Deo Gloria
Sermon for May 14, 2023
Pastor Martin Bentz
Text: Acts 17:22-31
Theme: God is Calling You to Repent!
- From your ignorant and foolish ways
- Because he will judge the world in righteousness
Can you believe it? Seriously, can you believe it? Are they really that ignorant? Are they really that foolish? Paul was speaking to a meeting of the Areopagus. Originally, the Areopagus, also known as Mars Hill, was a hill in the city of Athens, where the Athens’ Council of Twelve met, the highest court in the land. Over time the name came to be applied to the council itself. By Paul’s day the group no longer met on that hill, but the name stuck. It also was no longer the highest court in the land, but it still carried a lot of weight and prestige in the city of Athens. Instead of judging criminal cases or legal cases, the Areopagus of Paul’s day would pass judgement on new philosophies and new religions and foreign gods, which explains why Paul was brought before this august body of men. Paul was new to town and seemed to be promoting some new and strange religion. This group of men were, supposedly, some of the brightest minds in Athens, the smartest and most well-educated people in town; but they didn’t get it. They didn’t understand even the basic truths about God.
As you may know, the ancient Greeks believed in many different gods—Zeus, Hermes, Poseidon, Apollo, Artemis, Athena—just to mention a few. And there were hundreds of them. Yes, you heard me right, not just 10 or 20—hundreds. And if you’re familiar with the stories of any of these gods, you know that they were cruel and vindictive and petty and spiteful. They had sexual affairs with other gods and goddesses and had children. And sometimes they even had sex with people. “Really? These are your gods, the gods you worship and adore? And they’re just as petty and vindictive and spiteful and immoral as you? Really?” But I digress. And how did they worship these gods? Well, they would make an image out of gold or silver or stone, an image that looked like a human being or a fish or a bull or a snake. And they would take that image and put it in a temple. And then they would bow down and worship it. “Really? So you make an image out of gold or silver or stone. And then you bow down and worship it as if it actually made you? Really?” But I digress. And then they did their best to serve these gods by bringing them offerings—bulls and goats and doves and fruit and vegetables and grain. This was considered food for the gods. “But if they really are gods, wouldn’t they be able to provide their own food? Would they really need roasted lamb for supper or a basket of fruit for breakfast?” But I digress. And, you see, the people of Athens were so smart that they wanted to make sure they had covered all their bases. They didn’t want to risk offending some god by failing to worship him or her. So, as Paul discovered as he was walking around the city, they even had an altar with this inscription: “To An Unknown God.” It’s no wonder, as Luke reports back in v. 16, that Paul was distressed as he walked around the city. Could they really be that ignorant? Could they really be that foolish?
So when he was brought before the Areopagus, Paul told them the truth. He used that altar dedicated to an unknown god as his starting point to proclaim to them the truth about the true God:
The true God is the maker of heaven and earth, and he doesn’t live in man-made temples. And he doesn’t need people to serve him either. He actually serves us. He gives to us: life and breath and everything else. And he guided the affairs of our world and has made the nations that have existed throughout the history of the world, determining when they would exist and how long they would exist and where they would live. Now since we are God’s offspring, we shouldn’t think that God is like an image made out of gold or silver or stone. In that past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. And the time to repent is now, because the day is coming. The day when God will judge the whole world with justice has been set. He will judge the world by the man he has appointed. And he has given proof of this too, to all men, by raising him from the dead. (paraphrase of vv. 24-31)
It was a powerful message. Paul made it clear that when it comes to religious matters, they weren’t as smart as they thought they were, and they needed to repent. They needed to repent of their foolish and ignorant ways. They needed to confess their sins to God and look to him for forgiveness and salvation while they still had time.
Of course, we would never be that foolish. We would never be that ignorant about God and about the ways of God. Or would we? It was just a year ago that a judge who had been nominated to serve on the United State Supreme Court was asked what a woman was, and she couldn’t answer the question. Let me repeat that. A person who had been nominated to serve on the United States Supreme Court was asked to give a definition of a woman and she couldn’t do it. Unfortunately, many of the teachers in our schools and universities and many of our religious leaders as well can’t answer that question anymore either. And many Christians have become confused too. Is there really just male and female? Can a man be a female? Or can a female be a man? Or can they be non-binary? Can they be neither one? Really? We’ve become so smart and so well-educated in our day that we don’t even know if there is male or female anymore?
Or what about the issue of gay marriage? Is it really that confusing that we can’t understand how God designed marriage, that he designed it to be a life-long union between one man and one woman? Is the Bible really that unclear?
Or how about when it comes to the issue of abortion? This past January the Minnesota legislature passed the Protect Reproductive Options Act, which guarantees a woman’s right to abort her baby for any reason, at any time, right up to the time of birth. So let me get this straight: A baby can be fully developed—hands, fingers, knees and toes, nose, mouth, a working brain, a beating heart—a baby can be fully developed and the mom could go into labor and deliver her baby and the baby would live. But if the mom decided the day before or even an hour before the baby was born that she didn’t want her baby, she could have the doctor abort it and the baby would die. And this is OK? This is a good thing, something that should be legal in the state of Minnesota?
And guys, or shall I say, husbands, since today is Mother’s Day, I have a question for you as well. God has been so good to us. He has brought a wonderful woman into our lives as our wife, a woman who brings love and kindness and compassion into our lives and that of our families, a woman who is the mother of our children and our life-long friend and companion. So do we really think it’s OK not to treat them with kindness and love and respect, to speak poorly to them or about them at times, to be harsh or critical, to berate them or even be verbally abusive? Do we really think that doesn’t have a tremendously negative effect not only our marriage, but on our families and our children as well?
May God forgive us for being so foolish, so ignorant at times! May God have mercy on us and forgive all of us! Yes, through the message of the Apostle Paul, God was not just calling the people of Athens to repent. He’s calling all of us to repent.
The word Paul uses for repent literally means “to change your mind.” What do we need to change our minds about? Our sins, our foolish and ignorant and rebellious behavior, our foolish ideas about God, our foolish ideas about right and wrong, our foolish ideas about life and how we are to live our lives as God’s children. In the past God has overlooked such ignorance and foolishness in your life and in mine. But now he calls us to repent, to confess our sins to him and to look to Jesus for forgiveness and salvation.
You see, the God of heaven has indeed given us life and breath and everything else. He has provided everything we need for this life. But even more importantly he has provided everything we need for eternal life through his Son, Jesus Christ. You see, unlike the ancient Greek gods, the true God actually does care about this world of ours. He actually does care about people like you and me. And because he cares, he sent his own Son to be our Savior, to suffer the penalty for all of our sins, all of the ignorant and foolish and rebellious things we’ve done in our lives. He had him suffer the punishment for our sins so that we might be forgiven and might not be condemned on Judgment Day.
You see, when Paul says in verse 31 that God is going to judge with world “with justice,” he literally says, “in righteousness.” God is going to judge the world “in righteousness.” In other words, unless you are righteous, you aren’t going to make it. Unless you are righteous, you aren’t going to pass God’s judgment and make it into heaven.
But again, that’s the beauty of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ, our Savior, what he has so graciously provided for us in Jesus Christ, our Savior. Through Jesus Christ, God not only has taken our sins away, but he also has given us, has covered us with Jesus’ righteousness. So we are holy and righteous in his sight and can live with him in heaven.
What an amazing God the true God is! What a gracious and loving God the true God is! Instead of demanding us to serve him and earn his blessing and favor (which we could never do), he serves us and through his Son gives us everything we need so we can live with him forever.
But make no mistake. The time to repent is now because the day has been set when God will judge the world with justice, with righteousness. Now is not the time to mess around. Now is not the time to live in foolish and ignorant and sinful ways. Now is the time to repent, to confess our sins to God, to find forgiveness and salvation in Jesus, and to live a life of repentance that brings glory and honor and thanks to God. That’s the message God recorded here in Acts 17, the message he recorded for the people of Athens, the message he recorded for you and me. God is calling you to repent! Amen.