David Bahn – Reflections

Acts 19:12-20

And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them. 13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” 14 Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. 15 But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” 16 And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 17 And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. 18 Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. 19 And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.

Once a mother asked that I speak to her son about his lifestyle and need to be active in church. He was just a little younger than I was, and astute enough to ask me, “Did my mother tell you to talk to me?” Although she had asked that I not let him know she had asked, I just couldn’t pull off a comeback like: “Does it matter who asks you, or is it not important enough to be in worship for the sake of God?” Perhaps the best answer would have been to say, “What if God is the one telling me to talk to you?” Answer a question with a question. Bring God into the equation. That’s the formula. Truth is, I was and am on a mission from God. I am his proxy. That works. But I’m not God’s proxy’s proxy. I’m no hired gun – spiritually or otherwise – to make things happen for moms, dads, bosses, or concerned neighbors.

The seven sons of Sceva discovered that trying to pull a proxy move on evil spirits was a very bad idea. These itinerant Jewish exorcists attempted to cast out an evil spirit in the name of “Jesus who Paul proclaims.” Bad idea. The evil spirit-possessed man jumped these seven sons, beat them and sent them naked and wounded from the house. You don’t tug on Superman’s cape. You don’t sit in the boss’s chair. You don’t provoke a momma bear. You don’t try to take on Satan by using Jesus’ name by proxy.

God was at work through Paul for a reason. The stories are amazing to be sure. But this was no carnival side show. This was the work of God for the sake of God’s kingdom. God’s miraculous work is a gift he bestows through his servants. And when he works through his servants far-reaching things happen. In this case people burned their magic arts books – not as a demonstration against such books, but as an act of repentance and public disavowal of their former ways. Through all this the word of God continued to have further impact.

They say that God doesn’t have grandchildren. That means that you don’t gain access to the kingdom by means of your parents’ faith. We each must claim Jesus as Lord and Savior. Nor does God have proxy servants. I may be publicly recognized as a pastor of a Lutheran congregation, but I serve in Christ’s name. Whoever would be one through whom God works, serves in Jesus’ name alone. The purposes are not fame or fortune, but to see the word of the Lord increase and prevail.