Acts 17:16-31
Alan Taylor / General Adult
Easter 6A / Evangelism; Philosophy; Spirituality / Acts 17:16–31
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+ In Nomine Jesu +
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Grace and peace to you, from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
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We turn our attention this morning to the first of the three readings that were read just a few minutes ago. Acts 17 gives us some details about Paul’s 2nd missionary journey. He traveled through Asia Minor, what is today the countries of Turkey and Greece. His journey, as we find out, included a great deal of difficulty, both in Thessalonica and in Berea. 
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The reading for this morning begins with Paul and Silas preaching the Gospel in Thessalonica. As was their custom, they gathered people together in the Synagogue and they taught God’s word to them there. Eventually though they were chased out of the city by some Jews who wouldn’t tolerate the Apostles preaching about Jesus. Paul and Silas left Thessalonica and walked south to Berea, but their detractors followed them. We can safely say that their detractors were enraged with Paul and his preaching, because it’s a couple of days walk from Thessalonica to Berea, about 45 miles, and yet, they followed the disciples to stir up more trouble for them. As Paul preached the Gospel in Berea, the group stirred up the crowds and caused all sorts of commotion and unrest once again. It made it very difficult for Paul to continue preaching there, even though the Bereans themselves were quite receptive to the Gospel. Finally, some of the brothers in Berea put Paul on a boat and sent him off to Athens, while Silas stayed behind in Berea.
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Athens, of course, is a very well known city. Many learned some things about it our studies of Greek mythology. Athens is named for the Greek goddess Athena, the daughter of Zeus. Interestingly, Athena is the goddess, both of war and of practical reason. The Parthenon, a well known temple in Athens, was built in her honor. As Paul made his way through the great city, he was enraged by the idolatry he found there. He encountered Epicureans and Stoics, both of whom sought happiness in life, although they followed different paths to achieve it. Epicureans sought happiness by availing themselves of life’s pleasures, while Stoics stressed the natural order of things and encouraged fellow Stoics to accept their fate in life. Presumably, in doing so, they would find happiness.
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Paul arrived at the Areopagus, the market place, and he found there more evidence of the religiosity and the idolatry of the Athenians. There was an altar there with an inscription on it that said, “To the unknown god.” We’ll turn to the message that Paul preached to the people regarding that altar in just a moment, but first I’d like to address the perceived need of the Athenians, and all of us, for that matter, to pursue God, or in simpler terms, to pursue someone, or I suppose, something, greater than ourselves. 
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St. Augustine once wrote, “Our souls are restless until they find their rest in You, O Lord.” Augustine believed that we possess a built in emptiness that moves us to contemplate things beyond the natural world, even the existence of God, and that our hearts will not rest until that void is filled by God. 
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Our souls yearn for god and as we try to fill that void, God’s creation also testifies to His existence. Thus, in the Book of Romans, Paul wrote, “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”
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The Athenians knew that god existed, or at least they knew that a god existed, but even with all of their elaborate system of gods, they were concerned that they may have missed a god in their religious practice. And so, they set up an altar to “the unknown god.” But “how then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?3 And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
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This is the problem with the hole in our heart that longs for the true God. Left to our own devices, we’ll try to fill it with pretty much anything. And even though the true God makes Himself known to us by His creation, we can’t ever come to a saving knowledge of the true God without His divine revelation to us. In other words, God’s creation can and does tell us that God exists, but it doesn’t tell us that He has given His Son for the forgiveness of our sins. 
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When Paul saw the altar to “the unknown god,” he took that opportunity to tell the people in Athens about the God they didn’t know. “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. (I suppose that’s another way of saying, you have a void in your heart and your trying every way you can to fill it). 23 For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.”
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He said, “The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. 26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 28 for  ‘In him we live and move and have our being.’”
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Paul’s preaching put a face on God. And, more than that, the message Paul preached took the perception of God from some distant, unattached, uncaring being, to a personal God, a God who knows and cares about His creation. “He is actually not far from each one of us (Paul said). And, as if that weren’t enough for us to better understand the true nature of God, Paul went on to say, “In Him we live and move and have our being.” 
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There is, of course, more to the Gospel than what the Apostle was able to preach in the Areopagus, but God’s Spirit worked through the word, as He has promised, and the people’s was aroused in what Paul had to say. “God commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” 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.”
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“He will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” Jesus is the revelation of God. He is God in human flesh. The righteousness in which He will ultimately judge the world, is the righteousness that He freely gives. The word of the cross, of Jesus’ atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world, gives us the true God. And, by Him, our hearts are put at ease, for He is our righteousness and our salvation. He is the One in whom “we live and move and have our being.”
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“God said to His beloved Son;
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It’s time to have compassion.
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Then go, bright jewel of My crown,
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And bring to all salvation.
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From sin and sorrow set them free;
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Slay bitter death for them that they
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May live with You forever.”
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In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.
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+ Soli Deo Gloria +