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Acts 19:23-41
About that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the Way. 24 For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen. 25 These he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. 26 And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods. 27 And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship.”
28 When they heard this they were enraged and were crying out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 29 So the city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul’s companions in travel. 30 But when Paul wished to go in among the crowd, the disciples would not let him. 31 And even some of the Asiarchs, who were friends of his, sent to him and were urging him not to venture into the theater. 32 Now some cried out one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together. 33 Some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the Jews had put forward. And Alexander, motioning with his hand, wanted to make a defense to the crowd. 34 But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours they all cried out with one voice, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
35 And when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, “Men of Ephesus, who is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Artemis, and of the sacred stone that fell from the sky? 36 Seeing then that these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash. 37 For you have brought these men here who are neither sacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess. 38 If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another. 39 But if you seek anything further, it shall be settled in the regular assembly. 40 For we really are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion.” 41 And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.
Our digital key actually opened the door to our abandoned initial room, even after we had switched rooms. We had changed rooms because of a broken window shade in the first one. Then, once we got that straightened out, our physical key cards didn’t work for our new room. Minor nuisance. And thankfully we didn’t intrude on someone’s privacy in the wrong room.
The host of a podcast I listen to, The Daily Tech News Show, will talk about sending people good thoughts when they have experienced trouble or trauma. He once said, “Send them good thoughts.” Seems clear to me that he would never resort to prayer. But it’s curious that he would even suggest that good thoughts might do some good for someone in need.
In the book, Why Pray, the author Dr. John DeVries, opens with a conversation he had with a church member. “Why pray?” the man asked. “If God knows what we need even before we pray, and he is sovereign over all things. Why do we need to pray? What good does it do?” Another way of asking this is, “Does prayer actually work?”
Demetrius makes the point about Artemis: she is worshiped all over Asia. He worries, also, that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence.
Before we’re too quick to make light of his worries, let’s be careful to remember how the apostles ran away from Jesus when he was being crucified. It looked like all was lost. They were huddled in fear on the night of the resurrection, even though they had been told that Jesus had risen from the dead. We all have our fears that our God won’t come through for us – one way or another.
Paul’s argument about Artemis is clear in the contrast with the true and living God. He had gotten his point across: gods made with hands are not gods. Isaiah spoke of how a man cuts down a tree and takes…
…part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. 16 Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!” 17 And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!”
Such silliness has no place in the lives of those who believe in Jesus. We don’t just have good thoughts in behalf of our neighbor. We pray for him. We don’t merely recite prayers without believing that God hears and answers our prayers, we pray with hope and confidence of his good will and power to act. We don’t worry that if our church building goes away – sad as that may be – that God will no longer be honored.
Faith working in love, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and anchored in God’s word and promise is a beautiful and magnificent thing. Jesus has done the work that needs to have been done. He is truly great and worthy of our worship.
David Bahn - Reflections 
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