Opening remarks
God is good … All the time. All the time … God
is good.
Bring picture of Community United Methodist
church and the prayer quilt Linda made.
During these last messages, I have continued
preaching the way I usually do. I have not wanted to make these last messages
about what the next stage of my life. After all, we still need to worship,
regardless of the stage of life for the pastor. I have not talked much about
this, but I usually follow the lectionary. It has four readings (psalm, OT,
epistle, and gospel). I usually simply choose one of the readings to focus my
preaching. I have done so for many years.
However, I would like to share a few things
with you today.
Those persons on the Staff-Parish Committee
and the Administrative Council have been meeting. You will be hearing more
about that after Nick and Elaina arrive. So far, it looks like Cross~Wind will
be working on becoming a congregation that focuses on developing new relationships,
being purpose driven, becoming invitational, and have a strategic approach to
ministry.
Michael asked Lynn what I was like as a child.
She said he is today what he was like then in that he loved God and the church.
Mom took us to church Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and Wednesday. I spent
time in my room on homework, studying the Bible, and strat-o-matic baseball. Yes,
baseball was an important part of my life in those days and into college.
Like all
persons, I have had my joys and sorrows. The therapy of everyday life and the
therapy of being part of the Body of Christ have worked healing, guidance, and
liberation. I have learned the wisdom I find in Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together. We need to love the
real church and real people. I have learned that my love for Jesus and the
Bible have been my constants through the many changes of an adult life. Like
many other pastors, I have learned that when you move, you make some people sad
and some people happy. My point here is that I hope this is a time for
extending grace and forgiveness. Life is too short and valuable to waste it on
bitterness and holding on to the past. Part of the work of God is free us from
the prison we often make for ourselves.
I offer a
bit of what I hope will be wisdom.
First, you
can enjoy your life, even when it surprises you. I want you to know that
through all the up and down, hills and valleys, twists and turns, I have
enjoyed what I have done with my life. I am thankful for the people whose lives
have intersected with mine. I hope they are thankful for their lives
intersecting with mine.
Second,
keep learning. Curiosity about life is always a good thing. The primary focus
of my learning has been following Jesus. I have sought to help people follow
Jesus with greater clarity and depth. This has meant inviting people to have a
personal relationship with Jesus and to make the Bible an important part of
their lives.
Third, we
experience phases or stages in our lives. Such stages bring losses that cause
grief combined with new adventures. Another phase of my life is beginning. I want
to live it well. Such phases remind me that a human life is a series of endings
and beginnings. The beauty of this truth is that the page I wrote yesterday
does not determine the page I write today. Many things I need to leave behind,
for if I carry them with me into retirement they will become a weight that will
make it harder than it needs to be. I have much for which to ask forgiveness. I
also have much gratitude.
Fourth, be sure to relax.
As I look back, some dreams I need to put
aside. They served me well for that time. The time has passed. I need to let
them go in the spirit of an old friend who has served the purpose of keeping me
moving in the right direction. I
hesitatingly suggest that our dreams carry us along through the various stages
of life. If a dream is like a river, then we must not settle for the safety of
the shore. We must sail where the dream takes us.
I have had people ask me what I am going to do
in retirement. I do not know – yet. I know I will want to relax. I will want to
continue learning and helping other people learn. I will continue writing. However,
for the most part, let us see where the Spirit leads. Some doors that seemed
closed may open. Some dreams that seemed to have died may find a way toward
rebirth. I do not see clearly the past or the future. Only God has eyes to see
that clearly.
I invite you to reflect upon the stage of life
in which you find yourself. How are you doing with enjoying, learning,
transitions in life, and relaxing?
Sermon
Acts 17:22-31
22 Then Paul stood in
front of the Areopagus and said, "Athenians, I see how extremely religious
you are in every way. 23 For as I went through the city and looked
carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the
inscription, 'To an unknown god.' What therefore you worship as unknown, this I
proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and everything in it,
he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands,
25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything,
since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. 26
From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he
allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where
they would live, 27 so that they would search for God and perhaps
grope for him and find him-- though indeed he is not far from each one of us. 28
For 'In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own
poets have said, 'For we too are his offspring.' 29 Since we are
God's offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver,
or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. 30
While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all
people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which
he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed,
and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead."
Year A
Sixth Sunday of Easter
May 21, 2017
Cross~Wind
Title: 4 Ways we can say God has the world in his hands
Introducing the passage
The theme of Acts 17:22-34 relates
the speech of Paul in Athens. This passage brings back a good memory from
college. It was one of my first studies in a New Testament Greek class. I thought
I did a great job. When I got the paper back from the professor, he had fun
with marking in red his disagreement with my interpretation. I thought I had
blown it. However, at the end, he gave me an A for the paper. It reminds me of
the way professors should be. He did not change my mind, however. I will share
with you my view of the passage, but be aware that many would take it a
different direction.
These verses are the only discourse
addressed to Gentiles in Acts. The
speech shows its concern to pick up previous knowledge of the Christian God by
means of the theme of affinity between God and the works of creation. He will refer to creation, preservation, and
redemption. My approach to this passage is that it shows a generous approach
and appeal to those who do not share the knowledge of the Bible that Jews and
Christians had. He commends them for their curiosity in spiritual matters.
Polytheism has an ability to absorb into itself conflicting beliefs regarding
the gods. God made all that we see, but does not live in the shrines we make.
We have a common ancestry and therefore a common spiritual quest. God preserves
what God has created. He will quote from Greek poets as he makes his appeal. If
all this is true, then surely they see the absurdity of idolatry. In making his
appeal for repentance, he points to the promise of the redemption of creation
through the one whom the Father raised from the dead. However, mentioning
resurrection shuts down the conversation. Only a few people will respond.
Church history will not record a significant congregation in Athens until
around 170 AD.
Introduction
Billboard tracks gospel music as a
separate genre, but occasionally a gospel song crosses over and leaps to the
top of the pop charts. For example, in 1969 "Oh Happy Day" by the
Edwin Hawkins Singers reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, and
in 1971 "Put Your Hand in the Hand (of the Man)" by Ocean peaked at
No. 2 on the same chart.
Only one gospel song has ever
reached No. 1 on a U.S. pop singles chart, however, and it was in 1958. Do you
know what it was? It was -- wait for it -- "He's Got the Whole World in
His Hands," as recorded by a young British boy named Laurie London (he was
only 14 in 1958), accompanied by the Geoff Love Orchestra.
In April 1958, London's rendition
of the song reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and remained there for
four weeks. In the United States, it was the most successful record by a
British male in the 1950s, and it sold over a million copies. The Record
Industry Association of America awarded the song a gold disc the same year. For
all that, and though London went on to make other recordings, "He's Got
the Whole World in His Hands" was his only hit record.
Now here is the question: Do you
believe God has the "whole world in his hands"? Some might reply,
"Well, of course I do. Why else would I be here in church this day?"
Nevertheless, others might respond, "Yes, I'm here, but sometimes I'm not
so sure. There is so much trouble and pain in the world, including in my corner
of it. Sometimes it seems as if nobody has the world in his hands."
Acts 17:22-31 is of some help as we
reflect upon such matters.
Application
First, "In him we live and move and have our
being."
In saying this, Paul asserted that
not only his own life, but also the lives of the Athenians, were in God's
hands. "In him we live and move and
have our being," is just another way of saying, "He's got the
whole world in his hands."
Perhaps you understand this
intuitively because there is something in your heart that wants to connect with
Something or Someone bigger than you.
However, to express it in a
contemporary context, let us think about the apostle Paul showing up in a Times
Square Starbucks. What do you suppose Paul would say if he showed up not on the
Areopagus in ancient Athens, but in New York City? What if he undertook his
teaching not on the brow of a Greek hill surrounded by temples, but rather
inside a Starbucks, handing out mocha lattes all around?
"Americans, I see how
extremely religious you are, in every way," Paul might begin. Instead of
speaking of temples to unknown gods, he might say something like this:
"I have observed how many of you
are fond of saying, 'I'm spiritual, but not religious.' I'm aware how increasing
numbers of you never cross the threshold of a church or synagogue or even a
mosque, but spend hours browsing religious books at Barnes & Noble. Many of
you wear crosses around your necks, but hardly know why. You finger them in
moments of fear or anxiety and feel vaguely comforted. You sit at home,
channel-surfing the televangelists and religious talk shows, hoping to glean
some spiritual comfort, but you never linger long enough to submit yourselves
to their teachings. You have an insistent curiosity about things religious, and
vow that one day you will do something about it. But somehow you never find the
time ... you just never find the time."
The religious or spiritual impulse is a significant clue to
the reality of God in our world and God's sovereignty over it. In varying
degrees, most of us have that same hunger, although we may be more aware of it
at some times and seasons of our lives than at others. We may or may not have
pursued it, but this "will to believe" (to use William James'
expression) can help us to know who has "the whole world in his
hands."
Yet, even if we think this way, we
still have much to consider.
Yet,
even if we think this way, we still have much to consider. Unfortunately, we
get our categories of reasoning confused.
Second,
we still have no proof.
Such
language comes out of the realm of science and math. We cannot prove, with the
application of math and science, the affirmation that "he's got the whole
world in his hands." It is just not that kind of conversation. Although
such discussions can be interesting and perhaps, for some, even persuasive,
ultimately, whether you are evangelist Billy Graham or atheist Christopher
Hitchens, we have no proof that holds up under the scrutiny of the scientific
rules of evidence. Third, what we know, we know by faith.
Faith is a form of reasoning. The affirmation that God has "the whole world in his hands" is a conversation involving a different way of reasoning than that of science and math. Such a conversation is still reasonable. Think of it this way. Every life-shaping decision we make has element of faith and hope in it. We choose a career, we choose a spouse, and we chose to live by a set of core beliefs and values. Each will require of us a leap of faith. Yet, the leap is still reasonable. Relatively trivial decisions we make based largely on good information, such as cars or houses. However, what do you want out of life? What do you want in a spouse? Why did you like that professor? Important things in our lives contain reasoning that includes elements of faith and hope. Faith in God is a choice like that.
The fourth thing to consider is
that it is not about overcoming doubt
or having all questions answered.
God knows the ultimate answers to
life. We know only in part. Yes, we can know a lot. We can understand, we can
come to terms with, we can accept -- a lot. Nevertheless, ultimate, full,
all-comprehending knowledge is beyond our pay grade. We live on a "need to
know" basis, and we have to be comfortable with that. Some things are for
God and God alone to know.
Yet, we know that, as the apostle
Paul reminds us in this text, "In
him we live and move and have our being." Another way of saying that
is, “He’s got the whole world in his hands.” When our lives are in turmoil and
when the world seems spinning out of control, “He’s got the whole world in his
hands.” Having that kind of faith and hope will help you relax and bring more
peace and love into the world.
Conclusion
Lord knows that there are so many struggles
and crises in our lives that we sometimes feel that nobody has the world in his
hands. Nobody is at the wheel. We have so many questions that we often seem to
be wandering in circles.
However, the Lord knows us, too, and
says to us, "Come unto me. I am the Alpha and Omega. I am the Way, the
Truth and the Life. You need not wander or wonder. You know me, you know God.
And I will be with you always, even unto the end of the age."
Amen.
Going deeper
Nauck in 1956 discovered three different groups of motives
in the Areopagus speech: creation in verses 24-26a, 27-28, preservation in
verse 26b and redemption in verses 31, and succeeded in demonstrating the same
scheme of motives in the missionary literature of Hellenistic Judaism. In addition, he indicates the occurrence of
the same scheme in early Jewish and early Christian writings. His conclusion is that 'the structural
pattern which is frequent in tradition makes it advisable not to take the
combination of the three themes in the Areopagus speech as Luke’s theological
conception. He showed that the mission
speech of Paul is not the creation of Luke. Rather, mission activity made him
aware of this approach. This is a history of religions approach to tradition.
Verses 32-34, the name of Dionysius the Areopagite probably comes from
tradition.
For some
interpreters, Paul in his writings presupposes the scheme of motives in the
Areopagus speech that is rooted in tradition. Thus, in I Thessalonians 1:9-10
refers to a report of how his readers turned away from false gods to serve the
true and living God. This would be similar to the opening of this speech. Then,
reminding us of verse 31, Paul says they wait for the Son to come from heaven.
The Son is Jesus, whom God brought back to life. Jesus is the one who rescues
us from the coming anger of God. Then, in Romans 1:18-2:16, Paul also refers to
the anger of God in connection with creation only hear the focus is upon how
people can know God but refuse to do so. Instead, they turn to immorality and
physical images of God. The judgment of God was allowing action to have
consequence. His argument expands to those who would judge such persons also
judge themselves. God will be angry with those who pass judgment on those whose
only knowledge of God is creation. Whether Jew or Gentile, those who do what is
right receive glory, honor and peace, for God does not play favorites. He
grants that those who sin without having the law will receive condemnation.
Yet, those who have the law and disobey it will also receive judgment. Those
who obey will receive approval. The conscience will be law enough by which God
will judge those who do not have the law. The point here is that taken as a
whole, the argument of Paul is almost taking the typical Jewish polemic against
the Gentile and turning it back upon itself, opening door for some graciousness
and judgment from God upon both Jew and Gentile. However, the theme of
preservation is not present, though one might presuppose it as an extension of
remarks about creation. For others, this
speech has an argument from affinity with God, which Paul could not have used because
he saw the basic alienation of humanity from God. The speech also contains a proof from
creation, which in Paul is only a lost possibility. In each of these cases, we can see a certain
interpretation of Paul at work that is at least arguable. One can assume that
Paul gave at least one speech to the Gentiles, the basis of which Luke has
preserved in this speech. Still other
scholars think it more likely that Luke and Paul know a similar type of sermon
to the Gentiles independently of one another.
Damaris and Dionysius the Areopagite are probably historical, though not
necessarily connected with this mission, since Paul says the household of
Stephanus in Corinth was the first fruits here.
We may make the well-founded historical assumption that Paul did not
have much missionary success in Athens, for an Athenian community has no
recognizable role in his plans for his mission, journeys and collection. Moreover, only around 170 do we hear of a
Christian community in Athens.
Therefore, for many scholars, the historical results of the study of
this passage are relatively thin.
Paul draws
upon monotheistic argument against polytheism and idolatry among Hellenistic
Jews. Some philosophers point to these texts as proof that Paul saw and used
similarities between Christian theology and the belief systems of others
cultures gently to lead listeners toward some commonly held truths. Paul is in
the heart of intellectualism at this time.
Epicureans and Stoics were especially prominent. Others scholars examine these texts and find
a strictly missionary oriented speech.
They find Paul’s words to the Athenians confrontational, indeed
combative. However, it is the context of
Paul’s speech as well its concluding remarks that ultimately define it as yet
another of his genuinely missionizing performances. Granted, there is more logical progression
than emotional appeal in this text. Paul is not impressed with this city, the
place of Plato and Pericles. Paul is
eager to argue with anyone in whatever world he finds himself.
Acts 17:22-34
[In verses 22-23, the unknown God is God, but not another
foreign god but one known to them, yet unknown. Pannenberg will refer to the
following verses as “milder sayings” on the theme of other religions, even
though in Romans 1:20ff, Paul adopts the Jewish polemic against pagan religions
with a view to turning the judgment upon the Jews themselves. He does not think
those verses are an exhaustive evaluation of the phenomenon of non-biblical
religions.[1]]
22 Then Paul
stood in front of the Areopagus and said, "Athenians, [As Paul begins his talk, he inclusively
addresses all Athenians, not any particular philosophical or religious group.] I see how extremely religious you are in every way. [Paul uses their legendary curiosity to see
if they were willing to listen to some new ideas. Scholars who see this speech
as sympathetic and inclusive hear Paul gently praising the natural religiosity
of the Athenians. Antiquity recognized the Athenians as the most religious of
all Greeks. Their religious yearning, even though a scandal to a Jew, is the
inarticulate and uninformed yearning of the pagan for the God that only the
Scriptures can disclose.] 23 For as I went through the city and looked carefully at
the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription,
'To an unknown god.' [Paganism
appears to have a virtually limitless ability to absorb into itself conflicting
beliefs, tolerating all things as personal opinion rather than fact. He builds
upon what they were able to accomplish with the altar to the unknown God.
Greeks did dedicate altars "to the unknown gods" to please gods whose
names they did not know.] What therefore you
worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. [Verses 24-26a have the theme of creation. First, God is creator of
the universe, and therefore does not need a place to dwell or does need our
worship. In verses 24-27, the true God is creator and ruler, and God's purpose
is that people seek and find God, though this has not happened yet.] 24 The God
who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth,
does not live in shrines made by human hands, 25 nor is he served by
human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all
mortals life and breath and all things. [We find a thought common in Greek thought and Hellenistic Judaism.
One can also see I Chronicles 29:11,
where everything belongs to the Lord, Psalm 5O:9-13, where God made all things
and therefore does not need sacrifices, and Amos 5:21, where God hates their
festivals. Good Jew that he is, Paul sees Athens as little more than a
wasteland full of idols.] 26 From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the
whole earth, [Our common
ancestry puts us on the same spiritual quest. God who created all things is
also the source of the human race. If we continue with this irenic
understanding of Paul’s speech, his reference to a common ancestor for all
peoples is a further example of his attempt to make his Athenian audience feel
they are already an integral part of the truth Paul is revealing. They have felt the divine presence, but have
mistakenly constructed altars to a variety of gods.] [Verse 26b has the theme of preservation. The point is that the
order of the universe leads to knowledge of God.] and he allotted the times [seasons] of their
existence and the boundaries [possibly
separating the habitable world from the Abyss] of the
places where they would live,
[Verses 27-28 returns to the theme of creation.] 27
so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him--
though indeed he is not far from each one of us. 28 For 'In him we
live and move and have our being'; [Epimenides of Cnossos in the 6th Century BC] as even
some of your own poets have said, 'For we too are his offspring.' [A quotation from the Phaunomena of Aratus of the 3rd Century BC, as well as Cleanthes
the Stoic.] [Second, God created
humanity, and therefore it is absurd to make idols.] 29 Since we are God's offspring, we ought not to think that
the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and
imagination of mortals. [One can
see Isaiah 40:20 behind this argument. Monotheistic preaching said that
if people are created in God's image, it is absurd to be idolaters. He quotes
the context of the Greek poets. The
sermon is a forerunner of the apologists of the second century.] 30 While God has
overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere
to repent,
[The point is that the way of salvation through creation has proven
impractical.] [Verses 31 has the theme of redemption.] 31 because he has fixed a
day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness [appeal for repentance is against the
background of judgment] by a man whom he has
appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the
dead." [The
resurrection becomes the central point. Since creation has not been sufficient,
Paul asserts that one can know God only through revelation. He then
risks rejection by revealing that a leap of faith is required. It is beyond human understanding. Since God wanted to bring salvation, God has
offered Jesus Christ. Christ's resurrection justifies belief in his
coming as judge and Savior. In his discussion of baptism, conversion, and
penitence, Pannenberg says that Christian mission has taken to all nations the
summons to turning or conversion to God in the sense of turning to the one only
true God of Israel and of Jesus Christ, linking that call to baptism.[2]]
32 When they heard of
the resurrection of the dead, some scoffed; but others said, “We will hear you
again about this.” 33 At that point Paul left them. 34 But
some of them joined him and became believers, including Dionysius the
Areopagite and a woman named Damaris, [likely from the tradition of the church in Athens.] and others with
them.
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