Telling the Story of Jesus Acts 17:16-34 Sermon preached by Charles C. Williamson Philadelphia Presbyterian Church June 8, 2008
Tell me the story of Jesus. As you read through the New Testament, you run across all sorts of people telling the story of Jesus, and they tell that story in lots of different ways. For example, there was the Samaritan woman that met Jesus at the well, and when she went back into town to tell the townspeople about her meeting with Jesus, apparently the best she could do was just to babble on about Jesus. But evidently God was able to use even her babbling, because the Bible says that some people believed. (See John 4.) Or there was John the Baptist who told the story of Jesus a completely different way. He would occasionally wander out of the desert wearing his hair shirt, and he would call people a bunch of snakes (Luke 3:7) and tell them all the things they were doing wrong. And amazingly God was able to use his efforts too, because many people were brought to Jesus because of his message. This passage for today gives us yet another picture of someone telling the story of Jesus, and doing it in yet another way. Today we read about Paul and the time he went to the city of Athens to tell the story of Jesus. Athens was a university city; a city loaded with philosophers and scholars, who were always interested in the newest ideas. If Paul had come to Athens babbling like the Samaritan woman or ranting like John the Baptist, they likely would not even have given him a moment’s notice. So Paul took another approach. He went to the marketplace—the Aeropagus—where these people of Athens liked to gather. If you use your imagination, you can almost picture them sitting at their favorite sidewalk café, sipping their cappuccinos, wearing their berets, and discussing the latest and most modern ideas of the day. The Bible says that that’s what they liked to do—talk about the newest thing. Some of the scholars of Athens espoused a philosophy called Epicureanism. The Epicureans didn’t really hold much belief in any god, especially in light of the fact that the gods didn’t seem to do much to keep away the suffering of the world. And so they believed that you might as well live it up while you can. Eat, drink and be merry. Others there held to a different philosophy known as Stoicism. The Stoics believed that all life sprang from the mind of Zeus, and they said that you may as well play whatever hand you are dealt because there’s nothing you can do about it. It’s kind of a grit your teeth and bear it philosophy. The two different philosophies made for some interesting and heated discussions. And those are the people to whom Paul wants to tell the story of Jesus. So how should he go about it? Paul had done his homework. He had studied their various philosophies; he knew about all their gods. He could enter into their culture. And he did. As he talked, he used words they were very familiar with—quoting Greek poets and philosophers. And in that way Paul hooked them in. “The God who made the world and everything in it. . .” That is language straight out of Greek Stoic philosophy. And later Paul says “In him we live and move and have our being”; that is a quotation from a Greek philosopher named Epimenides. And he quoted a Greek poet.
You see what Paul is doing. He is engaging the people of Athens by using their own language and philosophies to lay the groundwork so that he will be able to tell them the story of Jesus. He is using language that they are familiar with to make his point. In short, Paul comes to them, on their terms, speaking a language they understand. Paul begins by entering into their culture, their way of thinking. When Paul came into Athens, he saw quickly that there were people who desperately yearned to hear the story of Jesus, who needed to hear a word of good news. But in order to give them a chance to hear it, he first had to connect with them, to establish a common ground so that they would continue to listen. So he went to them, where they were. What Paul might have done when he arrived in Athens was to set up office hours, hang out a shingle, and advertise that anyone who wanted to learn about Jesus could make an appointment between the hours of 9 and 4 Monday through Thursday...and then sat back and waited for them to come to him. But Paul didn’t do that; instead, he went to the people. If you think about it, Paul reached out to the people of Athens with the same kind of grace with which God reached out to the world. God might have waited for us to make the first move, but instead God came to us in the person of Jesus. God brought the message of love and salvation to us in a form we could identify with and using language that we could understand. In Jesus God came to us. In a similar way, Paul went to the people of Athens, in order to make it possible for them to hear the good news, the story of Jesus. And obviously it worked. The Bible says, “Some joined him and became believers.” One thing that this story about Paul in Athens does for us is to give us a model to follow as we try to tell others about the good news of Jesus. It reminds us that if we are going to connect with other people, we need to take the initiative; we need to reach out to them. Now, if all this is true, and if we are willing to undertake this work of telling other people about Jesus, what is that going to look like for us living here in Mint Hill? Think about the people that you rub shoulders with each day. There are many people you meet who want to hear a word of good news…and there are many of those people with whom you already have an automatic connection. You meet them in the workplace, in the schools, in offices and factories, on the golf course. And with these people you already have some common ground. For example, you who are in the business world know very well the language of commerce and industry; you have an established connection with the people whose paths you cross. You already know some of the stresses and joys that your colleagues are going through. You don’t have to cross a huge gulf to enter into their environment and culture. And in many cases these people are already your acquaintances and friends. Every day you meet people who are eager to hear a word of good news, and God has given you the good news to share. So maybe that’s the place where you and I can begin to tell the story of Jesus—those people with whom we already have a built in connection. But there are also people out there who long to hear the good news with whom we don’t have those automatic connections. To connect with those people, we’re going to have to work a little harder if we are going to follow Paul’s model. It’s going to take a little work on our part to try to find the common ground we have with them. I think about our PhilaNOLA mission teams that have gone to New Orleans, or the youth that we will soon be sending to Valdosta, GA, or the group that will be going to Guatamala this September. For them the connections may be a little more of a challenge. But
by listening to the people and putting ourselves in their shoes, we can find that common ground that all people share and use that as the starting point for telling with others what God has done in our lives. Telling the story of Jesus can take lots of forms. Often it can be a simple invitation— come worship with us. Sometimes the connections with others are easily made; sometimes they are more difficult. When Paul reached out to the people of Athens, some said “No, thanks.” Others said “I’m not sure, but I’d like to hear more.” And still others said, “Yes!” When you and I reach out to others, we will likely get the same range of reactions. But if we keep reaching out to others, some will say yes, and the body of Christ will grow. Amen.