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September 20, 2020

“Unknown God” (Acts 17:16-33) Reverend Yongchoel Woo

Wow! It’s so good to see you here! Finally, we are able to return for worship in the sanctuary. Praise God! It has been more than six months since we had to cancel the in-person service because of COVID-19. I give thanks to all of you for your sincere and dedication for the ministries of our church, especially for the drive-in parking lot worship. I can't appreciate your participation and cooperation enough. And I hope each of you continues to do your part to make beautiful things happen in our worship and other ministries. Though we have had to make some changes and limitations in our worship service, please remember that our worship is full of God’s grace and love. I pray God will be present with all those who worship with us this morning in different places whether it be here in the sanctuary, in the ministry center, in the parking lot, or at home.

Right after Labor Day, I had a one-week vacation. Again, I appreciate Pastor Michael Neihardt for covering the preaching last Sunday. During the break, the weather was perfect for me to stay home throughout the whole week. It was just on Friday that the weather was good enough for being outside so on that day I rode my bike on a new bike trail, which Bob Fenton had taken me to ride on the day before Labor Day.

That trail started from the Kaliseum Recreation Complex and wound through the woods until it reached Smith Lake Road. I felt confident as I successfully followed that trail. I was proud of myself for remembering all the details of that trail all the way to Smith Lake Road. However, I had a problem with getting back to the Kaliseum. In the middle of getting back, I found myself lost. I thought I just have to take that same trail back. And I enjoyed the speed with which I was traveling without paying much attention to the direction I was taking. But it did not take long for me to realize that I was lost. I was at a totally unrecognizable spot, which made me feel nervous for a short time. That was because I did not pay any attention to the symbol of the right direction, the pink ribbon hanging from the trees. However, I had a savior, my cellphone, through which I could check out where I was. I then felt comfortable and safely returned to the Kaliseum.

Our earthly lives are full of mysteries, which are unknown to us, let alone our existence before and after our present life. We don't know for certain what will happen with our physical health, family, job, and faith community. The current pandemic is a great example of the unknown future we all face. We can’t know for sure what changes will be caused by global warming. We cannot predict the potential challenges or changes facing our economy, politics, family lives, and physical and mental health. Faced with an unknown future reality, we can experience anxiety and fear.

This knowledge helps us understand today’s scripture. The scripture shows us what was going on with Paul’s evangelism in during his 2nd missionary trip. While Paul's first missionary trip was made in the area around Turkey, the second trip expanded to Europe.

Let's look into what he did in Athens. P a g e | 2

In Athens, Greek philosophy, education, religion had been developed for a long time. At the time when Paul proclaimed the Gospel, Athens was still one of the most famous and influential cities in the Hellenistic world, in terms of philosophy, literature, education, architecture, and religion. Anyone who would have visited Athens, would have been surprised to see many splendid and beautiful architectural buildings and construction, and enjoyed the philosophical and religious atmosphere which was unique to Athens.

However, Paul could not enjoy the Athens’ tour with wonder and curiosity. Instead, he felt distressed to see the city was full of idols. (verse 16). Though we are not sure how stressed Paul was with what he saw, let’s look at this picture of the Parthenon and all of the gods’ names in the Greek mythological stories. (some pictures projected on the screen) How do you think Paul felt about the religious climate in Athens?

Think about what you would have done if you had been Paul in Athens? I might think that it would be impossible to make any changes in Athens. Seeing the overwhelming dominance of pagan religion, I might have given up on my ability to make a difference there. However, Paul did not give up. The more he felt distressed about the pagan religion, the more determined and passionate he became about spreading the Gospel to these pagans.

Paul started his evangelism at the synagogue as was his custom at other places. In addition, he took a more aggressive strategy. He presented the Gospel at a public place called Agora, which was a marketplace of ideas and other commodities. This place functioned as the hot spot, from which the Gospel spread quickly across the whole region of Athens. Soon, some mainline philosophers, like the Epicureans and the Stoics, were paying attention to Paul and his message.

The Epicureans disbelieved in the gods of ancient . They held that; "the world and the gods were a long way away from one another, with little or no communication; the result was that one should get on with life as one could, discovering how to gain maximum pleasure which is the absence of pain and disturbance, from a quiet, sedate existence." The Stoics believed "divinity lay within the present world (nature) and within each human being, so that this divine force could be discovered and harnesses; virtue consisted in getting in touch with and living according to this inner divine rationality."

Both philosophical schools were ignorant of what God is really like. For the Epicureans, God was just out of their lives, and for the Stoics, God was irrelevant to their lives or could be confined within human reason.

Some philosophers from both groups invited Paul to continue to address his messages at , "a rocky height to the west of the Acropolis at Athens where the council or court of justice met in the open air. This council or court of justice was the central governing body of Athens, and also had wide public functions." There, Paul had a chance to proclaim the Gospel to Athens.

It is impressive for us to see how Paul reached out to the people of Athens. Let's read verses 22 and 23. Paul 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 with this inscription: to an unknown god." He seems to be behaving himself with them, but it was also a P a g e | 3 very considerate and wise way to approach evangelism in this pagan setting by neither expressing any judgmental thoughts about their religious life, nor exposing any feelings of personal uneasiness.

Paul complimented them on their consideration of an unknown god and in doing so, he made them open their minds to Paul’s message. On top of that, Paul showed them that he wanted them consider what that ‘unknown god’ would be like. Paul's introduction was so good that the people at Areopagus must have done their best to listen to his message.

First, Paul made sure that they realized that their ‘unknown god' was 'the God' (verse 24), not one of the gods. Then, Paul told them what God had been doing for human beings and the world as follows:

God is Creator (verse24). The Epicureans, who were atheists, insisted all was matter and matter always was. The Stoics said everything was God, "the Spirit of the universe," and God did not create anything; He only organized matter and impressed on it some law and order. Unlike their philosophical understanding of god, Paul proclaimed that God created the world and everything in it with His almighty power. His proclamation was shocking to the Athens, who had believed and worshipped some created natural things like the sky (), the sea (), and animals () as their gods. Paul wanted to make sure the Athenians knew that God is the One god, superior to any human made gods.

God is Provider(verse25). Paul overturned the Athenians’ understanding of gods. While they thought they should serve gods with many offerings in the splendid , Paul proclaimed to them that God serves men and God is self-sufficient and needs nothing that men can supply, including temple worship.

God is Ruler (verse 26-29). While the Greeks thought gods were distant beings who had no concerns for the problems and needs of humans, Paul taught them that God rules history and geography as the King who is in control of the world and people can seek, reach out for, and find God through their lives and history. (verse 27) In verse 28 by quoting the Greek philosophers and poets , who said, "For in God we live and move and have our being," and , who proclaimed, "We are His offspring", Paul emphasized that we, God's offspring, should worship who is Ruler, not idols made from gold or silver by man's design and skill.

God is Savior (verse 30-31). While Paul did not mention directly the name of our Lord, Jesus, he made sure they realized that God had been patient with man's sin and ignorance but now was commanding that everyone repent of their sins. Paul taught the people of Athens that the resurrected Jesus, who died for sinners on the cross but was raised from the dead, would return to judge the world. Paul’s point was that Athenians should believe in Jesus Christ.

Thoses who listened to Paul at Areopagus had never heard about this kind of god. They were divided into two separate groups. Some of them responded well to his message and asked Paul to speak to them again, while others were very upset and wanted to hear nothing more from Paul.

What does the scripture mean to us? I think we need to meditate on this scripture more throughout this coming week. As a guideline, let’s think about two things. P a g e | 4

First of all, let’s think about the fact that there were countless gods to be worshipped in Athens. What does say about the people of Athens? Do you think they believed in many gods just because they had a deep concern and curiosity about gods?

In ancient , there had been numerous wars among the city states called 'polis, ' among which Athens and Sparta were the most well-known to us. Besides universal human limitations like disease and death, ancient Greeks had to suffer from the physical and mental threats that many wars brought about to their lives and survive them at any cost. To achieve this goal, every polis had made their Genius, or guardian spirit, who they thought had the power to protect them from any kind of threat. Zeus, , , ….All Greek gods were kind of Genius. The mindset of the ancient Greeks was like this: their guardian god would protect them if they worshipped properly. Otherwise, their enemies would attack their city. In this regard, 'the unknown god' was a kind of safety precaution or life insurance policy. They had set up a specific altar for the unknown God lest they invoke some god's wrath in their ignorance of him or her.

Faced with uncontrollable life-and-death situations like war, death, and disease, the ancient Greeks made up all kinds of gods(idols). The more challenging and unstable their lives became, the more gods they created and worshiped.

Let's think of our times and lives. We certainly cannot imagine having the same gods in our lives as the ancient Greeks worshiped thousands of years ago. However, we face similar challenges and instability. In 2020, there are many kinds of ‘invisible gods' who control our souls, minds, and physical lives.

What do you think they are?

I think those invisible gods are embedded in many kinds of 'isms' and are in control of our souls, minds, behavior, and lives. People believe science will make our lives better, resolving our environmental issues and problems, and guaranteeing our future. (scientism) People think that the more they possess, the more their happiness would increase, and spend their lives achieving material satisfaction. (materialism and mammonism) People believe in specific political viewpoints and parties to secure their society and its future. All nations strive to gain more economic and military power to secure their interests and needs. (militarism and nationalism) And in our time, countless people proclaim themselves to be atheists. (Atheism). Lots of people are dependent of drugs and alcohol for temporary pleasure. (hedonism) All these things are human-made invisible gods that have no real power to secure our lives.

However, the truth is that the more people rely on their invisible gods, the more anxious and fearful they feel in their lives. We can't escape from natural disasters like wildfires, hurricanes, tornados, or global warming. Economic conflicts among nations will continue to become severe. Unexpected pandemics and natural disasters will continually threaten our lives. We can't overcome anxiety and fear with our own power. It is a reality that we don't like to acknowledge, but we must.

What should we do as Christians in this situation? During my vacation, I read Max Lucado’s book Anxious for Nothing. The message that stuck in my mind is this: “Others see the problems of the world and wring their hands. We (Christians) see the problems of the world and bend our knee.” P a g e | 5

Not avoiding the problem, but kneeling down for God’s help. This is our starting point of what we should do for those people to whom God is still unknown.

First, let’s pray that we can be compassionate with those who are living under the control of their idols. While Paul felt distressed to see Athens worship the idols, we can say, Paul felt more compassion for them because they were under the power and control of idols. It is easier for us to blame those who are under the control of their idols and show indifference towards them rather than reach out to them with the good news of the Gospel.

Let's examine the condition of our hearts for those who are around us, that is, our family, friends, neighbors and even our church members. If we don't have warm, compassionate hearts for those who are being controlled by powers other than God, not only are they in a serious situation, but so are we. We can't escape from God's question, "What were you doing for them while they went astray and pursued other gods?"

Second, let’s pray that we should figure out what point of contact we can use to spread the Gospel to those around us. Through the scripture, we think that Athenians made the altar for the unknown god, which implies they had deep anxiety and fear. Paul used the concept of the unknown god as a point of contact to witness to what God is like. Paul made the Athenians realize that their unknown god was really the one true God, who would allow them to conquer their anxiety, fear, and despair, which were a result of their useless worship of idols.

All human beings could find peace with in faith in God, who is Creator, Provider, Ruler, and Savior. I pray that each one of us will look around and pray for those under the power of other forces than God. Let's show compassion for them and seek ways to reach out to them. As we ask God for his help and wisdom with a sincere heart, God will work through our prayers and make beautiful things happen in our lives of faith.