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Sunday, May 27, 2012

Stone Tablets in a Wireless World

Below is the message given in the Wheatland Parish on Sunday, May 27, 2012.  The scriptures used are John 18:28-38; Exodus 20:1-17; and Acts 17:16-34.

            Today we start a new sermon series called “Stone Tablets in a Wireless World.”  We’re going to look at how we communicate the message of the Bible in a world that is so different from the world that existed when the Bible was written.
           
At the end of last week’s message, we talked about how our minds are not always capable of understanding all of God’s truth.  When we say that, though, we’re making an assumption, whether we realize it or not.  The assumption is that there is such a thing as truth.
           
For some of us, maybe that seems obvious.  The thing is, though, that for a growing number of people, it’s not.  In 1997, fifty percent of Americans said there is such a thing as absolute truth.  By 2005, that percentage was down to thirty-five percent.  I suspect it’s even less today.  If we assume that there is such a thing as truth, we’re making an assumption that a majority of Americans is no longer willing to make.
           
Now, I’m not saying that Christians should abandon the idea of absolute truth.    We heard the ten commandments a little while ago.  Those still are the basis of much of our faith, and most of us would probably consider them to be an example of absolute truth.  In our last sermon series, we talked about some of the qualities of God.  Most of us would probably consider those to be an example of absolute truth, too.
           
The thing is that Jesus told us to spread the gospel to everyone.  Among others, that includes the people of this country, the people of the society in which we live.  The question is, how do we do that?  How do we communicate what we consider eternal truths to people who live in a world that’s so different from the world in which the Bible was written?  How do we communicate things that we’re written on stone tablets thousands of years ago to a world that communicates by email and texts and instant messages?
           
The answer is not as easy as we might think.  See, it’s not just a matter of convincing people that what we believe is true.  We first have to convince them that there is such a thing as truth.  Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life,” but telling people that Jesus is the truth won’t make any impression on them if they don’t believe that there is such a thing as truth.
           
That’s what happened when Jesus went in front of Pilate.  Jesus says that anyone who’s on the side of truth will listen to him, and Pilate responds, “What is truth?”  If someone does not believe in truth, if someone is not interested in truth, telling them that Jesus is the truth won’t matter to them.
           
The temptation, of course, is to just say, well, we have the truth, and if people won’t listen to it, it’s their problem.  To an extent, it is.  People are allowed to make their own choices.  They can reject the truth if they want to.  We cannot stop them.  Still, again, we keep running up against Jesus’ command to spread the gospel to everyone.  I don’t think Jesus allows us to just write people off.  I think Jesus wants us to keep trying to find ways to reach them.
           
Fortunately, we have an example for how to do that.  See, we’re not the first people who ever tried to bring the good news of Jesus to a different culture.  Christian missionaries have been doing that for centuries.  It goes back to the first great Christian missionary, the apostle Paul.
           
Paul went all over the world trying to spread the news of Jesus Christ.  In our reading from Acts, he was in Athens.  Athens was not a Christian area.  In fact, the way it sounds, they’d never even heard of Jesus yet.  I mean, maybe they’d heard some rumors about him, but they had no understanding of what he was really about.
           
The people of Athens did have religion.  Boy, did they have religion.  They had lots of religions, more than you could shake a stick at.  They were worshipping all kinds of gods.  Paul saw idols all over the place.  The idea that there was only one God seemed really strange to them. 

This was the place Paul had come to try to spread the good news of Jesus.  This was the place Paul had come to tell people that there is only one God and that salvation could only be found through belief in Jesus Christ.  So, how did Paul go about doing that?
           
Well, first, Paul spent some time going around the city.  The reason he did that was so that he could get some understanding of what the area was like.  He did not come in and start trying to change people right away.  Instead, he spent some time getting to know who the people in this area were.
           
He saw, of course, that they were quite a bit different from the people he was used to.  Their religious practices were especially different, with all those idols around.  So, what did he do?  Did he tell them they had it all wrong and that they needed him to straighten them out?  No.  Look at what he did.
           
First, he went to the synagogue and talked to the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks.  In other words, he started with the people who were most like him.  Then, we’re told he “reasoned” with these people.  Think about that phrase.  He “reasoned” with them.  Reasoning is not the same thing as arguing.  When you reason with someone, you’re not waving a finger in their face.  You’re laying out your case.  You’re presenting evidence as to why you’re right.  You’re trying to persuade them.  You’re also showing respect to them and their opinions.  You’re listening to what they have to say and responding to it.  You’re answering their questions and responding to their objections.  When you “reason” with someone, you have to be reasonable.  That’s what Paul was doing.
           
Because he was being reasonable, people listened to what he had to say.  They did not necessarily agree with it, but they listened.  Because he was showing respect to them, they showed respect to him.  Word spread around Athens.  More people got interested.  They wanted to hear more about this Jesus that Paul kept talking about.
           
Paul kept being reasonable, and he kept showing them respect.  He reached out to them by speaking to them in terms of their own culture, terms they could understand.  He said to them, look I can see you’re very religious.  I can see that you’re trying really hard to get this right.  I respect that.  I think that’s great.
           
Then, he said, I saw this altar with an inscription that said, “To an unknown God”.  What that tells me is that you’re still searching for answers.  It tells me that you know there’s more to religion than what you know right now.  Paul said, I used to feel that way, too.  Then, I found out what it was and who it was I was missing.  So now, let me tell you about him.
           
Did it work?  Not totally.  We’re told that some people sneered at Paul.  Some people said, well, we’re not convinced yet, but we want to hear more.  But some became followers of Christ and believed.
           
That’s how it goes when we try to spread the word about Jesus.  Some people sneer at us.  Some people are not ready to commit yet, but want to hear more.  Some, though, will believe, and will follow.
           
The point, though, is that it’s not enough for us to believe we have the truth on our side.  That’s good, that’s important, but it’s not enough.  We need to be able to communicate that truth to people who not only don’t believe that it’s the truth, but who don’t even believe that there is such a thing as truth.
           
In the weeks to come, we’re going to look at more specific examples of how the world has changed and how we can communicate with that world.  As we do, though, we need to keep in mind the way Paul went about it.  He found out about the people he was trying to reach.  He showed them respect.  He reached out to them.  He spoke to them in ways they could understand.  He did not change or water down the good news of Jesus Christ, but he expressed it in terms that at least some of the people of Athens could accept.
           
As we try to bring God’s truth to a world that increasingly does not even believe in the concept of truth, that’s what we need to do.  We need to learn about the people we’re trying to reach.  We need to show them respect.  We need to reach out to them.  We need to speak to them in ways they can understand.  Again, that does not mean that we change or water down our message.  It means that we express it in terms that at least some of the people who have not heard the message can accept.
           
See, the people of our time don’t want to be wrong, any more than people in Paul’s time wanted to be wrong.  We’re all trying to get it right.  A lot of people are searching right now, just like they were searching in Paul’s time.  Some people may be hostile to God, but most are not.  They just don’t understand.  We need to find a way to help them understand, just like Paul did.  It won’t work with everyone—Paul did not reach everyone—but it will work with some, just like it did for Paul.
           
It’s not an easy thing to do, but it’s a necessary thing to do.  It’s what Jesus did.  It’s what Paul did.  And it’s what we need to do if we want to convince a wireless world of the truth that can be found on three thousand year old stone tablets.

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