Acts 19:23-34
About that time, Luke tells us, there arose a great disturbance about the Way. That was one of the earliest names for the followers of Jesus. Following Jesus was never just a set of beliefs or a place you attended. It was a way of life, and outsiders noticed because it changed how people lived. In Ephesus, it even changed how they spent their money.
If you've traveled, you know the fun of picking up a little keepsake. Visit us here on Nantucket and you might go home with a miniature lighthouse or a giant credit card bill. Ephesus had its own souvenir economy, and it was built around the temple of Artemis, a local mother goddess people called on for protection, prosperity, and safe childbirth. Her temple was several times the size of the Parthenon in Athens, and it even served as a bank for individuals, cities, and kings. Pilgrims came from everywhere, and everyone wanted to take a little Artemis home. So a silversmith named Demetrius and the local craftsmen made small silver shrines of the goddess, and business was good.
But for three years Paul had lived in Ephesus, telling people about Jesus and demonstrating the power of the Holy Spirit. The word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power. That was fine with Demetrius until it started to mess with his business. Paul, he complained, was convincing people that gods made by human hands are no gods at all. And if Artemis can't protect or provide, who needs her shrine at home? Believe what you want, as long as it doesn't mess with my business. That's the annoying thing about the gospel. It messes with your business. The new believers had just burned more than a hundred years of wages in magic scrolls. Now shrine sales were down too.
Some people dislike Christians because too many of us have lived without the love, grace, and mercy of Jesus. But others dislike us because following Jesus affects economies. It demands that idols be melted down and false gods abandoned. That's nothing new. Isaiah describes a carpenter who bakes his bread over half a log and carves the other half into a god, praying to it, "Save me! You are my god!" (Isaiah 44:17). And Paul told the Athenians that the true God does not live in temples built by human hands (Acts 17:24).
Demetrius stood to gain everything, but all he could see was what he stood to lose. So let me ask you: what do you stand to lose? Many of us are struggling to let go of things we've built our lives on, things that once gave us security, meaning, and identity. I call them economies of self. Maybe you grew up where love had to be earned, or where your worth was what you accomplished. Maybe you learned to need nothing from anybody, or to keep the peace at any cost. Maybe there was never enough, or your image was everything, or God seemed disappointed in you and the best you could do was keep the rules. These are so hard to let go of because they worked. They kept us safe and earned us approval. You may not feel afraid, but the six-year-old in you is.
An idol is usually a good thing we've turned into an ultimate thing. One way to spot it is the loss test: an idol is something so central that if you lost it, life would hardly seem worth living. If people stopped approving of you, would you still know you're loved? If your housing, your job, your health, or your savings disappeared, would you still feel safe? Approval, achievement, self-sufficiency, peace-keeping, security, image, control, religion. None of them are made of silver, but we've built shrines to every one.
When the craftsmen heard Demetrius, they were furious and shouted, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" The city filled with confusion. Most people didn't even know why they were there, yet they chanted for two hours. Idols promise order and deliver chaos, and those who make them become like them (Psalm 115:8). Luke even calls that mob an assembly, an ekklesia, the same word used for the church. Two assemblies, both proclaiming something great, and religion can run on autopilot in either one. We can sing the words without ever letting Jesus mess with our business.
So how do we respond as followers of the Way? Like the Thessalonians, who turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God and to wait for his Son (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10). First, we confess our idols to the Lord, daily if we need to. Second, we wait on the Lord, resisting the pull back to worthless things and clinging to our hope in Jesus. Unlike our idols, Jesus keeps his word. We are loved before we perform. His work is finished. He carries us and will never leave us. We are fully known and still wanted. He holds what we can't, and grace replaces rule-keeping. So we join the assembly of heaven and shout what is truly great: "Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!" (Revelation 5:12).
