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6TH SUNDAY OF EASTER (YEAR A)
ACTS 17:22-31
SUNDAY, MAY 25, 2014
ST. STEPHEN’S, FOREST
THE REV’D R. BRADLEY LAYCOCK
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The Unknown God
During Paul’s second missionary journey one of the stops he and
Silas made was in Thessalonica where Paul had preached in the
Synagogue on three consecutive Sabbath days. He had reportedly been
successful in converting a number of the men and women, before a crowd
had risen up against both him and his message. Paul and Silas had been
forced to make a hasty retreat to Beroea (Berea). Again Paul was enjoying
success, until some troublemakers who had followed them from
Thessalonica, and who were still upset, began to stir up and incite the
crowds. Forced to escape one more time, Paul went on alone to Athens,
leaving instructions for Timothy, a new convert who had recently joined
Paul, and Silas to follow him as soon as possible.
As Paul was exploring and becoming familiar with the city of Athens,
the sight of a host of temples and the religious idols, which symbolized the
local gods, confronted him. Whatever it was you might need, want, or
desire, all you needed to do was seek out the appropriate deity, and leave
your offering and your request beneath the statue or likeness of the god.
As usual, some of Paul’s evangelizing took place in the local
synagogues, but he also spoke to many of the local people wherever he
encountered them. Our lesson today describes the only speech in Acts
that was delivered to a pagan audience. While most people might describe
the Athenian practices as superstitious, Paul, trying to ingratiate himself to
his audience, described the Athenians as extremely religious in every way.
Paul didn’t say so, but perhaps they were too religious. In other words,
they were pious, observant, careful, and generally believed that a good life
and a good outcome depended upon worshiping the right god at the right
time for the right purpose. All of this was done in the hope that all of their
affairs, whether personal, business, or communal, would be well ordered
and prosperous.
Unlike our God, the Athenian gods rarely needed absolute allegiance.
After all, their powers were limited. Some held sway over the element of
fire, others over water, wind, or earth. Some were interested in the harvest
of grains, others in the prosperity of households, and still others in
protecting people on journeys. According to popular belief at that time, the
universe consisted of domains and spheres of influence over which the
gods ruled, sometimes working together, sometimes working against one
another, always serving themselves, and rarely working for the benefit of
humanity unless, for some reason, it suited them -- or someone happened
to get their attention by the generosity of their offering or by the wording of
their vow.
In the midst of this environment, Paul encountered a statue that
merely said, “to an unknown god.” Here is the background on that statue.
In addition to the twelve main deities and countless lesser deities, the
Greeks recognized Agnostos Theos, the unknown god. This was not a
specific god, but a name given in recognition that there were probably gods
of whom the Greeks were unaware. Six hundred years earlier a terrible
epidemic struck Athens. A poet from Crete, Epimenides, came forward
with a plan to end the epidemic. A flock of black and white sheep were let
loose throughout the city from the Aeropagus, the famous hill otherwise
known as Mars Hill. By the way, Aeropagus was also the name of the
highest Greek court. Wherever a sheep lay down it was sacrificed to the
nearest god. If a sheep lay down far from the shrine of a known god it was
sacrificed to the Unknown God. A shrine was therefore erected to this
"Unknown God."
In Athens’ great city square people met to talk for that was the thing
to do. Paul would have no difficulty in getting someone to talk to and the
philosophers soon discovered him.
Some of the philosophers were Epicureans. Among their belief: (i)
they believed that everything happened by chance; (ii) they believed that
death was the end of everything; (iii) they believed that the gods were
remote from the world and did not care; and (iv) they believed that pleasure
was the chief end of humankind.
Others were Stoics. Among their beliefs: (i) they believed that
everything was God. (God was essentially a fiery spirit. That spirit grew
dull when it was in "matter," but it was in everything. What gave humans
life was that a little spark of that spirit was in them and when they died that
little spark returned to God); (ii) they believed that everything that
happened was the will of God and therefore must be accepted without
resentment; and (iii) they believed that every so often the world
disintegrated in a conflagration and started all over again with the same
cycle of events.
The philosophers took Paul to the Areopagus -- to the court. The
court was very select, perhaps only thirty members. It may once have had
additional duties, but in Paul’s day it dealt with cases of murder and was
also charged with the oversight of public morals. There, in the most
learned city in the world and before the most exclusive of courts, Paul had
to state his faith. It might have intimidated anyone else; but Paul was never
ashamed of the gospel of Christ. To him this was another God-given
opportunity to witness for Christ.
In his sermon, in his statement as we heard it in the lesson from Acts,
Paul has the philosophers, teachers, and debaters who gathered at the
Areopagus consider a third option — an option that was different from that
of the Epicureans or the Stoics. "Here in your midst is erected a testimony
to a God you worship, but don't know," Paul suggests. “It’s time you come
to know this God, the Lord of heaven and earth, who made the world and
everything in it, who gives to all creatures life and breath and place, and
who is not served by human hands as though God needed anything from
us.” He introduced them to the God who raised Jesus from the dead.
Paul quotes some of their own Greek poets to make his case. The
words “in him we live and move and have our being,” may have come from
the pen of the philosopher-poet Epimenides, the one with the plan to let the
sheep loose. And the words “for we too are his offspring,” are from Aratus
(Air’-a-tus), a poet living and writing three centuries before Christ. "They,"
Paul says, "are speaking of this God you don't know."
A day will come, Paul tells his hearers, when the entire world will be
judged by the image of God’s love. Here, says Paul, is the unknown God
incarnate in the life of God’s appointed – God’s Messiah, Jesus Christ.
Today, if we walk around Forest, Lynchburg, Roanoke, or wherever
we may live, we don’t see any signs of idols. Or do we...? The truth is they
are all around us. For the younger set, Xbox, Playstation, or Wii may be
the gods. For the somewhat older set, designer clothes and maybe alcohol
might be the gods of choice. And for adults the gods may be Smart TVs,
iPads, fancy cars, or just wealth in general. We need to cease worshiping
the gods we have allowed into our lives and follow the one true God. And
we need to help others to come to know this God. We need to proclaim
this God to others, so that there is no longer “an unknown God.”
I love the story told by William Bausch in his little book, Storytelling,
Imagination and Faith. There is a monastery that has fallen on hard times.
The local villages no longer support it. They don't send their children for
instruction in Scripture or to learn a trade. They don't come to hear the
prayers, or the masses. The monks continue their routines, but a silent
gloom hangs like shadows over the walls of this once active center for
spiritual life.
The abbot is wise enough to know that the days of the monastery are
coming to an end unless some transformation occurs to spark a new day of
faith and a new way of life. He spends the days walking through the
woods, praying, and seeking the guidance of the Spirit. One day, deep in
prayer, he wanders down a path he has never taken. Suddenly, he comes
upon a little cabin, and a wisp of smoke curls up from the chimney. He is
curious, and approaches the door. He knocks.
A wizened old man opens the door, invites the abbot inside, and
says, “I've been expecting you.” The abbot doesn't know what to say, but
accepts the old man's offer of hospitality – a bit of bread and cheese with
some tea.
“What do you mean, you've been expecting me” the abbot soon
asks?
“The God of heaven and earth told me you would come, and shared
with me a secret to share with you and for you to share with your monks –
but I may say it only once, and you may say it only once, so listen closely.”
The abbot strained forward in his chair, and the old man whispered,
“The Messiah is among you.” The old man waited a few beats for the word
to sink in, then quickly said, “Now, we must speak no more of this. Go to
your monastery and repeat what I have said to all of your monks, but you
may say it only once, and then you must speak no more about it.”
The old men said farewell to one another, and the abbot made his
way back to the monastery. He called a special assembly of the monks
and told them what had transpired in the woods. Then, he spoke the words
that he had been given, “The Messiah is among you.”
Over the next few days, perceptible changes fell upon the monastery
and its inhabitants. Where there were once only shadows, now there were
candles, burning brightly, and where there was once solitude and quiet,
there was conversation and fellowship. No one spoke of the secret words
that had been shared with them, yet, they couldn’t help but wonder as they
passed each other in the halls – “Is brother Joe the Messiah, or could it be
John? Surely it couldn’t be brother Juniper, who baked the bread, or
brother Paul who minded the animals. Or could it?”
Suddenly, there was hospitality, and kindness; there was attentive
listening and a genuine concern for each and every brother’s welfare.
Each treated the others as if any one of them could be “the Messiah among
them.”
Some people are put off from God because they can’t rationally prove
God’s existence. For them, our God in “an unknown God.” It’s hard to
know God if we are alone, solitary. But God can be known. Do you need
God’s touch? Spend time with one another. Do you need a prayer
answered? Spend time with one another. Do you need something more,
something tangible, something evident? Spend time with one another.
Pray together, study Scripture together, laugh and cry and break bread
together – the Messiah is among you.”i
i
Michael Phillips, 1st Presbyterian Church, Berwick, PA