6 Easter 2008

Acts 17:15-34

John 14: 15-21

Paul and the Philosophers

Athens, is a city that compels exploration. The Greek structures, the statues, and the construction so ancient and magnificent make one wonder how they did it. The Parthenon is marble, with high towering pillars, on the top of a hill from which you can see the whole city, modern and ancient. The marble has begun to crumble from acid rain but there is enough left to humble the modern architect. I was in Athens in 1985 for a virology conference on one of the Greek islands. My flight home allowed a day in Athens to explore. I walked all day, up and down the hills of the city, exploring among other Greek treasures, Mars Hill or in Greek, Areopagus, a popular gathering place for philosophical discourse. I could imagine Paul exploring in much the same manner I was, and hear his strong assertions to the Greeks that the “unknown god” can be known because the “cloud of unknowing” has revealed his essence in the person of Jesus, the Christ. Paul may have been offended by such pagan idols and when he saw the inscription to “an unknown god” he found an opening as in the great Socratic discourses of ancient Greek philosophy. Socrates seized on the word virtue in much the same way to show his opponents that their ethical ideas were shallow and unproductive. Just as Socrates held fast to his ideals of justice, wisdom, prudence and courage, Paul knew from his conversion experience that Jesus was the crucified and resurrected Lord.

Tradition and historical documents tell us that in the sixth century before Jesus, the people living in the city of Athens were experiencing a plague. No scientific explanation was at hand, so the people assumed that one of the local gods had been offended. In search for which one was angry and bringing the plague, the people hired a consultant (what we do when none of us want to take responsibility). The consultant was Epimendies who took a flock of sheep and withheld food from them until they were really hungry. Then he released the flock onto the grassy slope of mars hill. If any of the sheep lay down rather than graze, that would be a sign pointing to the angry god. Several of the sheep did lie down rather than eat, and each spot was marked and if the god associated with the spot was not known, the site was labeled “to an unknown god.” The sheep that rested in that place was sacrificed to the “unknown god” for appeasement. After Epimendies completed his work the plague stopped. As a memorial to the intervention, the Greeks constructed a monument and inscribed on it “to an unknown God”. We don’t know if Paul knew this story or not, but we do know that Paul was as zealous for the gospel as he was for Judaism prior to his conversion experience.

The citizens of Athens were constantly exposed to a variety of Greek philosophers. They knew the legend and parables of Socrates and Plato and Aristotle. They enjoyed a good debate, in the Socratic tradition. Stoics taught withdrawal from the world into an ascetic style of life, not unlike our traditional monks and nuns, living austere lives to serve the poor, to devote time to prayer, to serve the sick. Paul challenged the philosophers and their teaching by finding common ground in the inscription “to an unknown god.” Paul explained that this unknown god was really the creator of heaven and earth, who had done a new thing in sending Jesus to live the life of a human being, who was crucified, died and was buried and God raised him back to like three days after his death. Such a teaching was preposterous, foolish to Greek educated philosophers. The message of a cross was never heard as a message of wisdom, love, and grace. Few thought much of his words: indeed Acts tells us that they snickered at Paul when he spoke of the resurrection from the dead.

The major difference between the philosophically astute and the Jewish learned audiences were that for the Greeks, a collection of gods was a good thing, what could one more hurt? For the Jews, however, they knew God and did not need another. To the covenant community, God, Yahweh, was one, and there could be no other gods. Claiming Jesus as the Son of God challenged the monotheistic tradition. Adding another god to the hundreds already worshipped was not so challenging to the Greeks. Each tradition presented a challenge in hearing the truth of Paul’s message.

When Paul taught in synagogues, the Jews listened in order to catch him in heresy – to dispute the truth, which they already knew. It is hard to teach those who know! In the city of Athens, the citizens listened out of curiosity, as if window shopping but not buying. Paul began, “I perceive that you are very religious,” and moved on to explain why their “gods” were insufficient. Like wealth, power, and prestige, the Athenians couldn’t have too much or too many. Paul said in essence, the one living and true God is enough and surpasses all your ‘gods, known and unknown.’ Paul was direct: you are searching in vain, you are foolish to worship gods made with hands, when you could believe in the one resurrected from the dead. This proclamation was unbelievable, irrational, and so only a few believed on the basis of Paul’s testimony. I don’t know why we get discouraged when only a few respond to our efforts, if Paul is rejected, why do we expect better? Paul was persistent, faithful, and so should we be.

Paul never missed an opportunity to share the good news of God as revealed in Jesus. He was often in conflict with his fellow Jews over what was required by Gentile converts. The Jews who believed that Jesus was the Messiah were in conflict with Jews who did not accept Jesus as Messiah and they were worshiping in the same synagogue. Jews who believed and Gentiles who believed were together but their traditions were far apart. The kosher rules made eating together difficult, if the Gentile converts did not accept the laws of Torah. The rite of circumcision was the mark of the covenant for all Jews and they wanted the Gentiles to do the same. Paul was so radically changed by his conversion experience that he believed that you are truly free in Christ. He argued that Gentiles did not need to become Jews in order to be faithful disciples. There were heated arguments in Jerusalem among the leaders of the new faith, between James and Peter and Paul. This tension was also present in new communities of faith throughout the diaspora. The tension rose to peak heights that eventually caused Jews and Christians to separate. The tension is evident in the language of the Gospels, has been perpetuated throughout history, and is present even today. We too argue about how to worship – which elements of our service are edifying, necessary, and what it means to live a faithful Christian life.

Paul taught that in Christ you are free on the basis of what God has done on your behalf and that the only requirement is confession of faith. Baptized into Christ means being dead to sin and alive to righteousness. New life is available in Christ, but it is a cruciform life. Paul stressed that if we really believe we live a life that has died to sin because Jesus died for sin, and we live a risen life in Christ because Christ rose from death. If we live a cruciform life, we live the faith of Christ. We live as part of Christ’s body. We are not our own – but belong to God. Living as if we believe that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, as if we know that Jesus died and was resurrected and will come again to gather us into the eternal embrace of the living Trinity, we ought to be able to trust God for our parish, for our family, for our lives.

What is your story? Do you believe that Jesus was really crucified, died and was buried and on the third day was raised to life? Do you really believe that Jesus has conquered sin and death and opened a new kingdom? Do you really believe God sends the Holy Spirit to lead us into faith and truth and empower us for the continuing work of the kingdom? What is the evidence? What are you doing that testifies to that faith? With whom do you share the good news of God in Christ? Is your life cruciform? Do you know the God you worship or are you still worshipping an “unknown God”?

We need to reflect, pray, and be open to seeing whether our thinking, speaking, and acting is stamped “made in heaven” or “made with human hands.” In the community of faith we will experience disagreement, as did the members of the church in Paul’s lifetime. We will have our passions ignited by what is done and not done. We will be incensed by some actions or lack of it, while thinking ourselves beyond reproach. We may get our feelings hurt or our anger roused but we are united in Christ. If Christ is all in all, if as Paul quotes the great Stoic hymn, in whom we live and move and have our being, then differences of opinion will not have lasting effect. Being aware that we are forgiven we can a) repent our wrongdoings and b) forgive those whose sins affect us.

Experiencing the forgiveness and grace of God opens us to seeing God give grace to any and every other person. To the extent we rejoice with those for whom God’s grace moves with the spirit of God, we are sharing our faith, not in an unknown god but in the lord of heaven and earth. The question for us is are we still worshiping an unknown god or have we conformed our lives to the way of the cross, confident that we are alive in Christ?