Church at Thessalonica
Acts 17:1-9
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In recent years, we’ve gotten all too familiar
with the ugly side of mob behavior.
It’s not very hard, actually, to get a mob of people worked up.
Especially when the mob consists of people
who already feel ignored, misunderstood, or disrespected.
They are like fuel, already heated up.
They only need a spark, to burst into flames.
All it takes for an inferno,
is a few charismatic and outspoken leaders
who know what the people are frustrated about,
who throw out some broad, sweeping allegations,
that contain a grain of truth,
but are purposely stretched way beyond the truth,
and who reframe it in language
that amplifies the frustration,
feeds the fears,
and puts power in the hands
of people who thought they had lost power.
Before you know it, there is a mob that is almost unstoppable.
It happens in person, in real time,
like we saw it unfold on January 6, three years ago,
and countless other times and places around the world today.
And it happens online . . . all day every day.
Online mobs do tremendous real damage to real people,
as anger and shame spill over into real-life
bullying, violence, and other criminal activity.
_____________________
Acts 17 almost feels like today’s news.
We recognize the mob psychology on full display in this story.
Paul and Silas, who do have a little reputation for being feisty,
were actually behaving pretty well in Thessalonica.
They were doing what Jewish rabbis do.
Arguing in the synagogues.
It’s hard for us to relate to this tradition.
We might even be uncomfortable with it.
But it was both routine, and expected, then and now,
when rabbis met in a synagogue, and scripture was read,
it would be followed by an open, and sometime vigorous, debate
about what that text meant,
and how it should be interpreted for their times.
Each synagogue probably had its personality.
I imagine some were pretty tame, most of the time.
Others likely had a reputation for hot debate and raised voices.
But that was simply how Jews went about working out their faith.
They were all, equally, and always, devoted to the Torah.
Commitment to Torah was never in doubt.
Paul and Silas included.
So here’s the situation.
Thessalonica was an important city of the Roman Empire,
situated on a major trade route.
Diaspora Jews had settled there and established synagogues,
but overall, it was a worldly Roman city.
And far, far from Jerusalem.
So Paul and Silas entered the Jewish community as traveling rabbis.
Happened all the time in a city like Thessalonica.
Nothing unusual.
Except the controversial interpretation they brought to the Torah,
pointing to Jesus of Nazareth as the promised Messiah.
The book of Acts spells out in some detail how things developed,
from polite scripture reading,
to vigorous rabbinical debate,
to heated conflict that involved both
Jews and Torah-believing Gentiles,
which spilled over into violence in the marketplace,
spurred on by town ruffians,
which brought in law enforcement.
_____________________
But you know, the more I thought about this sequence of events,
and these wild charges of treason and sedition
brought against two unarmed rabbis
who were just sitting around and
geeking out on matters of biblical interpretation . . .
the more I came to the conclusion
that the mob was not wrong about what they were saying.
Yes, the instigators purposely tried to over-state the allegations,
so as to over-heat the emotions of the people,
already on edge by an over-militarized empire.
But when they shouted out their wild complaints,
they—accidentally—spoke the truth.
They said, and I quote,
“These people . . . have been turning the world upside down!”
And,
“They are acting contrary to the decrees of the emperor,
saying that there is another king named Jesus.”
Remember, Rome was an all-encompassing Empire,
who ruled the whole Mediterranean Sea,
and virtually every region on its coast,
including the Jewish homeland of Judea.
Rome succeeded in this because of their iron-fisted rule of law,
their military that could overpower any potential threat,
and an Emperor who claimed to be God, and demanded worship.
They had a solid grip on the people,
thanks to a social hierarchy that functioned exactly as designed.
It worked flawlessly from top to bottom, and bottom to top.
The higher in rank, the more power and influence you could have.
And the more you cooperated, and fulfilled your role in the system,
the more likely you might be rewarded,
by being allowed to move up one rung, and get more perks.
It didn’t pay to fight the system,
because the system would just push you down a rung or two,
or do away with you altogether.
So even Jewish religious authorities way off in Jerusalem,
typically played it safe.
They didn’t try to anger Rome.
Because doing so might cost them whatever freedom they now had.
And this impulse to bow to Rome was even stronger
in Asia Minor and the Greek peninsula,
a short hop away from the city of Rome itself.
So when Paul and Silas went on a mission to Thessalonica,
they had a hard sell, without a doubt.
They were arguing, in a synagogue almost in the shadow of Rome,
that Jesus of Nazareth, crucified on a Roman cross,
was actually the legitimate Messiah and King of the Jews,
and was now the Risen Lord of all creation,
who needed to be obeyed
before any Emperor, Governor, or High Priest.
They were taking the established hierarchy of the Empire,
which was accepted by Gentile and Jew alike,
and turning it end for end.
They were, in fact, turning the world upside down.
They were, in fact, contrary to the decrees of the Emperor,
saying that there is another king named Jesus.
That is their offense.
And it is a real and true offense against the powers that be.
That is the first thought that comes to my mind when I read this story,
and read the accusations.
The accusers were right!
They spoke the truth, unwittingly.
The second thought that comes to my mind
when I read this story, is a question.
What kind of offense are followers of Jesus causing these days?
I actually do see quite a lot of offensive behavior these days
coming from people who call themselves Christian.
But it doesn’t seem to be the same kind of offense
that Paul and Silas were causing.
I see Christians embracing the politics of
coercion and deceit and fear-mongering,
even turning to armed violence,
they seek control of local, state, and national government,
and other civic institutions
so they can wield power over others,
and protect their own interests.
They aren’t trying to turn the world upside down.
They don’t want to invert the hierarchy.
Christian Nationalists and those with that mind set
are like virtually all political partisans—left and right.
They want the same hierarchy,
but they want to be the ones sitting at the top,
calling the shots.
Paul and Silas were by no means trying to seize coercive power
from the hands of Rome.
They had no interest in taking over the palace or the temple.
But what they were preaching, was still a threat
to those in seats of power, of civil and religious power.
Paul and Silas advocated a different way to look at authority.
It was a moral authority based on
the life and teachings of Jesus,
who did not do away with Torah,
but gave a new authoritative interpretation of it,
grounded in love and justice.
They taught something revolutionary—
that when the edicts of Empire,
or the expectations of religion,
contradicted the morality of Torah, as embodied by Jesus,
then the only right thing to do was obey Jesus,
and respectfully refuse to bow
to the authority of either Emperor or religious hierarchy.
That iron-clad hierarchy that up to now
functioned like a well-oiled machine,
and benefitted those at the top,
would utterly collapse if people stopped believing in it.
So what hierarchies are the dominant ones today?
economic? social? political? racial? ideological?
Do we dare undermine them with the upside-down Gospel of Jesus,
that treasures the outcast, and marginalized,
that stands up for the poor and the immigrant,
that says no to state-sponsored war and oppression,
that prioritizes love and mercy over revenge and retribution?
If no one in power is taking offense at us today,
are we doing our job?
If no ruffians in the marketplace are stoking a mob against us
and dragging us to city hall,
because we are “trying to turn the world upside down” . . .
then maybe . . . that’s because
we aren’t trying to turn the world upside down,
and maybe we should start.
Turning it upside-down in the way of Jesus.
It all starts by trusting in God’s rule,
and putting every other rule and authority secondary to it.
Let’s share together, our confession of trust in God . . .
one In a world of many gods and emperors
and conflicting demands for loyalty,
all God of the universe, we put our trust in you.
one In a world where we often lose faith in our leaders,
all God of the universe, we put our trust in you.
one In a world where we mistrust our own neighbors,
all God of the universe, we put our trust in you.
one In a world where hope is easily lost,
on Christ the solid rock we stand,
all other ground is sinking sand.
—Phil Kniss, April 21, 2024
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