Tuesday, April 17, 2018
Book burning

Acts 19:19
Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver.

These days we have to be careful about lighting fires. Burning is not always environmentally sound and so we have to be very careful about what we are burning where. Also, as many of us live in densely populated cities we have to be careful about how burning affects our neighbours and the risk of causing unexpected damage to property. There was a time when we didn’t have to think about these things.

All of this notwithstanding, I was in the yard behind our church building lighting a fire to burn some books a few months ago. Thankfully, none of the nearby residents or businesses called the fire service. I was doing this because a young man who became a member of the church not so long ago brought his books and asked me to burn them.

This was a strange collection of material that I probably didn’t even think was out there. He had been reading this stuff and now couldn’t get things out of his mind. He was convinced that these books were harmful to him. They affected his thought life, his social life and his spiritual life. Books, sometimes, could be dangerous.

In Acts 19:11-20 there is recorded a section of the story of some of the events that took place during the extended time that the Apostle Paul spent in the Green city Ephesus. Ephesus is located in present-day Turkey.

There was a book burning there. Persons who had books that they considered harmful brought them out to be burned. Books of magic, occult and false religion were brought to the bonfire to ensure that they were not only abandoning the teachings in them but that they were no longer available for others to use them. They apparently, did an inventory or valuation at the time of burning and published the assessed value.

For some background, the Apostle Paul stayed in Ephesus for a long time. Sometimes years are covered in just a few verses of the text and we unintentionally associate a few verses with a short time, that is not always the case. While he was there, for a period of more than two years, he conducted his trade and earned enough to provide for himself and his team.

As was his habit, he engaged the Jews with the Gospel of Jesus in their synagogues. As usual, that didn’t last for too long or go too well. He had to leave the synagogue with his team and those who have become converts and find a new place to teach. He moved to a non-Jewish school building called the school of Tyrannus.

At the new facility, Paul would teach there daily at the hot rest periods of the day, the school building was in use during the cool of the day in the mornings and evenings leaving him with high noon classes. He started with his small group and as he taught the gospel began to spread, not just in Ephesus, but all over Asia. At about that time Paul got into conflict with the non-Jews now. There he and his team were, up against both Jews and Gentiles over the issue of religious beliefs and practices.

In this very passage we are considering there is the very dramatic story of the seven sons of a Jewish priest named Sceva. These boys saw an opportunity to make money off a religious scheme based on something they saw Paul and his team practising. They would find persons who were tormented by demons and seek to cast them out by saying, “We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.” The demons, understanding real authority, put a beating in them and tore their clothes off leaving them running through the streets of Ephesus with the family jewels exposed.

These boys were practising false religion, we do not know, and shouldn’t assume, that they were exploiting their father’s position as priest to run this religious malpractice. However, we do know that there are many who are in the business of exploiting their position to deceive and lead others astray. There are countless formal and informal religious institutions set up to teach doctrines that are false and that pervert the ways of God. Many others are running bottom-house religious operations promising to heal sickness, win court cases, fix marriages, make businesses prosper, and get rid of enemies among other things.

When the true power that God gives is displayed it is easily discernible, but when evil power is used people often eventually see the malice of the devil by whose power the so-called success was achieved. When the power of God is at work people toss out their vials, powders, oils, artefacts, and vestments that formed the basis of their prior religious activities. Many times, they burn the books that include the doctrines that informed their false faith.

Sometimes what is needed is a bonfire. Sometimes that fire is an actual fire in which we burn books, and images, and statues and other symbols of false teaching and idol worship. Sometimes it is the fire of the Holy Spirit inside of us burning away the stuff of struggle, sin and rebellion.

Here are some of the words of the song, I will never be the same again. “I will never be the same again / I can never return I’ve closed the door / I will walk the path I’ll run the race / And I will never be the same again” then in the chorus, “Sweep away the darkness burn away the chaff / And let the flame burn to glory Your name.”

Think on these things:

1. Were you ever involved with any form of spiritisms, obeah, or other occult activity?
2. Have you ever worshipped idols or been a member of secret religious groups?
3. Do you have any books to be burned?

Prayer focus:

Let us pray today that we would be free from religious malpractice and be able to help those who are so trapped.

In His Grace
Pastor Alex