Deacon Susan Erickson

“Now some cried one thing, some another; for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together.”  Acts 19: 32

“They were astounded at his teaching, because he spoke with authority.”  Luke 4: 32

Dear Friend,

The scene from Acts in today’s Daily Office reading bears an uncomfortable resemblance to the tenor of our times. A group of artisans in Ephesus who make miniature silver shrines to the goddess Artemis are angry with Paul and his companions: their teaching about the Way of Jesus is having a negative effect on business.

The artisans inflate their economic grievance into a religious and patriotic one: “‘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 [Ephesus to] worship her.’” Some of Paul’s companions are hauled into the municipal theater and a crowd gathers; but most of them don’t even know what the commotion is about. Eventually a local official restores calm and disperses the mob.

In this bitterly divided election season, it may seem to anyone who looks at the news that our country is “in confusion” and that many of the folks shouting the loudest do “not know why they [have] come together.” Left unarticulated in the noise are the underlying issues, which bear a resemblance to the Ephesians’ in Paul’s day: fears of economic loss, loss of national stature, and the possible ascendance of world views different from one’s own.

In the midst of so much sound and fury it’s important for us to harken to one voice, Jesus’. In the passage today from Luke, Jesus liberates a man possessed by an evil spirit. It is early in his ministry, and the townspeople assembled in the synagogue at Capernaum are astounded at his authority. Jesus rebukes the evil spirit by saying “‘Be silent, and come out of him!’” 

I don’t want to suggest that we’re the demons in Luke’s story! But our society does seem besieged by the demons of anger, confusion and an idolatrous love of shiny things, like the artisans’ miniature silver shrines. Maybe we all bear some resemblance not only to the confused mob in Acts but also to the poor, possessed man in the synagogue.

Let us allow the Lord to command silence within us, to still the angry voices echoing in our ears. Let us recognize His authority, which casts out demons while doing no harm.   With God’s help, let us replace our own demons with the Way of Christ’s Love so that we can show that Love to others. That would be a contagion that could help heal the world.

Susan Erickson, Deacon