Sermon Manuscript

[Video:  “Summer Road Trip - Bumper” - 0:30]

We’ve all been there.  You load the family car and head out for vacation.  Mom and dad are in the front.  Kids are in the back.  And everyone is excited.  Because you’re going somewhere fun.  Maybe Florida or Disney World.  So mom asks, “Kids, what are you going to do first when you get to the beach?”  Or dad asks, “Kids, who are you going to see first?  Mickey Mouse or Minnie?”  And the kids in their excitement say, “We’re going to build sand castles and jump in the waves!” or “We’re going to see Mickey and watch fireworks!”  Everyone is excited… for about an hour or two.  But it’s at that time that you hear a question that will quickly become like a slowly dripping faucet.  And just irritate you for hours and hours and hours.  And the question is, “Are we there yet?”  Ugh.  It may be one of the worst questions a parent ever faces.  Right?  Because how do you tell a 5 or 6 year old that “No, we’re not there yet and we’re not going to be there for another 12 hours!!!”  Right?

It puts parents or grandparents in a bit of a tough spot.  But I have a solution for you.  It’s actually a song you can sing that I learned from Debbie years ago.  It’s a song you can sing to your children.  And it is just as annoying (maybe more so?) than the question of “Are we there yet?”  It’s called the “patience song”.  Have you ever heard of it?  Oh, it’s brilliant.  And it’s easy to remember.  Here’s how it goes.  “Patience, patience, don’t be in such a hurry.  Cuz when you’re impatient you only start to worry.  Remember, remember, that God is patient too.  So think of all the times when others have to wait for you!  Oh, patience, patience…”  And you just repeat it!  

It’s amazing!  In fact, let’s sing it together one time.  Because you will thank me later after you have had the chance to use it.  Are you ready?  Sing it with me.  “Patience, patience, don’t be in such a hurry.  Cuz when you’re impatient you only start to worry.  Remember, remember that God is patient too.  So think of all the times when others have to wait for you!”  You got it!  Oh.  You are going to thank me later for that one!  Because every time you hear that little question of “Are we there yet?” you now have an equally annoying way to respond!  You’re welcome!!!

But patience is hard.  It’s hard for children and it’s hard for adults.  It’s hard to be patient when you’re going to an exciting destination for vacation.  But it’s also hard to be patient with people.  It’s hard to be patient in life when you’re sitting in a traffic jam and you’re already late.  Or you’re waiting in a long checkout line.  Or standing in a long line for the roller coaster at an amusement park.  It’s hard to be patient when you’re waiting for food and you’re “hungry” or someone in the family says they’re “starving”.  It’s hard to be patient when your flight is delayed or canceled.  Or waiting for someone to respond on text or email.  It’s also hard to be patient when you’re waiting for someone you can’t wait to see or who is late.  So many ways you can use that song!

And today we’re going to examine the story of what happened to a man as he was waiting patiently for his friends to arrive.  He may have even had to sing the “patient song” to himself a few times!  But as he waited he was given the opportunity to speak powerfully into a culture that desperately needed to hear about Jesus.  His name was the Apostle Paul and the events that we’re going to take a look at took place when he gave his famous speech on Mars Hill.  And if we look into what he did and said we will learn how to speak into the lives of people we know who need Jesus but also learn how to patiently wait for them to make a decision.

Let’s get started.  If you have your Bibles, turn with me now to the book of Acts chapter 17.  Today we’re going to be in verses 16-34 if you would like to follow along in your Bibles.  As a quick reminder you can also follow along with us online by using our app called Church Center.  Just open it up, click on Sunday Services, and then Message Notes and you’ll find everything you need for our time together.

Over the past three weeks we’ve been in a series of messages called Summer Road Trip where together we’ve been following the Apostle Paul on his missionary adventures to learn truths this summer which can help us to be more like Jesus.  And we can remember where we’ve been by remembering a few road signs.  Week one was the Yield sign.  We learned about Lydia and how she and her family gave their lives to Jesus and were baptized and saved.  They yielded their lives to Christ and we must do the same.  Week two was the One Way sign.  We learned about how Paul and Silas, while in jail, told the Philippian jailor that Jesus was the only way to heaven.  He, too, gave his life to Christ and was baptized.  We must share the same message with others.  And then last week we examined the story of what happened to Paul and Silas in Thessalonica.  And the sign we could use to summarize it was Road Work Ahead.  Because they ran into problems and were persecuted and we need to understand that we, too, will run into problems when we share our faith.  So three signs.  Today we’ll see a fourth.

But let’s jump right into our text.  Because after Paul and Silas left Thessalonica they went to Berea and the persecution continued.  So they sent Paul ahead to Athens where he waited patiently for them to arrive.  Verse 16 then says this:

16 Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. 18 Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, “What does this babbler wish to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities”—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection.

Stop here for a moment.  So Luke tells us that while Paul was waiting for Silas and Timothy in Athens that he began to explore the city.  And as he did so he was “provoked” or upset with all of the idols he saw.  The city was “full of idols”.  So what were some of these gods?  Well, the city of Athens was named after Athena, who was the city’s main god and she was the goddess of wisdom, strategy, and crafts.  But they also worshipped many Greek gods including Zeus who was the ruler of the gods, Pseidon who was the god of the sea, Apollo who was the god of music and the sun, Artemis who was the god of hunting, wilderness, and childbirth.  Kind of a strange combination!  Hermes was the messenger of the gods.  Ares was the god of war.  And the list goes on an on.  Nobody even knows the total number of gods that the Greeks worshipped.  There were 12 main gods but many lesser gods.  And this is what upset Paul.  They worshipped so many false gods but not the one, true, living God!  So Paul began to speak to the Jews in the synagogues and the Gentiles in the marketplaces.  He spoke with everyday common people and highly educated academic people.  Including Epicurean and Stoic philosophers.  Epicureans were followers of a philosopher named Epicurus who had been influential for about 400 years at that point.  They believed the universe came about naturally, the gods were not involved with people, and that there was no judgment day.  So they focused on pleasure and freedom.  The Stoics were the opposite.  They taught that the goal of life was to live in harmony with nature and reason.  They taught that virtue was the highest good and that everything happens because of fate.  So whereas the Epicureans were about freedom and pleasure the Stoics were about virtue and fate.  Two very different worldviews.  

And Paul challenged both through Jesus and the resurrection.  He challenged the worldview which says we should all seek pleasure by speaking about sin and the need for Jesus.  And he challenged the worldview that says we only need to live in harmony with nature and be “good” by explaining that none of us are good.  We all need Jesus.  And this confused both of them.  So they brought him to the Areopagus or the Hill of Ares.  Otherwise known as Mars Hill.  Last year we visited Athens and took a picture of it which should be behind me.  

So this is where Paul was as he spoke.  And verse 22 says what happens next.  We read:

22 So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. 26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 28 for “ ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “ ‘For we are indeed his offspring.’ 29 Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. 30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

Alright.  So this is Paul’s famous Mars Hill message.  It’s one of the most famous speeches in the Bible because it shows how to communicate the Gospel to people who have little or no knowledge of Scripture.  It confronts the worldviews of people who are not followers of God.  So when you and I think about friends and family members who do not know Jesus, who do not go to church, who do not read the Bible or even know anything about the Bible or even co-workers or neighbors who might be Atheists or Agnostics or Buddhists or Mormons or Muslims then we can find answers here.  You and I need to know how to speak into the lives of people who have different spiritual backgrounds or no spiritual background and many of the answers we need are found within this passage.  This passage teaches us how to challenge other worldviews.

So let’s take a look at what Paul said and how it speaks into all of our lives.  As we do so I want to apply what we see in our lives by examining four steps he took and that we can take as well.  The first thing to notice is how Paul begins this famous speech.  Because within this speech is a model for how we can speak into a skeptical and pluralistic culture.  He begins by saying in verse 22, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious.”  That’s a compliment.  It’s also an odd way of speaking.  Paul was upset with their idolatry but he uses that to point out that the number of idols being worshipped in Athens is at least a sign of spiritual longing.  They are searching for God.  And so that leads to an important point.  When you and I are speaking to a person who is not yet a follower of Jesus we need to compliment any search for God.  Compliment any search for God.  Compliment the person who is interested in God or asking questions about faith.  Compliment the person who is curious about Jesus or simply knows you believe in Him.  Look into the person’s life and see their longing for a relationship with their Creator and when you see it, acknowledge it, and compliment it.

Second, we see that Paul makes an important connection.  He says in verse 23, “For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found an altar with the inscription:  ‘To the unknown god.’  And what you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.”  In other words, “I see that you worship many gods and even have an altar to an unknown God.  Let me tell you about Him.”  Paul was making a connection between a problem they had and God.  They worried they might be missing a god and Paul made that connection between their spiritual longing and the problem of missing a god to the One True God.  And we must do the same.  When we recognize people who have a spiritual longing and see the problems they perceive because of it we need to connect them to God.  Connect any problem to God.  Because when a person has a personal problem, a relational problem, a physical problem, or a financial problem they need to know that their answer is found in God.  God is the answer to all of life’s problems.  Knowing Him and His Word can help people to deal with any problem of life.  But people will not make those connections.  They need you to do it.  They need for Christians to help them to understand who God is and what God can do.  

That’s why Paul continues by describing God.  He says that, “The God who made the world and everything in it is not like all of these other gods you worship.  He doesn’t live in temples and He isn’t made with tools.  He doesn’t need you to take care of Him like all of those other gods.  He’s also not a god that is hidden.  All of those other gods are hidden.  You can’t see them and don’t know what they look like so you’ve made idols of them.  You can’t seek them and talk to them and find them.  They are hidden.  But the God of this Universe is not.  He can be found and He’s actually not even far from you now.  He’s not a God who is distant but who is near.”

And then something interesting happens here.  Because Paul quotes from their culture.  He’s done his homework and he knows what the people think by what they have written.  And so he quotes in verse 28 from two philosophers.  The first is named Epimenides who was a famous poet and philosopher.  The second was from a poet named Aratus who had written a famous poem everyone knew.  Both of them spoke about Zeus who was the king of the Greek gods.  The first claimed that Zeus was the Sustainer of life.  Because he wrote, “In him we live and move and have our being.”  The second claimed Zeus was the Creator of life.  Because he wrote, “for we are indeed his offspring.”  But Paul’s point is this.  There is a deity who is the Creator and Sustainer of all of life but it is not Zeus.  It is God of heaven and earth.  You see he is taking truth from the culture and pointing it to God.  It was true that there is a deity who is the Creator and Sustainer of life but it was not true that it was Zeus.  It was God.  

And so we can learn from that as well.  Paul confirmed truth within the culture as true in God.  It belonged to Him.  And we can do the same.  Confirm any truth as God’s.  It belongs to Him.  If a person quotes from a news article or a website or a science book and Scripture confirms it as being true then recognize it as truth.  Recognize that it points to the Source of all truth or God Himself.  The Bible is not the only thing that was ever written that is true.  However, it is the only thing that was written by God and is perfectly true.  So it is the only thing that can be used to properly evaluate all other truths.  And so when it confirms other statements then you can know that it is true.  Paul used cultural truths to point to Biblical truths.  He found truths within the cultural which were found in Scripture and explained how they were true because of God.

But he didn’t stop there.  Because Paul finishes by stating in verses 29-32 that “If it’s true that we are His offspring then we are made in His image.  And since we are not made of gold and silver and stone then neither is God.  And if we know that God is not like any one of your idols then the times of ignorance have ended.”  And Paul says, “Here’s what this means.  Because the times of ignorance have ended then God commands all people to repent and turn back to Him.  Because a day is coming when He will judge the world.  And He has already appointed who that Judge will be.  He did this when He raised a particular Person up from the grave.”  

And while Paul doesn’t state His name we know it’s Jesus.  Why?  Because He had earlier in verse 18 got into trouble by talking about Jesus and the resurrection.  Now He’s talking about it again.  Why?  Because everything points to Jesus and the resurrection.  All of human history points to Jesus and the resurrection.  All of human history either leads up to Jesus and His crucifixion and resurrection or it flows from It.  The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the pinnacle or apex of all of human history.  And because these people were hearing the Gospel for the first time they had been ignorant of what God had done before but not now.  Now they knew that Judgment Day was coming.  So Paul concluded with the judgment of God.  And we must do the same.  Conclude with judgment from God.  Ultimately, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ matters because every person on this planet will be judged by God.  They will be judged by Jesus.  And yet if they will turn to Him they can be saved by Him.

You see, Paul was able to merge his understanding of culture with the Gospel.  And so our road sign for this week is a Merge Sign.  When two lanes merge together we see one of these signs.  And we need to be able to merge what we know about our culture with the Gospel too.

Because we live within a world filled with different worldviews.  And as Christians we need to be able to challenge secular worldviews with a Biblical worldview.  And a Biblical worldview starts with a proper understanding of God as the Creator of the Universe.  It then includes who God created and how people are made in His image.  It includes God’s desire for His creation to know Him and worship Him.  But it concludes with the truth that there will come a Day when God judges the world through a particular Judge.  His Son.  And His name is Jesus.  And yet it is this same Judge who offers salvation through His death and resurrection.  But not all people know this and believe this.  Because they have worldviews that need to be challenged. 

Let’s think about how we can do this practically.  Last week as many of you know I was in Austria for a mission trip supporting an organization called TCM.  TCM is an education ministry which provides seminary education for Christian leaders in eastern Europe.  And while there I had a chance to sit in on a worldviews class and learned about Muslims and how to speak to Muslims for Jesus.  And the professor described how this must be done through worldviews.  You must speak into the life of the person by addressing their worldview.

So let’s imagine that you meet a man named Ahmad who is from Turkey where 99% of the population is Muslim.  How would you share with Ahmad about Jesus?  Well, let’s use Paul’s methodology to think about this for just a moment.  First of all, you can begin with a compliment.  You can compliment the Muslim.  You can say, “Ahmad, can I speak to you about your Muslim beliefs for just a moment?  I’ve noticed that you are very religious and are extremely devoted to Allah.”  That’s a sincere compliment.  By the way, Allah is just the Arabic name for God so you don’t have to be concerned about using that name as a Christian.  Then you make a connection.  You simply say, “Ahmad, what do you believe about Allah?”  And he is likely to say, “I believe that Allah is all-powerful, all-knowing, and holy.”  And you can say, “I agree.”  He might then say, “I believe that Allah has created all things.”  And you can say, “I agree.”  He will likely say, “I also believe that Allah is One.”  And again, you can agree.  However, Muslims do not believe God is three-in-one as Christians do.  However, we were taught in that class that trying to prove the Trinity is going to be too difficult.  So just recognize that there is a difference.  Amad might also say, “I also believe that Allah has revealed Himself through His holy book the Quran and His holy prophets.  There are 99 of them and the most important is Muhammed.”  So you might say, “I also agree that God has been revealed through prophets and a Holy Book.”  From here you can bring up the Bible and Jesus although Muslims will say they believe in Jesus but view Him as less than Muhammed.  But so far there’s not really a problem to address.  And you need one.  So that’s when you can ask, “Ahmad, can you know Allah personally?  Can you know if Allah is pleased with you and your life?”  And this is key.  Because his answer will be “No.  You cannot know Allah personally.  Allah is transcendent and above all creation.  He is far from us.”  Remember.  That’s different from what Paul said on Mars Hill.  God is not far from us. He is near.  Big difference.  Ahmad will then say, “You also cannot know how Allah will judge you on the Day of Judgment.  You have to trust in His mercy.”  And that’s the problem.  Muslims do not know if they are “saved”.  They do not know if Allah is pleased with them.  They live their lives in obedience and devotion just hoping that their good works outweigh the bad.  Can you imagine how difficult that would be?  To not know?  So you finish as Paul finished by confirming and concluding.  You confirm truths which the Bible confirms but you conclude with judgment and how we can know that we are saved in Jesus.  We can find assurance of our salvation in Him.  Muslims cannot but Christians can!  That is so huge!  And so you might just wrap up by saying, “I agree with you that God will judge all people.  But as a Christian I believe that we can know that we are saved.  Because God is personal and relational and He has promised that in Jesus alone we can be saved.  Would you like to learn more?”

You see you can speak into a Muslim’s life and help them to know why Jesus matters by speaking to their worldview.  By addressing the framework through which they understand their world and showing them how the Christian worldview differs because of Jesus.  And if this seems difficult to you then I want to invite you to a class we’re going to teach this fall called Worldview 101:  Developing a Biblical Worldview.  It’s going to start August 26.  So I want to encourage you to come, listen, and learn.  So that you will be able to understand a Christian worldview and use it to speak into the lives of those whose worldview differs from yours.

Let me wrap up by just reminding you of where we began.  Because we began with a question that our children ask us on those long road trips:  Are we there yet?  It’s a question that we all ask when we become impatient.  And so we sang a song about patience that we can use to help us.  But impatience is something we all struggle with in all areas of our lives.  Including spiritually.  And Paul struggled with it in Athens because he saw a culture who believed in many false gods but not the One true God.  A culture that looked a lot like ours.  And yet Paul showed us how to speak to a person who is far from God.  We do that by revealing problems within their worldview.  We do that by challenging them to reconsider what they know about God, who He is and what He has done, and how one day He will come again to judge all people.  In Jesus.  And by speaking to people in this way we are able to challenge their beliefs so that they, too, will come to know God as we have and follow Jesus as we do.

So here’s the bottom line or final truth for us this morning…

Challenge another’s faith by revealing problems within their worldview.

Let’s learn how to patiently speak truth into the lives of other people and challenge them on the truths that are foundational to their lives.  Their worldview.

Let’s pray.

[Prayer:  For God to help us to challenge other people by speaking to their worldview.]

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