On the Rock I stand

Sermon Acts 17:22-31 May 21, 2017 6^th Sunday of Easter

On the Rock I stand

Last year Mike and I had the opportunity to visit Athens. It was important to me to find the areas of the city where we assume the Apostle Paul walked and preached and shared the good news of God’s grace.

We made it to Mars hill. It is also known as the Areopagus. It is the place where Socrates stood before the council to argue his philosophies. It didn’t end well for him.

This hill was the place where the court or council could summon anyone to appear. No charges or reasons had to be given for them to be called before the leaders. This was not an invitation but a command.

It is amazing to stand on that rock with the acropolis in the back drop and the view of the sprawling city below. It is an incredible rock as it juts up above all its surroundings as if it is a pedestal for speakers through the ages. For more than 500 years this rock was the place for many speeches, arguments, debates, and defenses.

 

Monica on Mars Hill August 2016

Paul wandered through the streets of Athens and saw the most astounding sculptures and art and temples to not just one god, but many gods. As he walked he discovered a statue dedicated to the ‘unknown god.’ It was at this moment that he knew how he would share the good news with the people of Athens.

I believe that is our struggle today.

How do we share the news of our faith in Jesus the Christ with others?

How do we offer the opportunity to engage in church to those who have never been?

How do we encourage a life in community when there are so many communities to choose from?

If we think we are the only people in the 21^st century facing the challenge of church over other things we may have forgotten our history. There has always, since its beginning, been a challenge to the church to grow.

(Paul’s story in Athens only magnifies how hard it was to find the nugget of common ground to invite people to engage and become followers of Jesus.)

The Barna Group Inc. study on the State of the Church in April 2016 showed that 73% of Americans identify as Christians and 20% as no faith at all. Of those 73% Christians 34% practice their faith by going to church. Of those who go to church only 8% go to mega churches of more than 1000 members. 46% of church goers go to churches of less than 100 members. It tells me that the small church is the place to be for those who are choosing to practice their Christian faith.

I have said it for fifteen years now, (after studying the churches for three years in the 90’s) the future of the church is not in a big movement, or a program, or an epiphany of a ‘new’ way of worship, music, or education; but the way of the future for the church is rooted in the power of the small church to sustain, nourish, and flourish among its people and community for the sake of the grace of the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Like Paul, we have a story to tell!

There is flood of competition out there and most of it is good.

So, how do we choose one good over another good?

Paul walked around and took note of all the opportunities open to the people of Athens, they had universities ( the finest ever known), they had stores, and markets, temples, and books.

We too, here in America have much that shows who we are as we walk through the cities. We have statues, and stores, markets and paintings, and books that show we are a diverse people and we are a religious people.

It is in this common grounding we can begin to share the good news of who we are in Christ with one another.

Paul’s desire was to open the flood gates of God’s love and grace so that all may know God through Christ who loved even him.

Paul addressed the people of Athens and acknowledged their spiritual diversity.

He spoke to them not as a knowledgeable Jew talking about Jewish Law but he invoked Greek philosophical insights to express Christian theological truths.

He didn’t deny the diversity or

the variety of displays of faith,

but pointed out two aspects

that are the strong foundation of all of them;

God is Creator of all things and

humanity is united in one another.

Paul entered the community to speak to all the people,

not just those who were exactly like him.

He took a risk to reach out diversely to everyone-to the leaders,

the shop keepers,

the merchants,

the educated professors,

the philosophers,

the street people,

the poor,

the rich-

he spoke to them all.

Paul was called a babbler by the elite. He did not have the same skills of debate as they had. They actually thought he was nuts. And yet, there was an intrigue about him and his message. And so, he ended up before the court, the council standing there on the hill dedicated to Mars, also known as the Areopagus.

I’m not sure if he realized he was on trial.

I’m not sure if he realized this was the place

where many before here were sentenced to death.

But, there he stood and there he won the hearts of a few. We would like to think that everyone who heard the good news of love and grace would jump to the invitation.

But, the truth is the church grew by a few followers here and there.

Occasionally there was a moment where thousands followed,

but mostly it was a steady growth of believers

from one town to the next.

Paul stood on that rock and spoke to the reality of the people gathered.

He spoke to what they knew and understood.

He spoke to their world.

He spoke to their faith.

He respected them.

He acknowledged their intellect and their ways.

There was the altar to the ‘unknown god’ probably set up as the catch all in case there was a god that was forgotten. Or perhaps it was set up as a god of universal nature, to respect the one or ones whose names they did not yet know.

Paul uses this universality to share about the God of heaven and earth; God the Creator.

He touched on the basic philosophical beliefs of Pythagoras and Zeno, when he stated that God created the world and does not live in temples. This is common ground for the people of Athens. He continued to share about the nature of humanity.

Paul let them know that God created humanity to live together,

to seek after God,

and to reach out

and find God.

“God is not far from each of us. God is near us. God is with us.”

The quote from Epimenides,

“for in him we live and move and have our being;” touched those who heard Paul.

This quote is in our confessions today.

The words of the greats were and are used to affirm our faith not deny it.

The words of the greats demonstrate our commonality

and our grounding as people of God.

The sum of all human existence is in relationship to God and one another.

Paul continued with the established common ground to introduce Jesus, faith in Jesus, the power of the resurrection, and God’s grace through him.

Paul stood boldly on the rock before the council and offered the hospitality of God that invites all people from the diversity of the world to discover Christ Jesus.

Paul offered grace.

He opened the doors of the sanctuary of God

and invited them to realize how they, as all of humanity,

belong to God and one another.

This is what we all hope for.

We hope for the chance to open the doors of our sanctuary

as an invitation for all to enter.

We hope to share the grace of God in how we include and invite

everyone as diverse as we can find in our community.

We hope that we can find common ground

as we speak to those we engage with each day.

We hope that we can open our doors to those

who seek to find God.

We hope that we can open our doors

to those who need a place of refuge, of quiet, of rest.

We hope we can offer a place of acceptance.

Let us be committed to the power of God

at work within us to learn, to worship,

to pray, to love, to share, to invite.

Amen.

Resources: BarnaGroup.com