"Inside Information About God"
God is the source of life, moving and being
Sermon Preached by
The Rev. Dr. Andrew Stirling
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Text: Acts 17:22-34
want to talk to you about one of the greatest speeches ever given in the history of the world. It might not be on par in the history books with Lincoln's magnificent re-dedication at Gettysburg. It might not compare to Francis Douglas' magnificent statement about Lincoln, The Myth and the Man, in that famous speech to end slavery. It might not have had the historical and geo-political import of Henry Cabot Lodge's great statement to the League of Nations. It might not have brought liberty in the same way as Lady Astor's famous speech on women and their rights in politics. It might not have had the same effect on a tribe or nation that Chief Seattle's speech did when he spoke for justice for his people and for natives. It might not be recorded and replayed in the media like Anwar Sadat's magnificent speech before the Knesset. It might pale in comparison to Winston Churchill's famous call to the British people to resist tyranny. It might not be on a par with Mats Sundin's glorious speech about winning the Stanley Cup as a Toronto Maple Leaf. I'm sorry, that is only in my dreams, isn't it? It might not go down as one of the great pieces of oratory or even history by journalists, but let me tell you, it is one of the most telling speeches ever given.
The fact that we are reading it 2,000 years later tells me it has staying power, wisdom and insight that are almost incomparable. It is a speech that Paul gave during his second journey. After he had already given a speech at a synagogue and addressed the people in the streets of Berea, he was before what is known as the council in Athens - the Areopagus on Mars Hill. This was a place where learned scholars stood and expounded their views on God, nature and the world. Those who were skilled in rhetoric and oratory and steeped in the writings of Plato and Aristotle, who came from the background of the Epicureans and the Stoics, stood and gave their general views there.
In a delightful little twist, Luke, who recorded this story in the Book of Acts, suggested that some of them went on a little bit. Those who were full of their own wisdom and knowledge got up and pontificated on many things. We read about a diminutive Jew getting up and giving a speech that was more noted for its brevity than anything. Yet, it was a passionate statement about God - a profound insight into the wisdom of God. It was, without doubt, one of the greatest speeches of all time.
I want to introduce this speech to you in a new way. You might have heard it before or read it many times over, but the power of this speech is that it is repeated - and needs to be repeated - for every generation. In it, there is a way to look at the world and God. There is something for Christians in particular to grab hold of. What the Apostle Paul was doing in this great speech before the Areopagus was clearly broadening the early Christians' view, and indeed our view, of the world.
Francis Bacon once wrote that “knowledge is power.” I think we have all found ourselves in positions where we had a little insight and knew something that no one else did. Isn't it wonderful to have that little bit of power just because you have that little bit of knowledge? You carry it around in your mind and it makes you feel so wonderful! It is a devilish thing at times. It sometimes leads to pride, but knowledge is power. Knowing something that someone else doesn't gives you power over that person and his or her ideas. No one felt that more than those who gathered on Ares Hill at the Areopagus. They felt they had knowledge, an insight into God. From a philosophical and theosophical foundation, they believed they could talk about God with authority.
Paul observed these people and noticed that, for all their talk about God and the wisdom and power that inside knowledge gave them, they still built a statue to an “unknown god.” In other words, for all their wisdom, there wasn't much that they could say definitively or authoritatively about God. Although their minds had grasped the knowledge of God, it was still an unknown god. It could have been one of many gods; it could have been the one God. But the statue was built to an unknown god.
Then, Paul did something radical and dramatic: He overturned the philosophers in a sense and said, “But this God I proclaim to you.” For Paul, it wasn't a matter of philosophy or theosophy, but a theology. It was not the word of human beings about God; it was God's word to humanity that mattered. Paul did not see how we could confine God by our knowledge as if God was within or came from the imagination or the confines of our minds. Rather, he saw that all those with minds lived within the context of God. The starting place was the Word of God to humanity, not the word of humanity about God. Therefore, he spoke with clarity, passion and certainty and said, “This God I proclaim to you that you see as an unknown god.”
In one of the classic lines of the Bible, Paul said, “In God, we live and move and have our being.” In other words, it is God who encapsulates us, not we who encapsulate God. All the categories of Greek philosophy are contained in this concept of living, moving and being. Our very existence, the existence of the philosophers and all humanity, Paul said, is in God. For Paul, God's word came first and that's precisely what he proclaimed.
The more I look at this speech, the more I realize that there is a methodology in this that allows the church to embrace the world. These words contain something profound that allows us to engage the world. First of all, Paul dealt with the philosophers with respect. He did not enter into a pejorative relationship with them; rather, he embraced them. He even quoted their poets and scholars. He didn't denounce them; he respectfully engaged the ideas they held already. Paul wasn't frightened of their views of God. On the contrary, he wanted to examine, enrich, and transform them.
Recently, I received a fascinating article from The Economist magazine, which did a November feature on God and religion. In the Name of God was a series by eminent writers from all over the world that dealt with all religions and the nature of religion in the world. It made the fascinating statement that rather than diminishing as the modernists and post-modernists thought, religion is on the rise. The number of people of faith is expanding dramatically in many parts of the world. But one of the great dangers is that this religious re-awakening has led to conflict. The series made an amazing statement about how the world needs to come to the point where there is respect and understanding.
The more I read this, the more I realized that Paul's great sermon is a wonderful example of how we should accomplish that. We should listen and learn; we should understand and respect. But in no way did Paul ever renege on his convictions. Even though he was respectful, he still proclaimed this truth: The whole world and all that is in it are within God and exist because of the grace of God. It is God who is the first mover, and God who is the source of our life and our moving and being.
The great philosopher Emile Cailliet, who taught at Princeton University, spoke profoundly about this. He was brought up in the latter part of the 19th century in a home that didn't believe in God, but in naturalist philosophy and nothing much more. In fact, they had an antipathy toward religion. Cailliet didn't really believe in God. Then, while fighting for France during the First World War, one of his closest friends who was standing right next to him in the trenches was shot in the head and died. Cailliet said, “All of a sudden I had no way of understanding this injustice, sin and violence.”
Cailliet decided to read as much as he could and write a book to explain everything that had happened. The more he tried to write this book, the less he was able to understand what he had experienced. He said, “I needed a book that would actually understand me.” One day his wife suggested that he read the bible. Like all wise men, he did exactly as his wife said! But he did so reluctantly, because he thought there was nothing in the bible of any value. Afterward, this is what he wrote:
I literally grabbed the book and rushed to my study with it. I opened it and chanced upon the Beatitudes. I read, and I read, and I read - now aloud with an indescribable warmth surging within me. I could not find words to express my awe and wonder. Suddenly, a realization dawned upon me. This was the book that would understand me! I needed it so much, yet unaware, I had attempted to write my own, but in vain. I continued to read deeply into the night, mostly from the gospels and the Books of Acts, and lo and behold, as I looked through them the One of whom they spoke, the One who spoke and acted in them, came alive in me.
Cailliet had started with a view of the world that he sought to understand only to find in the Scriptures a book that understood him. He is a classic example of what happens to people when they grasp what Paul said at the Areopagus. It is that very Word of God that grasps us. Then we understand in whom “we live and move and have our being.” The excitement of that is that it does something else: It broadens our view of God.
Paul made a number of profound affirmations about God. He made the case that God has a purpose that is borne out in creation. This God, Paul said, created this world and all that is in it is here for a reason. Scholars have debated whether Paul had a natural theology. He did, but it was very limited, just as it is in the beginning of the Book of Romans. However, Paul knew that all human beings can see the fingerprint of God in the world, and that the reason for our being is that we might ultimately seek and find God. Paul said to the cynics and those who have no knowledge of God, “Look, there is a purpose and we live, move and have our being within the context of God's will and reasoning for us.” That is why he said, “Even the boundaries of the nations, even the people themselves, have a purpose to their existence.” This is not some empty phrase about God; this is a definitive statement that the very existence of the world is for a purpose from a divine hand.
Paul also suggested that God has a true sense of power as well as purpose. I love the song we used to sing until advertisers got hold of it and ruined it:
He's got the whole world in his hands,
He's got the whole wide world in his hands.
For Paul, there was a sense in which the whole world is in the hands of God. But how was this power manifested for Paul? Paul didn't need the council of the Areopagus to talk about God having the potential to demonstrate power. God had already shown this power and revealed it by raising his Son from the dead. Paul said to the council, “This I proclaim to you.”
For Paul, everything was founded on the Resurrection of Christ, which is the affirmation of God's purpose and power and the reason for our existence. We can only truly say we live and move and have our being in God if we believe that the Son was raised from the dead. This was no false hope. This was no speech just to tickle the ears.
A few weeks ago I re-read a report about the news conference at which soccer star David Beckham gave his first speech after arriving in North America. I am always intrigued by his statement that his arrival was going to bring in a whole new era for soccer in North America and great things would happen because he was here and privileged to be part of it. There was a big circus around him. David Beckham is a nice man, but he went way too far in his promises. This is a man who has played two games since! You can always make promises but you have to have the power to back them up. The Apostle Paul's affirmations about God were backed up by the Resurrection. For Paul, everything hinged on this incredible moment. The historic became the present, and Paul's affirmations revealed his passion about God's presence.
There is a classic Christian phrase that talks about the Christus Praesens, the “Presence of Christ.” Paul saw that the passion in the world was borne out in the presence of the living Christ. We “live and move and have our being” in God, but God lives and moves and has his being in his Son. It is that Son that passionately draws us to God.
What was the response to Paul's speech? Like many of you, I have been listening to the great oratory from the United States over the last week. I have been enjoying the politicians and their banter. A lot of it is staged, I know, but I love a good speaker and I am a sucker for a great speech. There have been a couple of them, particularly by one individual, that have been great to hear. Finally, we have some rhetoric that we can understand from leading politicians as opposed to the debates of four years ago, which were incomprehensible. But, do you know what fascinates me? It is the response to it! No sooner has the speech ended than the pundits just murder it! Depending on the response, you listen to the speech all over again with new ears.
So it was with Paul's speech, as Luke noted. The Bible is a very honest book, and there were some people, Luke said, who sneered at Paul. Like many of the skeptics of our own day, such as Christopher Hitchens and others, they did not just question God; they sneered at God and faith. Others said, “We have to have more information. It would be good if we had a few more facts; keep telling us” - a bit like an agnostic. Luke also said there were some who believed, including one Areopagite. When they believed, that is when the powerful things of the speech began to happen. It wasn't just that Paul gave a great speech; through that speech Paul brought people to faith in God. That faith in God transformed the living, moving and being of the individual's spirit, and I have heard it ever since.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn's writings describe a moment in which he was in prison and was diagnosed with cancer and facing death. Knowing that his “living and moving and being” were really on a limb, this is what Solzhenitsyn wrote:
O God, how easy to believe in you. You created a path for me, a purpose. Through the despair of life you have used me, and where you cannot use me you have appointed others. I thank you, O God, and I thank you.
Belief is knowing that in this God, we “live and move and have our being.” If you can grasp that, then you will agree with me: This is the greatest speech that has ever been given. Amen.