Thursday, October 17, 2019
So Paul, standing before the council, addressed them as follows: “Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way, for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’ This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about. “He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples, and human hands can’t serve his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need. From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries. “His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us. For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ And since this is true, we shouldn’t think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or stone. “God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him. For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead.” When they heard Paul speak about the resurrection of the dead, some laughed in contempt, but others said, “We want to hear more about this later.” That ended Paul’s discussion with them, but some joined him and became believers. Among them were Dionysius, a member of the council, a woman named Damaris, and others with them. Acts 17:22-34
It’s no secret that Paul was an unusual
person. It’s been said that wherever he
went he started either a revival or a riot…and sometimes both! In this account Paul has been hauled before
the city council in Athens, a city much like many Greek places of the day,
steeped in learning, art, drama, and civic democracy, fiercely defended. To say it was a culture much like the
American mind’s profile would not be stretching the point.
Paul was before the council because he was
preaching the Gospel. His uncompromising
approach to evangelizing was threatening to those who didn’t like change; big
surprise there!
Athens had religion like a rash, with so
many gods you needed a catalogue with commentary to understand faith in their
culture. They even had, as Paul pointed
out, a statue to the unknown god. And the apostle seized on that to tell them
of the unseen true God.
He recounted the facts of creation, God’s gracious providence, and
sovereignty in the space of a two-minute survey of Genesis and the historical
presence of the divine. But when the
apostle got to the resurrection it broke the floodgates of unbelief.
That day some who listened simply rejected
Paul’s testimony out of hand. They
huffed in derision of this madman’s delusion.
Others weren’t quite convinced, but were willing to hear more
later. Still others, a few, believed and
joined with Paul to explore their newfound faith.
The bottom line about sharing your faith
so others can know about Jesus always has these three possibilities – riot of
unbelief, awakening of possibilities for belief, or conversion, the revival of
a soul that was lost, and is now found.
For You Today
As you go about your task of living today,
walking with Jesus, led by the Spirit, be aware of the opportunities that await
your engagement; it isn’t about bringing back scalps to nail to the church
membership roll – it’s about an eternity of joy, peace, and love in the Holy
Spirit that you’re called to model.
Your
witness; it’s confusing sometimes; valuable always.
Go to VIDEO
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Title Image: ©
Victoria and Albert Museum, London (used with permission) Unless noted, Scripture used from The
New Living Translation©
