Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. 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. 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, 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. (Acts 17:22-27 NRSV).
Shift words in a text can make all the difference so note how the above passage in the NRSV begins with the word: ‘Then’ (although not all translations do add this). Similarly, a preceding passage (verse 19) also begins with another shift word. ‘So, they took him and brought him to the Areopagus and asked him “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting’.
Paul had no doubt been over-heard discussing religion ‘in the market-place with the people who happened to come by.‘(verse 17) So, it is clear that Paul did not suddenly take it upon himself to go to the centre of the sophisticated and philosophical world and berate the pagans in front of the Areopagus (Council of Philosophers), no he was actually invited, by people with very different views, to give an account of his own beliefs.
Today, we, like Paul, have to share our faith in the market place of ideas. It is true that even in the most secular of times many people are, like those Greeks, comparing and contrasting what is on offer from the plethora of gods and spiritualities out there. A lot of water has passed under the bridge since Christianity washed up upon the shores of the British Isles. No longer can we expect the footfall into many of our traditional churches to be as it was. The reality is that the engagement about beliefs has not stopped, it continues in the faith centres, but also more frequently now in the market-place with whomever we encounter and in the online secular public square. Thankfully there are Christian apologists, skilled academically and intellectually, who do take part, despite hostility and mockery, in the philosophical debates of today.
Paul too was a gifted orator with linguistic abilities, speaking Greek and Hebrew, so competent in the languages of the various groups he addressed. I wonder what language we communicate our faith in? By that I don’t mean are we gifted in another language other than our mother tongue, but are we conversant in the language of today’s world? When people who are seeking something different but don’t know what, or rather who, it is their soul craves, are we, as we present the Gospel, speaking their cultural language? Paul, born in the Hellenized city of Tarsus, a student under Rabbi Gamaliel in Jerusalem, a citizen of Rome with a penchant for travel, as well as plenty of attitude, was well prepared for his pioneer ministry. Similarly, our personality traits, our life experiences can all be used by God to help us connect to people and we pray that what we mean to say is what they actually hear. We may not have years of study behind us, nor Paul’s boldness, or even his calling as an Apostle, but we are all called to be ministers of the gospel with the gifts of the Holy Spirit at our disposal. It may be worth looking again at ourselves, or listening to others’ assessment of us, to see how God has been preparing our lives to share the gospel of Jesus today. What skills do we have lying dormant? Or are there new ones we feel we could acquire, tools that could be used by God to help us converse with those simply acknowledging an unknown god. The Old, Old Story, is such Good News, if only we could find new ways to tell it to those for whom it is may be just one of many ideologies on offer.
‘His purpose in all this was that people of every culture and religion would search for this ultimate God, grope for Him in the darkness, as it were, hoping to find Him. Yet in truth ,God is not far from any of us.’ (Acts 17:27 The Voice translation)
Prayer
Almighty, All Knowing and Loving God,
I pray that the same Spirit of Boldness that equipped the early disciples will fall upon me,
I pray for the Spirit of Wisdom to rest upon me in everything I say and do in your Name,
So that those who overhear that I am ‘religious’, will then ask me to explain the hope that is within me, I pray my answer will be such that they will be so minded to say to me as they did to Paul,
‘We want to hear you speak about this again.’
In the Name of Jesus, we ask that we may all embrace the enabling power of Pentecost, so we too will witness creatively, sensitively, yet unashamedly, of the Love of God for all. Amen.
Elisabeth Sweeney-Smith