Every Spiritual Blessing in Christ

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Good morning, Christchurch. My name is Suzy Shin, and I'll be reading today's scripture from the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 19, and Paul's letter to the Ephesians, chapter 1, as printed in your liturgy.

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

A reading from the Acts of the Apostles.

While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus.

Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God.

But some of them became obstinate. They refused to believe and publicly maligned the way.

So Paul left them.

He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.

This went on for two years so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.

When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor.

Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed what they had done.

A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly.

When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to 50,000 drachmas.

In this way, the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.

After all this had happened, Paul decided to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia.

After I have been there, he said, I must visit Rome also.

He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia while he stayed in the province of Asia a little longer.

About that time, there arose a great disturbance about the way.

A silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in a lot of business for the craftsmen there.

He called them together, along with the workers in related trades, and said,

You know, my friends, that we receive a good income from this business.

And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus,

and in practically the whole province of Asia.

He says that gods made by human hands are no gods at all.

But there is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name,

but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited,

and the goddess herself, who is worshipped throughout the province of Asia and the world,

will be robbed of her divine majesty.

When they heard this, they were furious and began shouting,

Great is Artemis of the Ephesians.

Soon the whole city was in an uproar.

The people seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul's traveling companions from Macedonia,

and all of them rushed into the theater together.

Paul wanted to appear before the crowd, but the disciples would not let him.

Even some of the officials of the province, friends of Paul,

sent him a message begging him not to venture into the theater.

The assembly was in confusion.

Some were shouting one thing, some another.

Most of the people did not even know why they were there.

The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander to the front,

and they shouted instructions to him.

He motioned for silence in order to make a defense before the people.

But when they realized he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours,

Great is Artemis of the Ephesians.

The city clerk quieted the crowd and said,

Fellow Ephesians, doesn't all the world know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis

and of her image, which fell from heaven?

Therefore, since these facts are undeniable, you ought to calm down and not do anything rash.

A reading from Paul's letter to the Ephesians.

For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God's people,

I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father,

may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you may know him better.

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you,

the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people,

and his incomparably great power for us who believe.

That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead

and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,

far above all rule and authority, power and dominion,

and every name that is invoked,

not only in the present age but also in the one to come.

And God placed all things under his feet

and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body,

the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

This is the word of the Lord.

Thank you, Susie, for that reading.

Let's go to the Lord in prayer as we open up this word.

Holy Spirit, we ask that you would come.

That you would convince us that apart from your son, we can do nothing.

Would you show us our powerlessness

and at the same time show us your great power

that we've seen in the resurrection of Christ.

Help us to have a holy hunger for that power

and for your glory.

And would we see that here as a church community

as we seek to be a people who go in the name of Jesus

to love and serve this world.

So would you do that, Lord?

Would you do that for us by your grace?

In Christ's name we pray.

Amen.

All right.

Well, next week, just to let you know,

we're going to be at retreat, so don't come to church.

All right.

Just wanted to get that out there.

We'll say it a couple times today, just so you know.

But this also marks kind of the end of our series in Paul.

Today we're looking at this last episode in Paul's ministry.

We're looking at the origin story of the church in Ephesus.

And I'm just going to just dive right in,

tell you a little bit about this city, Ephesus.

All right.

I've got a map of Ephesus right up here.

It's a prominent city in Asia Minor,

Turkey as we call it today.

And in Paul's day, it was the most populous city

and the most prosperous and populated providence in the Roman Empire.

It wasn't like some small potatoes little town.

It was a cosmopolitan center.

And not just politically, economically, and culturally,

but also religiously.

Ephesus was basically the epicenter of worship

for the Greek and Roman gods.

It was like the Mecca of the Greek and Roman world.

It was particularly known for its worship

of this Greek goddess named Artemis.

And in fact, the temple of Artemis in Ephesus

was considered one of the seven ancient wonders of the world.

Right up there with the great pyramid,

it was a temple like four times the size of the Parthenon.

And so people all over the world,

they came to Ephesus to worship Artemis,

this goddess of fertility and childbirth

and nature and wilderness.

Which if you think about it,

are all things that throughout history,

humanity has struggled to get under our control.

So tons of people are coming,

trying to get that under control

by coming to worship Artemis.

So again, this is not only a politically,

economically, and culturally prominent city,

but it's a religiously significant one in Paul's world.

And it's even more accurate to say

that this was a spiritually dynamic city.

Ephesus was like a crossroads of every kind of religion.

Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Jewish,

now Christian with Paul coming in there,

and even like local pagan cults.

Archaeologists have found tons of like inscriptions

and talismans and various other ceremonial artifacts

that indicate all sorts of worship

and practice of magic and sorcery in Ephesus.

That's your little history lesson on Ephesus.

Why am I starting the sermon

with all these facts about Ephesus?

Well, our text today, as Susie experienced,

is quite long.

We're not gonna be able to turn over every stone,

but if I could identify one main theme

from our passage today,

I'd say that these texts that were read

are about power.

I wanna talk about power today,

what we're looking at today

in the Ephesian episode in the book of Acts,

and what Paul prays to God for

as he later writes the church in Ephesus

is a power encounter.

All right, a power encounter.

Now, for those of you who are immediately skeptical

of this kind of a language, I hear you.

Maybe speaking about a power encounter

reminds you of those health and wealth,

prosperity preachers on TV,

and you rightly fear the abuses

and excesses of charismatic Christianity.

I get it, I hear you.

Don't worry, we're not going there.

I'm right there with you.

And as we walk through this text,

I think you'll see a distinction

between the power encounter here

and what happens, unfortunately,

in so many churches,

especially in America today.

Now, maybe there are others of you, though, here,

and this idea of a power encounter,

it just raises red flags, though.

It makes you kind of roll your eyes

because you're just not quite convinced

of the invisible spiritual realm.

You prefer to live and operate

within what the Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor

calls the imminent frame,

this disenchanted, simply natural, rational world

without reference to the transcendent.

And if that is you this morning, I get it.

And we want to be a church for you.

And I totally understand why

what you heard red this morning

could sound like, you know,

a bunch of just backwards,

ancient, superstitious people

arguing with each other

about whose superstition was better.

And maybe it's probably hard for you

to appreciate how any of what was read today

has relevance for you in the, you know,

the 21st century.

But listen, if this describes you,

well, there are tons of conversations

that we'd love to have with you

in this church about that.

We could talk about, you know,

how the Western secular skepticism

actually came as a byproduct

of Christianity's successes

and its success at dismantling, you know,

ancient, pagan, medieval superstitions.

We could talk about how actually impossible it is

to sustain a solid sense of meaning

and purpose and morality

just within the imminent frame

and without any reference to the transcendent.

But just for the sake of time,

could I just ask all of us

to have an open mind this morning

to the spiritual?

Because the truth is,

if you're skeptical about spiritual powers

outside the imminent frame,

outside of nature,

you're actually in the minority.

And not just throughout human history,

but even today,

the spiritual realm is not so far-fetched

to most people living in the world.

In the United States

and even in more secular countries

like France and Germany and Japan,

the Pew Research surveys show

that the majority of people

believe that there is something spiritual

beyond the natural world,

even if we cannot see it.

And I think this is because

none of us can fully escape

what Jesus and the Scriptures teach,

that we're all imprinted

with the image of God,

which means deep down,

we all know that reality

is far more expansive

than what meets the eye.

And try as we might

to answer life's biggest questions.

Why do things happen

the way they do?

Why does it matter

that I'm alive?

What goals should we pursue

with our lives?

We all know

the answers to these questions

cannot be found

simply within the imminent frame

where all that matters

is matter.

And I'm not saying this

to belittle anyone here

or to bully you

and just try to guilt you

for your skepticism,

but really more than trying

to win an argument

or convert you to my team.

What our heart is here

at Christ Church

is for everyone here,

Christian or not,

religious or not,

what we pray for as a staff,

what your elders pray for,

what we pray for downstairs

at 9.30 every Sunday

in the boiler room,

every Sunday,

over everyone who comes in

through these doors,

is that every single person

who comes into this place

to worship with us

would have a power encounter

with the living God.

It's like that's what

this thing is here.

This is not a lectern.

This is a pulpit.

I'm not here trying to share

information with you today

about Christianity,

trying to make it sound

more plausible.

I'm trying to communicate to you

the fullness

of what your maker

and sustainer

desires for you.

And listen,

it's so much more

than His love.

We love talking about

His love here.

It's wonderful.

We focus tons on that,

that there is a Father

who loves you,

who has sent His Son

to bring you into His family

and give you His inheritance,

that this is a God

who is personally interested

and invested

in you and your life.

We love the good news

of God's love here.

But guess what?

There's even more good news.

There's even more good news.

Good news that this Father

is also a king.

And if He is your Father

and King,

if you are a royal child

of God,

then that means

you don't just have

the love of the Father.

You have the authority

and power

of your Father

and King

in heaven.

The good news

I have for us

this morning

is that God

doesn't just want you

to know Him personally,

He wants you to know Him

powerfully.

And you know,

to make this more personal,

just to give you a window

into my own heart

and my vision

and prayer

for my family

and for myself

and for our church

in the season ahead.

You know,

I've just completed

seven years

of ministry here

at Christ Church.

I get my sabbatical

right after Easter.

Looking forward to that.

But I'll miss you,

of course.

But 2026 Easter

is also when

Christ Church East Bay

turns 20 years old.

20 years old,

20 years of leading people

into deeper relationships

with Christ

and His church

through community

and for the city.

But you know,

Jonathan and I

and our elders

as we've been praying

and discerning together,

thinking to ourselves,

God,

not thinking to ourselves,

praying to God,

God,

what would you have for us

in the next decade.

What I keep coming back to

when we think about

our mission statement

that we exist

to lead people

into deeper relationships

with Christ,

I think what God

keeps bringing back to me

is the words

deeper still.

Deeper still.

And so,

you know,

what I've been praying for

toward that end,

what I've been praying for

is God's power.

Not just His wisdom,

not just more strategic

church practices,

not even just that we'd be

a church full of love,

care,

and compassion,

I've been praying

that we'd be a church

full of the power

and presence of God

like we haven't yet seen

in this church.

A power and presence

that permeates

our church family

and radiates

into the Bay Area cities

around us

and our communities

just like what we see here

in Acts chapter 19.

Acts 19 · chapter mention

And now,

maybe you've never

thought of Christianity

in these terms.

Maybe for you,

Christianity is about

comfort and peace

and identity.

Maybe it's about

salvation and eternal life

or answers to life's

big philosophical

existential questions.

But this morning,

I want to invite you

to consider the power

that's offered to you

in Jesus Christ.

And I think this is

particularly relevant

in our present

cultural moment,

especially here in the Bay

where in many ways

we're feeling more powerful

than we've ever been,

right?

We carry these little

supercomputers

in our pockets

that connect us instantly

to the whole world,

right?

And put oceans of knowledge

at our fingertips.

AI promises us

unprecedented efficiency

and productivity.

Biotech is pushing

the boundaries

of human life itself.

And yet,

at the same time,

many of us probably

also feel more powerless

than ever,

right?

At the very same time.

More connection

means more exposure

to the world's pain.

More knowledge

means more responsibility

and higher expectations

we can never meet.

More efficiency

just means the bar

keeps rising

and with every new solution,

new unforeseen challenges

and problems emerge.

So sure,

technology can extend life,

but it cannot tell us

what life is for.

It can give us information,

but it cannot give us wisdom.

It can connect us,

but it cannot heal us,

which is why we need

a different kind of power.

Not just the power

to hit deadlines

and meet quotas,

but the power to live

as we were created to live.

The power to resist evil,

the power to persevere

in suffering,

to be healed

and renewed,

the power to see

the broken made whole.

We need a higher power.

And see,

that's the kind of power

Acts 19 puts on display

for us.

That's the kind of power

that Paul prays

for the church in Ephesus

to encounter the power

of Christ's resurrection

at work,

in us,

in the world.

All right,

so sorry for that long windup,

but let's take a look

at this origin story now

of the church of Ephesus.

So remember,

this is a city

full of political,

economic,

cultural,

and religious power,

and its people

are extremely spiritual,

which basically means

they were seeking

even more power.

Like sure,

they were living

in this upscale,

cosmopolitan city

as Ephesian citizens.

Even the silversmiths

and the craftsmen

and the clergy

were getting paid,

but they were a society

still always seeking more.

Like what secret spell,

what incantation,

what practice

can I add to my life

to level up,

to be healthier,

to be more prosperous,

to be more successful,

this was the climate

that Paul was stepping into

in Ephesus.

Now,

verses two through seven,

they aren't printed

in your liturgy

for the sake of time,

but basically what happens

is Paul enters Ephesus

and he meets some people

who heard and accepted

the preaching

of John the Baptist

many years before,

but they hadn't yet

heard about Jesus,

which means that

they were living lives

of repentance,

they were living lives

of turning away from sin,

but they didn't exactly know

who or what to turn to.

So Paul tells them

and they get baptized

in the name of the Lord Jesus

and boom,

power encounter.

They are baptized

in the Holy Spirit.

They're empowered

to speak in tongues

and to prophesy,

indicating that they are now

children of God

who speak with

and commune

with the living God

and who also hear from Him

and share that word

with others.

So basically,

the Holy Spirit's power

falls upon people

immediately

as Paul enters

this incredibly

spiritually dynamic place

and this is just

the beginning.

As was Paul's practice,

he also goes

into the synagogues first.

He goes into the synagogues

where he always went

to find the spiritually

interested

and verse 8 says

he spoke boldly there,

persuasively making a case

about the kingdom of God.

Basically,

showing the Jewish people

of Ephesus

how Jesus was the fulfillment

of their scriptures

and announcing to them

that His kingdom had come

and that it was a kingdom

better than

and radically other than

any other kingdom.

But apparently,

the reception was mixed there.

Some were persuaded

and others refused to believe

and verse 9 says

some publicly malign the way

which is what they called

Christianity back then,

Jesus' way.

And so Paul leaves them

and he starts lecturing

and holding daily discussions

in a public space

called the Hall of Tyrannus

which by the way

should encourage us

to see Christianity

as not a private religion only

but as a viable public faith

to be shared

and to be in dialogue

with the public.

That's what I love

about being here in Berkeley

just two blocks from Cal.

That's what I love

about our Cal Scholar Series.

You PhD students,

so many of you PhD students

coming here

and integrating

your academic disciplines

with your commitment to Christ.

I love that.

That's what we need to be about

at Christ Church.

And the hope and prayer

is that God will bless

and use our church

as He did in Ephesus.

Verse 10 says,

Paul lectured

and held daily discussions

for two years

and then everyone

in all the province of Asia

heard the word of the Lord.

That is how powerfully

God was working

through Paul's ministry

in Ephesus.

Can you imagine that?

The whole province of Asia

had heard the word of the Lord.

Can you imagine

because of the teaching here

that all of California

hears about who Jesus is?

I want to pull up the map again

and basically when it's saying

that the word of the Lord

went through all the province of Asia,

like, you know all those churches

that you read about in Revelation?

That's what happened.

Those were church plants

that resulted

from this powerful work of God

in Ephesus.

Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis,

Smyrna, Philadelphia, Laodicea.

This is a result

of what God is doing

through Paul's ministry

and teaching

through the Holy Spirit

in Ephesus, all right?

And then verse 11 says,

God doesn't just do miracles

through Paul

but extraordinary miracles

as if normal miracles

weren't extraordinary enough.

More power encounter.

And we didn't print

all that happened here

in the liturgy

but basically

from verses 11 to 16,

God is working powerfully

through Paul

and people recognize it.

People are even

taking handkerchiefs

that had touched Paul

and they're bringing them

to their sick friends

and people are getting cured.

Evil spirits are fleeing.

And you know,

with this being

a very spiritually dynamic city,

there are also these

Jewish exorcists

that Acts 19 talks about

who notice the power

that's at work in Paul.

So what do they try to do?

They try to copy

Paul's technique.

They invoke the name of Jesus

trying to command evil spirits

to flee from people.

But when they try this,

an evil spirit goes,

I know Jesus

and I know about Paul

but who are you?

And the man with the evil spirit

beats them bloody

and runs them out of the house

naked.

And you know,

you might think

that this would weaken

the people's faith

in the power

of the name of Jesus.

You know,

maybe that was one spirit

that, well,

the name of Jesus

didn't work on that one.

But verse 17 says

the opposite actually.

When this became known

to the Jews and Greeks

living in Ephesus,

they were all seized

with fear

and the name of the Lord Jesus

was held in high honor.

Apparently,

everyone heard about

what happened

with these Jewish exorcists

trying to use Jesus' name

for their own purposes.

And then rather than

people thinking,

oh well,

that didn't work,

or well,

I guess some evil spirits

are immune to Jesus'

the Jesus incantation.

No,

people probably

because of Paul's teaching

and life

were recognizing that,

hey,

this Christianity stuff,

the way

is not like

any other religion.

It's not just about

performing a ritual

or using some

religious technique

to wield

and manipulate

divine power

for our own purposes.

Christianity

isn't just some

life hack.

No,

that evil spirit

recognized Paul,

recognized Jesus,

and recognized

their authority,

but not these

Jewish exorcists

because these Jewish

exorcists had no

meaningful relationship

to Jesus.

He wasn't their Lord.

They weren't united

with Jesus

and his Father in Heaven.

They had no authority,

no power.

Jesus' name

was not going to be

manipulated,

objectified,

or used.

And in fact,

Jesus is seen

as so powerful

that he's actually

seen as sovereign

over that evil spirit

that went to teach

those Jewish exorcists

a lesson.

So ironically,

their failure

to cast out a demon

in the name of Jesus

ends up leading

to Jesus' name

being held

in even higher honor

in Ephesus.

They are all seized

with fear, it says.

And not only did this

impact all of Ephesus,

but it led to a revival,

a large public corporate

act of repentance

in the city.

Verse 18 says,

many of those

who believed

now came

and openly confessed

what they had done.

This means that

many who said

that they were Christians,

many who said

that they were part

of the way,

were also mixed up

with other faith commitments,

caught up in the spiritual,

syncretistic climate

of Ephesus,

but now they're moving

toward the exclusivity

of Christ.

The one who said,

I am the way,

the truth,

and the life.

No one comes to the Father

except through me.

And this wasn't just

a confession of their lips,

but it was repentance

in action,

even at great expense.

Verse 19 says,

a number who had

practiced sorcery

brought their scrolls

together and burned

them publicly.

When they calculated

the value of the scrolls,

the total came

to 50,000 drachmas.

You know,

archaeologists

have dug up this area

and they've noticed

tons of these

types of scrolls,

tons of these written words

and inscriptions

all over Ephesus.

They call them

the Ephesian letters.

And piecing together

all the evidence

and reading the historians,

what they've gathered

is that these words

were magical formulas

that people used

and they would carry

and recite

to protect themselves

from harm.

So when you read about

these burning of the scrolls,

that's what's happening.

People are burning

their scrolls

with all these magic formulas.

And it says

50,000 drachmas worth.

For reference,

50,000 days wages

for an average worker.

A drachma is like

a day's wage.

So that's,

I did the math,

135 years of salary

were burned right there

in repentance

because of the power

of the Holy Spirit

working in that city.

And so this was

a massive public repentance

and renunciation

of the prevailing powers

in Ephesus.

And it only led

to the word of the Lord

spreading even more widely.

Verse 20 says,

in this way,

the word of the Lord

spread widely

and grew in power.

Again, Ephesus

was having a power encounter

and the power of Christ's word

and spirit

were prevailing.

And so much so

that it was even disturbing

the Ephesian economy

and threatening

their political stability.

Again,

the Christian faith

isn't just a private

personal religion

but a public faith.

And when God's word

and spirit move forth

in power,

it doesn't just change

individual lives

and hearts

but it impacts

whole societies.

That's what the power

of Christ wants to do

here in Berkeley,

here in the Bay Area,

in our world.

Read with me

from verse 23.

About that time

there arose

a great disturbance

about the way.

A silversmith

named Demetrius

who made silver shrines

of Artemis

brought in

a lot of business

for the craftsmen there.

He called them together

along with the workers

in related trades

and said,

you know my friends

that we received

a good income

from this business

and you see

and hear

how this fellow Paul

has convinced

and led astray

large numbers of people

here in Ephesus

and in practically

the whole province

of Asia.

He says that

gods made by human hands

are no gods at all.

There is danger

not only that our trade

will lose its good name

but also that the temple

of the great goddess Artemis

will be discredited

and the goddess herself

who is worshipped

throughout the province

of Asia and the world

will be robbed

of her divine majesty.

When they heard this

they were furious

and began shouting

great is Artemis

of the Ephesians.

Soon the whole city

was in an uproar.

So basically

Paul's message,

Paul's ministry

centered on Jesus

and his kingdom.

It has massively

disrupted

this entire city,

its very economy,

its political stability.

There is undeniable

power encounter

going on

in this spiritually

dynamic city.

So that's what happened

here in Acts 19

but so what?

So what

and then what?

What are the implications

for us particularly

as it relates

to power?

Well first notice

Paul's spirit led,

spirit empowered method.

It's super important

to notice

that all Paul's success

in Ephesus

is completely owed

to the direction

and the power

of the Holy Spirit

which Paul had

absolutely no control over.

Notice he doesn't

try to climb the ladder

in Ephesus

to gain influence

and a hearing.

He simply goes

to the spiritually interested

and those who are open

to the way of Jesus

even if they're a fringe group

and he starts there

just with those 12 disciples.

And he's not coercive

but he seeks to win

and persuade.

He's not selling anything

but he's simply

convinced himself

that everyone

has every reason

to embrace Jesus

and his kingdom.

And this is why

he also brings his message

into public places

side by side

in dialogue

with anyone

who's willing to talk.

That's why they go

to the hall of Tyrannus.

He spends multiple years

there just unpacking

all the reasons

that he has

for why the kingdom

of Jesus

is so great

while also at the same time

healing and casting out

evil spirits

in Jesus' name

to demonstrate

his power.

But the whole time

he's relying

not on his logic

or his persuasiveness

but ultimately

on the Holy Spirit

to change people's hearts

and even to change

whole regions

and societies.

Paul's method

is not a technique

so much as

a relational

spirit-led

spirit-driven faithfulness

that inevitably

bears fruit

in exactly the way

that God intends.

And this is such

a huge contrast

to what the Ephesians

were probably used to.

You have the Jewish exorcist

who tried to manipulate

Jesus' name

like a magic formula.

You have your

Greek philosophers

who leaned on logic

and syllogisms

to try to persuade people.

You have the silversmith example,

Demetrius,

he's leveraging wealth

and people's greed

and populist rhetoric

to try to get people

to do what he wants them to do.

But as Paul simply

follows the leading

of the Holy Spirit

in faithfulness

to his calling

as an apostle,

he effortlessly

demonstrates

that the highest power

is not magic,

logic,

money,

it's not popular opinion

or influence,

it's simply

the Spirit.

I mean,

I feel like

I return to this

again and again

because I think

it's what God

wants me to hear

again and again.

My job,

our job

as human beings,

as children of God,

it isn't to win

at life

by all the metrics

that are set

before us.

It's not to be

the most impressive

tree in the forest,

no,

it's to be

the tree of Psalm 1.

And if you haven't

memorized Psalm 1 yet

and you're a member

of this church,

get on it,

alright?

Psalm 1 is our psalm,

right?

God's calling us

to be a Psalm 1 tree

with ever deepening

roots in Christ,

less concerned

about branching out

than going deep

and reaching high

into the heavens.

And as the psalmist

says,

that is the kind

of tree

that will bear fruit,

that will experience

the powerful

abundance of God,

maybe not exactly

when we would

have planned it,

but always

in season,

in God's

perfect timing.

And this is tied

to the second thing

I want us to notice

which is the way

that the way

of Jesus

and His Spirit

runs so counter

to the idolatrous

way of Ephesus.

The second implication

here is that

Jesus' way

is really the only

positive sum game.

Just think of

like all the people

every year

coming into Ephesus,

flocking to the

temple of Artemis

every single year

seeking to offer

their worship,

seeking to pay

their tribute,

seeking to purchase

that new scroll

with that new

magical formula,

seeking to make

a fortune selling

those scrolls,

plugging into the

religio-economic

machine that is

Ephesus.

But whether

they were there

for wealth

or health

or both,

they were all

basically engaging

in the same

practice.

Transaction-based

salvation.

Zero-sum

game religion

or even negative-sum

game religion.

If I sacrifice

this much wealth,

then I will

receive this

much health.

If I sacrifice

this much time,

then I will

gain this much

treasure.

If I just

follow this

magic formula

or just pick up

that innovative

technique,

then I can

level up.

Then I can

power up in

my lifelong

effort towards

saving myself

from pain

and discomfort

and harm

and misfortune

and even death.

And this isn't

just an ancient

practice in Ephesus

though, right?

We may not

be as overtly

and explicitly

spiritual here

in the Bay Area.

We may not

all be hunting

for magic scrolls.

I don't know

if that's your

thing.

But maybe,

and even more

sadly,

we're still

convinced of

life only in

the imminent

frame.

And so we

just look to

technology and

human ingenuity,

self-help,

hacks, tips,

and techniques to

basically do

exactly what the

Ephesians were

doing.

Trying to secure

our salvation,

trying to secure

our health,

our wealth,

and our happiness

through transaction.

But see,

Jesus offers us

a far better way.

He doesn't call us

to power up

to save ourselves,

but to plug into

Him and to enjoy

His resurrection

power.

He invites us

to die with Him

and to rise with

Him and to live

in His abundance

as a counterculture

to a world

absorbed with

scarcity.

He's the only

positive sum game.

I love what

the New Testament

scholar Dennis

Johnson writes

about the difference

between the

the ways of Christ

and the ways

of Ephesus.

He writes,

magical manipulation

is a manifestation

of the common

human quest

for salvation

by works.

Our hunger

to control

our destinies,

to break free

from our need

for and our

dependence on

divine grace,

but the message

of Jesus

is a message

of God's gift.

Unearned,

undeserved,

unmanipulated,

and uncoerced.

It is the good

news of rescue

for the penniless,

the helpless,

the hopeless,

who can neither

pay their benefactor

in advance,

nor repay

His kindness

in their gratitude.

God's gift

unmasks our

pretensions to

independence,

our delusion

that we can bargain

or barter

with the Lord

of the universe.

The Spirit

is God's gift,

not a product

to be purchased

or a service

to be contracted

or a wage

to be earned.

See,

what God

offers us

is the same

power that

raised Christ

from the dead,

the Holy Spirit,

at no cost

to us

and at every cost

to His Son.

It's the only power

worth having

and we can have it

without striving

but simply

by faith,

by trusting in Him

and receiving

His gift.

And this leads us

to the final implication

which is that

God's powerful spirit

dismantles exploitation.

You see,

when Paul was preaching

and when people

were being freely healed

and set free

from evil spirits

in the name of Jesus,

all for free,

Paul was declaring

that Jesus is Lord

above every false

man-made God

the Ephesians

had been paying

tribute to.

And the results

were staggering.

Whole segments

of the population

turned away

from Artemis.

You remember

the 135 years worth

of wages

that were burned

in magic scrolls.

It was a massive

repudiation

of the spiritual economy

in Ephesus.

Paul wasn't even

trying to run

an anti-Artemis campaign.

He didn't boycott

the silversmiths.

He didn't bomb

the ancient wonder

of the world temple.

He simply preached

Christ crucified

and risen

and people started

connecting the dots.

And as they did,

they walked away

from an entire system

that had been

exploiting them.

False authorities

demanding allegiance,

unjust economies,

draining their resources.

If you pay attention

to Demetrius' speech,

right,

he didn't care

about the people

whom his idols

were basically pillaging.

Demetrius was happy

to continue churning out

these ineffective products,

happy with the status quo,

as long as money

kept flowing

to his pocket.

But the Spirit

dismantled all of that,

and not through force

or violence,

but through the truth

and freedom

of Christ.

Whereas Demetrius

preached the message

of greed

and fear

to preserve

his unjust,

deceitful status quo,

Paul was preaching

a God

of generous grace.

He was preaching

freedom from empty,

expensive rituals

and true power

to disrupt

the wicked status quo.

And see,

that's what's going

to change the world.

That's what's going

to change the world,

the message

and ministry

of Christ

and his Spirit

reconfiguring

what we invest in

with our time

and our money,

altering the goals

that we have at work,

altering the goals

that we have

for our children,

reshaping

how we spend

our leisure

or even how we use

our bodies.

And we desperately

need this transformative

power in our world

and in our lives

because make no mistake,

Artemis is still

very much with us.

She just wears

different clothes now,

right?

We may not be

bringing sacrifices

to her temple

but maybe we offer tithes

at the altar of consumption

where what you have

determines what you're worth

and where our closets

are full

but our souls

still feel empty.

Or maybe we kneel

at the altar of success

where our resumes

and our promotions

promise salvation

yet leave us anxious

that we'll still

never measure up

or maybe it's

the temple of beauty

right?

This multi-billion dollar

industry feeding off

of our insecurities

and still

none of us ever

feels attractive enough.

It could be

the temple of politics

demanding allegiance

to false saviors

who promise us

power or protection

yet leave us

divided

and disillusioned

still.

Or maybe it's

the glowing temple

in our pockets again

where algorithms

exploit our weaknesses,

addict us to

distraction

and enslave us

to mindlessness

and pornography

and all the filth

that's out there

only making us feel

more restless,

lonely,

and dissatisfied.

We need,

the church needs,

the world needs

a higher power.

And though no one

would have expected

it to come

through a crucified

Jewish man

from Nazareth

who claimed to be God,

that is precisely

where it's found.

And if you will

take hold of that power,

if you will take hold

of that person,

if you will take hold

of him,

Jesus Christ,

not to wield his power

for your own purposes

like those Jewish

copycat exorcists,

but to be used

of God

as Paul was

and as many others

who've gone before

and after him,

that same power

that Paul prayed for

in Ephesians chapter 1,

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

the immeasurably

great power of God

that raised Jesus

from the dead

is the same power

that will be at work

in you who believe.

A power that truly

makes you free,

free from fear,

free from greed,

free from slavery

to what cannot satisfy,

free to bear fruit

like the Psalm 1 tree,

rooted deep

and flourishing

in season.

And my practical challenge

to each of us this week,

something I've been doing

myself,

is not presuming

that we've already arrived,

already approached

my max efficiency

and fruitfulness.

I've been asking God,

God,

where are the places

in my life

that you want to show me

your power?

Where are the places

where I feel powerless

or limited?

Show me your power

in those places.

Or where are the places

where I need to be confronted

with my limits

and powerlessness?

Show me your power

in those as well

in my powerlessness.

Oh God,

show me,

show us,

show the world

your greater power.

God,

we're going to be

instead

and increase

our dependence

on you

and you alone.

This is a God

who wants you

to know his love

and he wants you

to know his power.

It's a beautiful combination

and this is what

will change the world

by the Spirit

of Christ.

Let's go to him

in prayer.

Oh Lord,

we ask that you

would stir up

within this church

a holy hunger

for your power.

Not for our own ends

but your perfect

holy ends.

That your kingdom

might come,

that your will

might be done

on earth

as in heaven

through us

in our neighborhoods,

in our workplaces,

in our homes.

Would we be a people

who depend upon,

who experience

and who share

with others

the incredible power

of God

in Christ,

the power of salvation

for all who believe,

the power of resurrection,

the Holy Spirit

residing in us.

Lord,

show us,

give us a higher view

of what you're calling us to.

show us the good works

that you've prepared beforehand

that we should walk in

and surprise us

with how amazingly

extraordinary

those works are

as we walk them out

in service

of our King Jesus.

In his name we pray.

Amen.