Serving Bread

We arrived in the ancient city of Ephesus (or Efes in Turkish) at 9am this morning. We fought the scorching sun and the crowds as we strolled down the ruins of this very ancient city. This city was once a bustling capital city, but is now simply a museum that is a mere shadow of its greatness.

This city used to house worship temples for the goddess Artemis and the Emperor Domitian, and a small but growing Christian community. When Paul visited Ephesus, he raised up a small group of disciples that would eventually challenge the profitability of the god making industry. In fear of losing further business, they rioted.

Thousands of people filled the theater where for two hours they shouted praise to Artemis, while some men dragged Paul’s companions (presumably to hurt them).

We sat in this theater that probably held up to 30,000 people, just trying to imagine thousands of voices persecuting the young church in the city. As an American Christian, there are not many opportunities for religious pilgrimages. In fact, pilgrimages are not part of my tradition’s experience. The trip to Efes was a pilgrimage. The Christian community in this city was well established by 100 CE. We have several letters written to the believers, and St. John who penned Revelation in exile on the island of Patmos probably wrote the highly symbolic book with a picture of the Roman Empire in Ephesus.

This community struggled and persevered in light of a pluralistic culture. The community turned hostile against the Christians not because Christians believed in a different God, but because they believed that their God was superior and the only God.

We are living in a very pluralistic culture and have much to learn from this early church. They were not simply advocating a better way of life, but were advocating a road that would stand in judgment against all the other roads of life.

As we were walking through the ruins, Rhoda wondered aloud, “Eddy, wouldn’t it be cool if thousands of years from now, people walk through the ruins of Northridge, giving thanks to Eddy’s ministry and preaching in the Satellite Student Union?” Yes, that would be cool… May our community at CSUN learn and walk with conviction like Paul and his companions and the church in Ephesus.

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