“Strange Things”
Acts 17:16-31
Easter 6
May 21, 2017
Perhaps you've noticed
that during the Easter Season the Old Testament reading is replaced
by reading from the book of Acts. This has tripped up more than one
pastor over the years, as we are creatures of habit. And so I'm
always wary about announcing “Today's Old Testament Reading is from
the New Testament book of Acts”. One way of looking at this is
that in these readings from Acts we are seeing the immediate “effects
of Easter”, as the early church grew and the message of the Gospel
spread. The risen Jesus had sent his apostles to carry that message
from Jerusalem to Judea, to Samaria, and eventually, to the ends of
the earth. Today, we pick up with St. Paul, who certainly traveled
to the ends of the earth, on a visit to Athens, Greece.
As was his custom, when
Paul entered the city he first preached to the Jews in the synagogue.
But he also made time to preach to the pagans of the city, and even
the intellectuals who whiled away their days in discussions of
philosophy and ideas. Some weren't so impressed with his preaching,
and called him a “babbler”. Some seemed to think he was
preaching about foreign gods, as pagans often thought of gods as
being localized to a certain country.
They took him to a
prominent rock outcropping - a place called the Areopagus - “Ares
Rock”, named after one of their gods (later the Romans called it
“Mars Hill” after their version of the god of war). Here was a
sort of a city cultural center, but also a place where trials were
held. In a way, they now put St. Paul on trial – and ask him to
defend these “new teachings” and “strange things” brought to
their ears.
Strange things. I'm sure
what Paul was preaching sounded very strange to these Greek
intellectuals. Strange, not just because he was a foreigner, a Jew.
Paul was preaching “Jesus and the resurrection”! And what could
be stranger than that?
For as much as these men,
or any men, seek out new ideas and different religions, unique and
unheard of systems of belief, all of that is really the same. The
religion of man is the religion of works. And while it comes in many
different guises, under many names and forms – it always boils down
to the same, a religion of law. A religion in which you must do
something or not do something in order to get something from some
god, or force, or universal principle. Meditate to gain
enlightenment. Build up your good karma to get a better spot in
reincarnation. Pray the right way, live the right way, think the
right way – and blessings will come your way.
And so when critics of
religion and shallow observers of these many worldviews claim that
all religions are basically the same and aim to teach you to be a
good person, there is some truth to it. But there's one major
exception – there's one religion, one faith, in which you can't do
the right thing, but in which God does all good for you. You earn
nothing, but he gives you everything as a pure gift. Not a religion
of law, but a religion of grace. Not a religion of man, but the true
religion of God. God doesn't need your good works, anyway. He made
everything that is.
And to say that there's a
lot of truth in these worldly religions – well, even Christians can
say that. Most religions teach morality. Many have a creation
story. They mostly encourage adherents to do good, and not evil.
After all, in building his case, Paul even quoted from their own
pagan literature: Epimenides of Crete and Aratus’s poem
“Phainomena”. So there is some truth to almost all of these
various systems of belief. And yet, they can't all be entirely true.
And we know, there is only one way to the Father, one truth, and one
life.
And so Paul sees that
amongst all their statues and man-made images of man-made gods, there
is one unusual idol – dedicated to the unknown god. That is, just
in case we missed one. It's a small admission that perhaps they
don't know it all or have it all right, so let's cover our bases
here. Paul says yes, what you do not know, I am going to make known
to you.
Paul starts with where
they are, and brings these strange things to their ears – this talk
of Jesus. He goes to creation, and shows how the God who created all
things is also the God who expects us to follow his law, and honor
him. He's patient, overlooking ignorance for a time, but he will
also judge all men. He calls all men to repent, and to turn to the
one, the only one, who can bring righteousness and make us righteous
– the one man that God raised from the dead.
These are strange things.
They were strange things to preach to a cluster of Greek philosophers
in the first century. And they are strange things to a 21st
century world steeped in a relativism and post-modernity. But they
would be strange to any man-made, man-centered religion of law. For
this is the doctrine of the Gospel – the pure and free grace of God
for you, the sinner, on account of Jesus Christ's life and suffering
and death and resurrection!
It's strange to your Old
Adam, too. Natural man is really a creature of the law, born under
the law, living and dying by the law. We have an innate (though
twisted) sense of fairness... especially when we are wronged or
slighted. As every child has said many times, “that's not fair!”
and a frustrated adult would respond, “Life isn't fair”. But we
all want life to be fair on our own terms. And we should dread if
life was fair on God's perfect terms, for then we'd be lost, judged,
condemned. God is fair, and just, but here's what is truly strange:
he is also merciful! And in his mercy he has given us a way out of
judgment.
And that way is Christ.
Here's what's truly strange: That a God who hates sin would send his
only son to die in the sinner's place. That by a crucifixion, a most
shameful death, he would bring life to one and all. That this Jesus
who died in such a way would be raised to life again on just the
third day... and that his resurrection paves the way for our
resurrection, even guarantees it. Strange as these things may be,
this is our faith.
These are other truly
strange things. That God forgives sins for the sake of Christ. That
he gives men the authority to do so in his stead, on his behalf.
That a little water sprinkled and the name of God spoken, Father, Son
and Spirit – that a simple baptism – can seal you as God's child
for eternity. That bread and wine can be what he says it is - “my
body” and “my blood” for the forgiveness of your sins.
Paul says that the cross
is a stumbling block, that is, a scandal, to the Jews and foolishness
to the Gentiles. And that is often the case. The teachings of
Christ, of his Gospel, of his cross and resurrection – are all too
strange for so many to receive, and believe.
Strange to the world, but
to us who are being saved, the message of the cross is the power of
God!
The reading for this
morning continues with the results of Paul's preaching. Here's what
followed:
32 Now
when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some
mocked. But others said, “We will hear you again about
this.” 33 So Paul went out from their midst. 34 But
some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the
Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.
So it was then, so it is today. Some
hear the Gospel and reject it, and mock. Some hear and believe. For
some these strange things are just too strange, too foolish, too
unbelievable. But by the power of the Holy Spirit, some believe and
are saved.
Today, what is left of all those false gods, statues and altars? They are gone. All that's left of the Areopagus is a bare rock. But the word of the Gospel still stands, and will endure forever. His Spirit still works through it, making Christ known.
God grant you that same Spirit, in ever
more abundance, that you would continue to repent and believe the
“strange things” of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And with Paul
and Dionysus and Damaris, with all the believers of all time, we will
join one day in the great resurrection of the dead and the life of
the world to come, with. For what was unknown to us, has been
revealed – in Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment