Dan Herold | Acts 17:22-31 | 5/21/2017
The world has seen and heard the ideas of many great philosophers—of wise men who changed the way that civilizations and cultures view the world. There was Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. There was Thomas Aquinas, John Locke, and Immanuel Kant. There was Frederich Nietzsche, Karl Marx, and Jean-Paul Sartre. All of those men wrote extensively about ideas—ideas that influenced world politics and historical events. And people loved them! Well, at least people loved reading what they wrote and discussing their ideas. In fact, many of the ideas these men put forth are still discussed quite often today.
This has been a popular thing to do for quite some time—to gather together and discuss new ideas. It was a very popular thing to do in ancient Greece. You probably have heard the names of some ancient Greek philosophers before and just about every philosopher who has ever written anything was influenced in some way by one of those Greek philosophers. When the apostle Paul arrived in Athens the people of the city were discussing two particular philosophies. Luke tells us that there were people discussing Epicurean and Stoic philosophy.
Both of those ideas were several hundred years old by the time that Paul arrived in Athens, but the people were still intrigued by them and discussing them. Stoic philosophy essentially taught the idea that a person could achieve their own salvation by mastering self-control—or by neglecting their desires. They had a much different idea of heaven than what the Bible teaches, but they taught that you could be good enough to spare yourself from suffering. The Epicureans on the other hand taught that pleasure—of any kind—was the ultimate goal in life. Epicureans taught that you were doing your best when you were fulfilling whatever desire you might have. So, when the followers of these two very different ideas heard what Paul had to say they were very interested to hear more about his ideas which were very different from any philosophy they had known.
When Paul got to Athens he was very troubled by what he saw. He saw that the city of Athens was full of temples to false gods. It was said that in ancient Athens there were more gods than men. Any and every god was given a temple in Athens and the people worshiped them all. So, Paul began to preach. He taught in the synagogues as he usually did when he came to a city, but he also went to the public marketplace and talked to whomever he could. As he was speaking in the marketplaces these Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to hear what Paul was saying, but they didn’t understand his message.
These philosophers called Paul a babbler. They said he sounded like he just heard random things and repeated them and wasn’t making any sense. They said that it seemed like he was teaching about new and foreign gods…about things they hadn’t heard about before. This was a pretty serious accusation in Athens because several hundred years before Paul was there, the philosopher Socrates was sentenced to death on the very same charge.
The people said these things about Paul because he was teaching something they hadn’t heard before. He was preaching about Jesus and his resurrection. So, the people of Athens took Paul to a meeting of the Areopagus. That strange sounding word literally means the “Hill of Mars (the Greek god of war)” because that is where this council met. It seems that after a while this council took that name for itself since that is where they always met. At one time this council was the highest court in Athens, but at Paul’s time it really only made decisions about cultural things like new philosophies and ideas.
Paul appeared before this council and they said to him,
“May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we want to know what they mean.”
And that was just the opportunity for which Paul had been waiting. He had an audience with some of the most influential people in Athens and he had an opportunity to explain to them who his Lord truly is.
This is the sort of opportunity a preacher dreams about. Sure, it might be a little intimidating, but what an opportunity! Paul gives us an expert example of what to do in this situation. He makes a clear confession of faith and explains who God is, but he phrases it in a way to which his audience can relate and understand. Paul tells this council about his Lord in whom we live, and move, and have our being.
Paul starts out by saying,
“Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.”
As Paul walked around the city he had seen all the temples and altars. He even noticed that there was an altar to an unknown god. Just by itself that tells us something important about these people and about humanity in general.
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Each of us is born with a natural knowledge of God. What that means is that by nature we can tell that there is a god. We can’t tell who he is or who our Savior is by nature, but we can know that there is a god and that nothing else can truly do what he does. That’s why this altar was there in Athens…the people could tell that there was a god for whom they hadn’t accounted and that something was missing from their lives.
If Paul walked through one of our cities do you think he would be able to say something similar to what he said in Athens…would he be able to say that he could see we are very religious in every way? I think he could. At times it might appear that our society is not very religious, but we are actually pretty similar to what Paul saw in Athens. Our society is very religious, but so often it worships at the altar of an unknown god—we just put different inscriptions on that altar.
Our society is very religious! Look around and what do you see. In our town we do have an abundance of Christian churches, but that’s not the case everywhere. In bigger cities how many more stores do you see than churches? How many more banks or fitness centers? How many more car, boat, or RV dealerships? How many times have you said, or heard someone say, that you watch a TV show religiously? And what about sports? You all know I’m a sports fan, so don’t think that I’m saying following your favorite team is sinful, but think for a moment about how much time, energy, and money our society puts into sports—both watching and participating! Now compare that to how much time, energy, and money, we put into a relationship with the one in whom we live, and move, and have our being. We are a very religious people…but not always in the right way.
We are constantly being tempted to put something else in the place that only the one true God can fill. It could be material things, it could be ideas, it could be our careers, it might even be other people. Just like it was said of Athens it could be said of our culture today…there are more false gods than people. But, as long as we are chasing after false gods there’s always going to be the empty space that only the one true God could fill. As long as we are chasing after an unknown god we are going to feel that emptiness that only our Heavenly Father could fill.
Paul knew that very well and that is why he took this opportunity to tell the people of Athens whom it was that they worshiped as an unknown god. Paul saw a society trying desperately to fill that empty spot inside themselves so he taught them how that space gets filled. It gets filled by the one in whom we live, and move, and have our being.
With those three phrases Paul teaches us who God is. He is the one who gives us life! He is the one who created and sustains us. We confess that in the First Article of the creed—that we believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. In him we move. The Holy Spirit sanctifies us and equips us for action. The Holy Spirit delivers God’s gifts that we need to live Christian lives—he gives our lives purpose and in him we move about our lives as children of God. That’s what we confess in the third article of the Creed. And finally, in him we have our being. We are who we are because that is who Christ has made us to be. Our Savior laid down his life to buy eternal life for us. He has given us new life and it is only in him that we find our being. That is what we confess in the second article of the Creed.
That is who God is…the Creator, the Savior, and the Sanctifier. He is the one who fills all things in all ways and fills that empty spot that we all have. Not only does Paul tell us who God is, he also tells us where to find him. Paul explains,
“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.”
Our God isn’t like false gods. He doesn’t live in a temple built by men and he isn’t served as though he was unable to do things on his own. He created the entire universe and if he is able to provide for our needs, then he most certainly is able to provide for himself. In fact, God has arranged the entire course of history and the future around his most prized creation—mankind. God has given us opportunities and reasons to seek him. He gave us a conscience to tell us that he exists and has given us his Word through which he speaks to us and makes known who he is. So, even though God doesn’t have a physical presence like a person does he is not hard to find. He’s right there in his Word and sacraments for us to find him.
In the past, Paul said, God overlooked some of the misunderstandings about who he is. Paul is talking about the Old Testament times here. And what he is saying is not that idolatry wasn’t a sin back then, because you can certainly see that in the Old Testament God punished idolatry severely—that’s why he sent the flood. What Paul is saying is that in the time before Christ God was very patient, especially with the Israelites, because he had not yet fully revealed his plan of salvation. Now, since Christ has lived, died, and risen, there is no excuse anymore and God demands that everyone repent of our sins—of all of our sins, yes, but specifically our sin of not pursuing a relationship with our Lord.
God’s identity has been clearly shown to us—he is the one in whom we live, and move, and have our being. We know where to find him—in the Word and Sacraments. What a privilege and blessing it is to have a God who fills all our needs and is so easy to find. We never have to wonder where we will be able to find him—we know right where he is and who he is. That’s what sets Christianity apart and makes our hope unique. Really, it’s the reason why faith in the one true God can fill in the gap that nothing else can truly fill. We have life, purpose, and salvation all through this one who makes himself known to us in Scripture. Let that be your comfort when you feel lost or alone—your Lord can always be found!
In his name,
AMEN.