Eight million dollars. That’s how much is to be spent this year to operate one radio telescope, that big one in Puerto Rico. One purpose of this gigantic electronic ear is to catch the faintest whisper of extra terrestrial life…if it exists. There are thousands of radio telescopes around the world. Think of all the money going to operate those things. Why do you suppose so much is spent on that kind of research when there are many other needs closer to home? Instead of straining to hear what E.T. might have to say shouldn’t we, for example, be listening to and addressing the needs of the homeless in our midst?
I think so much money is spent on trying to detect messages from outer space because the people of this world want confirmation that they’re not alone. They even hope that if there is life out there, it can somehow help us down here. Well believe it or not, I have a message from Mars to share with you this morning. It’s a message that assures us that we’re not alone and that there is someone out there to help us. No, this message is not from the planet Mars but Mars Hill, a hill in the ancient city of Athens where, a couple thousand years ago, the Apostle Paul preached. This message is for both non-Christians and Christians. To non-Christians, Paul says: “God is near you!” And to Christians, Paul reminds: “God is revealed through you!”
Paul ended up in Athens after being run out of Thessalonica and Berea on his second missionary journey. While he waited for his sidekicks, Timothy and Silas, to catch up with him, he toured Athens and noticed that its citizens were very religious. For starters, a huge temple dedicated to Athena, the supposed goddess of wisdom and war (among other things), crowned the city. Below the Parthenon, as this temple was called, were other temples and idols scattered throughout the main marketplace. On his jaunt through town one particular idol caught Paul’s eye. The inscription under the idol read: “To An Unknown God.” Paul used that as his opportunity to tell the Athenians about the true God. He did so beginning in the synagogue, and then in the marketplace, and finally on Mars Hill, a little hill above the marketplace where people eager to hear “new” ideas gathered. Listen to Paul’s message from Mars Hill. “Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you. 24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. 27 God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ 29 “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by man’s design and skill. 30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:22b-31).
“God is near you!” That summarizes Paul’s message to the non-Christian Athenians. It sounds positive doesn’t it? But if someone says to you on a climb up Mt. Everest, “You’re near the top!” it means that while you’re close, you haven’t reached your goal yet and so you’d better keep climbing. The goal of the Athenians was to be liked by God for they knew that there was a higher power who governed the world and who could make or break their life. They had done everything they could think of to please this God, but according to Paul, they hadn’t quite succeeded. What these Athenians failed to realize is just how immense and powerful God is. They thought they could build stone and metal statues to accurately represent him. And they figured they could manipulate him with the right animal sacrifice. No, it’s God that does the controlling, says Paul. “…he determined the times set for [men] and the exact places where they should live” (Acts 17:26b).
Do you remember why you moved into the house in which you now live? I’ll bet that was one of the biggest decisions you’ve made in your life. Well, God knew that you would be living where you are today – not just that it would be in Canada, Alberta, or even in St. Albert or Edmonton. He knew right down to the street address and house number. God knew this because he determined it before he created the world! One of the big jobs Sarah and I had as dorm parents at Luther Prep was to determine where all the students would live. It probably took us a week to finalize what rooms 500 different students would inhabit the following school year. So why did God go through the trouble to determine the exact places everyone in the world should live throughout their lifetime? Paul tells us. “God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us” (Acts 17:27).
God does not play hide and seek with the people he created. God determined the exact places we should live so that we would find him. Well if so, why do so many struggle to find him? When Paul said that God wants us to “reach out” for him, he used a Greek word to describe what a blind man does as he shuffles down the street. He holds his hand out in front of him and taps his cane with the other looking for a clear path. That’s a good picture of why it’s so hard to find God even though he is near us. By nature we are spiritually blind and while it is possible to know that there is a God from the world that he created and from our conscience, we cannot find out enough about him on our own to please him. And so we do what we think pleases God but even if it is the right thing, we still never do enough of it.
Take the Athenians for example. By all accounts they were civil people. In fact the West owes many of its concepts of civil government and justice from the Athenians. The Athenians also spent much of their time and money supporting the various temples in their city. In other words, they were “good” people, much like Canadians are thought to be “good.” But this didn’t stop Paul from saying that they had a need to repent for worshipping their idols.
Paul would say the same thing to us today too. We too have a need to repent of idolatry. Don’t think so? Then turn your attention to our Gospel lesson. In our Gospel lesson Jesus said that all those who love him will obey his commands (John 14:15). I say that I love Jesus and I really do, it’s just that I often love other things more than Jesus. For example I love having the guys accept me as one of them by laughing at their crude jokes rather than standing up for what it pure. I love ensuring that my bank account and retirement fund are topped up before I determine my offering to Jesus. I love spending time in the office if it means I don’t have to help with the parenting at home. Whenever I love myself or anything else more than Jesus and what he commands, I show myself to be an idolater.
That’s why Paul calls us to repent because the day is coming when God will judge the world with justice through the man he appointed (Acts 17:30, 31). That man of course is Jesus. Jesus a judge? Yes. He will judge all those who don’t believe that he is the one who paid for our sins on the cross. No other religious leader has done that or has even claimed to do that. All other religious leaders simply encourage you to be a good person. But God wants you to be more than good; God wants you to be perfect! That perfection is found only in Jesus. So non-Christians, you may think of yourself as being spiritual, but if you have not acknowledged that you sin daily and need forgiveness from Jesus, then you are like the Athenians of our text: near God, but not one with him.
Now members, you may be thinking, “Pastor, you’re preaching to the choir here. I don’t think there are any non-Christians in our midst this morning.” Well, that’s only for God to judge. But even if this is a church full of believers, there is still a message for us from Mars Hill, for Paul reminds us: “Christians, God is revealed through you!” You see if unbelievers are by nature blind, then they can only find the true God if someone points him out to them. That’s our privilege! We can learn a few things from Paul about sharing our faith.
The first thing that struck me is that while Paul’s stop in Athens wasn’t planned, he took advantage of the opportunity to tell the Athenians about Jesus. In the same way we don’t have to be on a formal canvassing call to tell people about Jesus. We are to do this wherever God places us, even if that’s at a rest area on the way to visit friends in Calgary. But we won’t see these opportunities if we don’t have the same attitude about unbelievers as did Paul. Paul was greatly distressed upon seeing all the idols in Athens (Acts 17:16). I suppose you would feel the same way too if you visited the temples of Japan and saw the millions of people worshipping there. But what would you think of the people? Would you look down on them for worshipping idols? Paul didn’t. He didn’t think the Athenians were dumb or belligerent in regard to spiritual matters and therefore not deserving of his witness. He loved them because he saw them as God’s children. God had made them to seek him, just as he had made Paul to seek him. And God had sent Jesus to die for them, just as Jesus had died for Paul. When we forget those facts, Brothers and Sisters, we’ll look at unbelievers as the enemy, people to avoid and shake our heads over, rather than people who need to be rescued from Satan and his lies.
Another thing we can learn from Paul is that while Paul didn’t look down on the Athenians he didn’t shy away from pointing out their sins. There is no way around this because if one doesn’t see his sins, he will see no need for a savior. One pastor (Mark Cares) put it this way: “We ought to care enough about our unbelieving friends that we say, with a genuine tear in our eye, ‘I’m afraid for you because you’re going to hell.’” I’m still asking for the courage to say those words to my unbelieving friends, but perhaps instead of courage I should be asking for love. It’s because I love my friends and family that I would say something like that.
The final thing I learn from Paul is not to be discouraged with the results of witnessing. Paul had preached to many in Athens but we only hear of a few converts (Acts 17:34). Was that discouraging for Paul? Perhaps. But he had done what he had been called to do. He made it clear to the people of Athens that God loved them very much and wanted them to enjoy eternal life with him through faith in Jesus. And so we too will keep sharing the Word and not become discouraged should only a few come to faith through these efforts.
A message from Mars. Did you ever think you’d hear something like that from this pulpit? Probably not. While millions of dollars are being spent trying to determine whether or not there is life out there, we know that eternal life is found right here, in God’s Word, and it’s free! While eternal life is free many will die without it. That’s not what God wants to happen. That’s why he’s placed us here, in St. Albert, in Edmonton, to reveal him to all. With God’s help we’ll do just that. Amen.
