May 29, 2011 (Easter 6 A)
Acts 17:22-31
“People of Ottawa . . . . .”
I would love it if God would let the great missionary – the Apostle Paul, come and spend some time in our congregation. What would he think of our church? What would he think of our community / our city / our way of life? How much could we learn from his experience that would help us reach lost souls here in our time?
Well – before we can bring the Apostle Paul to Ottawa, we need to take a trip to Athens. In some ways Athens was very similar to Ottawa; in some ways it was drastically different. It was an important capitol city of an important and influential country. Yet, Greece was no longer the world’s superpower at that time. Rome, their neighbour to the west had that title. In fact, the Roman Coliseum was being built at Paul’s time. In many ways I think you could compare Athens (of that time) to London England (of our time). The British Empire used to dominate the world a few hundred years ago – now the United States (their neighbour to the west) is the biggest player on the international scene. But . . . London is still an important capitol city – and so was Athens, and so is Ottawa.
I brought a few pictures along today so you can see where Paul preached this sermon in Acts 17. You’re familiar with the Acropolis in the middle of Athens; it was a temple dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena – Mars Hill / the Areopagus – was a big rock near the base of it. And it was an ancient courtroom that had become a modern gathering place for philosophers and religious discussion at the time of Paul.
The city was full of idols. The superstitious Greeks wanted to “cover all the bases” and made sure they didn’t miss any gods – and, therefore, didn’t offend them. Here’s where the great missionary Paul found his opening: Acts 17:22-23
22 Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “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.
Paul toured the city with his eyes and ears OPEN – looking for opportunities to introduce the crowds to Jesus, the Son of God who died for the sins of the world and rose again in victory – the One and only true God among a host of false and useless man-made gods.
What would he think of our city if he took a tour of modern Ottawa? I would think, like Athens, our people are religiously very tolerant. Our city welcomes any and every faith, and you can find pretty much everything here. But – in contrast to Athens, our city is on the opposite end of the spectrum when it comes to “being very religious”. Hundreds of years ago churches were at the centre of town and the centre of life here – not anymore. Most of those big old churches are empty, and there are no traffic jams on Sunday morning. The newer communities like ours don’t even zone for churches – if you want to build one, they want you out in the middle of nowhere. What has taken it’s place? Malls. Wal-Mart. Stores – shopping. That’s where people spend their time, their money, and their weekends now. I wonder if Paul might say, “People of Ottawa – I see that in every way you are very materialistic! Let me tell you about something of much greater value and worth than anything you can find in a store.”
Would Paul lift up his voice and preach a sermon to the crowds at Wal-Mart or Bayshore Mall? It’s an interesting thought. Let’s see what he DID say to the crowds gathered below Mars Hill on that day in Athens: Acts 17:24-31
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.”
He confronted their entire world-view and introduced them to this Jesus Christ who turns our entire world upside down. This same Jesus met Paul on the road to Damascus and turned his life upside down. He was called to repentance and faith in Christ. Now Paul was calling THEM to turn from their useless idol worship, and repent of their sins, and trust in Jesus – the One who rose from the dead and will return to judge all mankind.
Likewise, I believe that he would call the people of our city to repent of their useless materialistic and shallow lives – to turn from their worship of stuff, and repent of their sins, and trust in Jesus – who rose from the dead and will return to judge the people of our city too.
In Athens many people laughed at him and just ignored him – but, a few believed. I would guess that most people in our city would laugh at him and ignore him too – but maybe a few would listen and believe. The question is: how would the Apostle Paul reach souls for Christ in a city / a community like ours? That’s not his question to answer. He was called to preach the Gospel in places like Athens, and he did his job and now he’s at rest with the Lord. This is our question to answer. God has called us to preach the Gospel here, and we need to figure out how to do that.
Should we bring a bullhorn to Bayshore Mall and preach to the masses? I don’t know . . . maybe . . . maybe that wouldn’t work so well today. Should we be doing services in retirement homes so souls can hear the Gospel before time runs out? Sure – it’s an open door, and we can do that. Should we keep doing kids programs every year – even though they require so many volunteers, so much effort, and cost so much money? Well, if they get the Gospel out into the community, yes we should. Should we try new things like “Community Casserole” / community BBQ’s / Chinese potluck fellowships / ESL courses / outreach events and open houses? Yes – those open doors for the Gospel message to reach more souls. Should we stay here in the heart of this community preaching and teaching the Good News of Jesus each and every week . . . . absolutely. Would it help the cause to take care of our building and keep it looking nice in, and around the church? Sure. Should we consider getting another called worker up here to double or triple our efforts to reach the lost? Maybe.
But . . . . I’ll bet you’re beginning to figure something out here . . . this is going to cost us. This is going to take a lot of time, energy and money. This isn’t going to be easy. Take a look at the Apostle Paul once again: how much did it cost him to bring the Gospel to all those places? It cost him everything – his career / a family / his time and all his energy . . . . his life.
What do you think he would say about how much our work here really costs us? How deeply are we really invested in getting the Gospel out to our community and the world? Not enough. I think Paul would say the same thing to us that he said to people gathered at the base of Mars Hill: “Repent. You’ve spent enough time worshipping the false gods of money, stuff, leisure, and self. It’s time to turn from those and worship Jesus.” With repentant hearts, now consider what you have: forgiveness / life / eternal riches in heaven / peace / salvation. Like Paul – your spiritual criminal record has been cleansed, and your relationship with your Heavenly Father has been fixed.
You know who Jesus is. And you live in a sea of people for whom the truth of salvation is still very much unknown. We know what Paul did for the people of Athens. What are we going to do for the people of Ottawa?
