 |
||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
 |
Tune
in to Grace Radio 24 hours a day!
Acts 17: 16-21 "Paul in Athens"
Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols. Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there.
One of Rie and my dreams is to take a trip to the Holy
Land and the areas where Paul went on his missionary journeys. I am
especially eager to see the city of Athens. I can tell you that the
thought of most other cities do not thrill me. I grew up in a small
town in the forests of Oregon, and I would much rather spend my time
by a mountain stream than fighting the crowds in a city. I have been
to Paris and left the very next day. But Athens holds a special charm
because so much history has taken place there, and so much history is
preserved. You can walk in the very places where Socrates and Paul argued
and taught. I can imagine that Paul looked forward to going to Athens
as well. We know from his writings that he knew Greek culture well and
quotes from Greek poets, and Athens was the center of Greek culture.
Athens was the hub of art and philosophy. If any place would be fair-minded
and open to new ideas, this would be place!
But when Paul looked around the city. His spirit was provoked within
him. He could not just walk around and enjoy the scenery. Remember that
Paul was waiting for the rest of his team to arrive. He could of taken
a few days well deserved vacation and played the tourist. But as he
toured, something started to burn inside him. Because this place where
ideas began and free-thinking was encouraged, also was filled with idols.
Everywhere Paul went there was an idol, a temple, something dedicated
to one god or another.
I often get the same feeling here in Japan. I love to wander around the hillsides behind Ome. Or head off in a random direction and walk through neighborhoods in Tokyo. I am always impressed by beauty hidden in unexpected places, oasises of peace in the middle of this most busy of cities. But I also cannot but help notice the incredible number of idols, temples, shrines and cults that are everywhere. Even when I am deep into the forest and find myself suddenly gazing on a lovely view of Mt. Fuji. Sure enough I look around and someone has placed a shrine nearby.
I think Paul was provoked because in Athens he found a people who were so open to seeing the wonderful variations, the limitless creativity of God. They could notice God in every little thing. They recognized that ideas, concepts like mercy and beauty and truth, were in some way connected with the divine. However instead of giving glory to God for each new thing that they discovered, they began to make a new idol for each one. Paul was not angry at the Athenians for being idolators. He was angry that these people who could understand the divine so well, did not know God who was behind it all. This is what I see here in Japan as well. What a shame that the wonderful Japanese appreciation of beauty, nature and truth is not directed to the one God who is the source of all of this.
Paul wrote, "We know that an idol [is] nothing in the world, and that [there is] no other God but one. For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), yet for us [there is] one God, the Father, of whom [are] all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom [are] all things, and through whom we [live]. (I Cor. 8:4)
An idol is nothing, at best it is a signpost, marking that here is something in which someone has noticed the presence of God. But it does not help you to come any closer to that god. It does not give you any benefit from that god. It cannot because it is simply metal or wood or stone. This is not to say that the beautiful view of Mt. Fuji, or the concept of Truth, are not really godly. They are! They are godly in that they are earthly reflections of the one God, the Father, of whom are all things.
Paul went about the marketplace in Athens, telling
everyone he met there about this one God, the Father and His Son, Jesus
Christ.
Then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some
said, "What does this babbler want to say?" Others said, "He
seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods," because he preached
to them Jesus and the resurrection. And they took him and brought him
to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new doctrine is
of which you speak? "For you are bringing some strange things to
our ears. therefore we want to know what these things mean." For
all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time
in nothing but either to tell or to hear some new thing. (Acts 17:16-21)
Athens was not just a city filled with idols, but also the home of the philosophers. The two main schools being the Epicurean and the Stoic. In very simple language the Epicureans believed that the best thing for human beings to do was to live a happy life. They considered the gods to be unrelated to the lives of humans and everything to happen by chance. So the best that a person could do was to live peacefully and not get upset by superstition. The Stoics believed that the gods controlled everthing and therefore human beings need to be patient, do what is right and live with dignity. These two philosophies were thought up long before Jesus, by people who had no relationship with God, as a way to understand their lives. They are probably the best that we human beings have done on our own. I think that it is safe to say that most non-religious Western people nowdays hold a fairly Epicurean view, seeking out their own happiness first, and most non-religious Eastern people are Stoic, believing in fate or karma and trying to do the best they can with what life gives them.
However, notice that in Athens, both of these views were
present. Some said chance, some said fate. Some said personal happiness,
some said duty. And as hundreds of years had gone by, they had gotten
a little bored with just arguing a battle that noone could win. And
so they "spent their time in nothing but either to tell or to hear
some new thing."
Folks, this is where our society is at today. Whether it be in America
or here in Japan. Nobody really cares what the best philosophy is. All
they want is to hear something new to liven up their day. Tell me, when
was the last time you saw something on T.V., or read something in the
newspaper, that you, personally, did something about? When did you see
something on the news and then turn around and use that information
in your job, or homelife? I am not counting as something to talk about.
That is what the Athenians were doing. But something that truly made
you act. The most truly useful information that we see on TV, is the
weather report. Because then I know to take my umbrella. The second
most useful is the advertisements, because at least with them I will
make a meaningful decision. Whether to buy or not. But most of the "important"
things, the international news, the Peruvian hostage crisis, whether
or not the Nikkei average went up or down today, do not affect my life
at all, except as entertainment. Do you want to know what the most useful
part of the newspaper is? The TV guide.
When we lived with our in-laws in Ome, they had cable television and
we got CNN. 24 hours a day I could turn on CNN and get the latest news
from around the world. Do you know what I noticed? I was afraid to turn
it off. Because I might miss something! Let me challenge you to try
something. Turn of the television for a week. Don't read the newspaper.
And after you get over the initial shock. You will soon find out that
you aren't really missing very much. Now what to do with all that time?
Start getting to know people, rather than facts. Concentrate on things
that you really can do something about. Get to know your own neighborhood,
instead of being up to the minute on the state of the rest of the world.
I do believe that we need to care about the world. I know that it is
important to consider the big issues. But the TV and the newspapers
and not doing that for us. They are really just wasting our time, distracting
us with this promise of always something new, away from what God has
placed right in front of us. God has prepared good works for us to walk
into but we don't even notice because we are so concerned with what
is new.
Next week we will what Paul said to these men who were so religious
and knowledgable, but were missing out on what God had placed right
in front of them.
| I have a question... | I want to receive Jesus Christ! | I want to confess sin... |
| I need prayer... | I want to come to church... | I want to be a prayer partner |