Reminders of God

The Sunday night message given in the Gettysburg United Methodist church on August 6, 2023.  The Bible verses used are Acts 17:16-34.

            The Apostle Paul is considered to be the first traveling Christian evangelist.  He went all over the world to spread the gospel, or at least all over the part of the world that he knew about, to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.

            He has already visited a lot of cities at this point in his journey.  He started in Antioch, then went to Syria and Celicia.  He went to the cities of Derbe, Lystra, and Iconium, then to Phrygia and Galatia, then to Philippi in Macedonia.  He then went to Thessalonica, then Berea, and now Paul is in Athens, Greece.  

            Paul was waiting for Silas and Timothy, who were supposed to join him in Athens.  And while he was waiting, he walked around the city.  Seeing the sights, trying to learn more about the place.  Trying to get the lay of the land, so to speak.

            And as Paul walks around, he sees a lot of idols.  Because the Greeks, at that time, had a god for just about everything.  They had a god for the sun and a god for the moon.  They had a god for the rain and a god for the wind.  They had a god for grain, a god for cattle, a god for traveling, a god for the home.  You name it, they had a god for it.  And then, just in case they missed something, they had one more god, the “unknown god” that Paul referenced in our reading.

            And that, of course, is the hook Paul used in his evangelism.  He said, you have an unknown god.  Would you like to know Him?  Because I know Him, and I’ll be happy to tell you about Him.  God is the One who created everything.  He’s everywhere, and He does not need anything from us.  We, however, need everything from Him.  We are His offspring, God’s sons and daughters.  And God calls each of us to repent of our sins, because His divine Son, Jesus Christ, will judge the world with justice.

            Well, some of them believed, and some did not.  Some were willing to consider it and hear more.  That’s pretty much how it always is when we try to spread the good news of Jesus Christ.  Some people believe, some don’t, and some don’t want to make up their minds.  It’s kind of how human beings are.

            But here’s what I got to thinking about.  Suppose the Apostle Paul was to come to one of the towns of the Wheatland Parish.  Suppose the Apostle Paul came to Gettysburg or Onida.  And he started wandering around, looking at all the things we have in our towns.  What would he see?  What would he think?  Would he think we were worshiping Jesus Christ?  Or would he think we have a bunch of idols, just like the Greeks did?

            I started thinking about what Paul would see, as he walked around.  He’d see the churches, of course.  I hope he would approve of them.  He might wonder why we needed so many.  Why would the towns of Gettysburg and Onida need four or five different churches, if they all claim to worship Jesus Christ?  Maybe he’d think these towns were really on fire for Jesus, that we needed that many churches because none of the buildings was big enough to hold everybody.

            If he came here on Sunday, of course, he’d find out that was not true.  So what else would Paul see?

            Well, he’d see the fire department building.  I assume he’d be okay with that.  He’d see the schools, at least in Onida and Gettysburg.  I assume he’d be okay with those, too.  I have no idea how he’d feel about the sports complexes.  And he’d see the business places and the houses.

            What else would he see?  Would he see anything that appeared to be an idol?  And would he see anything that appeared to be offered to some sort of unknown God?

            I think these are questions worth thinking about.  What is it, as a community, that we worship?  And if we say that, as a community, we worship Jesus Christ, what proof of it is there?  What would Paul see, if he walked around our town, that shows we worship Jesus Christ?

            Now, you might say, well, the whole point is that we’re not supposed to have a bunch of idols.  We’re not supposed to show off and have a bunch of altars and stuff all over town to prove we worship Jesus.  In fact, Jesus specifically told us not to make a big, public show of our faith.  

            Okay.  There’s certainly truth in that.  So let’s look at it another way.  Suppose Paul walked up to you.  Or to me.  And he started talking to us.  And he asked us about our religious faith.  And he asked us who or what it is that we worship.

            We might say that we worship Jesus Christ.  And Paul says, really?  That’s great!  Awesome!  I worship Him, too!  So tell me, what are you doing as a result of that?  What are you doing to share the gospel with others?  What are you doing to show love to your neighbor?  What about you is different because of your faith in Christ Jesus?

            Now, I don’t mean to suggest you would not have an answer.  You might have a really good answer.  I cannot presume to know what your answer is.  But I think that I need to think about what my answer would be.  Maybe you do, too.  Maybe not–maybe you already know what your answer is, and maybe you’re perfectly satisfied with it.  But maybe you need to think about it, just like I do.

            Because if we truly worship Jesus Christ, our lives should show that somehow.  Because to worship Jesus Christ means to put Jesus Christ first in our lives.  It means that worship of Jesus is not just one of many things in our lives, it’s the most important thing in our lives.  It’s the thing that everything else in our lives is dependent on.  If we worship Jesus Christ, that worship affects everything we do.  There should be nothing in our lives that is not affected by our worship of Jesus Christ in some way.

            I’m emphasizing this because we human beings are really good at compartmentalizing things.  And I’m just as good as anyone.  And it’s really easy for us to compartmentalize our faith.  To have our Jesus time and our non-Jesus time.  Our prayer time and our non-prayer time.  Our church time and our non-church time.

            And don’t get me wrong.  I’m not suggesting that we should spend every waking moment praying and reading the Bible.  That’s not practical.  But I am saying that we should not segregate our prayer time.  We should not segregate our Jesus time.  That time should influence all the other times of our lives.  That time should be a part of everything we do.

            So, is it?  Does our worship of Jesus Christ affect everything else in our lives?  Again, I cannot say what your answer is.  Each of us needs to answer that question for ourselves.  If your answer is yes, that’s great.  In fact, that’s wonderful.  That’s awesome.  But if our answer is no, or if we’re not sure, well, then we probably want to look at doing something about that.

            What can we do?  Well, one thing we can do is what Paul told the people of Athens to do.  Understand who this God is that we worship.  Think about how God is so powerful that He made the world and everything in it, and did so just by speaking a word.  Think about how God does not need us for anything, and yet God offers us the honor and privilege of being allowed to serve Him.  Think about how God is everywhere, so He is always there when we need Him.  Think about how God gives us the honor and privilege of not just being His servants, but His offspring, His children.  

            Those are all really amazing things, when we think about them.  Those things show both the power of God and the love of God.  Power, in that God can create the entire universe and be everywhere at once and has no need to even have us around.  And yet, a love so strong that God wants to be near us, and for us to be near Him.  A love so strong that God does not just treat us as His servants, which God would have every right and ability to do.  Instead, God treats us as His children, and loves us and gives us everything we need.  And not just everything we need on earth, but the chance for salvation and eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ as the Savior.

            I really think that, if we could somehow keep who God is in the forefront of our minds, we would not be able to stop worshiping God.  We would not have to worry about whether our worship of God influences the rest of our lives.  It would happen automatically.  Maybe that’s how it is in heaven.  Remember, in Revelation, where it tells about how everyone is constantly worshiping God?  Maybe in heaven, we never stop thinking about who God is, and so the worship of God happens without anyone having to even think about it.

            But while we’re on earth, what can we do?  Well, here’s a thought.  Maybe we need to do something like what Moses told the people of Israel to do.  Talking about the commandments, Moses told the people to “tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”

            I’m not saying to do that literally, but the point is:  give ourselves reminders.  Do something to remind ourselves of who God is.  Not just once in a while, but all the time.  So often that we cannot possibly forget it.  Maybe it seems silly to you.  Maybe it seems like overkill.  But if we did something like that, I think we’ll be a lot more likely to remember who God is.  And if we remember who God is, I think it’s a lot more likely that worshiping God will be involved in every aspect of our lives.

            The Apostle Paul is not likely to come to our town, and he’s not likely to ask us what we worship.  But God is already here, and God already knows.  Let’s make sure we’re worshiping God.  Not just on Sunday, but with our entire lives.