Grace and peace be yours in abundance (1 Pe 1:2). Amen.
All of us have probably been at one in some fashion and at some time. A meeting. It could be work related—the manager and staff meet to hammer out a presentation for a client. Or school related—a parent and teacher meet to talk about a problem in the classroom. Those might not be high on our list of thrilling things to sit through. I don’t know what crosses your mind when you hear the word “meeting.”
If it is negative, we don’t want that to color our consideration this morning as we go to Greece. It is positive. Attend a meeting in Athens. It is about the present. It is about the future. We read from …
Acts 17:22-31
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus, the One whom we adore and await,
There can at times be travel for a conference. It might be to a coffee shop all the way to a convention center. Perhaps that lessens the pain of a get-together since it is out of the office or out of the state. Even more so if there are comfortable chairs and complimentary water on the tables. (Maybe I just have low standards.)
How about if we head to southeastern Europe? Not by plane or by ship. But in thought and in meditation. Put yourself in their place from your pew.
Attend a Meeting in Athens
1. It is about the present (22-30)
2. It is about the future (31)
1. It is about the present (22-30)
It is always good to know the outline in a meeting (or at least when the breaks are scheduled). It is called an agenda. Item #1 for the meeting in Athens. It is about the present.
The apostle Paul’s travels continued. He had been at Philippi, Thessalonica, and most recently Berea. There was always a mixed reaction—rejection of God and persecution of Paul as well as reliance on God and protection of Paul. So the faithful sent him on. The noble Bereans even escorted Paul down the road or on the sea—whatever it was (Acts 17:15).
The next stop was Athens. But still it was a key city, but not quite the cultural center that it had once been. It had been the home of intellectual greats like Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. And high above the city still stood the acropolis with the beautiful temple, the Parthenon, dedicated to Athena, their patron goddess.
While Paul waited there for his coworkers—Silas and Timothy—to join him, he didn’t take a break. He started teaching right away in the synagogue. That is where Jews who were familiar with Moses and the prophets could see Jesus as the Messiah—the One who had to die and rise.
But his work of the good news about the Christ spilled out into the marketplace—with Greeks, Gentiles. That was where there was men would meet to have conversation and exchange ideas. Paul spoke with those who followed the popular philosophies of the day (Acts 17:18)—the Epicureans who had the notion that life was all about the pursuit of pleasure and happiness (“eat, drink, and be merry”) and the Stoics who espoused the outlook that one’s goal in life was to be dutiful and virtuous. There was great knowledge without real wisdom—Christ crucified (1 Co 1:23,24).
Paul received the invitation to address the Areopagus—a group that supervised educational and religious affairs. This was more out of curiosity—a formal hearing for the visiting missionary, not an official trial.
So Paul got to his feet: “Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious” (Acts 17:22). He credits them with a certain fear of the supernatural, even it was more superstition. He had observed that as he did some sightseeing around the town. The comment has been made that there were more gods in Athens than men. That was evident with all the shrines and statues. But these gods and goddesses were just supermen and superwomen, bigger and better than them, but at times kind of naughty.
But Paul highlighted one in particular. As he walked all around, he thought carefully about their “objects of worship” (Acts 17:23). They were so conscientious that they didn’t want to offend anyone. They covered their bases with “an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD” (Acts 17:23).
That is when Paul followed an important educational principle—going from the known to the unknown. A math instructor will make addition clear before going on with division. He didn’t begin by asking them to take out their scrolls with the Scripture on them. They didn’t have them. “Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you” (Acts 17:23). It is not a “what,” but a “who”—a personal God.
He is the Creator. “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands” (Acts 17:24). No house of worship can confine him. He is above all and over all.
He is the Controller. “And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else” (Acts 17:25). That was the Greeks’ impression of the gods—a kind of “you scratch my back and I will scratch yours” – I will do for you and you will do for me. But the Lord starts life and sustains it as our lungs inhale and exhale and every other thing. We need him, not the other way around.
And what is more: “From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live” (Acts 17:26). God manages history—from empires to individuals. He regulates it all like we put a fence around a yard—when one rules or where one resides.
There is a definite purpose to his plan. “God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us” (Acts 17:27). Our God is not remote or removed so that we grope in the air as when you walk around the house in the dark. There is access and availability to learn about him. We do that as we listen to the gospel. Jesus became one of us. He lived with us and for us—perfectly. He died on the cross in our place and for our benefit—willingly. Peter put it well: “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God” (1 Pe 3:18). God shaped us and he saved us. Jesus even promised that the Holy Spirit, the “Counselor” (Jn 14:16), one called to another’s side to help, would come to testify to the truth (Jn 14:17).
None of this should have been foreign to them. Paul displays his wisdom as he quotes from their poets: “‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring’” (Acts 17:28). We come from God, not the other way around as if clay can fashion the potter. Creatures cannot form the Creator. Paul draws the conclusion: “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by man’s design and skill” (Acts 17:29). That is not the Lord. An idol has ears, but cannot hear, eyes, but cannot see, a mouth, but cannot speak. Not our Lord. He hears. He sees. He speaks. He is intelligent and immense.
And now Paul gets to the meat of the message. Ignorance is not innocence just like when you don’t know the speed limit and you get caught for exceeding it. (That is hypothetical, of course.) “But I didn’t know.” That doesn’t work, not with an officer, nor with God. “In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30).
If we have let our minds wander a bit during this meeting like an employee glancing at or staring at his phone, now would be when we want to perk up. God announces what he wants done. Repent. That is, change our minds like a change of directions. Life is not to be without God—living for and by ourselves, but God living with and for him. And that is life, life to the full (Jn 10:10), eternal life (Jn 3:16). It is not just right now, but forever. It all goes back to Easter Sunday. Because Jesus came out of his grave, we will too. In Jesus’ words, “Because I live, you also will live” (Jn 14:19). Not even death will separate us from him (Ro 8:38,39). Attend a meeting in Athens. It is about the present. We realize our sin against God. And we remember our Savior from God.
2. It is about the future (31)
Item #2 for the meeting in Athens. We are making our way through the agenda. It is the final point. It is about the future.
There are all days on our calendars. But this is the day with a capital “D.” “For he [that is, God] has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:31). That is Judgment Day. The Last Day. There is urgency because it is getting closer.
It is not a day for us to be afraid of, but to look forward to. Jesus will administer justice rightly. Those who turned from him he will turn away. Those who trusted in him he will take to himself. We can be sure because God brought Jesus out of his tomb—proof that he accepted Jesus’ sacrifice. Attend a meeting in Athens. It is about the future. It is not terrifying, but exciting because we know the Judge and the verdict. Jesus will usher us to heaven.
Perhaps you have left a meeting and decided that it was not too bad, even if you dreaded it. This one in Athens was beneficial. It was about the present. God made us to be his own. And it is about the future. One day he will take us to our home. Come, Lord Jesus. Meeting over. Amen.
Peace to all of you who are in Christ (1 Pe 5:14). Amen.
May 21, 2017
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