Speaking and Seeking

Before we get going this morning, I have to say how excited I am to see our 2023 goal turning into concrete practical action. I’ve loved getting to spend more time with Pat over the past months as we’ve begun this process and I’m really looking forward to this next phase. I’m increasingly optimistic we’re realistic in imagining becoming a church planting church just next year - a stretch for sure, but possible. So if you’re feeling like the room’s a bit of a squeeze, that we’re pretty full, that’s good! We have a plan!

But onto the Bible. And at first glance the passage we’re going to look at this morning may seem pretty remote and uninteresting. We’ve been following the story of a mission team from one of the very first churches with a key leader, Paul, at the helm these past weeks. They’ve travelled huge distances, seen some amazing breakthroughs and also had their fair share of troubles too. At the close of last week’s episode, trouble caught up with them in Berea and this Paul was rushed away to safety, across the sea to Athens. Paul might have been hoping for a bit of a break as he arrived since even back then, it was a tourist hotspot.

Speaking of which, I was actually in Athens with my family for a short break just before Easter - and I have to say it was lovely. Particularly having come from a wet and dreary Scotland! I promised some holiday snaps in the teaser so here you go: athens

Athens is famous for its thinkers, for its democracy - but also for its temples. Bang in the middle of the city is this huge temple dedicated to the goddess Athena - you just can’t miss it. Planning regulations to keep the buildings around it low. Lit up like a Christmas tree at night. It’s why the city is called Athens - from Athena. But the crazy thing is just how old it is. That exact same temple would have been at the centre of the city Paul visited two thousand years ago, already hundreds of years old - a few less broken and borrowed pieces to be fair (sorry about those marbles, Greece).

For all that’s the same, it’d be reasonable to expect Athens 2000 years back to be a totally different world. One of the big surprises for us this week, though, is just how similar it really is once you look under the covers. Sure, you wouldn’t find many in the modern Western world making offerings at temples to the gods - but one layer behind that, our world has a lot in common with theirs.

The basic idea that - just like with those ancient Greek gods - there are things in our world that will make life work for us if we pursue them; things that can crush us if we don’t - well that’s not very foreign at all.

Think about being popular - when people exclude and unfriend me, I’m crushed - because inside I think being popular was what would finally have made life work, finally made me happy. So I chase after it, make sacrifices for it. I’ll be whoever I need to be in order for people to like me. To do whatever people approve of and applaud.

Think about being rich or successful: that will surely make life work for me, we can think: without it I’m crushed. So I must pursue it; I’ll sacrifice whatever I need to - my ethics, my family, my health.

The things we sacrifice for - or to. The temples we worship at. The gods of this age. Can you see how that’s similar underneath? And that means here we’re going to have perhaps the best opportunity in the whole of Acts to see what Paul would do if he was here in our world today. So it’s a massively relevant passage.

Jennifer is reading for us this morning and we’re in the book of Acts, chapter 17, starting at verse 16. Page 1113. Acts chapter 17 - that’s the big 17 - verse 16 - tiny 16. Page 1113. It’d be worth having a bible open so we can refer back to it as we think about what we’ve heard in a moment.

Let’s read together.

Acts 17:16–34 NIV

While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. 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. 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. 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? You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean.” (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.) 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. 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. “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. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 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. 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. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ “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. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 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.” 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.” At that, Paul left the Council. 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.

Thanks Jennifer. There’s obviously lots going on, lots to think and talk about. We’re going to focus in on two big points this morning: First, we’re going to look at Paul’s method - we’re going to see what we can learn from the way he goes about engaging with this new audience. And the short answer is “a lot”. Second, we’re going to look at Paul’s message - we’re going to dig into the what he has to say, to see how it’s still relevant and significant for us today.

So, method then message. M and M. Two m’s. Mmmm. tasty.

What’s his method?

First, he gets to know the world he’s trying to reach.

1. know who you are trying to reach

In our first verse he sees the city is full of idols - but he’s looked closer than that: he’s walked around and looked carefully at what it is that they worship. He seems to have done a full tour and even read all those little information signs - you know, the ones you find in museums - because he spots and calls out this particular altar and its inscription.

Acts 17:23 NIV

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.

He studies the people he is trying to reach. If we wanted to do something similar today, how would we go about it? Well the altars we worship at aren’t on display around our city in exactly the same way - but you get a glimpse of them in adverts, in the life we’re being sold as the good life. We get a sense for what our culture worships through the media, in films, in who they make heroes; in the mouths of our celebrities.

But even as I’m saying that, it’s really important we remember we’re trying to reach individuals, not the average Edinburgh-dweller if there were such a thing. Even Athens wasn’t just one flavour - see in verse 18 there are Epicureans and Stoics - well, those two groups think about the world completely differently:

Epicureans’ watch-word would be enjoy: the gods are so remote they have no interest in our world - or influence in it; we live and then we die so do what pleases you. Diogenes, one of these Epicureans, sums it up this way: “Nothing to fear in God; Nothing to feel in death; Pleasure can be attained; Pain can be endured.” - how’s that for a thoroughly modern-sounding worldview?!

Stoics’ watch-word, on the other hand, would be endure: There’s no god above, only god within, within us all; our world is ruled by fate - we just have to endure it and do our duty. Just two of the radically different views people had of life in that ancient city - so if we have to know the world we’re trying to reach, that means knowing the people, the individuals we’d love to reach.

We use a handy acronym, BLESS, to remind us of some of the small steps we can take to share our faith with the world around us and this is why that letter L is so important. L stands for Listen with care. What do the people around you believe? How do they think life works?

You’ll never know simply through the labels they wear - you’ll need to ask good questions and then listen with care, be interested in and alert to what they’re willing to share with you. And you’d be surprised how often people are willing to share - most people would love to have someone care enough to listen to them and their views for a while.

So, first, know the world, know the individuals you are trying to reach. Second?

2. navigate their world.

Notice here that Paul uses their language, their symbols, their culture as he tries to help them towards God. Rather than starting from Abraham or David or the Jewish idea of Messiah, he starts from the common ground of creation. Rather than quoting Jewish Scriptures as his authority, he quotes their poets.

He’s navigating on their map, using their language, their symbols. What could that mean for us? Maybe there is common ground we can agree on and start from - like the value of each and every diverse human, or that human brokenness is the root of so much of the pain in our world.

For many people, the bible will carry no more weight than Harry Potter - so quoting it might not help - it might not even make sense to them at all. But maybe there are storylines in films which mirror parts of the bible that we can draw on. Or lyrics from songs which get across some of what we want to say. Or reflections from their philosophers which point towards the truth of God.

So know who you’re trying to reach, and navigate their world. That’s some of what we learn from Paul’s method, here, as he engages with the people of Athens - but what about his message? That’s what I want to spend the rest of our time together looking at.

What’s his message?

As I’ve been reflecting on Paul’s speech to the Areopagus, I think he wants them to see their idols have failed them. They offer sacrifices to all these gods at all these shrines - Athens is full to the brim with this stuff - one commentator says “there were more gods in Athens than in all the rest of the country … it was easier to find a god there than a man.” But it’s all in vain. It’s completely failed them.

The truth is that God alone is creator, and that he is the one and only sovereign over his world. That’s verse 24: Acts 17:24

Acts 17:24 NIV

“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.

and get this - Acts 17:26 he has marked out the nations’ appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands, he tells them. It is God who is in control of the extent of empires, of the rise and fall of nations. And what’s not quite so obvious to us as it would have been to his original audience is how this has worked out for Greece and for Athens.

Acts 17:26 NIV

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.

Greece was once a world power and Athens was it’s heart. But despite all its idols, all its temples, all its so-called gods and all the offerings to them, Greece has been shattered by the Persians and then swallowed whole by Rome. Athens is a shadow of its former self, trading only on its grand history and glorious past.

It is God who has appointed Greece’s times and their boundaries - their idols have failed them - they are nothing. They are worshipped and sacrificed to in vain.

And this is just as true today as it ever was. Remember we talked about how idolatry is repackaged in our day: we still have our “gods” who promise to make life work for us if we will worship them; who threaten to crush us if we don’t? These so-called gods fail us and show our worship is in vain just the same. If they haven’t failed you already, they surely will.

But that’s not the end of the story: Paul tells us God has a plan and a purpose in this: Act 17:27

Acts 17:27 NIV

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.

It’s not just the clockwork universe unfolding, the gods distant and disinterested, as the Epicurians would have understood it; it’s not just fate working its way out, just the way life is, as the Stoics would have understood it. This it God’s plan working out - and he has a purpose in it: to show us the futility of our idols and to drive us to seek Him instead. To seek a real hope, a real power, a real connection with the divine.

Their idols have failed them but the true God is near: “he is not far from any one of us,” Paul says. The tragedy is that God is so near and yet still they do not connect. The verb translated “reach out” here is used of groping around in the dark. That’s how Paul sees the Athenians: groping around in the dark searching for God. But they cannot find their own way to God.

They are ignorant, Paul says in v30. Now that’s got to smart when you are the city famed for wisdom and knowledge: to be called ignorant. But that’s what they are. They think they know so much - but when it comes to connecting with the one true God, they are completely ignorant. This is part of why it is so important for Paul - and for us - to keep on speaking about Jesus, to help people explore what the bible has to say, to help people journey towards faith in him. The Greeks - like many around us today - are so close, and yet still just groping in the dark for God without this message of hope.

And then there’s the punchline to Paul’s message: things must now change. Act 17:30 God commands all people to repent - that is to turn, to change. Judgement is coming - and that includes God’s judgement on those who have worshipped other so-called gods, who have sacrificed to idols - be they statues in a temple or the idols of our age. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the proof.

Acts 17:30 NIV

In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.

For all the care with which Paul begins his message, when he brings in repentance and resurrection, the conversation is over. Though some hear, there’s no breakthrough. The results in Athens seem poor compared to the other cities Paul has visited. Yes, some respond - but time and time again it’s been “many”. It was in Philippi. And in Berea. It will be again in Corinth. And in Ephesus. Here, only some. I don’t think that’s an accident of Luke’s writing. And we know churches were established in many of the other cities Paul visits - we have letters to them or mentions of them. There’s no evidence of a church planted in Athens.

Why such a dead end? Resurrection is alien to Greek thought, to Greek religion. But I think the bigger problem here is that repentance is alien too. These people in Athens, our narrator gives it to us straight when he tells us in v21 Acts 17:21

Acts 17:21 NIV

(All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)

They might claim to be open minded but that’s not really true; they just want to talk about ideas and keep them at a safe distance, out there - they’re not going to change their mind, or their life. One clever commentator puts it this way: they are “seekers after the curious rather than the Κυριος” - that’s the Greek word for Lord or master.

I think that’s sometimes true in our world today, too. People might claim to be open minded, claim to be seeking the truth. But really they’re not interested in finding it - because an encounter with Jesus as Lord, as master, must mean change. That’s the biggest problem for some people with Christianity: it tells us we are in the wrong, that we need to change.

So I should ask you this morning if you are really seeking truth; seeking God? Or would repentance, change, be alien to you like it was to the Athenians? Are there ways you want to live that you simply won’t accept being challenged? Are there things you’ve called good that you simply won’t accept being challenged? Are you really seeking at all? Or would you only want to find a god who always agreed with you?

If that’s the real bottom line for you, you know what that means: you are setting yourself up as god rather than Him. The one who makes the rules, calls the shots. You know what that is? The ultimate idolatry - yourself as god. I have to warn you with the truth from this passage: In the past, God overlooked such ignorance but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 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.

Serious words - but it is God’s truth and it’s better you are confronted by it now that when it’s too late. This same Jesus who will return to judge is the only one who can give us hope in the face of that judgement: hope that everything we should be judged for, everything we would be declared guilty of, Jesus has already dealt with at the cross.

If this isn’t yet your hope, still this hope isn’t far from you, out of your reach, beyond your grasp. God is offering this hope in Jesus to you here and how. You can take hold of it by faith right now. It will require change - repentance - but it can be yours today. Even if others around you will sneer and mock, just like Dionysius, like Damaris in our passage, still you can believe.

Take that step today. If you’re here in person, come speak to me afterwards. If you’re with us online, click that ‘request prayer’ button and Sarah is available to talk with you. If you’re watching a recording, drop us an email. Don’t let this opportunity pass.