"A God of Our Own Making"   2011

Psalm 86:9-13           Acts 17:22-29

 

Psalm 86:9-13

All the nations you have made shall come and bow down before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name. For you are great and do wondrous things; you alone are God. Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart to revere your name. I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever. For great is your steadfast love toward me; you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.

 

Acts 17:22-29

Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we too are his offspring.’ Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals.

 

Some 600 years before the birth of Christ,

            the ancient city of Athens was struck by a terrible plague.

Everyone assumed that the plague

            had been brought on by a disgruntled or offended god ----

                                        --- but no one knew for sure

                                                            exactly which god was causing the plague.

 

So the city leaders arranged for

            sacrifices to be made at every temple in Athens,

                        and every idol and sacred place  of all the known deities …

                                                … but still the plague persisted.

 

The government then brought in a special consultant from Crete

            to study the matter and make some recommendations.

Somehow the consultant determined that the plague

            wasn’t being caused by any of the known gods of Athens,

                        but by some other unknown deity

                                    that they had inadvertently neglected and offended.

 

     Since they couldn’t identify which god   was feeling ignored,

            they decided to hedge their bets by building several alters,

                        each to an “unknown god” --- so that no one felt left out …

                                                … and sure enough the plague abated and ended.

 

As Athens grew, more and more gods and deities were added,

            until by the time the Apostle Paul arrived,

                   there were over 30,000 deities being worshipped in Athens.

 

Theologically, the people took great pride

            in being very cosmopolitan, open and broad-minded.

 

No one wanted to upset or offend any conceivable god

            and so almost everyone’s ideas about religion were welcomed

                        each considered just as valid and acceptable as any other.

There was no sense of needing to question or discern truth,

            or decide between one idea or religion  over another.

 

Paul came to Athens to wait for Silas and Timothy to join him,

            because he had been driven out of Thessalonica and Beroea

                        for his bold and fervent preaching against idolatry.

 

As Paul explored the city of Athens, so packed with pagan worship,

            he was offended by all the pagan temples and idols that he saw.

 

And initially, Paul upsets the religious pluralism in Athens

            when he proclaims the Gospel truth and message

                        about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

vs. 16 & 18

            While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply distressed to see that the city was full of idols.  Also some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers debated with him. Some said, “What does this babbler want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign divinities.” (This was because he was telling the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.)

                                               

When I read Paul’s writings in the Bible,

     I am always impressed by his spiritual depth and understanding,

                and by his ability to cut-through and make his point.

            Though always brilliant,

                        Paul is not necessarily all that diplomatic or gentle.

 

But when Paul spoke at the Areopagus,

            he sounds uncharacteristically sensitive and respectful,

                        with no harsh barbs or sarcasm;

                                         in fact   he compliments them

                                                for their effort along their spiritual journey.

vs. 22-23

            Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, "Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way.

            For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, 'To an unknown god.' What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.

 

In this situation,

            Paul is trying very hard to build a connection with them,

                   and find some common ground for discussion & conversation.

 

He doesn’t attack them or say that they are completely wrong,

            but tries to move them along to the next level, by describing

                       ‘the unknown god’    they have been worshipping,

                            who is the one true God, Creator of all that is,

                                    God of every nation and people who gives life to all:

vs. 24~27

            The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands,  …  gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth,… indeed he is not far from each one of us.

 

In the area of philosophy,

            Athens was noted   for their diligent search for truth;

                            yet with religion, they just kept adding more gods

                                    without any sense of trying to discern the truth.

 

            Paul’s argument was

                        that ‘the unknown god’ they were already worshipping

                                    was actually the one true God, and he concludes,

                                                that such an awesome God could not be contained

            in any human-made temple, idol or holy place  --- vs. 29

                        Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals.

 

Based upon their idea of worshipping an ‘unknown god’,

            and their philosophical search for truth,

                            Paul is leading them to consider

                                    that every religious idea, god, idol and templeà

            may not necessarily be   all equally valid and true ---

                        and at some point, you must make up your mind and commit.

 

The Athens approach to religion,

            the pluralistic acceptance of all things as equally valid

                        is like the diversity and choices of a Chinese buffet

                             where you can freely sample a bit of everything,

                                    rather than having to commit to eating just one thing,

                                                   or flipping through endless satellite channels

                                                       without ever setting on one program to watch.

 

It is a fine thing to sample a bit of everything on a lunch buffet,

       but for something as important as committing your life to God,

                                        surely the stakes are too high,

                                                to blindly accept just any religious idea

                                                            and every belief as equally valid and true…

                                    … for to commit to nothing in particular,

                                                is really  to commit    to nothing at all.          

 

I frequently hear the popular and progressive refrain that

        different religions are all roads that all lead to the same God,

              one true God of all humankind, who has many different names…

                        … Jehovah, Jesus, Allah, Buddha, Baal, Zeus, and so on,

                                        just revealed in many different ways

                                                to accommodate different cultures and needs…

 

              … much like the familiar parable

                        about the 6 blind men trying to describe an elephant:

   the one touching the elephant’s side,  saying, it’s a wall

            another touching the trunk, says it’s a snake,

                        the one touching the ear,  certain that it’s a fan

                                    touching the leg, sure that it’s a tree

                                                touching        tusk, it’s a spear

                                                            touching the tail, it must be a rope…

            … so too they declare,

                        God is revealed in many ways … all equally valid and true.

 

   But that is an opinion,

            that sounds like a far better idea   than it really is.

 

If we say

            that all religions are equally true & valid, does that include:

 

    the religious racism of the Aryan Nation, is that the truth?

            the folks who handle rattlesnakes as a part of their worship,

                        have they got it right?

            or those who strap bombs on their children to blow up infidels?

                        David Koresh of Waco,  Jim Jones’ Kool-Aid in Guyana?

           

   Aren't there  some  beliefs, practices and ideas about God

            that are truly destructive, dangerous     and just plain wrong?

 

It sounds very modern, sophisticated and non-judgmental,

            to say that all religious ideas as equally true and valid,

                        but to declare that every idea about God and religion

                                    are equivalent paths that all lead to the same God;

                                                fails to take seriously their differences,

                                                                the inherent conflicts

                                                                        in their claims of ultimate truth,

                                         and dishonors the commitment

                                                of those who make that their journey of faith.

                                               

It’s intellectually lazy to deny how various beliefs are distinct;

            for if every religion is just as true as every other religion,

                        then no religion    really matters or makes any difference.

If all the world’s religions do indeed lead to the same God,

            then for Jesus to claim that

                        he is the only begotten Son of God,   must be false.

 

Consider the scene that night in the Garden of Gethsemane

            when Jesus asked-begged  the Father   in prayer,

                        “if there is another way, then let this cup pass –

                                    yet not my will, but thy will be done.”

 

But there wasn’t any other way,

            and so Jesus suffered and died for our sins, and reclaimed us,

                        as the redeemed and beloved children of God…

            … and if this Christian Gospel is true,

                        all the other religions in conflict    cannot also be true.

 

If the faith-claims of Christianity,

            that we are all sinners and unable to save ourselves,

                           and that according to God’s gracious purpose,

                                    Jesus died for our sins, to save, heal and cleanse us -

- if that does not apply to all humankind, and there were other ways

             then Christianity is false, and our faith is a delusion.

 

So as I read this text about Paul’s visit in Athens,

            I am called to commit to the one true and triune God,

                  and commit to a spiritual journey of going deeper in faith,

                           of getting to know and trust Jesus Christ more and more

                                                   by living in faithful and obedient response

                                                            to the gracious love and blessings of God…

… and that excludes any other religion   however moral or reasonable

            that does not accept as truth, the unique Lordship of Christ.

 

The second point

            from this Acts passage is a little bit about evangelism.

I often hear someone say,

            that they are a very spiritual person,

                        but not religious or active in a church family.

 

Isn’t a spiritual person,

            one who longs and hungers with an urgent desire for the Lord,

                 to walk in authenticity and truth in relationship with God,

                           and to experience fully God’s grace, desire and purpose?

 

Why wouldn’t someone associate that longing with the Church?

            Why would someone

                        who recognizes the importance of their spiritual life

                                    not expect that hunger to be fed and nurtured

                                                within a caring Christian faith community? ---

                                                                        …  for that is why the Church exists.

 

Problem is, that sometimes we mangle God’s message of grace.

            Somehow God’s message of hope and transformation gets lost,

                        and people don’t hear about the grace and promise of

                                    yet another second chance to start over with God,

                                                and that the Holy Spirit guides us into holiness.

 

So how do I reach my neighbors with God’s grace and promise,

      and help them discern God’s truth, so to draw them nearer to God?

We are called  to participate,   but it’s accomplished, only by God.

 

One time at my former church, a young woman

     was attracted by our banner, “We love visitors, come as you are!”

                        She sat in the back for a few Sundays,

                                    but left quickly after the service without speaking.

 

Then one week,

       she made for an appointment to discuss some questions she had.

Her only experiences of church, Christianity and Christians

            had been negative, mostly from reading, TV and movies,

                and being judged and condemned by Christians during college.

 

I guess she trusted me, and having no previous religious background

            she was full of questions about Scripture, church and faith.

 

For weeks she came with more questions from the Sunday worship,

            and she pushed me to answer basic and complex questions

                        in ‘non-churchy’ language that she could understand;

                           which always led to deeper and more difficult questions.

 

She was a skeptic, definitely not a Christian when we  started,

                        and I still don’t know exactly when or just how,

                                    but in time God’s grace and love  did get hold of her,

            she became a Christian, her faith started to grow,

                        and then it spread to her adamantly atheist husband

                             who also became a very committed and fervent Christian.

 

That spiritual transformation

            was not anything persuasive that I did,

                             but simply the truth of the Good News,

                                    the unknown God who loves us, and makes Himself known.

 

That young couple enacted the prayer and promise Psalm 86:  vs. 9-13

            All the nations you have made shall come and bow down before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name.  For you are great and do wondrous things; you alone are God.   

            Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart to revere your name.  

            I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever.  For great is your steadfast love toward me; you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.