Sunday 05/14/23 - Sidney UMC
Sermon Title: “To An Unknown God”
Old Testament Scripture: Psalm 66:8-20
New Testament Scripture: Acts 17:22-31
Gospel Lesson: John 14:15-21
So, I have heard of different cultures
and even different families leaving a chair empty at the dinner table sometimes.
This happens for different reasons. Maybe at some special family gatherings, a
chair is left open, just in case someone else shows up. Maybe the empty chair
was for a family member or a friend that you hoped would show up, and perhaps
never did.
The idea of setting another place at
the table and not knowing if that place will be filled, as I said, is something
that some cultures and some people do on certain special occasions. I remember,
for example, when I was a little boy leaving out cookies and milk for Santa Claus
on Christmas Eve. We also left out carrots for the reindeer, as well. I never
saw Santa or the reindeer, but the cookies, milk, and carrots were always eaten,
or mostly anyway. Well, the empty plates and the empty milk glass on Christmas
morning did not disappoint!
How many of us have ever made extra
food, or planned for one or more person, just in case? I mean you never know
when someone might stop bye, and it might even be a person that up until that
moment was completely “unknown” to you. If you have an extra seat at the table,
is it maybe for a guest, a family member, or a friend? Or is the empty seat
symbolic? You might say, “this empty seat is for Jesus”. Whether this has even been
a custom of yours or not, the idea of an empty seat, or preparing more room just
in case is nothing new for some people.
In the way of religious beliefs in the
ancient world that Jesus lived in, some cultures believed not in one god, but
many gods. So many gods in fact, it would seem that as time went on sometimes more
and more gods would be added to the already large list of gods. In Rome, the
capital of the Roman Empire, you generally could worship and believe in one or
many gods. Yet, it was the custom and law, generally speaking, to create a physical
representation of your god or gods. If you believed in “Zeus,” or “Aphrodite,”
or “Atlas,” for example, well can show me what your god looks like? You might
have believed in many gods, but can you show me what they look like physically?
You see in much of the ancient world
having carvings or statues of one’s god or gods was not uncommon. As Christians
though we don’t have statues or carvings of our God, because generally we believe
that our God is a spiritual being. Our God is bigger than any statue or object,
as our God cannot be contained by a mere images or sculptures.
In fact, our official definition of God
is in our United Methodist Church Book of Discipline. This definition is part
of what we call our “Articles of Religion.” Our first “Article of Religion” in
fact, is our definition of God. Article one says this:
Article I — Of
Faith in the Holy Trinity
There is but one living and true God, everlasting,
without body or parts, of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness; the maker and
preserver of all things, both visible and invisible. And in unity of this
Godhead there are three persons, of one substance, power, and eternity—the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost (UMC BOD).
In ancient Rome, once again, you were allowed to worship
God, provided you could create a statue, an image, or a likeness of God. Yet we
cannot do this number one, because the Bible tells us not to create graven
images, and number two, because our God is bigger than a statue, an object, or
a carving. This then was the real offense in the Roman Empire, that as Christians
we would dare to claim that there is only one God. This was insulting and as
such, Christians and Jews were often persecuted.
In our reading from Acts 17:22-31, once again, the Apostle
Paul is preaching and evangelizing in Athens, Greece. In Ancient Greece, like
many ancient places, the belief in many gods was common place. Part of this is
because many people believed that one god controlled the weather, and another god
the crops, and another god good health, and etc. The Apostle Paul declares in
Acts 17:22-31 this morning however, there is no need for all these various
gods. Instead, there is one God, and this God is bigger and beyond all others.
Now remember that the Apostle Paul is in a city that believe
in multiple gods, and the Apostle Paul this morning goes to the acropolis, or more
specifically the Areopagus or “Mars Hills” as it sometimes referred to explain
who God is. This again, is in Athens, Greece. According to one source that I
read about our Acts 17:22-31 scripture for this morning it says this:
The Areopagus (/æriˈɒpəɡəs/) is a prominent rock outcropping located
northwest of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. Its English
name is the Late Latin composite form of the Greek name Areios Pagos,
translated "Hill of Ares" (Ancient Greek: Ἄρειος Πάγος). The name Areopagus also
referred, in classical times, to the Athenian governing council, later
restricted to the Athenian judicial council or court that tried cases of
deliberate homicide, wounding and religious matters, as well as cases involving
arson of olive trees, because they convened in this location.[1][2] The war
god Ares was supposed to have been tried by the other gods on the
Areopagus for the murder of Poseidon's son Halirrhothius (a typical
example of an aetiological myth) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Areopagus).
Athens at this time, nearly two-thousand years ago, had likely
never heard of Jesus, or very little. The worship multiples gods, and having their
likenesses carved was everywhere. The Apostle Paul however, wanted to tell him
about God.
In this sermon or this message, the Apostle Paul begins
speaking our Acts 17:22-31 scripture for this morning, starting in 17:22 at the
Areopagus in Athens, Greece, once again, saying:
22 Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely spiritual you are in every way. 23 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. 24 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, 25 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 (Acts 17:22-25, NRSV).
The Apostle Paul is telling the Greeks,
number one he respects their spiritual nature. The Apostle is complimenting their
devotion to their beliefs and their gods. At the same time though, the Apostle
Paul notes that as he walked through the city that he sees all sorts of
objects, carvings, and statues that were objects of worship. Specifically, the
Apostle Paul saw an altar that had an inscription on it that said, ‘To an unknown
god’. So many gods did the Greeks have at this this time that they figured surely,
they must have missed one somewhere. Perhaps this was their version of an extra
place at the table, an extra open seat, the cookies and milk for Santa, or making
extra food just in case. I mean think about it, the Greeks have all of these
various objects of worship, statues, carvings, and all of these other things to
worship their various gods, and they even have an altar ‘To an unknown god’.
The Ancients Greeks then, according to the Apostle Paul are leaving the door of
there faith tradition opened just a little. I mean what if there is another god,
what if there is a god that exists, but is unknown to them. This theological
humility is what the Apostle Paul taps into in his sermon or message to the
Greeks in Athens on the Areopagus this morning.
Specifically, the Apostle Paul is
telling the Greeks this morning, that he sees that they have created an altar
in Athens ‘To an unknown god,’ and he is saying that he is here to tell them of
the “Unknown God”. God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. After this sermon
that Apostle Paul gives, some believe, and some scoff at him. Picking up in
Acts 17:26, the Apostle Paul says of God, once again:
26 From one ancestor he made all peoples to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, 27 so that they would search for God and perhaps fumble about for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. 28 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’ (Acts 17:26-28, NRSV).
The Apostle Paul is attempting to relate
to the Greeks and how they see the world and their beliefs. The Apostle Paul is
trying to open the Greeks up to a belief in a God that is so much bigger than an
object, a carving, or a statue. In fact, the Apostle Paul concludes this sermon
with Acts 17:29-31 saying:
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. 30 While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:29-31, NRSV).
The Apostle Paul tells the Greeks that
God is much bigger than some object made of gold, silver, or stone. God is
creator, God was in the flesh in Jesus Christ, and God is the Holy Spirit that
fills and empowers us. The God that the Apostle Paul tells the Greeks about is the
Lord of the all.
If God has created all that ever was
and is, and if God became human in Jesus Christ, then what happens when Christ ascends
into heaven. After Jesus is crucified, resurrected, and is ready depart this
world until he returns again, then what now?
In our gospel of John reading for this
morning, Jesus tells his disciples that when he is no longer physically on
earth, he will send the Holy Spirit to be comfort, fill, and advocate for the
disciples. In fact, our gospel of John 14:15-21 reading for this morning says
once again, with Jesus’ speaking starting in 14:15:
15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. 17 This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him because he abides with you, and he will be in you. 18 “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. 19 In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me, and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them” (Jn. 14:15-21, NRSV).
Jesus is telling his disciples and us
to love each other, keep Jesus’ commandments and teachings, and to live them
out. Be like Jesus. Even if Christ isn’t here with us in the flesh, the Holy Spirit
is with us.
The Christian faith that hundreds and
hundreds of millions of people believe all over the world largely believes in
one God. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. One God in three,
thee in one.
Among the many people that taught me
about God, the Father, Jesus the Son, and the power of the Holy Spirit, I can
say that my mother taught me a lot about God. My mom always wanted us to go to
church, and learn more about Jesus. Among the many things that I am grateful for
my mom for and many other women in my life, I am grateful that my mother and
other women in my life taught me who God is. I am grateful that my mom and many
other women in my life taught me about Jesus, his gospel, and his love.
While the Apostle Paul is preaching a
sermon to the Ancient Greeks in Athens this morning, and while what he is saying
is all new to them, many of us have heard about God. We have heard about Jesus.
We have heard about the Holy Spirit. For some of us, we can say that because of
the some of the women who are or have been in our lives that we know who God
is. For many of us, our God is not unknown, because many people, including some
of the women in lives taught us about God. Today the “Unknown god” is made
known, and today we honor all women. Happy Mother’s Day! Amen.
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