Reading
A number of those who practiced magic collected their books and burned them publicly; when the value of these books was calculated, it was found to come to fifty thousand silver coins. So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.
Ephesians 19:19-20
Reflection
In 1965, the Los Angeles Dodgers won the National League championship and went to the World Series behind ace pitcher and future hall of famer Sandy Koufax. In the first game of the World Series, Koufax would have been the starting pitcher, but he decided not to play. Koufax was Jewish, and the game fell on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement—one of Judaism’s holiest days.
Koufax’s decision, which he didn’t think was any big deal, made waves throughout the country, and it was especially meaningful to other American Jews. Koufax chose his faith over playing in the World Series.
In our sports-obsessed culture, it’s hard to imagine an athlete making a similar sacrifice today. It’s hard to imagine Christian athletes sitting out Good Friday or Easter Sunday because of their faith. And to be fair, Koufax did still play in the series, which the Dodgers ultimately won, starting games two, five, and seven, but his choice still demonstrated an impressive prioritization of his faith.
Koufax’s example reminds us that faith often costs us something. This can be easy to forget in a culture that is at majority Christian, at least nominally. It’s easy to assume that our faith does not require us to go against the grain, but the Bible reminds us that this is not the case. Paul knew this as well as anyone.
The new Christians at Ephesus also knew this. After hearing Paul’s teaching and experiencing the miracles God performed through him, many Ephesians came to faith, and they recognized that they needed to leave some parts from their old lives behind. They could not put their trust in things other than Jesus, so they burned their books of magic. Luke tells us that the books were worth fifty thousand silver coins—millions of dollars today. It was a costly sacrifice, but they knew they were choosing something better.
Few of us today practice the kinds of sorcery represented by the books of magic that were burned, but that does not mean this passage has nothing to teach us. The Ephesian Christians recognized that there were things in their lives they needed to abandon.
Their lives had to change if they were to follow Jesus.
It’s true for us today as well. There are things we need to let go of in order to follow Jesus. Some of them are obvious: hatred, lust, deceit, abuse, violence. Some of them are less obvious: materialism, divisiveness, hurry. Some of them might even be good things in and of themselves, but they prevent us from embracing the even better things that Jesus is inviting us to.
What do you need to let go of to fully embrace the way of Jesus? Where in your life are you holding back? It may be an addiction or habit that you need to give up. It may be a way of relating to others. It may be staying in your comfort zone.
Following Jesus may cost you comfort, money, a promotion, or even your social standing. It might even cost you that most precious resource—your time. The way of Jesus is costly. Paul’s life bears witness to this. He gave up his status as someone on the fast-track to power and prestige, traveled more than 10,000 miles, and endured ridicule, rejection, imprisonment, violence, and ultimately death. Yet he knew the cost was nothing compared to what he gained, both for himself and those who came to know Jesus because of him.
From a prison cell toward the end of his life, Paul wrote, “I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him.”
The cost of discipleship is high. Jesus asks much of us. He might even ask us to miss the World Series. But what we discover when we let go of the things that separate us from him—however costly—we gain far more than we’ve lost.
Prayer
O God,
Your servant Saint Augustine taught us
That you have made us for yourself,
And our hearts are restless
Till they find their rest in you.
Show us the places in our lives
Where we have sought to find rest
In that which is not you.
Give us the strength
To lay them aside
So that we might fully receive
The life that is really life
And find our true rest
In you.
Amen.
