...pray for peace...

“23 About that time much disturbance broke out concerning the Way. 24 A man named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought a great deal of business to the artisans. 25 These he gathered together, with the workers of the same trade, and said, ‘Men, you know that we get our wealth from this business. 26 You also see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost the whole of Asia this Paul has persuaded and drawn away a considerable number of people by 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 will be scorned, and she will be deprived of her majesty that brought all Asia and the world to worship her.’

28 When they heard this, they were enraged and shouted, ‘Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!’ 29 The city was filled with the confusion; and people rushed together to the theatre, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul’s traveling companions. 30 Paul wished to go into the crowd, but the disciples would not let him; 31 even some officials of the province of Asia, who were friendly to him, sent him a message urging him not to venture into the theatre. 32 Meanwhile, some were shouting 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 gave instructions to Alexander, whom the Jews had pushed forward. And Alexander motioned for silence and tried to make a defense before the people. 34 But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours all of them shouted in unison, ‘Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!’ 35 But when the town clerk had quietened the crowd, he said, ‘Citizens of Ephesus, who is there that does not know that the city of the Ephesians is the temple-keeper of the great Artemis and of the statue that fell from heaven? 36 Since these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash. 37 You have brought these men here who are neither temple-robbers nor blasphemers of our goddess. 38 If therefore Demetrius and the artisans with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls; let them bring charges there against one another. 39 If there is anything further you want to know, it must be settled in the regular assembly. 40 For we are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion.’ 41 When he had said this, he dismissed the assembly” Acts 19:23-41.

Demetrius owned a factory that made silver models of the famous Artemis. Artemis was the Greek name of a goddess who was a fertility goddess. Throughout Ephesus many of the worshippers of Artemis were turning to Christianity, and no longer believed in idols made by human hands.  A crowd quickly gathered who were sympathetic to the silversmiths, and it was decided to hold a larger-scale protest. They wanted to punish Paul, or at least his immediate associates who had brought this new religion into the area. Paul, however, escaped their clutches. There were representatives of the Jewish community present, and they wished to make it clear that they were in no way associated with the Christians. The crowd as a whole, however, was by now in a hysterical mood, unwilling to listen to Alexander, a Jew, and they shouted him down with their cries for a couple of hours. Only with difficulty was the town clerk able to silence the crowd.

I share these details with you to remind you that divisions in churches have always been a common thing. As a Pastor I have experienced lots of heartbreaking moments in churches, protests and angry meetings in fact, and often members of the congregation have left forever. We are, after all, fallible human beings. Do all you can do to maintain civility in your church. Support and guide your leaders. The best time to handle difficulties is to address them immediately and peacefully. A large group of your most trusted leaders need to be involved in calming the storms. but when you think about it, every organization and church experiences times of protest and anger. Keeping yourself focused on the Lord is essential. 

Remember that even though this was a period of time when the church saw huge growth, it was not without painful periods of pain and protest. Today, then, I invite you to pray for your church, especially your leaders. Support them and work hard to maintain peace in your congregation.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.