From our earliest ancestors in caves, we humans have tried to make sense of life, and especially our own lives. What's it all about? Why are we here?

In the time of Paul, Athens was known as a place where questions such as these were discussed and debated. So, it is not surprising that shortly after Paul arrived there, he was invited to speak to a select group of people who were known for their intellectual curiosity.

Unlike the crowds Paul usually addressed, most of the people gathered at the Areopagus were neither Jews nor Gentiles interested in Judaism. Most of them probably understood themselves to be either Epicureans or Stoics.^[1] These two ways of viewing life remain popular today; we just do not call them by those names.

The Epicureans believed everything is by chance. Whatever gods there may be are remote and have no concern for us. Life just happens, and when death comes, death ends it all. Therefore, the only goal in life that makes any sense is to enjoy life as much as possible. Life is short and, it all ends in the grave. Therefore, being comfortable, having fun, being secure are the primary motives for behavior.

The Stoics had a different view of life. For them everything was of god, and they understood their god to be a fiery, dynamic spirit. As they understood reality, when we are given life, what gives us life is a spark of this fiery divine spirit. However, our physical bodies cause this spirit to be dull. When we die, the spark is released, and it returns to the fiery, dynamic spirit. The Stoics also believed that from time to time the world is destroyed, but then it all begins again. This is not a judgment time; it is merely an ending and another beginning again.

Because the spirit which is god is in everything and everyone, whatever happens in life is the will of god and therefore must be accepted without resentment. Life is tough, but we must do our duty without complaint. It is all the will of god. This approach to living is what we to this day continue to call "stoic." And this ancient view of life continues to guide the way some people live.

The people who gathered to listen to Paul were used to discussing new ideas, but they did so in much the same way people who love golf discuss the latest development in golf clubs. They were not looking for anything that would change their priorities, values and behavior. They were mostly interested in a diversion-learning about an another new idea. It was sophisticated, intellectual entertainment that they were after.

How was Paul to begin his talk so that they would take him seriously?

According to William Barclay, there were many altars to unknown gods in Athens.^[2] Six hundred years before Paul arrived, Athens had suffered some kind of terrible plague. Nothing seemed to halt it. The Athenians' response was very similar to the way some people would respond today: "This must be punishment from God caused by something we have done."

The people of Athens were convinced they needed to make a peace offering or sacrifice to the god who had been offended. But how could they do this? Many gods were worshipped, and they did not know which god was angry.

The solution suggested by a fellow named Epimenides was that they release a herd of sheep. Wherever each sheep laid down, the people would offer that sheep as a sacrifice to the god whose shrine was closest to the place where that sheep lay. If the sheep was not close to the shrine of any of their gods, the people were to build an altar to an unknown god and sacrifice that sheep there.

Paul had seen one of these altars on his way to the Areopagus. He took that as his beginning point. "I am going to tell you about this unknown God," he said. Paul told them this God is not an idol made with human hands, nor is this God a god humans have constructed with their imaginations and human insights. This God is not made by humans in any way. This God is the one who has made all that is. Unlike the Stoics, what God has made does not contain God any more than the potter is contained in the clay bowl he has molded. God is the creator-not the creation nor the creature.

And we human creatures have been made in such a way that our hearts are restless until we are in a right relationship with God. We are created with a hunger to know God. And God is not far from us. In truth God is no farther from us than the ocean is from the fish who live in it. Or to quote the words Paul used: "In him we live and move and have our being."^[3]

Unlike the gods acknowledged by the Epicureans, gods who were indifferent to the creation and certainly indifferent to each person, the God Paul proclaimed is intimately related to creation and is concerned for each one of us. God is for us and not against us. God has been and is at work in the creation bringing it to the place God intends it to be. From the very beginning God has not only cared, God has been active in our history. Even though we humans were disobedient from the start and have a long history of rejecting God, God has refused to abandon us.

This God calls on us humans to repent, not merely to apologize for abusing the gift of life and rejecting God, but for us to change, for us to stop abusing life and for us to embrace the God who loves us.

This is unlike the Stoics who see all in life as controlled by God. Paul understood, we humans have chosen to sin; we can make decisions that are destructive and contrary to the will of God. There is no Stoicism in this. There is human freedom that is essential for love, but which also allows for not loving and therefore makes sin a possibility. All is not the will of God.

And therefore, Paul speaks of the judgment day. There is accountability. We humans will be held accountable for the use we have made of the gift of life. The standard by which we will be held accountable is the standard that is revealed in Jesus. In Jesus, God has come among us to show us what it is to live as God intends us to live. Our living is to be evaluated, judged, in relation to what has been revealed in Jesus. We are judged by Christ.

What is not mentioned in the passage we read, but which is always a major theme in Paul's letters is that it is also in and through Christ God's redeeming grace is revealed. In and through Christ we discover the grace that enables us to make the changes we need to make. We are saved by grace, the grace that enables us to change-change from living apart from God to living in humble obedience to God and in harmony with God.

The certification that all this is the way it really is, is the resurrection. In the resurrection of Christ, God certifies the good news and gives us the assurance that in Jesus Christ we have a double revelation-in one person, at the same time, we discover both who God is and who we are meant to be. But the resurrection is even more. It is the declaration that all the injustices of crucifixions are not the last word. Resurrection is the proclamation that all does not disappear in the grave. Sin is overcome, and death is defeated. God ultimately wins.

From our earliest ancestors in caves, we humans have tried to make sense of life, and especially our own lives. What's it all about? Why are we here? These are the kind of questions Paul addressed as he stood on that hill in Athens long ago.

In Athens, some listeners scoffed and walked off declaring Paul was talking nonsense; some postponed making a commitment one way or the other, saying they needed to hear more. But some believed. They not only heard the words Paul had said, but the message of the Gospel took root in their lives, and they followed him.

Of course what really matters is not, "What was their response?" but rather, "What is ours?"

God, it is easy for us to play mind games about life and the Christian faith. Rescue us from playing games. Enable us to embrace and be embraced by the Gospel so that we will live as You intend. Amen.

Pastoral Prayer:
God, we pray for all those who have the responsibility of being fathers. Give them the ability to love their children with love that can be tender when it needs to be and tough when it has to be. Give them wisdom to know when to talk and when to listen. Help them relax so that they will have the patience parenting requires. Save them from being so task oriented that they drain joy even from play. Rescue them from the drive to always win so that by example they can teach compassion and cooperation. Open their eyes to the humor in life and give them the ability to laugh, and give them the grace to cry when tears are called for. Give them the wisdom to see what is truly important in life so that they will choose to make the best use of the time they have been given. And, O God, when they make a mess of things, when they say and do the wrong things, help them forgive themselves and enable them to learn from their past. Help them to be the parents You want them to be. And what we pray for fathers, we also pray for mothers.
All this we pray, in the name of the one who taught us to live when he taught us to pray: "Our Father …"

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