Musings Along Life's Way: Pauls Preaching

Hello Friends,

This Sunday we will be reading from the Acts of the Apostles, the sequel to the gospel writer's Gospel of Luke. The Acts catalogs the travels of Paul, the antics of Peter, the early church in the time after the death and resurrection of Jesus. In many ways, though contemporaneous with the gospels, it has an entirely different feel than the gospels. I think this is because it is about us, in the guise of Jesus' followers after the coming of the Holy Spirit. Acts is a Spirit centered book, the Spirit empowering people to do the work of the Lord. One such work was Paul's preaching to the people of Athens from Mars Hill, from the Areopagus. The Areopagus was a place for Athenians to come and to discuss the philosophical issues of the day. For Paul, the Areopagus is a challenge, a challenge much like our own.

Paul was journeying into a foreign land, with a foreign religion. The people he was speaking to were not inclined towards the Christian religion, were not inclined to the person and presence of the Risen Christ. However, they had a strong philosophical and religious bent. So, Paul begins right where they are:

2Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. ^23 For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’

From there, Paul, respective of mystery, makes his case. Join me this Sunday as Paul speaks to the Areopagus and as we discern our place and our message to a world filled with philosophical questioning and religious doubt, a world longing for the mystery of God's presence in the incarnation of the divine in everyday life.See you in church.

Blessings, David