Thursday, June 26

THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2014

2 Kings 9:14–10:31

Acts 17:1–34

Psalm 144:1–15

Proverbs 17:27,28

 

 

“Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said:  ‘People of Athens!  I see that in every way you are very religious.  For, as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription:  to an unknown god.  Now, what you worship as something unknown, I am going to proclaim to you.

 

“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.  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.  From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times for them and the exact places where they should live.  God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.  ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’  As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

 

“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 human design and skill.  In the past, God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.  For he 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 everyone by raising him from the dead.” (Acts 17:22–31)

 

 

Paul’s sermon pointedly addresses the prevailing philosophies and ethos of first-century Athens.  As the center of Greek culture, Athens gathered together the leading thinkers of Epicureanism and Stoicism, and Paul received the opportunity to counter these camps – and the “religious” background of the idol-strewn city – in his visit to the Areopagus.

 

It appears that philosophy peppered public conversations:  “All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.” (21)  Paul clearly did his homework in order to speak into this cultural mien.

 

Briefly, it is helpful to review the philosophical underpinnings of Epicureanism and Stoicism.  Epicurean philosophy held that happiness, yet not marked by only momentary pleasure of gratification, represented the supreme good in life, but this ethic had devolved into a more sensual approach by the first century.  Stoicism taught that people may be self-sufficient and independent and, while living in accord with nature, should suppress their desires.  Both philosophies had devolved into systems of pride, and it appears that Athens featured competitions among philosophers in the public square.

 

In addition, Paul mentions the “very religious” Athenians, who had built altar even to an “unknown god.”  Greek mythology involved an elaborate understanding of natural and spiritual phenomena, but, in practice, it boiled down to idolatry.  Paul therefore sought to introduce the Athenians to the sovereign and personal Lord of the universe.

 

This one God “made the world” and did not require human craftsmanship to come into being.  His power had determined the watercourse of human history and “determined the times” and “places where they should live.”  The world had a definite telos (end), and history is not merely the result of Chance, as the Epicureans held.  Psalm 33:10 declares: “The LORD foils the plans of the nations;/ he thwarts the purposes of the peoples./ But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever,/ the purposes of his heart through all generations.”

 

Paul then challenges his hearers to consider the personal call of God in their lives:  “God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. “ (27)  Not only does God have sovereignty over history, His imminent presence draws men to Himself on an individual basis.

 

He concludes the sermon with a call to repentance, in light of the Resurrection.  God had previously overlooked the “ignorance” human idolatry but now had sent His Son to bring redemption.  In Romans 1:20, Paul explains that, “since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”  His argument continues that, “although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” (Romans 1:21)  This futility of thought devolved in idolatry, sexual immorality, and “every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity.” (Romans 1:29)

 

A. W. Tozer wrote that “what comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”  Paul invited his hearers to begin that searching after God’s heart.  The crowd reacted in three ways:  1) distaste and rejection; 2) openness but procrastination; and 3) acceptance and commitment.  How will you respond to God’s call on your life?

 

 

Lord God, thank You for setting the course of human history and allowing us to reach out to You.  Call our hearts into a deeper communion with You and grant us the full experience of Your Presence.  May we understand the shortcomings of the world’s philosophies and Your greatness.  We commit our lives to following You and serving Your people.  In Jesus’s Name, amen.

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