Listening to Paul’s Teachings

Today we drove from Ephesus for about and hour down the coast to an ancient neighboring town named Melitus. We were going to go visit the theater in Melitus that could hold up to 15,000 people. We entered the theater through the back stage of the theater onto the gladiator pit, and made our way to the section where there’s an inscription on the stone bench that says this section is  for the “God Fearers”, meaning the Christians and the Jews. It was in this theater that in the book of Acts, Luke records the meeting 2,000 years ago where Paul says goodbye to all of the leaders of the Christian church – most of whom had come to Melitus from Ephesus.  He was saying goodbye because he knew that when he left  Asia Minor and returned to Jerusalem, he would be imprisoned and eventually killed.  We sat on the stone seats of this very auditorium and read his speech in Acts.

After we read this section of Acts we read the whole book of Ephesians. The book of Ephesians was written as a letter from Paul to the Ephesians when he was imprisoned in Jerusalem. In it, Paul continues to advocate Jesus’s teachings. For example he repeatedly teaches the concept of pouring out one’s love to others. That is such a powerful statement. Ephesians 5 of The Message says, “Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious, but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.” That is how everyone should be. The hole through which one gives is the hole through which one receives. The receiving part should not be the reason for the giving. It’s not like someone should only give to receive. They should give, to give, and that’s the basis of things.

One of my favorite quotes while reading the book of Ephesians (also from The Message) was, “Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift.”  To me, the way people communicate is extremely important. Speaking as if your words are a gift would impel people to be more careful with what they are saying – thus creating more harmony in the world.

It was such an incredible and inspiring experience to be reading these stories  in the exact place where they happened almost 2,000 years ago. What a great day at school.

- Cezanna

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