Preached at Christ church, Billericay at 10.00 on 14 May 2023
Reading Acts 17:22-31
At Stratford Station
A few days ago we were outside Stratford station. It was quite busy, but I’ve seen it busier. People going in all directions, most of them seemed to be in a hurry. There, in the middle of it all, was a guy preaching. Just like a busker, he had a small amplifier – you wouldn’t have heard a word he was saying otherwise. I am in awe of people who can do that. But I also have a problem with it in this instance. Publicly preaching the gospel is great, don’t get me wrong, but here he is not engaging with anyone. People are just walking past, not even turning their heads. Perhaps he’s there a lot and people know he will be there, but I think that’s rather unlikely. People are just busy, so they’re not listening. He’s a minor nuisance. If you’re going to tell them about Jesus you have to pick your time more carefully. Look for the opportunity.
Opposition
You’ll know if you’re getting through to people, because you will come up against opposition.
In our reading from Acts this morning we find Paul preaching the good news in a very public place.
How Paul get here
He has been to a few Greek cities already, if you look back a bit before the reading. He was chased out of Thessalonica, then spent a few days in Berea, before the Thessalonians found out where he was and chased him from there also.
Now he’s found his way to Athens, or rather been taken there.
The synagogue
Paul does his usual thing. Whenever he arrives in a new place, he first goes to the synagogue. There he reasons with the Jews, and the God fearing Greeks (those we might call converts).
Market Place
Here, in Athens, he also goes to the market place and debates with people who happen to be there. I suppose that’s his nearest equivalent to being outside Stratford Station. I think the preacher there would have done better in the Westfield food court. There people might have listened and even debated, but I’m also pretty sure security would have evicted him quickly.
Athens
Athens, at the time, was probably the cultural capital of the Roman Empire. Although it had been conquered by Rome, they left it alone and it managed itself. I’ve seen it described as like a freeport, but I’m not sure whether that really covers the sort of independence the Athenians had. Verse 21 tells us:
All the Athenians and the
foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking
about and listening to the latest ideas.
So, it was an ideal place for Paul to be. There are two main groups of philosophers, the Epicureans and the Stoics. They are more than happy to dispute with Paul. Here’s a quick summary of their beliefs.
Epicureans
The Epicureans believe that the world and the gods are a long way away from each other, with little or no communication. So believers should get on with life as best as they can, discovering how to gain maximum pleasure from a quiet, sedate existence.
Stoics
The Stoics believed that divinity lay within the world and within each human being. The divine force could be discovered and harnessed. Virtue consisted of getting in touch with and living according to this inner divine rationality.
Babbler - preaching foreign divinities
After Paul’s debate in the market place, he is accused of being a babbler. Tom Wright translates the word ‘word-scatterer’, which in that place is a term of contempt. He is accused of being like a Jackdaw, picking up shiny ideas and dropping half of them before he gets back to the nest.
They think he may be ‘preaching foreign divinities’, which was the charge on which Socrates had been tried and condemned. They are worried about a mystery cult, where only initiates are allowed to know the philosophy being taught. So they take him to the Areopagus. It is not a friendly invite.
Areopagus
The Areopagus is a rocky out crop to north-west of the Acropolis. It is also the place where the city fathers met, and that council had inherited the name of the rock.
Now, Paul has a challenge. He has to speak to them and explain the Christian faith. But, they have no Jewish background, and most of the people he debated with did. There’s also the problem, that he may be found guilt of some crime, and ejected from the city, or worse.
Luke 12:11-12 promises
us that ‘When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and
authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or
what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time
what you should say.’
Before the Areopagus – Make a connection
He starts in verse 22 with:
Men of Athens! I see that in
every way you are very religious.
He’s trying straight away to make a connection with them. If we want to get our message across to someone, it helps a lot if we have some things in common, and can share some mutual understanding.
Before the Areopagus – Be prepared
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. Now what you
worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.
Paul has done his research, he’s looked around the city and found it full of idol worship. That would have been upsetting for Paul, but he’s found something that he can use to hook his message on. This is not a foreign God he’s talking about, just a God they don’t know yet. Now he will show both the groups of philosophers that God can be known.
Before the Areopagus – Creator God
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 hands.
25 And he is not
served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself
gives all men life and breath and everything else.
Now Paul begins to explain God to them, still picking up on ideas that were common at the time. There were plenty of gods that created or formed the world. The idea God cannot be served by us and that God does not need anything from us was also common.
Before the Areopagus – Involved God
26 From one man
he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole
earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places
where they should live.
And the Judeo-Christian belief in one original created being is introduced, and how that led to the nations and that God was in charge of determining were people live – God is involved in their lives. But we haven’t got to the God that Paul knows in much detail yet.
Before the Areopagus – God wants to be found
27 God did this
so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find
him, though he is not far from each 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.’
Now, Paul introduces the idea that God wants to be known and has designed things so that people will try to find Him. This will split his audience, but that is also one of Paul’s strategies. Before we move too far, there’s another piece of common ground – Paul quotes from their own poets. The audience will be back with him again. Give a little, take a little.
Before the Areopagus – God is not an idol
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 man’s
design and skill.
Now Paul is getting to the point of what he is trying to say. He is clearly against all the idols he has seen and that part of his message must be given.
Before the Areopagus – Repent
30 In the past
God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people
everywhere to repent.
We might recognise this message, but for his hearers this is new, now, if he has engaged them, they should be all ears. Repent and turn away from idols is a key part of the Christian message.
Before the Areopagus – Judgement
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 all men by raising him from
the dead.”
At the climax of his sermon, Paul has introduced judgement, and resurrection, but there is no promise here of eternal life for them.
No Scripture
Paul has done all this without a single reference to his beloved scriptures. If we ever need to explain the gospel to people who are sceptical of the Bible, or just dead set against it, Paul’s sermon at the Areopagus is a great example of how to do it.
The result of the sermon is, in the next few verses, a few men became followers. Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus is mentioned, and also a woman named Damaris.
He has succeeded in gaining converts in one of the most difficult places that he has been called to speak. Which shows us the power of the Holy Spirit when someone is called to a particular mission.
Our mission
What does all this teach us for our particular mission?
It will soon be Ascension day. Thy Kingdom Come challenges us to pray for five people to come to know the God who is, at the moment, unknown to them. Many of the principles that Paul used in his ministry, and in particular at the Areopagus might prove useful to us as we engage with those we are praying for, or others that we have the opportunity to speak to, from time to time.
Our Mission – Strategy and Planning
Perhaps we can go a little further than “God loves you”, and really engage with them.
Perhaps we could pray, not just for the people on our list, but also for the strategy to reach them. We could ask the Holy Spirit to help us to be more intentional – to help us to see the common ground, and the big difficulties. So that we can speak the right truths at the right time.
At least we won’t be preaching into thin air, to a crowd that barely knows we exist.
Amen.
References
-Paul does not quote scripture
https://cepreaching.org/commentary/2020-05-11/acts-1722-31-2/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Areopagus
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