

Can you stand in the gap and proclaim the truth of God?

Loving People. Loving God.

What is a god?

Once these things had come to an end, Paul, guided by the Spirit, decided to return to Jerusalem, taking a route that would carry him through the provinces of Macedonia and Achaia. He said, “After I have been there, I must visit Rome as well.” He sent two of his assistants, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he remained awhile in the province of Asia. At that time a great disturbance erupted about the Way. There was a silversmith named Demetrius. He made silver models of Artemis’ temple, and his business generated a lot of profit for the craftspeople. He called a meeting with these craftspeople and others working in related trades and said, “Friends, you know that we make an easy living from this business. And you can see and hear that this Paul has convinced and misled a lot of people, not only in Ephesus but also throughout most of the province of Asia. He says that gods made by human hands aren’t really gods. This poses a danger not only by discrediting our trade but also by completely dishonoring the great goddess Artemis. The whole province of Asia—indeed, the entire civilized world—worships her, but her splendor will soon be extinguished.” (Acts 19:21-27, CEB)

This passage hits on a point that I think we do not really think about. What is a god?

Notice I said god, and not God. There is a difference. God is the creator of everything that has been made, and god is anything in our lives that gets in the way of God.

Silver statues, boats, homes, comfort for us and not others, power. All of these are gods and people make money off of them and use them to keep others in place.

I have preached for stewardship campaigns before: “Show me your checkbook and I’ll show you your god.”

We all have god(s) that keep us from following God. We need to identify them and ask for help to lay them aside.

Lay aside your gods and follow God, loving all of God’s creation.

Loving People. Loving God.

listens

After these things, the Lord commissioned seventy-two others and sent them on ahead in pairs to every city and place he was about to go. He said to them, “The harvest is bigger than you can imagine, but there are few workers. Therefore, plead with the Lord of the harvest to send out workers for his harvest. Go! Be warned, though, that I’m sending you out as lambs among wolves. Carry no wallet, no bag, and no sandals. Don’t even greet anyone along the way. Whenever you enter a house, first say, ‘May peace be on this house.’ If anyone there shares God’s peace, then your peace will rest on that person. If not, your blessing will return to you. Remain in this house, eating and drinking whatever they set before you, for workers deserve their pay. Don’t move from house to house. Whenever you enter a city and its people welcome you, eat what they set before you. Heal the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘God’s kingdom has come upon you.’ Whenever you enter a city and the people don’t welcome you, go out into the streets and say, ‘As a complaint against you, we brush off the dust of your city that has collected on our feet. But know this: God’s kingdom has come to you.’ Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. Whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.” The seventy-two returned joyously, saying, “Lord, even the demons submit themselves to us in your name.” Jesus replied, “I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning. Look, I have given you authority to crush snakes and scorpions underfoot. I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy. Nothing will harm you. Nevertheless, don’t rejoice because the spirits submit to you. Rejoice instead that your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:1-11, 16-20, CEB)

Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. Whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.

Take nothing on your journey and depend upon the gratitude of others. If they do not welcome or listen, shake the dust off your feet and leave.

We need to entertain all sojourners, for they may be angels, and come to give us a message from God.

Welcome all and know you may be entertaining God.

Loving People. Loving God.

Take nothing

Jesus called the Twelve together and he gave them power and authority over all demons and to heal sicknesses. He sent them out to proclaim God’s kingdom and to heal the sick. He told them, “Take nothing for the journey—no walking stick, no bag, no bread, no money, not even an extra shirt. Whatever house you enter, remain there until you leave that place. Wherever they don’t welcome you, as you leave that city, shake the dust off your feet as a witness against them.” They departed and went through the villages proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere. (Luke 9:1-6, CEB)

Go into the world and teach them about God’s love and grace.

Take nothing for the journey:
No walking stick
No bag
No bread
No money
Not even any clothing.

Stay in the same place until you move on, and if they do not welcome you, do not even take the dirt from their lands.

Heal and love, and depend on others.

We need to welcome the sojourner, for they may be an angel sent from God.

Loving People. Loving God.

work of grace

Brothers and sisters, we want to let you know about the grace of God that was given to the churches of Macedonia. While they were being tested by many problems, their extra amount of happiness and their extreme poverty resulted in a surplus of rich generosity. I assure you that they gave what they could afford and even more than they could afford, and they did it voluntarily. They urgently begged us for the privilege of sharing in this service for the saints. They even exceeded our expectations, because they gave themselves to the Lord first and to us, consistent with God’s will. As a result, we challenged Titus to finish this work of grace with you the way he had started it. Be the best in this work of grace in the same way that you are the best in everything, such as faith, speech, knowledge, total commitment, and the love we inspired in you. (2 Corinthians 8:1-7, CEB)

Be the best in this work of grace in the same you you are the best in everything else.

Can you imagine what the world would be like if we were all the best in the work of grace? If we all moved to give grace away and did everything for the best of the other, rather than looking out for ourselves?

How great would the world be?

Loving People. Loving God.

Do do…

We know that the Law is spiritual, but I’m made of flesh and blood, and I’m sold as a slave to sin. I don’t know what I’m doing, because I don’t do what I want to do. Instead, I do the thing that I hate. But if I’m doing the thing that I don’t want to do, I’m agreeing that the Law is right. But now I’m not the one doing it anymore. Instead, it’s sin that lives in me. I know that good doesn’t live in me—that is, in my body. The desire to do good is inside of me, but I can’t do it. I don’t do the good that I want to do, but I do the evil that I don’t want to do. But if I do the very thing that I don’t want to do, then I’m not the one doing it anymore. Instead, it is sin that lives in me that is doing it. So I find that, as a rule, when I want to do what is good, evil is right there with me. I gladly agree with the Law on the inside, but I see a different law at work in my body. It wages a war against the law of my mind and takes me prisoner with the law of sin that is in my body. I’m a miserable human being. Who will deliver me from this dead corpse? Thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then I’m a slave to God’s Law in my mind, but I’m a slave to sin’s law in my body. (Romans 7:14-25, CEB)

Ha, yes, the 13 year old boy in me laughs at this text because Paul says he does not do what he wants to do, he does what is does not want to do. I do do the things I do not want to do.

But are not we all really there? We do the things we wish we did not do and don’t do the things that are loving and living into God’s grace.

We need to stop listening to our sinful self and listen to God and allow God to work through us.

Then we will do what God leads us to and show Love in everything.

Loving People. Loving God.

Stand firm

“Look, I’m sending you as sheep among wolves. Therefore, be wise as snakes and innocent as doves. Watch out for people—because they will hand you over to councils and they will beat you in their synagogues. They will haul you in front of governors and even kings because of me so that you may give your testimony to them and to the Gentiles. Whenever they hand you over, don’t worry about how to speak or what you will say, because what you can say will be given to you at that moment. You aren’t doing the talking, but the Spirit of my Father is doing the talking through you. Brothers and sisters will hand each other over to be executed. A father will turn his child in. Children will defy their parents and have them executed. Everyone will hate you on account of my name. But whoever stands firm until the end will be saved. Whenever they harass you in one city, escape to the next, because I assure that you will not go through all the cities of Israel before the Human One comes. “Disciples aren’t greater than their teacher, and slaves aren’t greater than their master. It’s enough for disciples to be like their teacher and slaves like their master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, it’s certain that they will call the members of his household by even worse names. (Matthew 10:16-25, CEB)

Trials will come and those you thought were for you will turn against you. But stand firm in the Lord.

Know that no matter what happens that God is always with you and will give you the words to say, if you remain in the love given to you by God and share that consistently with the world.

It will not be easy, but you will never be alone.

Stand Firm.

Loving People. Loving God.

Focus

Nobody should deceive you with stupid ideas. God’s anger comes down on those who are disobedient because of this kind of thing. So you shouldn’t have anything to do with them. You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord, so live your life as children of light. Light produces fruit that consists of every sort of goodness, justice, and truth. Therefore, test everything to see what’s pleasing to the Lord, and don’t participate in the unfruitful actions of darkness. Instead, you should reveal the truth about them. It’s embarrassing to even talk about what certain persons do in secret. But everything exposed to the light is revealed by the light. Everything that is revealed by the light is light. Therefore, it says, Wake up, sleeper! Get up from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. So be careful to live your life wisely, not foolishly. Take advantage of every opportunity because these are evil times. Because of this, don’t be ignorant, but understand the Lord’s will. Don’t get drunk on wine, which produces depravity. Instead, be filled with the Spirit in the following ways: speak to each other with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; sing and make music to the Lord in your hearts; always give thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; (Ephesians 5:6-20, CEB)

Where is your focus?

The author of Ephesians says nobody should deceive you with stupid ideas, and you do what is pleasing to the Lord, and do not practice unfruitful actions of darkness.

What is an unfruitful action of darkness?

I believe this is when we focus on our self and making sure our needs are met over being love and light in the world. When we do not focus on Jesus and what he has called us to do and be.

Don’t be ignorant understand what Jesus has called you to and focus on Jesus.

Loving People. Loving God.

claims light

Dear friends, I’m not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the message you heard. On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light already shines. The one who claims to be in the light while hating a brother or sister is in the darkness even now. The person loving a brother and sister stays in the light, and there is nothing in the light that causes a person to stumble. But the person who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and lives in the darkness, and doesn’t know where to go because the darkness blinds the eyes. (1 John 2:7-11, CEB)

If you hate anyone, you are not following Jesus. “The one who claims to be in the light while hating a brother or sister is in the darkness even now.”

So, what is hate? M-W.com says:
as a Noun:
1 a: intense hostility and aversion usually deriving from fear, anger, or sense of injury
b: extreme dislike or disgust : antipathy, loathing
c: a systematic and especially politically exploited expression of hatred
2: an object of hatred
as a Transitive Verb:
1: to feel extreme enmity toward : to regard with active hostility
2: to have a strong aversion to : find very distasteful
as an Intransitive Verb:
: to express or feel extreme enmity or active hostility

When you dislike a person’s lifestyle, that is hate. But wait a minute, I am just showing them the love I was shown in the Bible by telling them that their lifestyle is leading them to damnation and separation from God. Seriously? You are using a book that leads us to love all of creation for hate, which 1 John tells us is what takes us out of the light?

Do not hate. Lift others up as God does.

Walk in the light and show love to all of God’s children.

Loving People. Loving God.

whose way?

As the time approached when Jesus was to be taken up into heaven, he determined to go to Jerusalem. He sent messengers on ahead of him. Along the way, they entered a Samaritan village to prepare for his arrival, but the Samaritan villagers refused to welcome him because he was determined to go to Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to consume them?” But Jesus turned and spoke sternly to them, and they went on to another village. As Jesus and his disciples traveled along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and the birds in the sky have nests, but the Human One has no place to lay his head.” Then Jesus said to someone else, “Follow me.” He replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead. But you go and spread the news of God’s kingdom.” Someone else said to Jesus, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say good-bye to those in my house.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts a hand on the plow and looks back is fit for God’s kingdom.” (Luke 9:51-62, CEB)

When we decide to do what Jesus told us to do, who determines what happens next? Us or God?

James and John wanted to rain down fire from heaven because people were not welcoming to Jesus, and those who were to follow wanted to do other things before fully committing.

Unlike a lot of things in our Lutheran understanding, this really isn’t a gray area. We are either in and doing what Jesus told us to do, or we are not doing what Jesus told us to do. Jesus chooses what happens, not us.

We need to love all people, not call for fire from heaven on those who think or act differently from us. We do not get to hate people because they sin differently than we do.

Following Jesus means we love unconditionally.

Loving People. Loving God.