Sermon 6th Sunday
after Easter
Text: 1 Peter 3:13-22 – The Unknown
God made known.
When people find out that I am
a Pastor I come across so many people who tell me that they aren’t Christian
but they are spiritual people.
Sometimes they even say they
don’t believe in God but are spiritual.
I think by spiritual they
probably mean similar to what Paul encountered today when he visited Athens and
found the people there very religious people.
People don’t like the term
religious or religion much these days.
In fact a lot of Christians
don’t like the term either being applied to themselves.
It has a bit of negative feel
about it when someone uses the term.
But what does it mean to be
spiritual or religious as Paul referred to the Athenians?
I think it means that they
understand that there is something bigger than themselves that exists but they
don’t really know what it is.
Paul called it “the Unknown
God”.
They are searching but have not
yet discovered the personal relationship that God invites them to.
They know there is something
there but not quite sure what.
So many people are on a search
for the truth.
So many people are on a search
for meaning in life.
There are various ways that
people undertake that search.
People use their careers as a
way of finding meaning and purpose in life.
But the problem with that is
that careers can actually suck the life blood out of us rather than give us
meaning.
We have seen those who have
been burnt out in their careers.
Those who have neglected family
in order to build up their career so they can support their family better.
Or sometimes we have seen those
who have given their life and soul to their career only to be called in and
sadly advised that they are being offered a retrenchment because the business
is going in a different direction.
Some find their search for
meaning in their sport – as a participant or spectator.
As a participant sport can be a
very short lived search.
An injury or illness can
sideline you.
In team sport there is always
someone who is vying for your position.
As a supporter of sport there
can be great highs when your team is winning but even lower lows when your team
loses.
Sport is probably one of the
biggest areas that is challenging the church in people’s search for
spirituality.
The MCG is often referred to as
the Spiritual Home for football clubs.
Sport is played on most sacred
days.
Sundays is not even given a
second thought.
Football on Good Friday went
off without much negative feedback.
Sport is being used to create
the new voice of ethics taking on issues like sexism, racism, drugs and
same-sex marriage.
Many refer to their sport as
their religion.
When we hear things like that
it can be very disheartening.
But Paul didn’t find it
disheartening at all but found an opportunity to speak to them about what they
were searching for.
But what is interesting is that
Paul doesn’t begin by firstly rejecting what they have found as their spiritual
direction.
In fact he upholds them and
praises them:
Athenians, I see how extremely
religious you are in every way. 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.
He doesn’t say – you foolish
people for believing in false Gods.
There is no doubt that the
church has a challenge today.
But we need to be careful that
we don’t demonise and make enemies of those who are spiritual but not yet in a
relationship with Jesus Christ.
At the end of the day the journey
of their Spiritual quest will let them down.
When Peter and the disciples
were causing disruption the people wanted them put to death.
But Gamaliel gave very good
advice that is still relevant today:
“Men of Israel, consider
carefully what you intend to do to these men. I advise you: Leave these men
alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it
will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you
will only find yourselves fighting against God.” (Acts 5:34-39)
This is our strategy also.
To remain strong in our faith
in God and be there in time of need.
That was the advice Peter gave
in our bible reading: He said:
Always be prepared to give an
answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have..
But do this in a gentle and respectful way. (1 Peter 3:14-16).
Sometimes it is hard.
The criticism against
Christians can get very personal and hurt and we are tempted to retaliate.
But Jesus promises that we are
not alone.
He says: I will ask the Father,
and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the
Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor
knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.
When you look at what Paul had
to go through because of his faith it didn’t turn him away from God but made
his faith stronger:
Put in prison, whipped times
without number, and faced death again and again. Five different times the
Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods.
Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night
and a day adrift at sea. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I
have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I
have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have
faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not. I have worked hard
and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and
have often gone without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough
clothing to keep me warm.
So Paul didn’t see opposition
as something to fight against or be concerned about.
Jesus also recognised the
opposition we would receive and reminds us “If the world hates you, remember
that it hated me first” John 15:18.
We don’t want to see an “us and
them” situation but rather what Paul saw when he went to Athens and found a
point of entry to bring the Gospel message.
We have points of entry into
people’s lives and it is usually when there is a time of suffering or grief.
We can be there to share the
hope we have with gentleness and patience that Peter talks about.
We don’t know when that
opportunity may arise so Peter says – always be prepared.
God has placed each of us in
various places to be his message of hope and he will use us when the time is
right.
And we don’t have to worry
about what we’ll say or what we’ll do because God will send his helper, the
Holy Spirit to be with us.
And if you feel inadequate
because you don’t know how to witness then don’t despair but be prepared to
simply share the hope you have.
And if you feel as if you’ve
let God down because you’ve never witnessed to anyone, again don’t despair
because that’s up to God and we are simply to always be ready to do so.
Paul did not judge the people
of Athens because of their idol worship and their non-Christian ways of living.
Rather, he uses their culture
that acknowledged their worthiness as children of God.
Paul begins to tell them about
this unknown God that they are already worshiping.
Paul does not condemn the
Athenians for who they are; nor does he begin with what separates them, but
with what they have in common.
Paul knew God as the God of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
He knew God as the One who
keeps promises.
He knew God as a God of a
second chance, and a God that saves, a God that can convert.
He knew God as a God of love
even loving his enemies.
A God who came to serve us.
Our God, who has given everyone
life and being, and is interested in every aspect of your life, no matter how
insignificant it may seem.
So who do you know God as?
We cannot tell of something if
we do not know for ourselves, first-hand.
We cannot share a God we do not
know for ourselves with others.
We are witnesses for the God we
know.
We are sent to tell people
about the love God has shown us in Jesus Christ.
Our God should no longer be
unknown.
Our God is too good and too
generous to remain unknown.
God is known by loving-kindness
to us, shown in the One who lived and died and rose again, so that we too might
live with God.
We are all called to be
witnesses to the God we know and love and make the unknown God known to the
world.
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