Readings for today: 2 Kings 15-16, Acts 19: 13-41, Psalms 147, Proverbs 18:4-5
Why can’t the preacher just stick to the gospel? Why does he or she have to bring politics into the equation? Or social justice? Or economics? As my southern friends used to say, “Stick to preachin’! Stay away from meddlin’!” I hear this all the time from colleagues. Friends. Parishioners. The problem with this approach is clear when you read passages like the one for today. We’ve already seen how the early Christians were accused of “turning the world upside down” with their preaching. Simply put, it is impossible to separate the preaching of the gospel from the implications of the gospel. Preaching Jesus, by definition, challenges our notions of justice, power, race, sexual identity, social class, economics, etc. because He Himself challenged those same things through His preaching and ministry.
Ephesus was one of the great cities of Asia Minor in the 1st century. A commercial trading center. A major port. In the early second century, the great library of Celsus was built here, housing over 12,000 scrolls and putting Ephesus on the map alongside Alexandria as a center of learning. It had an amphitheater that held over 25,000 spectators. But perhaps the greatest draw was the famed Temple of Artemis. One of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Pilgrims came from all over to pay their respects to the great goddess. As a result, tradesmen and craftsmen made a lot of money supporting the cult by selling idols and little shrines for the people to carry home with them. Enter the Apostle Paul. He comes preaching a gospel of a God not made with human hands. A God who cannot be represented by idols here on earth. A God who is the maker of heaven and earth. A God greater than Artemis (the moon goddess) and many of her former adherents came to faith. Sales drop. Profits crumble. Money is lost. A riot ensues as the entire economic structure of the city is now threatened.
Such accusations are nothing new to Paul. He’s already been accused of preaching a “king other than Caesar” which results in accusations of treason and sedition. They’ve heard him preach that in Christ, “there is no slave nor free, Jew nor Greek, male nor female” which upends entire social systems and ways of life. He’s been accused of blasphemy by his fellow Jews for preaching Jesus as the Messiah. No wonder he’ll remark to his Corinthians friends, “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.” (2 Corinthians 4:8-10) Paul understands to preach the gospel places one at odds with the social systems of this world. The economic systems of this world. The political systems of this world. That’s because the gospel is the good news of another Kingdom. A Kingdom that is in this world but not of this world. A Kingdom ruled from a heavenly throne not an earthly one. A Kingdom driven by eternal values not temporal ones. A Kingdom that is pure and noble and righteous. Unwilling to compromise with the sinful and broken ways of this world. So one cannot preach without meddlin’ in politics, social systems, economics, and justice. The gospel cannot be privatized. Jesus will not rest until He is Lord over every facet of human existence. Until every knee will bow in heaven. On earth. Under the earth. And every tongue confess that He is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
Readings for tomorrow: 2 Kings 17:1-18:12, Acts 20, Psalms 148, Proverbs 18:6-7