Ruffians?

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Easter 2020  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  8:54
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Our problems today aren't caused by what we'd call "ruffians". Our problems today are casued by what I'd call "terrorists". How can we reply? By conviction of faith -- that goodness is stronger than evil -- and that there is always the offer of new life.

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Ruffians in the marketplaces

There is something about that phrase that always catches me off-guard. Not in a bad way — actually in a very good way. As soon as I hear it I begin to think about what that would look like — ruffians in the marketplaces.
The images that form in my mind are aided by modern day images of Middle Eastern marketplaces — loud, crowded, busy, most people being well behaved, and always a few running and pushing and trying to get somewhere faster than others (well before COVID19 images I guess.) I picture the buildings a couple of stories tall — people moving around outside in the sun and heat moving from stall to stall looking, bartering, negotiating, and generally it being a very loud place.
Now, I realize that image may be completely wrong, as I’ve never been to Thessalonica, and certainly I’m not old enough to have been there just after the death of Jesus — but that is still the image that comes to mind.
As with any crowd of people, there are those who are there peacefully, just trying to get their shopping done — and those who are looking for some angle to gain an advantage — create an uproar — cause a commotion. The people who are upset with Paul and Silas feed into that — they find the people who feel disadvantaged and downtrodden, and illicit their support. I’m assuming these “ruffians” had no knowledge of Paul and Silas — at least no first hand knowledge (otherwise there’s no need to point out the two different groups in the reading.)

Do we still have “ruffians” anymore?

Part of why this phrase sticks with me is I picture the last time we used to really talk about “ruffians” was in the time of Leave it to Beaver. (If you don’t know what that is — it is a really old TV show — google it to find out more.)
Calling someone a ruffian just seems so old and antiquated somehow — back to the days of the 1950s almost when the most dangerous things were sneaking out to smoke cigarettes.
Yet here’s a definition of ruffian that I clipped from a simple online search.
A violent person, particularly a person involved in crime.
Today, ruffians aren’t 1950s teenagers sneaking out to partake in some mischief.
Today, ruffians look more like this:
These images were pulled from the Twitter feed of Jim Roberts — an American journalist.
These are images of people who feel disadvantaged and downtrodden. These are images of people who have been sought out to fight for a cause that really isn’t their own. These are images of people who I assume really have no knowledge of infectious disease control — at least no first hand knowledge of how it should happen.
Now we can debate whether or not they are disadvantaged and downtrodden — but that’s not the point here — I’m confident in stating that their over-reaction shown in these pictures is a good sign that there is a lot more at work here and these are hurting people who have been whipped into a fervour (probably over decades.)

How do we respond?

Frankly, those images terrify me — I imagine they’re supposed to — hence I would say that we don’t have ruffians anymore — we have terrorists — people bent on bringing terror to the world in order to achieve what they want. How can we possibly respond? When things have gone so far in another direction from what we believe, how can we reply?
1 Thessalonians 1:4–7 NRSV
For we know, brothers and sisters beloved by God, that he has chosen you, because our message of the gospel came to you not in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of persons we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.
How do we respond? How do we reply?
By being imitators of Jesus — in spite of the fear that is being offered to us — we choose joy — we look for the Holy Spirit at work in the world — we strive to be an example to the world.
It is our task to share the Good News — the gospel — just as Paul and Silas did. For our God casts out all fear. Our God gives us the conviction of our faith — that goodness is stronger than evil — and even when we think that we are confronted with violence and death, there is the hope of new life. For that new life, we give thanks. Amen.
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