The Message

Last week we looked at the call that Jesus has placed on his followers. Because people are lost like sheep without a shepherd, He himself is going to shepherd the people. Jesus tells his disciples to pray for God to send out workers, and then tells his disciples to go be those very workers (Mt. 9:35-10:8)

He called his followers to go to the Lost, the ones nobody was looking for. He wanted us to be like him.

We looked at Isa. 43:18-19 - Forget the Former things; don’t dwell in the past. See I’m doing a new thing...” God is reaching out to the lost in a new way. In Isaiah’s time, in Ezekiels time, and ultimately through Jesus’ ministry, God was concerning himself with all the lost people of the world. And he wants us to join him in that ministry. And it’s because the leaders of Israel refused to do this that they were punished.

Isaiah 43:18–19 NIV

18 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. 19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

We also discussed how we are doing at the mission Jesus has called us to: are we Inward focused, or Outward focused. Inward is all about us. We want what we want. We have very little concern for the lost, and really don’t bother ourselves with efforts to reach them. Outward focus is just the opposite. The mission Christ has called us to in reaching the lost is the most important thing. It’s not about us, it’s about His Mission.

Inside Out Example

To set the scene, I want us to start with something that we are more familiar with.

Acts 17:11-12

Acts 17:11–12 NIV

11 Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. 12 As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.

Notice that this is a familiar context. These people in Berea know the Scriptures. They know God. What do Paul & Silas do? They do what church people do. They open up the Bible and study it. Pretty simple right?

But what would you do if you were trying to reach people who don’t know the Scriptures?

How would you tell people about our God when they know nothing about God, or when they believe in 100 other gods?

Paul is going to show us how, and it’s a different approach.

Acts 17:16-17

Acts 17:16–17 NIV

16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there.

Paul is in a city full of idolatry. There are temples and altars everywhere! He is “greatly distressed.” This is not a passing glance, this effects Paul greatly!

Paul is in Athens unintentionally. He is sent here, by himself, without his ministry partners, because of persecution. This is an unplanned trip!

He doesn’t blow off this opportunity though. He begins in the synagogue, like in Berea. He is debating Scriptures with those who know the Scriptures.

BUT THIS IS NOT ALL HE DOES! “...as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there.”

The “marketplace” he spoke at was the agora, the main public place in the city, adorned with public buildings and colonnades. It was the economic, political, and cultural heart of the city.

An ancient description of Socrates has him in the marketplace when it was most crowded, where he conversed with whomever he met.

When Paul evangelized this city of Socrates, he used the method of Socrates.

Acts 17:18

Acts 17:18 NIV

18 A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.

There are two specific groups Luke mentions to us here. To understand what Paul is up against we need to understand the difference between these two groups.

The Epicurians were “a philosophical school that valued pleasure (the absence of pain and disturbance) and disbelieved in the gods of ancient myths.” - ATHEISTS.

Stoicism was “the most popular form of Greek philosophy in Paul’s day. Although most people were not Stoics, many Stoic ideas were widely disseminated.” Though they believed in a supreme God, it was in a pantheistic way. The Stoics saw the world as determined by fate and advocated that “human beings must pursue their duty, resigning themselves to live in harmony with nature and reason, however painful this might be, and develop their own self-sufficiency.” - DEISTS

Do you see the two reactions from people?

Babbler...nonsense

Foreign gods.

“THEY SAID THIS BECAUSE PAUL WAS PREACHING THE “GOOD NEWS” (GOSPEL) ABOUT JESUS AND THE RESURRECTION.”

Preaching Jesus and the resurrection will cause mixed reactions. It’s confusing.

They are debating with him. They don’t listen and obey the first time. 

But watch what happens!

Acts 17:19-21

Acts 17:19–21 NIV

19 Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20 You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean.” 21 (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)

The fact that Paul didn’t stay in the synagogue gets him an important audience.

These people didn’t go to synagogue. If Paul had stayed there, he would have never had this opportunity.

But he got out to talk to people in the marketplace. HE WENT TO WHERE THESE PEOPLE WERE WITH THE STORY OF JESUS.

Because he was willing to do this, he now has the invitation of the greatest thinkers in Greece to share the story of Jesus.

So Paul opens his Bible and begins to share Scripture, right? Well...yes and no. Let’s read this together.

Acts 17:22-34

Acts 17:22–34 NIV

22 Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23 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. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you. 24 “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 human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ 29 “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. 30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.” 32 When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.” 33 At that, Paul left the Council. 34 Some of the people became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.

Verses 22-23

Paul starts this entire discussion with a compliment...something that is admirable about his audience. They are very religious! They are concerned with living a good life and genuinely want to worship gods that are worthy of worship. They are trying to do the right thing!

Paul launches into the Gospel by using a pagan idol as his starting point.

Acts 17:22–34 (NIVAC Ac): ...the practice of anonymous worship as a “safety precaution.… The thinking was that if the gods were not properly venerated they would strike the city.

Hence, lest they inadvertently invoke the wrath of some god in their ignorance of him or her, the city set up these altars to unknown gods (Diogenes 1.110–113).”

Paul, then, is highlighting an acknowledged need of the Athenians, and he presents the God whom he proclaims as the answer to that need (v. 23b).

“ignorant” isn’t an insult as we sometimes use it today. It simply means you do not know the very thing you worship....they have already acknowledged that, so Paul is going to help them out!

Verses 24-25

Paul starts with the fact that there is a God who made everything!

If you think we are here by accident, what difference does Jesus make? Not one bit.

But if we are created by a God that also created everything, it makes all the difference in the world! 

So Paul begins with the fact that we are created by a particular God...not just any God, this is the Lord of heaven and earth!

God provides everything every person needs! The fact these men exist shows this God is good to them and takes care of them!

Verses 26-27

The Creator God of Heaven and Earth is in complete control of everything, and did this for a very specific purpose.

Everything is arranged the way it is so that we might “reach out and find him.”

The language Paul uses here is more of a blind groping.

This suggests that these Greeks are trying to find God, but haven’t been successful.

BUT DON’T WORRY, HE’S NOT FAR AWAY FROM YOU (like the Stoics would have believed. A god who is way off and not involved in anything!)

Then Paul does something stunning!

Verse 28

Paul does not quote Scripture, rather he quotes two of their own philosophers. Epimenides and Artatus to be precise.

Paul proves his Scriptural presentation without ever using a direct quote from Scripture, but he does quote their own belief system, as it relates to Scripture!

Was Paul endorsing Epimenides and Aratus in all their beliefs? No. But where there is truth and admirable practices in this culture, he acknowledges and uses it!

Verses 29-30

THEREFORE...this information demands a change!

Don’t mess with idols, worship the true God.

The reason you are able to do this with a perfectly just God is he has been merciful overlooking this sin.

THIS ISN’T BLIND BELIEF PAUL IS CALLING FOR! 

He’s showing God proved his worth, his value, He is deserving because he is even in control of the dead, so much so that he raised Jesus to life!

So because of all this work, Let’s look at the results.

Verses 32-34

So he got another hearing, we think. They want to hear him again, but not a lot of immediate belief.

But Luke does give us two names!

Dionysius - He is a member of this very group Paul is addressing.

Damaris - She must have been a woman of pretty high standing for Luke to mention her specifically

A number of others.

Inside Out for Us?

What do we make of all this? What can we learn?

Paul ministered everywhere he went!

He was in Athens unintentionally and began mission work. Why? Because he was there and saw a need!

He preached in the synagogues...what we do here amongst believers and those knowledgeable of the Scriptures is important!

He reasoned/discussed/debated in the public places with whoever he could meet...common people.

He presented a “contextualized” Gospel message to the elite thinkers as well! It was full of Scripture without quoting Scripture, and was culturally relevant to his audience. 

There really wasn’t a people group he overlooked!

It would have been easy for Paul to be in Athens and spend all his time trying to get to where he had really wanted to be...Back to Berea or on to Corinth...But he saw where he was as an opportunity for God to use him!

Let God use you where you are!

Paul knew the Gospel...Good News. That’s all that word means!

Paul knew that it was GOOD NEWS that we have a God who is in control of everything, and that he is a GOOD GOD!

Paul knew it was GOOD NEWS that these lost people were seeking for a god. Paul wanted to help them find the RIGHT GOD!

Paul knew it was GOOD NEWS that God hadn’t just expected people to believe blindly, that he had provided PROOF to believe in through creation, through provision, through THEIR OWN MISGUIDED PHILOSOPHERS, and especially THROUGH THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS!

Paul knew all of this was GOOD NEWS WORTH TELLING, and he told it as though it was GOOD NEWS!

He’s not bitter, he’s not angry, he’s not tearing them to shreds for being wrong.

THIS IS GOOD NEWS! He presents this in a joyful, GOOD NEWS WAY!

Paul knew how to CONTEXTUALIZE the GOOD NEWS!

This is a missionary concept.

How do I tell this GOOD NEWS in a way that it comes across as GOOD NEWS to the people who are hearing it?

Paul uses what they know...THE ENTIRE SERMON IS PREDICATED OFF OF A PAGAN ALTAR!

He quotes their own philosophers and gives them the Biblical message without cramming the Bible down their throats!

AND IT WORKED! He was able to reach “a number” of people. And when Paul leaves Athens there is at lest a small church plant there.

Paul had an unintended trip to Athens, he used the skills God had given him in the time and place God put him in order to further the Mission to which God called him!

How can we do this in Snyder?

What altars are available in our community for us to repurpose as a way to share the GOOD NEWS about God?

What commonly held truths, or wise thinkers, or celebrities, or musicians can we find a bit of truth or wisdom...and use this to engage in conversation with others?

What kind of good qualities/good practices can we find in our community that we can encourage, that we can join, and use as a starting place to share the GOOD NEWS about Jesus?

These are the types of questions we need to be considering and these are the types of approaches we need to consider if we, like Paul, are trying to reach those who do not know our God or the Scriptures.

Next week we will look at another example of Paul doing this very thing, and he does it in a way that seems to contradict his own teaching...but everything he does is to further the Mission of Jesus, and to bring glory to God.

CAN WE SAY THAT ABOUT EVERYTHING WE DO?

Invitation