Who Is Your God? Series

A farmer decided he knew as much as any doctor, so he opened doctor’s office in town. He charged $500 a visit, but he promised that if he couldn’t cure you he’d give you $1,000. The town’s regular doctor was offended by that and decided to expose him as a fraud, so He went to the farmer’s office and said “Doc, I seem to have lost my ability to taste. Can you cure me?” The farmer called out, “Nurse, give him 3 drops from that blue bottle.” She administered the drops, and the real doctor began to choke. “That’s gasoline!” The farmer smiled and said “Congratulations! Your taste has been restored. That’ll be $500!” The real Doctor realized he’d been had, but he paid up, and stalked out of the office.

A few days later he came back and said “Doctor, I think I’ve lost my short-term memory; can you cure me?” “Sure. Nurse give him 3 drops from that little blue bottle.” “NO! That’s gasoline!” cried the Doctor. “Congratulations! Your memory is cured. That will be $500!” The Doctor got out his checkbook and paid up.

A week later, he thought of one more thing that might stump presumptuous farmer. He walked into the office with a white cane and staring off into space and said “Doctor, I’m think I might be going blind. Can you restore my sight?” The farmer looked at him, and then he looked at the floor and sadly said “No, I’m afraid I can’t do that… so I guess I’ll have to pay you the $1,000. Hold out your hand so I can pay you.” The doctor smiled and thought to himself, “At last I’ve beaten him!” Then the farmer put a $50 bill in it. Seeing that, the doctor shouted, “Hey! That’s only a $50!” The farmer smiled… and said: “Congratulations! Your eyesight’s been restored!... That will be $500!”

(PAUSE)

Now, of course that’s just a joke. But notice - that farmer always knew just what to say to the doctor. In our text today, that’s what Paul seems to be able to do. He seemed to always know what to say to his audience. Here he is in Athens, one of the most advanced cities of the age. Athens was a center of learning. It had one of the greatest universities of the ancient world, and it was a center of philosophy, literature, science and art. Some of the greatest philosophers and thinkers lived there: Euripides, Plato and Socrates. It was here in Athens that the idea of Democracy took root. (Eerdmans’ Handbook to the Bible)

And now, here is Paul standing in front of a highly educated audience, and he’s being challenged to convince them about Jesus… and he says just the right things.

Now, I’m generally not like that. I mean I can come up with some clever stuff… if you give me a day or two. But I’m rarely any good at saying anything profound if you put me on the spot. And I’m convinced that most people are just like me. That’s why a lot of Christians don’t talk to folks about Jesus or their faith - they’re afraid they’re going to mess it up somehow.

But as I was looking at this story in Acts 17, I began to realize that what Paul did HERE at Athens was really very simple. And it would be fairly easy for you and I to put what Paul did into practice, if we just paid attention and relaxed with it.

First thing I want you to notice: Paul SPOKE to the crowd because he was provoked. “While Paul was at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols.” (Acts 17:16) That’s what got Paul to talking. He was provoked. He was agitated. It bothered him to see this city so filled with idols. Here he was in Athens one of the great centers of learning in the ancient world, and these folks can’t make up their minds what to do with God.

One scholar noted it was easier to find an idol in Athens than it was to find a man. It’s estimated that they had over 30,000 idols that were worshipped in Athens. And just in case they missed one… they had an idol to an “unknown god.”

And Paul is … provoked. It bugs him no end to see these folks being so foolish about God.

Now, here’s the thing: why was Paul so provoked? Was he provoked like how I get when I go to Walmart, and I find that some lazy person hasn’t put one of the shopping carts back where it belongs? I mean… does that provoke you? Do you say something under your breath when you see that? Well, I do! I’m PROVOKED - and so I speak! (Not real loud, but I tend to internally verbalize my annoyance. I think to myself – “how can they be so disrespectful?” And I don’t think kind thoughts about those folks