6TH SUNDAY OF EASTER (YEAR A) ACTS 17:22-31 SUNDAY, MAY 25, 2014 ST. STEPHEN’S, FOREST THE REV’D R. BRADLEY LAYCOCK ------

The Unknown God

During Paul’s second missionary journey one of the stops he and Silas made was in Thessalonica where Paul had preached in the Synagogue on three consecutive Sabbath days. He had reportedly been successful in converting a number of the men and women, before a crowd had risen up against both him and his message. Paul and Silas had been forced to make a hasty retreat to Beroea (Berea). Again Paul was enjoying success, until some troublemakers who had followed them from Thessalonica, and who were still upset, began to stir up and incite the crowds. Forced to escape one more time, Paul went on alone to Athens, leaving instructions for Timothy, a new convert who had recently joined Paul, and Silas to follow him as soon as possible. As Paul was exploring and becoming familiar with the city of Athens, the sight of a host of temples and the religious idols, which symbolized the local gods, confronted him. Whatever it was you might need, want, or desire, all you needed to do was seek out the appropriate deity, and leave your offering and your request beneath the statue or likeness of the god. As usual, some of Paul’s evangelizing took place in the local synagogues, but he also spoke to many of the local people wherever he encountered them. Our lesson today describes the only speech in Acts that was delivered to a pagan audience. While most people might describe the Athenian practices as superstitious, Paul, trying to ingratiate himself to his audience, described the Athenians as extremely religious in every way. Paul didn’t say so, but perhaps they were too religious. In other words, they were pious, observant, careful, and generally believed that a good life and a good outcome depended upon worshiping the right god at the right time for the right purpose. All of this was done in the hope that all of their affairs, whether personal, business, or communal, would be well ordered and prosperous. Unlike our God, the Athenian gods rarely needed absolute allegiance. After all, their powers were limited. Some held sway over the element of fire, others over water, wind, or earth. Some were interested in the harvest of grains, others in the prosperity of households, and still others in protecting people on journeys. According to popular belief at that time, the universe consisted of domains and spheres of influence over which the gods ruled, sometimes working together, sometimes working against one another, always serving themselves, and rarely working for the benefit of humanity unless, for some reason, it suited them -- or someone happened to get their attention by the generosity of their offering or by the wording of their vow. In the midst of this environment, Paul encountered a statue that merely said, “to an unknown god.” Here is the background on that statue. In addition to the twelve main deities and countless lesser deities, the Greeks recognized Agnostos Theos, the unknown god. This was not a specific god, but a name given in recognition that there were probably gods of whom the Greeks were unaware. Six hundred years earlier a terrible epidemic struck Athens. A poet from Crete, Epimenides, came forward

with a plan to end the epidemic. A flock of black and white sheep were let loose throughout the city from the Aeropagus, the famous hill otherwise known as Mars Hill. By the way, Aeropagus was also the name of the highest Greek court. Wherever a sheep lay down it was sacrificed to the nearest god. If a sheep lay down far from the shrine of a known god it was sacrificed to the Unknown God. A shrine was therefore erected to this "Unknown God." In Athens’ great city square people met to talk for that was the thing to do. Paul would have no difficulty in getting someone to talk to and the philosophers soon discovered him. Some of the philosophers were Epicureans. Among their belief: (i) they believed that everything happened by chance; (ii) they believed that death was the end of everything; (iii) they believed that the gods were remote from the world and did not care; and (iv) they believed that pleasure was the chief end of humankind. Others were Stoics. Among their beliefs: (i) they believed that everything was God. (God was essentially a fiery spirit. That spirit grew dull when it was in "matter," but it was in everything. What gave humans life was that a little spark of that spirit was in them and when they died that little spark returned to God); (ii) they believed that everything that happened was the will of God and therefore must be accepted without resentment; and (iii) they believed that every so often the world disintegrated in a conflagration and started all over again with the same cycle of events. The philosophers took Paul to the Areopagus -- to the court. The court was very select, perhaps only thirty members. It may once have had

additional duties, but in Paul’s day it dealt with cases of murder and was also charged with the oversight of public morals. There, in the most learned city in the world and before the most exclusive of courts, Paul had to state his faith. It might have intimidated anyone else; but Paul was never ashamed of the gospel of Christ. To him this was another God-given opportunity to witness for Christ. In his sermon, in his statement as we heard it in the lesson from Acts, Paul has the philosophers, teachers, and debaters who gathered at the Areopagus consider a third option — an option that was different from that of the Epicureans or the Stoics. "Here in your midst is erected a testimony to a God you worship, but don't know," Paul suggests. “It’s time you come to know this God, the Lord of heaven and earth, who made the world and everything in it, who gives to all creatures life and breath and place, and who is not served by human hands as though God needed anything from us.” He introduced them to the God who raised Jesus from the dead. Paul quotes some of their own Greek poets to make his case. The words “in him we live and move and have our being,” may have come from the pen of the philosopher-poet Epimenides, the one with the plan to let the sheep loose. And the words “for we too are his offspring,” are from Aratus (Air’-a-tus), a poet living and writing three centuries before Christ. "They," Paul says, "are speaking of this God you don't know." A day will come, Paul tells his hearers, when the entire world will be judged by the image of God’s love. Here, says Paul, is the unknown God incarnate in the life of God’s appointed – God’s Messiah, Jesus Christ. Today, if we walk around Forest, Lynchburg, Roanoke, or wherever we may live, we don’t see any signs of idols. Or do we...? The truth is they

are all around us. For the younger set, Xbox, Playstation, or Wii may be the gods. For the somewhat older set, designer clothes and maybe alcohol might be the gods of choice. And for adults the gods may be Smart TVs, iPads, fancy cars, or just wealth in general. We need to cease worshiping the gods we have allowed into our lives and follow the one true God. And we need to help others to come to know this God. We need to proclaim this God to others, so that there is no longer “an unknown God.” I love the story told by William Bausch in his little book, Storytelling, Imagination and Faith. There is a monastery that has fallen on hard times. The local villages no longer support it. They don't send their children for instruction in Scripture or to learn a trade. They don't come to hear the prayers, or the masses. The monks continue their routines, but a silent gloom hangs like shadows over the walls of this once active center for spiritual life. The abbot is wise enough to know that the days of the monastery are coming to an end unless some transformation occurs to spark a new day of faith and a new way of life. He spends the days walking through the woods, praying, and seeking the guidance of the Spirit. One day, deep in prayer, he wanders down a path he has never taken. Suddenly, he comes upon a little cabin, and a wisp of smoke curls up from the chimney. He is curious, and approaches the door. He knocks. A wizened old man opens the door, invites the abbot inside, and says, “I've been expecting you.” The abbot doesn't know what to say, but accepts the old man's offer of hospitality – a bit of bread and cheese with some tea. “What do you mean, you've been expecting me” the abbot soon

asks? “The God of heaven and earth told me you would come, and shared with me a secret to share with you and for you to share with your monks – but I may say it only once, and you may say it only once, so listen closely.” The abbot strained forward in his chair, and the old man whispered, “The Messiah is among you.” The old man waited a few beats for the word to sink in, then quickly said, “Now, we must speak no more of this. Go to your monastery and repeat what I have said to all of your monks, but you may say it only once, and then you must speak no more about it.” The old men said farewell to one another, and the abbot made his way back to the monastery. He called a special assembly of the monks and told them what had transpired in the woods. Then, he spoke the words that he had been given, “The Messiah is among you.” Over the next few days, perceptible changes fell upon the monastery and its inhabitants. Where there were once only shadows, now there were candles, burning brightly, and where there was once solitude and quiet, there was conversation and fellowship. No one spoke of the secret words that had been shared with them, yet, they couldn’t help but wonder as they passed each other in the halls – “Is brother Joe the Messiah, or could it be John? Surely it couldn’t be brother Juniper, who baked the bread, or brother Paul who minded the animals. Or could it?” Suddenly, there was hospitality, and kindness; there was attentive listening and a genuine concern for each and every brother’s welfare. Each treated the others as if any one of them could be “the Messiah among them.” Some people are put off from God because they can’t rationally prove

God’s existence. For them, our God in “an unknown God.” It’s hard to know God if we are alone, solitary. But God can be known. Do you need God’s touch? Spend time with one another. Do you need a prayer answered? Spend time with one another. Do you need something more, something tangible, something evident? Spend time with one another. Pray together, study Scripture together, laugh and cry and break bread together – the Messiah is among you.”i

i Michael Phillips, 1st Presbyterian Church, Berwick, PA