Word to the Wise
Wednesday, May 13, 2015 - 6th Week of Easter - Wed
[Acts 17:15, 22-18:1 and John 16:12-15]"You Athenians, I see that in every respect you are very religious. For as I walked around looking arefully at your shrines, I even discovered an altar inscribed, 'To an unknown God.' What therefore you unknowingly worship, I proclaim to you." [Acts]
St. Paul's speech to the Athenians in today's first scripture is preceded by a description of the pagan culture of discourse in Athens at a public forum called the "areopagus." Some of the philosophers had heard him preaching to Jews and wanted to hear more. The text says, "Now all the Athenians as well as the foreigners residing there used their time for nothing else but telling or hearing something new." (So, I recommend reading from verse 16 so that the entire context is captured!)
The speech is remarkable because it does not depend on the Old Testament narrative that Paul would have used in preaching to a Jewish group. Rather he starts from the fact that the Greeks had a "pantheon" of various deities that featured a deity for all different aspects of life. It is when Paul saw that the Greeks were hedging their bets by having an altar for any deity they might have excluded he used that as his starting point.
There is a good challenge in this incident. How can we present Christian faith to someone who has no knowledge of the Bible or from a culture that is polytheistic? This was the challenge facing missionaries for centuries, and it is still a challenge in some areas. In fact, we don't have to leave the U.S.A. to find folks who have grown up in families where religion was not a reality at all. The Athenians scoffed at Paul when he spoke of the resurrection of Jesus, but there were some in the audience who were intrigued and some came to belief. We can never let the fact that some will scoff keep us from witnessing, because there will be others who will believe. It is the challenge of preaching the gospel, to which we are all called by virtue of our baptism. AMEN
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