The story of Paul in the Areopagus in Athens will be a nice one for philosophers and the intellectuals of the times and to some extent the postmodern folks of today who neither think much about science or of religion. Yet this story is also the story of our time and of ordinary folks who are confused and who wonder what the fuss is about in a world where religion has become a consumer item and carries no currency for so many. This morning, I want us to consider the subject of Religiosity and Spirituality and look at faith in the service of humanity. I want to invite you to reflect on the subject of Christianity and service and I shall use as our text, the story of Paul in the Areopagus as St Luke recollects that story in Acts 17 : 22 – 31.
Paul is in Athens during his second missionary journey. Athens was a center of learning and many philosophers spent a large part of their day studying and arguing about the latest philosophical ideas of their time. Different schools of thoughts dug in and held their positions and the idea was to ensure that each presented his position as the proper perspective of life. The Stoics were convinced that what would be would be and human effort to change or bemoan fate was a waste of time. The Epicureans were followers of Epicurus and to them, the main cause of action was to eat, drink, enjoy life because tomorrow we die. The most important thing, the Epicureans think was pleasure and maximum pleasure was to be pursued provided no one got hurt. The pursuit of happiness in all its forms was an acceptable act. These philosophical disciples spent their time debating their positions. These were the folks who were engaging Paul in Athens that day (V. 18). Having heard so much about Christ from Paul, which sounded strange to these people (v.20), they wanted others in the Aeropagus to also listen to him and this is where our story today begins.
The Aeropagus was both a council as well as a physical space where the council met. The council was in charge of education and religious belief for the city and made laws to regulate education and religious practices. It was at this council that Paul spoke to these philosophers and the council members. What I want us to pay attention to is the observation of Paul as he described to this learned people their behavior. I want us also to look within ourselves, our religious practices and the benefits of what we think we believe and how such faith affects our behavior and each other.
Paul began his remarks with the acknowledgement of the religiosity of those in Athens. V.22. The outward practice of their religion is evident everywhere from the displayed objects of worship including erected altars. Yet, he indicts them of ignorance. V. 23. They ignore the maker of the world the sovereign God and seem to lack the idea of the omnipotence of God. To these Athenians, there is a disconnection between service to God, and the idea of the oneness of humanity V.26. They lack the idea of the immanence of God and knowledge of God as the giver of life. He then called on the Athenians to repent and wake up from their ignorance and prepare for the day of judgement which will come about when God’s own son who was raised from the dead will return to judge the quick and the dead V. 31.
In our own time, there have also been strange things brought to the human hear. We have displayed our religiosity and divided ourselves between liberal and conservative camps. We try to show who is right and who is wrong. Indeed, the gospel sounds strange in each other’s ears. Yes, like the Athenians, we are all deeply religious and we know what God wants and what God does not want. We have figured out that those who are different should be treated differently and denied justice, but we sure do know that they are not wanted by God. Like the Athenians we have all kinds of objects of religions and temples dotting the landscape, but yet like them too we hardly know which God we are serving. The buildings and objects, like those in the Athens of Paul’s day, become mere inscriptions to “an unknown God” while we pay lip service to the eternal God that calls us to love each other.
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. indicts the church when in response to a newspaper advertisement taken out by Pastors in Alabama who blamed him for inciting violence and not obeying authorities questioned the churches’ obedience to the scripture in his Letter From Birmingham Jail. You see the church actually participated in racial injustice and crafted a theology to justify racial discrimination. When the Ku Klux Klan gathered in Stone Mountain, Georgia on Thanksgiving 1915, they used religion to preach the ideology of hate. Social scientists have long known that intolerance is better sold through religion. Like a bitter pill, it makes hate easy to swallow. Williams Simmons who formed the KKK during reconstruction should know. He was a Methodist minister. He made protestant church membership a requirement to join the Ku Klux Klan. Yes the Klan was a religious organization and as its leader, H. W. Evans, told the faithful in 1925, “Just as the star of Bethlehem guided the wise men to Christ, so it is that the Klan is expected more and more to guide men to the right life under Christ banner”. The right life under Christ for these Christians was the killings and maiming of Jews, immigrants, blacks and anybody who was different.
There have been strange things indeed and structural racism has been exposed, as is usually the case during a pandemic. It was little surprised that many black and brown people could not self-quarantine during the pandemic. It is hard to drive the bus and work at the grocery store from home. They lived in close quarters and work at jobs that exposed them to the virus and when New Orleans began keeping the tallies of the dead by ethnicity, it became clear that the virus was killing more black and brown people than whites . These were individuals with pre-existing conditions and so like flies they died. Police brutality was already known in black and brown communities. As a pastor in the inner city close to public housing, I cannot tell you the number of times I was pulled over at night by the police for not coming to a complete stop or of not signaling before a turn. After a while the police recognized who I was and the pulling up decreased in number. The cell phone and easy accessibility has made the brutality known, yet it is not new. It has always existed in brown and black communities, but today a 17 year old going to a candy store can record the lynching of George Floyd on a cell phone and post on social media for the world to see what has always been known in black and brown communities.
The summer of the year of the pandemic has become a time when we have been called to examine our faith and what that faith means to us. It has raised awareness and calls all of us to deal with the fear of an unseen enemy and the result of hate amidst religious people. As young people of all races demand change and justice, interestingly and just like many in the church had done in the past, there is silence within the church itself. We have become numbed to the cries of many and have invented theologies that will make us feel good. We identify ourselves whether we support abortion or hate gays and lesbians, never mind the many who are sick, hungry and begging for justice. Politicians debate who reads the Bible more and who is led by faith while we in the church ignore the marchers as they chant for justice.
Like the people of Athens, we have made our faith into an intellectual exercise. We can sit and sing all day long in church “How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds” while the poor, the sick, the hungry, black brown people, ask for justice and we watch from a distance and like the Scribe in the Good Samaritan story we look the other way. The Prophet Micah reminded his contemporaries and asked the question that Paul echoed in Athens: “What does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6 : 8). Paul echoed Micah in verse 25 - 26 of our text today: God is not served by human hands. God wants nothing from us because as Paul puts it “He himself gives to all life and breath and all things”. God is not far from each of us and when we serve each other we serve God. When we do not discriminate and look at others as being less than us, we are serving God. When we provide equal opportunity to all, we are serving God. When we discard wrong ideologies and beliefs that skin color is a mark of intelligence, we serve God.
The time of ignorance is past. Paul told those philosophers in Athens who believed that they had studied and know a lot. We too have been ignorant and false religion was used to sell racism. Following reconstruction some people got together and invented systems to keep African Americans down. The time of ignorance is past indeed and God now calls all of us into repentance.
What then should we do?
Change your belief about human difference. Humans cannot be classified into species. There is only one race and that is the human race. Paul reminded the Athenians in that council that God made from one all nations on earth and we are all his offspring (V.26 & 29).
Get involved. Do not just write a check but ask questions and challenge unjust laws. Getting involved also requires you to vote. It is a Christian duty to vote and to examine the issues in the elections. See which candidate represents justice and fair play.
Know that we are called to live like Christ. The Christ-like life is not just church attendance; it calls us to question injustice and to speak for those without a voice. Certain government policies can be oppressive and our faith calls us to act.
Finally, not everyone will be convinced or change in their approach. St Luke reports in the Acts of the Apostle in our text today that some who listened to Paul sneered when he talked about the Resurrection but some followed him, including a man named Dionysius who belonged to the Areopagius, a man of very high distinction since membership in that body gave its members a great honor.
We, in the popular phrase of our time, must be the change that we seek for this is the life that Christ calls us to live.
I want to leave you this morning with our congregational hymn. It was written by a man who heard a sermon in church one Sunday. Mr Longstaff was a treasurer and had attended the service where the minister preached on Be Ye Holy As I am Holy. He was touched by the sermon and on reaching home summarized what the sermon spoke to him. Christianity is more than church attendance and as Mr. William Longstaff wrote it requires: prayer, helping those who are weak, and making friends of God’s children. Longstaff wrote:
Take time to be holy,
Speak oft with thy Lord;
Abide in Him always,
And feed on His Word.
Make friends of God’s children,
Help those who are weak,
Forgetting in nothing
His blessing to seek.
Thanks be to God. Amen
