19:35 And when the city
clerk had quieted the crowd, he said: “Men of Ephesus, what man is there who
does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple guardian of the great
goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Zeus? 36 Therefore, since
these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rashly. 37
For you have brought these men here who are neither robbers of temples nor
blasphemers of your goddess. 38 Therefore, if Demetrius and his fellow
craftsmen have a case against anyone, the courts are open and there are
proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another. 39 But if you have any
other inquiry to make, it shall be determined in the lawful assembly. 40 For we
are in danger of being called in question for today’s uproar, there being no
reason which we may give to account for this disorderly gathering.” 41 And when
he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.
A singular voice of reason from among their own and the riot
was over. The logic was sound and irrefutable. The temple was still in place
and no one had made any attempt to destroy it. If anyone had any issues there
was a court system and process in place for dealing with them. It's amazing to
me how easily passion can overtake reason.
When the city clerk spoke there is one thing he said that is
worthy of some thought and application. He said everyone knows that Ephesus is
the guardian of the Great goddess Diana. Doesn't that seem odd? If she is so
great why does she need protection? Shouldn't she be guarding them?
Before we get too judgemental shouldn't we take a closer look
at ourselves? Are we not in danger of the same thinking? I am not sure how many
times I have heard the phrase "defend the church". We justify
"correcting" people in order to "defend the church". Are we
the guardians of the church? Is that a job God gave us? And if it is, what does
it mean?
First of all what it does not mean is that God needs our
protection. That makes us superior to Him which in the case of idolatry is
true. Humans are superior to stone and silver images of mythical creatures.
However in the case of Christianity we are not superior to God and He does not
need our protection. In the Old Testament God had Israel build a temple, a
model of the heavenly sanctuary. The innermost room called the Most Holy Place
was representative of God's throne room and the one piece of furniture known as
the Ark of the Covenant or the Ark of His Testimony represented His throne. It
was to be regarded as sacred in the sense no one but the high priest was to
enter that room and absolutely no one was to touch the ark.
Many years later during a war that Israel lost, the
Philistine army captured the ark and took it home. It was symbolic to them not
only of defeating Israel but a sign that their gods were superior to the God of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. To affirm this truth they placed the ark in their
own temple in front of Dagon their god. The next morning Dagon was lying face
first on the ground. The Philistines propped him back up. The next morning he
was face down on the ground again and broken into pieces. The God of heaven,
the only God in all the universe who created everything does not need our
protection, we need His. We are not His guardians, He is ours.
"The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want. He makes me
lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my
soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His names sake.
Even when I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
You are with me. Your rod and your staff they comfort me. You prepare a table
before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup
runs over. Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life and
I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."
Who protects who?
Must we defend the church? Well what is the church? Is it not
the people who believe in the Great Shepherd? And if He has called us as His
under shepherds what are we defending on His behalf? Certainly not Him and
certainly not buildings and systems.
Jesus stepped down from His heavenly throne. He set aside His
Divinity and became one of us. When He was here He set the example of what it
means to defend the church. Wherever those in positions of power exploited that
power to oppress the weak He defended them. Whether it was the healthy
oppressing the sick or the rich exploiting the poor or the religious condemning
the sinners Jesus was there to protect, to uplift, to restore, and to call out
the oppressors. He came to "set the captives free."
Do you want to defend the church? Awesome! Follow His
example.
"Woman where are your accusers? Neither do I condemn
you. Go and leave this life of sin" - Jesus
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