Acts 19:28-41
Have you ever been in a riot? I hope not because it is not a place where
you will find reason or compassion, but in the seventh grade I got involved
with some kids who, like myself, were not attending school in search of
knowledge. We seemed to all have one
thing in common, we liked attention and most of us knew the vice-principle and
he also knew our backside with his attention getter, the paddle. The paddle was
1 inch thick with holes drilled in it and it was about 3 feet long, and did I
tell you that it was about 4 inches wide at the top where the holes were and,
and it had a nice handle so that the vice-principle would be able to keep both
hands on it. The paddle was such a good
attention getter that all the coaches also had one made in wood shop by a
student; there is something very evil about making someone design a weapon that
will be used against them.
I’m sure you are wondering what this has to do with a riot,
well let me tell you it all came about from Tyrone, who heard that a school in
California had experienced a riot. So being
the great brain trust that Tyrone was, he came up with a plan that we would
steal the teacher’s chalk and write all over the side-walks that a riot was
coming to Driscoll Jr. High school on a date yet to be determined. And Tyrone’s army of discontents was formed,
and I’m sure that many like my self did not have a clue what a riot was and
sure had no intent of being part of one, but it was fun to sneak around and
write on the side-walks.
One day after about two weeks of being late for class and
playing with the chalk a few of us got to our gym class a little late and were
confronted by a young coach, Mr. Richardson.
He said boys the jig is up and that Jimmy was first, and I do remember that
when that paddle hit his butt his feet left the floor and his head hit the wire
cage they called the coaches’ office and big tears were running down Jimmy’s
face. Let me tell you it was at that moment that I got converted, I was 100%
against riots, against chalk and for
whatever the coach believed in.
In my case it only took two licks from the board and I saw
the light that those who had authority over me were to be listened to and
obeyed. You may be wondering how can
this long story of a rebel in the seven grade have anything to do with Acts 19:28-41,
let me explain: Demetrius the silversmith and his trade union were in need of a
riot so they put this spin on the story that Paul and his followers were out to
destroy the goddess Artemis. Dr. Luke reports,
that the city was filled with confusion, and they rushed together into the
theater and found these buddies of Paul, but Paul was else where, so they
grabbed Gaius, and Aristarchus who were Paul’s companions in travel. This is doctor Luke’s account of what took place
next: “Now some
cried out one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most
of them did not know why they had come together. Some of the crowd prompted
Alexander, whom the Jews had put forward. And Alexander, motioning with his
hand, wanted to make a defense to the crowd. But when they recognized that he
was a Jew, for about two hours they all cried out with one voice, “Great is
Artemis of the Ephesians!” (Acts 19:32-34 ESV)
You get the scene, much like a bunch of seven graders who did
not have a clue about what they wanted, and it took a paddle to given them new
direction, and it took the town clerk to expose truth and put order where there
was only emotional confusion. It is a
great read to see how the town clerk took control of a mob and brought about
order; it can be found in Acts 19:35-41.
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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