Sermon based on Acts 17: 22-31. As many of you know we have many members as well as groups and people from the community who use our space for activities. It is a way to expand our hospitality but also a way to leverage our building to support our ministry. We have a few long term relationships, primarily athletic groups, particularly basketball and volleyball leagues and with Premier Leadership Academy, a public elementary school that uses our space daily during the academic year. Other groups are short term or for one day or night and will use our space for quinceanares or birthday parties or for other events.
For those who do not know, anyone --- other than members --- who wants to use our space needs to complete and sign a contract which details their responsibilities. Also, besides a contract in which they receive a copy, people also put down a deposit --- a deposit that may or may not be returned to them after the event depending on how they leave the space. After the contract is signed and the deposit made, we will then reserve that date for that person or group. One detail in the contract is that ten days before the event, a person is to have made their final payment based on a formula I will not bore you with.
Anyway, a week or two ago, a person from the community came in unhappy because they had either forgotten or for whatever reason had not given their final payment and per their contract they lost their reservation. They wanted to talk to me about the issue. One of the criticisms of this person was I was not being a Christian… I was not being true to my faith, in my treatment of this person because if I have been a Christian I would forgive her carelessness. Obviously that criticism was meant to hurt and to provoke a change in me and to be honest that criticism does bother me….
The reason I bring this up is first I want you to know our process so that when you are out and about in the community you can respond accurately to questions. The guidelines we have set up as a congregation for various groups and people to use our facility are meant to be fair and we do not discriminate.
But the main reason I bring all this up is because of the criticism; I am not being "Christian," I am not following my religion unless I live out my faith as this person requested. It is with that in mind that I noticed in our first lesson, the famous lesson where Paul preaches and teaches to the Greek elite on the large rock area called Areopagus or Mars Hill in the center of the ancient capital city of Athens.
And interestingly enough, the speech begins with Paul's attempt to show some respect for his audience with a compliment: "Athenians! I see that you are very religious in every way" (17:22b). Paul's evidence for their religiosity is not because they let people reserve space in the Parthenon just up the hill but rather a view taken from his tour of the city: "For as I walked around and carefully observed your objects of worship, I even discovered an altar upon which had been inscribed, 'To an unknown god'" (17:23a). Paul then uses the inscription as a point of departure for the remainder of his speech; yet within the compliment is an implicit criticism: "that which you worship in ignorance, this is what I am proclaiming to you" (17:23b). The Athenians had been worshipping an object, not a personal God, a "what," not a "whom."
You see, Paul pointedly began his speech with "I see you are very religious" ironically because the Athenians --- like this renter --- held to a common perception of religion --- it all is an attitude, one among others in a competitive environment.
There seems to be certain legitimacy to this position because so much about religion appears to revolve around a person's attitude towards life, the universe, and what is most important to them. That's what the Athenians thought. They were an intelligent people, just like us, and they saw what we see, that all around us are various voices deemed to be "religious." Now they expected Paul to behave like the other religious people they had encountered; "So Paul tell us what do you think about life, the universe and what's important."
But notice, Paul takes a different approach to helping the Athenians understand about his faith. First notice that in the past when Paul had spoken to people, Paul had begun by saying that Jesus is the fulfillment of Scripture, but that had been to a people in a different context, people immersed in what we call the Old Testament. Other people would take for granted that there is only one true God, the God of Israel, the God of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, and Jacob, Leah and Rachel. Not so the Greeks for that name dropping would be meaningless. The Athenians were open to there being many gods, many attitudes, and many philosophies.
And interestingly enough this is the world we live in. The space for gods is everywhere, all over the map. That was Athens in the first century. You see, before being invited up to this hill, the Athenians thought this Jesus that Paul had been talking about earlier was just another local god from another land, one novel god among many. Many of the Greek gods were like that, a concept personified as a god or goddess.
So how does Paul address these intelligent, worldly Athenians? Here at the Areopagus, Paul says there is one, creator God. In other words, Paul is saying faith is more than a gracious, nice attitude, one true God is more than just another good idea from a strange land, not just something we need to add to our "things to know" so that all our bases are covered.
Rather Paul says this "unknown god" this faith that I have is different because it begin with: "The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in hand made spaces, nor is God served by human hands, as though God needed anything, since God gives all us all life and breath and everything."
So here is Paul's introduction into his preaching the gospel to worldly folk. It is the doctrine of Creation: That there is only one true God, the Creator of all. There are not many gods, the creation of our own imagination. Humanity does not create God. No, it's the other way around: God has created humanity. And as created beings we are all loved by this God.
What does that mean practically for us? Well, we all struggle daily with the fact that we live in a diverse world. It is easy to get bogged down about what it means to "live the Christian life" or "make Christian choices." Our confusion can go so deep that we are unsure not only about particular issues, but also on our understanding of morality itself. There seems to be constant disagreement between those who believe that every choice is either right or wrong and those who believe that there are many shades of rightness and wrongness complicate every issue.
It is often frustrating, because we live in a pluralistic society and we live and interact with people from a variety of backgrounds, experiences, customs, religions and cultures. We may personally know atheists, Christian fundamentalists, New Age advocates, Muslims, Buddhists and many others. These people not only have differing beliefs, but they may hold to widely different convictions as well. Furthermore, many of our loved ones who we thought had been "trained right" in the Christian faith are largely absent leaving us feeling marginalized and empty. Living in a world with that kind of diversity can certainly test our patience, but this diversity can also provide the ingredients for a vital, engaging and interesting time to live. It was for Paul; it is for us.
Because our faith is more than an attitude, it is more than a view on life that holds up our walls, rather we begin with the basic notion that God has created all and this world we live in and that we are loved by this God, so much so that God came in the form of a man named Jesus, who lived, died, rose and ascended back to God. And how do we respond to that creator, loving God seen in Jesus? We respond with justice because love is at the core. Love creates concern for justice and love brings mercy and compassion into a competitive, diverse world.
Why begin with a loving creator God? It is like the famous story of Vince Lombardi, an American football coach from the 1950's and 60's who after a horrible game, began practice the next day by picking up the familiar oblong, leather ball and in a deliberate manner asked a question with five simple words: "Men, this is a football." To which one of his players who reportedly understood exactly where Lombardi was going said, "Hold on, Coach, you're going too fast!"
Is faith in a loving, creator God easy or well understood? Because if we take a peek at the very end of today's story some of Paul's diverse audience mocked him (17:32a), others promised to hear him again (17:32b), and still others "joined him and believed" (17:34). Is faith a positive attitude toward negligent renters? I want to be a witness to a loving, creator God in a diverse world! Amen.