22 Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, "Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; 23 "for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD…. Acts 17:22-23a (NKJV)
It is said that in Athens during Paul’s day there were 20,000 gods. We look at the ruins of Athens today, and see fragments of many statues. We view and protect them as art. We learned about Greek gods in school, and we call it mythology.
The sad thing is – to the Athenians, these were not just fables, or works of art. They were gods. They worshipped them. They built monuments to them.
I am privileged to travel to India often… It is said that there are some 3.5 million gods in the Hindu pantheon. Of course nobody knows all of them – and I’m not quite sure where they came up with that number. But all over India you will see statues.
I often eat at an Indian restaurant here in town, and just inside the front entrance is a statue of a pot-bellied figure, with four arms and the head of an elephant. This is a statue of a Hindu god named Ganesha.
According to Hindu mythology, Ganesha’s mother was Parvati, the incarnation of the great goddess. Her husband was Shiva, revered as one of the three prime deities in Hinduism. There are many stories of how Ganesha supposedly got his elephant head… The most common story is that Parvati was taking a bath, and instructed her son Ganesha to guard the door of her quarters to keep out intruders. Shiva came home, and Ganesha would not let him in. Shiva was infuriated, and struck Ganesha with his trident, decapitating him. Parvati came out, and was so furious at Shiva, she demanded he restore his head and life. The problem was, Shiva had flung his head so far away with his trident, that they could not find it. So Shiva took off the head of the first animal he found – an elephant – and placed it on the boy’s shoulders.
Because of his role at the entrance to Parvati’s quarters, Ganesha is revered by Hindus as the protector of entrances. Worshipping Ganesha is thought to bring success to the entrance, or start, of any venture, and so businessmen will often enter their office and pray to Ganesha as they start their day.
When I first started visiting the great country of India, I actually liked the statue of Ganesha – it is to me a very interesting work of art. And to many that walk into the Indian restaurant here in town – that’s all it is. But I think I may feel a bit like Paul did, walking around the streets of Athens. I’m sobered – even grieved – when I walk into the lobby of this restaurant. Because I know it is not just a work of art to the owners of that restaurant... It is a monument to their god.
Remember I said that there are some 3.5 million gods in the Hindu pantheon? What that means of course – is there are a lot of gods that are unknown. And there is endless quest, in the Hindu mindset, to come to a greater awareness of these unknown gods. That’s what yoga is all about.
Here in America, yoga is becoming a more popular thing. But you know what yoga is? The practice of yoga is based in Hinduism. Its purpose is to shut out all distractions – to make your mind stop working, and to open yourself up to a greater awareness of diety.
The Greeks had a little different approach. They erected a monument specifically dedicated To the Unknown God. But whether it is demonstrated by a yogic pursuit of 3.5 million gods or by a statue to the unknown god – there is a problem faced by all that worship the gods of earth.
We recognize that whatever we are worshipping is not enough. We admit that there is an elusive god out there somewhere, that we cannot identify.
You might say, “Pastor – I do’t have any statues in my house.” I believe you. Here in America, most of us don’t worship at the feet of statues. But we do worship - something.
Let me tell you what I see as the greatest problem in America today. We say we’re a Christian nation. And we tend to excuse ourselves because we don’t have statues of the Greek god Zeus. We don’t build altars to Ganesha. But the problem is, we’re still building altars. We’re just hard-pressed to identify who those altars are really for…
I want to preach to you, for the next few minutes, about our Monuments to the Unknown.
The Greeks, the Hindus, and we American’s aren’t the only people that have this problem… Jesus had a very similar discussion with the woman of Samaria.
21 Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." John 4:21-24 (NIV)
First of all – I want to talk about building monuments. I’m using the word monument because it is something that we tend to do here in America. I lived in the Washington DC area for several years, and I always enjoyed visiting the monuments. My favorite was the Lincoln Memorial. All of them are incredible architectural wonders.
Monuments are great structures that represent the ideals in our life - those things that are most important to us. A great deal of passion and effort goes into building a monument. Often it is the work of a lifetime.
There are other words we could use, which have slightly different meanings. We could call it a memorial. A memorial represents the things we want people to remember – that we want to remember ourselves.
We could call it a shrine. This adds the context of a building or shelter. We think of this as a place where we can escape from the noise, and regain our focus.
Another word we could call it is the word Paul used. We could call it an altar. This is a place where we go to worship and serve. Originally, it is a place where we make sacrifices to our gods.
Whether you call it a monument, a memorial, a shrine, or an alter – there is some ideal in your life that you are building a monument to. What I want you to consider today is – to what?
We all work hard at something. We’re all building monuments in life.
All of us are working on a memorial. This is what we want people to think of when they think of us.
All of us build shrines in our lives. It is our retreat, our safe place. It is the place we go when things are out of control. For some it may be work. For some, it may be drugs. For some, it may be sports.
All of us have an altar in our lives. It is a place of sacrifice. You might say, I don’t make sacrifices to anyone or anything. I live for myself. But I guarantee you that you have made sacrifices to become who you are today. You’ve made many trips to an altar, and you’ve sacrificed money, you’ve sacrificed comfort, you’ve sacrificed relationships. You may have even sacrificed yourself.
There is nothing necessarily wrong with building these monuments. We all need a memorial. We all need a shrine. And we all need an altar. What I’m asking you today is – who are building it to? There is something out there that you are trying to achieve. There is a god that you are trying to satisfy.
What is the work of your life? Who is the monument of your life to? Some of you know the answer. Some of you can identify that God without hesitation. Some of you can say, without even thinking about it – the ideal that I am pursuing is this.
And I would say that in this room, a high percentage of you know the answer to this question. You can answer it because you have actually met God. You’ve identified Him. You know that his name is Jesus. And you are building the monument of your life to Him.
But if your life is not focused on Jesus today – may I ask you what it is focused on? What is the ideal that you are trying to achieve? What is the purpose of your focus? You make sacrifices every day –
I’m asking you to consider why?
What it boils down to is this. Some of you have been building for years. You’ve been sacrificing for years. You’ve been applying diligent focus for years. But the truth is – to this day you’re not sure what you’re focusing on.
You’ve fallen into the same quandary that the Greeks and the Hindus have. You realize that there is something out there that deserves your worship. There is some elusive god that you have not yet appeased.
In short – you still have not discovered your purpose. And the monument of your life is still a Monument to the Unknown.
Like Paul did on Mars Hill so many years ago – please let me introduce Jesus to you. He is the creator of your life. As your creator, He is the one that gives you purpose. And he is the God of all gods. A monument built to Him is the most worthy of monuments.
As Jesus said to the woman at the well – salvation can only come from a God that you know. And Jesus is the only God that you can know. To serve any other is to serve too small a god. To build any other monument is to build it to the unknown.
One of my favorite songs is one sung by the Gaither Vocal Band. It is called I’ll Worship Only at the Feet of Jesus.
verse 1
I went to visit the shrine of plenty,
But found its storehouse all filled with dust,
I bowed at alters of gold and silver,
But as I knelt there they turned to rust.
verse 2
The call of fortune made me a pilgrim,
To journey to fate’s promised heights,
But as I climbed the promise faded,
And wind blew lonely all through the night.
verse 3
Just desert dust and empty shadows,
All promises turned to lies,
The gods of earth fail and betray me,
You alone are truth and life.
chorus
So I’ll worship only at the feet of Jesus,
His cup alone my holy grail,
There’ll be no other gods before Him,
Just Jesus only will never fail.
Let me ask you this. What is your holy grail? What is it that you are trying to find? What are you building the monument of your life to?
Let’s pray…
