When in Athens
a sermon based on Acts 17:22-31
by Richard Gehring

            The apostle Paul found himself in Athens quite by accident.  He had been at Bereoa, some 200 miles north of Athens, when things began to get ugly for him.  Some of those who opposed his message about the good news of Jesus were stirring up trouble, so the members of the church there decided it would be best for Paul to simply leave town.  Some of them escorted him all the way to Athens.   And he waited there alone until his companions, Silas and Timothy, could rejoin him.

            Athens was, of course, the most important city in the entire Greek world.  Under Roman rule, its political influence was rather minimal.  But it still held great importance as a cultural and religious center.  The city was filled with temples to the Greek gods and goddesses such as Zeus and Athena.  Many people still came to these temples to offer their worship and sacrifice.  But for an increasing number of folks the ancient Greek myths about the gods and goddesses were losing their importance.  The old stories of heroic battles were simply no longer meaningful.  They did not address the questions that the people of the first century were asking about the meaning of life.

            And so for a growing number of Athenians, a wide variety of philosophies and religions were gaining popularity.  Chief among these competing philosophies was Stoicism.  According to the Stoics, the world was ruled by divine reason.  God was seen not as a personality who interacted with humans, but as the fundamental principle of cosmic logic.  The main goal of Stoicism, then, was to learn to accept that all things are controlled and directed by this divine reason.  Once one accepted that the universe existed as a rational place, then one could live a life detached from the cares and concerns of the world.

            This was the city and the setting, then, in which Paul found himself.  Paul, of course, was not one to wait idly.  He did not simply bide his time and take in the sights until Silas and Timothy got there.  Instead, he went to the synagogue, as he almost always did when entering a new town, and he began to proclaim the message of Christ's death and resurrection.  He also went out into the public marketplace and debated with the philosophers there.

            Given Athens' acceptance of many different philosophical and religious traditions, it is no wonder that Paul's message was greeted with some curiosity and interest.  The people of Athens think that he is talking about two gods whom they have never heard of before named "Jesus" and "Resurrection."  As consumers of new religious ideas, they are intrigued by this teaching.  So Paul is invited to share more about what he means before the Areopagus, the "high council" of Athens made up of the leading aristocrats of that city.  It is his speech before that council that Cheryl read for us a few minutes ago.

            This is one of the most famous sermons preached in the entire New Testament.  It is often studied as an example of how to do evangelism.  And, indeed, Paul demonstrates in this speech a high level of understanding of the context in which he is preaching.  He is able to speak to the Athenians in terms that they should be able to understand.  He relates what he has to say with the customs and traditions and teachings that they are familiar with.

            Paul opens by complimenting the people of Athens on their extreme religiosity.  He tells them that he has admired the many temples in their city.  This should have appealed to them given their pride in the tolerance they show to various religious teachings and in the great works of art and architecture that were found in those temples.

            Later on in his sermon, in verse 27, Paul also talks about "searching" for God.  He says that we as humans "grope" and attempt to "find" God.  These certainly would have been familiar concepts as well to the people of Athens.  They prided themselves on their unending search for truth, their constant groping for understanding.  They spent much time and effort in exploring as many different avenues as possible for enlightenment and knowledge.

            And, finally, Paul even quotes from Greek poets and philosophers.  In verse 28, he quotes a famous line from the Stoic poet Cleanthes, "For we too are his offspring."  It should not come as a surprise that Paul was familiar with Stoic poetry, for his home town of Tarsus was a center for Stoic teaching.  Many modern biblical scholars, in fact, believe that Paul's theology was greatly shaped by Stoic thought.

            Paul's familiarity with Greek thought and culture is certainly apparent in what he says in this speech.  But it is also very evident in what he does not say.  One of the most curious things about this speech is that there is no actual reference to "Jesus" or "Christ."  There is no mention made of the cross, which is so central to Paul's teaching and theology.  There is no allusion to the resurrection, either. 

            Paul most likely didn't want to confuse the Athenians who might think that there were several gods named "Jesus," "Christ" and "resurrection."  He knew that talking about things that had happened in far away Palestine would have probably had little or no meaning to people who thought that everything important happened in Athens, or at least in Greece.  And he knew that the Stoics at least would not have cared about some historical events, for they believed that one should remain detached from time—both past and future.

            Instead, Paul used the familiar customs and teachings of Athens and skillfully wove his message into them.  He used all the citations I've mentioned, but in each case he ultimately contrasted them with his understanding of God as revealed through Jesus.   When, for example, Paul compliments the Athenians on their religiosity, he notes that they have even gone so far as to erect an altar "to an unknown god" just to make sure that no deity would be offended for being inadvertently overlooked.  Paul then claims to know who this so-called unknown god is.

            He proclaims the one true God, the maker of heaven and earth.  This God, says Paul, has no need for such temples or offerings.  God has created all things, including people, and isnot dependent upon them for anything.  People do not manipulate this god through prayers and sacrifices.  Rather, God is ultimately in control of these people.

            Next, when Paul speaks of the search for God, the groping to find truth, he very subtly adds that one does not really need to look far to find the true God.  God, he says, is very near to us at all times.  It doesn't require great learning to uncover God.  For God is, in fact, not hidden at all.  God is very near to each person.

            And, to illustrate this, Paul even uses the language of the Stoics themselves.  He calls upon them to recognize that it is this God in whom "we live and move and have our being."  It is this God whose offspring we are.  Of course, when the Stoics used those phrases, they were referring to the divine principle of cosmic rationality.  Paul, however, says that the one who truly fulfills these words is the God of Israel, the God who was revealed in the person of Jesus.

            Furthermore, to reach this God one does not have to have some special knowledge or understanding.  To relate to this God one does not have to go to certain shrines or pay homage to certain images.  This God desires repentance.  This God wants righteousness.  This God seeks relationship.  This God, it seems, is vastly different than any with whom the people of the Areopagus were familiar.  For the God that Paul speaks of is an active God, not a god that must be moved to action through sacrifices to some gold or silver effigy.  The God that Paul speaks of is a relational God, not an impersonal force or cosmic principle that regulates the universe.

            It is indeed a brilliant speech.  Paul has taken the conventional wisdom and the accepted customs of Athens and skillfully woven them together with his insights into the God which he follows and proclaims.  In doing so, the traditions and teachings of the Athenians are turned on their heads.  The wisdom of the philosophers is refuted.  The practices of the people are called into question.  The truth is revealed.

            And what exactly is the result of this masterful sermon?  Was it similar to the Pentecost sermon that Peter preached after which some 3000 people were baptized?  Or was it like Peter's later sermon to the friends and family of Cornelius, after which all of them were baptized as the first Gentile Christians?  No, the response to Paul's message was much less enthusiastic.  We are told that some scoffed, some were interested enough to want to hear more, but only a few actually believed what Paul had to say.  The end of the chapter mentions only two people "and others with them" who joined Paul and became believers.  And nowhere in the New Testament is any mention made of a church in Athens.

            Ancient Athens reminds me in many ways of our modern North American society.  Like the people of Athens, we claim to hold an "open" and "tolerant" view of different religious and philosophical ideals.  Like them, we place a very high value on reason and logic.  And like the ancient Athenians, our society is in the midst of a great spiritual quest, struggling with questions of meaning and purpose. 

            So it should come as little surprise that we tend to react with some skepticism as well to the radical claims of Christ.  We doubt anyone who claims that there is something such as "The Truth."  We distrust a god for whom relationships are a higher priority than reason, who proclaims love over logic.  And so we continue to struggle to find meaningful answers to our deep questions.

            Paul desperately tried to address the questions and concerns of the people of Athens.  This master wordsmith and prominent theologian gave a brilliant sermon that day.  But the Athenians simply could not comprehend the sort of God that he was talking about.  That God did not fit into their ideas about religion and philosophy and truth.  The words, no matter how well-spoken and how well thought out could not change their mindset conditioned by generations of custom and tradition.  It seems to me that the only thing that could have convinced them of the reality of this relational God would have been to be in relationship with one who personally knew God.

            Unfortunately, that was something that Paul didn't have time for right then.  He hadn't even planned on being in Athens.  He had just come there to escape some troublemakers in Beroea.  And we are told that soon after his famous speech at the Areopagus, he left town and headed to Corinth.  There, he met Priscilla and Aquila.  Silas and Timothy also soon joined him.  And for a year and a half they all worked together as a team, demonstrating indeed as well as in word the love and mercy of the God of Jesus Christ.

            Ultimately, the lesson we can learn from Paul's wise but rather unsuccessful venture into Athens seems to be that it takes more than words alone to change peoples' lives.  It takes time.  It takes commitment.  It takes relationship.

            Like ancient Athens, our society wants logical explanations.  It wants to know the answers to questions about life and meaning.  But it seems to me that those answers are not found in rational analysis or intellectual debates.  The answers to the ultimate questions are found in relationships, and in particular in relationship to God through Jesus Christ.  What society really needs, whether it knows it or not, is relationship, not rhetoric.

            So it seems to me that we as a church should maybe spend less time trying to convince people and more time trying to connect with them.  We should be less concerned with saying the right words and more concerned with doing the right works.  We should model ourselves less like a corporation or a university and more like a family—not a dysfunctional family like "The Simpsons" or an idealized, syrupy sweet family like "The Brady Bunch," but a real family that lives and laughs and loves together; that works and worries and weeps together; that disagrees and debates and differs with each other but always remains a family.

            We are indeed sisters and brothers of Christ.  We are, as Paul told the Athenians, children of the one true God.  And as we celebrate today one of the most important relationships in our lives, let us seek to apply the lessons we learned from that relationship to our relationships with one another and with the world.