Finding the Right Words
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| Raphael, St. Paul Preaching in Athens (1515), Victoria and Albert Museum, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons |
Then Paul
stood up at the Areopagus and said: “You Athenians, I see that in every respect
you are very religious. For as I walked
around looking carefully at your shrines, I even discovered an altar inscribed,
‘To an Unknown God.’ What therefore you
unknowingly worship, I proclaim to you. The
God who made the world and all that is in it, the Lord of heaven and earth, does
not dwell in sanctuaries made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands
because he needs anything. Rather it is
he who gives to everyone life and breath and everything.” (Acts 17:22-25)
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| Duccio di Buoninsegna, Christ Taking Leave of the Apostles, (c. 1308-1311), Museo dell Opera Metropolitana dell Duomo, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons |
And I will ask the Father, and he will
give you another Advocate
to be with you always, the Spirit of truth. (John 14:16-17a)
Jesus said
to his disciples: “I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will
guide you to all truth. (John 16:12-13a)
Piety
Lord, may your Holy Spirit give us the words to
use when talking to others about faith.
Study
When I was in seminary learning how to preach,
one of the most important things I learned is to consider your
congregation. Who are they? What are their interests? What are their lives like? The truth of the Scriptures is the same
wherever you go. Still, if you’re preaching to farmers and their families, for
example, you might pick different illustrations than if you were preaching to a
congregation in Washington, DC.
Paul does a great job assessing his audience
in Athens. Athens, in his day, is the
cultural center of the Mediterranean.
People in that city pride themselves on their philosophical thinking and
their erudite discussions. When the
Apostle arrives, he takes his time looking the city over. Paul sees evidence of idolatry at every
turn. It won’t be easy to convince the
Athenians to accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
However, he has noticed one statue he thinks he can use to spark their
interest. It is dedicated to an unknown
god. He uses that as his opening. He says he will tell them about this unknown God
and begins to talk about God, the Creator, who is everywhere, giving life to
everything that is.
Paul even quotes a Greek poet, Epimenides (c.
600 BC), who wrote about God that “in him, we live and move and have our being.”1 Paul does his best to use whatever might
appeal to the Athenian intellect.
Unfortunately, there is one insurmountable stumbling block - the idea of
resurrection from the dead. Once he
mentions it, all listening stops, and people begin arguing with him. A few do come back to talk to Paul privately,
and a small number actually become followers of Christ, but as far as we know,
Paul kicks the dust off his feet in Athens and goes straight to Corinth.
In the Gospel reading, Jesus is still talking
with his disciples after their last meal together. Their hearts are heavy. They left everything behind to follow Jesus. What will they do without him? Besides anxiety about the future, they must
have been feeling anticipatory grief.
They love their leader and can’t imagine life without him.
Jesus knows his friends. His heart aches for them. He is going to leave because that’s his Father’s
will for him. He does his best to
console these men he dearly loves. Yes,
he will be gone, but he isn’t leaving them to go on alone. Jesus says the Spirit of truth will come to
guide them. From our vantage point, we
know how the power of the Holy Spirit transforms and galvanizes the disciples
into action, but, at this moment, it’s a promise of a future they can’t imagine.
Action
Paul did everything right
before he addressed the Athenians. He took
the time to observe them and their culture.
He tailored his message to them, using what he had learned from visiting
their city. But his trip to this great
center of culture wasn’t the resounding success he had hoped for. Most of us know that feeling. We have family and friends who aren’t
believers. Try as we might pray as hard
as we do, they show little interest in God.
Don’t despair. God sees our
efforts. Continue to pray for them. Like Paul, move on to spread the Good News in
other, more fertile pastures. In your
prayers today, you could especially lift before the Lord, all the souls you
have been praying for.
And take a few minutes to
remember all the times Jesus reached out to you when you were feeling anxious
or sad or grief-stricken and not sure about the future. We have a Lord who wants to give us whatever
comfort we need.
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