Sermon Tone Analysis

It’s great to be back in the book of Acts this evening and we have a really interesting passage that we will be looking at because it is in a way, really different from what we have been observing since the beginning of September.

Open your Bibles up to Acts 17:16-34 and I’ll fill you in on what has been happening for Paul between now and when we were last with him in Acts 16.

Paul and Silas leave Philippi after they are released from prison and they go to Thessalonica but the Jews of that city formed a mob and they basically got kicked out of town but this wasn’t until after quite a few people came to faith in Christ.

Paul and Silas get sent away roughly 45 miles west to a place called Berea where they are given a welcome that every pastor dreams of: the people that they talk to actually really want to hear what they have to say and are even cross-referencing what they are talking about with the Old Testament Scriptures to make sure that what Paul and Silas are teaching is true but it isn’t long after that until the same Jews that caused so much trouble in Thessalonica make there way to Berea and do basically the same thing that they did in Thessalonica.

The people that Paul was staying with recognize the danger that they are in so they send Paul off on a ship that brings him to Athens.

Meanwhile, Silas and Timothy stay in Berea for a little bit to continue ministering to the people there.

When we get to verse 16, Paul is safely in Athens and in a way, it seems almost like a shock to his system because of how idolatrous the city is.

Let’s read these verses and then I’ll explain where I’m going with them.

Acts 17:16-34

Paul’s Approach

How does Paul approach this city that is just filled to the brim with idols and false religion?

In many ways, he does it just as he has done it throughout his other journeys by reasoning with the Jews in the Synagogue and talking to people within the marketplaces about Jesus and the resurrection.

The people want to know what Paul has to say because he is teaching something that they have never heard of and these people are a very knowledge heavy people.

Luke even mentions in verse 21 that all the people of Athens would basically spend all of their free time talking about new thoughts and ideas so Paul is likely facing a very intelligent and philosophical group of people.

Now you may not have noticed this but the way that Paul preaches to the people starting in verse 22 is unlike any other teaching that Paul does that is recorded in the book of Acts.

Paul understands that the audience that he is standing before in verse 22 is different than the audience that he would teach to in the Jewish synagogue.

He also recognized that these people are very religious because the town itself is very religious.

However, this is a reminder that not all religion is created equally.

The appearance of religion does not equate to salvation.

Even the greatest Buddhist is no more saved than the hard-hearted Atheist.

Just because these people from Athens look religious does not mean that they are religious where it actually will benefit them for eternity.

Now Paul himself is a genius, this is something that even his enemies recognized, so he decides to speak to these philosophers and other like-minded individuals in a way that would make sense to them.

He isn’t using lofty, Christianese language or Jewish language that would go over their heads, instead he speaks to what they know and he does this by addressing their culture and the things that they are familiar with.

What I want to do with the time we have left is talk about Paul’s understanding of the culture, his usage of the culture, and how we too can use the culture to reach the lost with the Gospel truth.

Paul’s Understanding and use of the Culture

What is culture exactly?

The definition that I found most helpful for it was that culture is: the customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or other social group.

I don’t know if you have noticed this or not, but we all tend to gravitate towards people that share our culture.

You enjoy hanging out with people that have the same likes as you, the same morals as you, the same appreciations as you, because that is what is most familiar to you right?

And chances are if I were to remove you from the culture that you have grown so used to that you would experience culture shock if we were to put you in a culture that is totally unlike your own.

We may not want to admit it but the culture that you grow up in and are surrounded with is going to impact the way that you read and interpret Scripture.

What I mean by this is that we within an American culture are going to read our cultural understandings into certain parts of Scripture and we are going to miss out on some important understandings because we are so unfamiliar with different cultures.

Take for example one of the parables that Jesus told in the Gospel of Luke: the parable of the prodigal son.

The way that we often read that as those that are enveloped with American culture is almost totally different than the way that other cultures would read it.

Sure we as Americans can be very impressed with the capacity of love that the father has and we can even see the brashness and rudeness of the prodigal son but for someone that grew up in what is known as a shame or guilt culture, this story goes even deeper.

To those that grow up in a guilt or shame culture, like China or Japan, a culture that places tremendous value on respect to parents and children not dishonoring or bringing shame on the family name, this parable is absolutely scandalous!

The first century Jews heard this parable and were disgusted by the actions of the prodigal son.

The fact that this younger son could do this heinous act to his father and then come back and ask for mercy and forgiveness is unheard of and that is just because of the culture that they find themselves in.

Does our enviornment impact the way that we apply the Scriptures?

Absolutely! That’s why it is so important for us to not just read the Bible as if it was written for today but to understand that it was also written at a specific time for people that lived at that certain time.

Now saying that, I need to tread carefully.

This does not mean that I am saying that the Bible is outdated and not as useful today as it was when it was first written.

This book is as relavent, applicable, truthful, and needed today as it was in the 1st century.

People have asked me how I can preach the Bible and make it relavent for teenagers today and I’ve said, “I can’t make it what it already is.”

This book is as fresh and applicable today as it was thousands of years ago and that is a testimony to what God is doing in this book and I know this because I am constantly blown away when I read my Bible with how it sounds like Paul or Peter or Isaiah or whoever is writing to a 21st century audience!

The Bible is absolutely needed today!

Absolutely relavent today and fresh.

Paul says in 2 Timothy 3:16-17

2 Timothy 3:16–17 (ESV)

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

There is no end date or expiration date on that reality.

From cover to cover this book is worth its weight in gold.

Now just because we are American does not mean that we have done something wrong.

We cannot totally remove ourselves from culture.

Christopher Hall from Christianity Today wrote, “We can't stop being North American or Asian, African or South American; our cultural identity and language, though warped by sin, is a gift from God.

What we can do, though, is increase our awareness of the cultural and historical settings in which God has graciously and providentially placed us.

And we can better appreciate—through immersion in the global Christian family.”

That line that I underlined there is exactly what I believe Paul does in his speech.

He has an increased awareness of the cultural and historical setting in which God had graciously and providentially placed him.

How does Paul do this then?

In his speech, in this sermon, which I am assuming Luke does not record the entire sermon, but in what we have before us, Paul doesn’t quote any Scripture.

He doesn’t use any direct quotations from the Old Testament Scripture but he does remain truthful to what Scripture teaches.

Paul isn’t compromising his message to make it more truthful for one specific audience.

No, what Paul is doing is addressing the mind and cultures that the Athenian people knew and saturating what they know with what the Bible teaches.

Paul addresses their culture by referring to their own religious beliefs, their own religious symbols, and even directly quotes from the people that they would be familiar with.

Paul is basically saying, “Look, you have an altar to the unknown god because you are so afraid that you missed out on one but let me tell you this: I know the God that you claim to be unknowable and He has made Himself known in a remarkable way.

All of this religion that you have, all these idols, all these gods, with all these things, you are missing the point!

You have elements of truth in what you know but you are not seeing clearly.”

And then from there he explains his beliefs through language that is familiar to them.

John Stott said, “The Aeropagus address reveals the comprehensiveness of Paul’s message.

He proclaimed God in his fullness as Creator, Sustainer, Ruler, Father and judge.

He took in the whole of nature and of history.

He passed the whole of time in review, from the creation to the consummation.

He emphasized the greatness of God, not only as the beginning and the end of all things, but as the One to whom we owe our being and to whom we must give account.

He argued that human beings already know these things by natural or general revelation, and that their ignorance and idolatry are therefore inexcusable.

So he called on them with great solemnity, before it was too late, to repent.

Now all this is part of the Gospel.”

Paul is really doing what a lot of preachers struggle with.

A lot of preachers, and I’ve been one of them a time or two, struggle with teaching the audience in a way that makes sense to them.

It’s hard for me sometimes to not teach you guys like I’m addressing the adults or a classroom because you aren’t those people.

When I go and preach at Pineview to all the really old people, it’s hard to not preach to them like they are a bunch of high schoolers.

I think I’m better than what I used to be but it is something that I’m still working on.

If you think I’m hard to follow now, remember when I first got started my sermons were over an hour long on Wednesday nights so y’all are getting half of that.

Believe it or not, there are numerous times where God providentially uses the things that saturate our culture to point us to Him or remind us of Him.

Culture and the arts can be a tremendous help for telling people about Christ because the message of the Gospel and of Scripture can be seen in so much.

I had a professor in college who said that we need to use the culture to teach the culture to reach the culture.

The Gospel is so key to the world that it’s underlying message can be found in all these places where we may not think it possible to find it.

Let me give you an example real quick: This is a story about a father who loves his child so much that he would undergo a tremendous journey to receive this child back.

This is a story about how this father goes on this journey, risks life and limb to get his lost child back and not just have him back in a physical sense, but have him back in a way that far surpassed the relationship that they had before.

This is a story that stresses love, forgiveness, reconciliation, and the extent that a parent will go for their child.

Now was this a parable of Jesus or was this the plot of Finding Nemo?

It’s Nemo right?

But how much of what I just said is netted in Gospel truth?

Yes, a great journey for the lost child of God is undertaken, yes there is tremendous loss on the part of the Father to get their child back and get them back for good, yes there is a great need for reconciliation, this is the message of the Gospel!

Now, I’m not saying that Pixar picked up a Bible and said, “You know what?

This is great but let’s turn the characters into fish.

In fact, let’s make it so close to the real story that we’ll have one character get swallowed by a whale to appease the Jonah fans!”

What I am saying is that God has given us truths that are so universal that they almost naturally fit into our cultures and the things we consume and I believe that God is very intentional in doing that even though the people that produce these things may be totally unaware of it.

How about this one?

Here you have the story of someone who becomes hopelessly lost and makes a huge mistake and ends up imprisoned and owing a debt that could not be paid.