Acts 17:1-15 “Men who have turned the world upside down”
1 Now when they had passed through Amphip′olis and Apollo′nia, they came to Thessaloni′ca, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 2 And Paul went in, as was his custom, and for three weeks he argued with them from the scriptures, 3 explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” 4 And some of them were persuaded, and joined Paul and Silas; as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. 5 But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked fellows of the rabble, they gathered a crowd, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the people. 6 And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brethren before the city authorities, crying, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, 7 and Jason has received them; and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” 8 And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard this. 9 And when they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.
10 The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Beroe′a; and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. 11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessaloni′ca, for they received the word with all eagerness, examining the scriptures daily to see if these things were so. 12 Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men. 13 But when the Jews of Thessaloni′ca learned that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Beroe′a also, they came there too, stirring up and inciting the crowds. 14 Then the brethren immediately sent Paul off on his way to the sea, but Silas and Timothy remained there. 15 Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens; and receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they departed.
Pity the poor city and synagogue managers of Thessalonica and Beroea. Like most people (and especially administrators) they wanted calm, unruffled, uncontroversial civil and religious order. And here come Paul and his companions deliberately going into the synagogues and stirring up trouble through their teaching and arguing. And as with the preaching and presence of Jesus, some were persuaded and others were violently opposed. Some Jews instinctively reacted against this apparent undermining of tradition; others were intrigued and wanted test for themselves. But whether for or against, it was apparent to everyone that something new was happening. These men had indeed “turned the world upside down.”
In stark contrast, it seems to me that Orthodox Christianity in North America has—as yet—barely registered a ripple on the religious Richter scale. We need to ask ourselves, what would turn our world upside down?
Incidentally, modern Beroea (Veroia), a small town about an hour’s drive from the big metropolis of Thessalonica, has as its motto, “more noble than those in Thessalonica.”
Update
Treasurer Melanie Ringa and I are in Dallas today. Metropolitan Tikhon will arrive later this morning and we will meet at Saint Seraphim Cathedral with Archimandrite Gerasim (Administrator), Father Marcus Burch (Chancellor), Milos Konjevich (Treasurer) diocesan deans and others.