Year A 6th Sunday of Easter 29 May 2011
Acts 17: 22-31 Psalm 66: 8-20 1 Peter 3: 13-22 John 14: 15-21
1 Peter 3:15, 16. “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. 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 with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behaviour in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.”
In our first reading from acts we see an example of proclaiming the Good News with gentleness and respect. St. Paul visits Athens and notes the many “gods” that they have there. These people are so passionate about their gods that they even have a monument to an unknown god. Paul understands that these are a people who are good but ignorant of the truth. He applauds them for their religious devotion but then beginning with their understanding and their devotion, he proclaims the truth about their “unknown” God and makes Him known.
There is a lot we can learn from St. Paul. Firstly, to acknowledge and understand where people are at and approach them with respect. Only God truly knows the heart of people and sometimes the most unlikely people are those loved and chosen by God. Some go by the theory that we all innately know God but through the pressures of the world and the ideas of others around us, we slowly but surely forget. In many cases it is like the call of the good shepherd to the lost sheep, they recognise the truth when they finally hear that voice apart from all the other voices -but for them to hear the voice, we need to proclaim it.
Another thing that we can learn from St. Paul is not to water down the truth. Because we are so concerned about not offending anyone there is a real temptation to do this, as due to the admonition to approach people with respect we erroneously believe that we are being respectful as we water down the Gospel. St. Paul was respectful, but I’m sure many people didn’t see it that way.
I’m often in trouble for my words.... I’m not always as sensitive as I could be, but there are times when it is perceived that I am disrespectful towards certain groups of people simply because I am a Christian. I came across this often when I was living in Cairns. Without me saying anything I was seen as narrow minded, disrespectful and uncaring about the groups of people which included those who are pro-abortion, homosexual, etc... Truth is, I have friends and people I care deeply about who have been involved in these areas. I understand all the “ifs” and “buts” involved in the situations that bring people to these places, but I will still proclaim that in God’s plan there is a more excellent way.....
In our message of the Good News there are certain facts that will offend people. People often misunderstand that there are facts about our faith. Often there are some who think religion should “change with the times”, and while the expressions of our faith can and should change with the times, the facts about our faith must remain unchanging, because either God is God or he isn’t. If God is God, then His truth is a constant.
St. Paul explains to the people in Athens some facts about God.
Acts 17:24, 25 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.”
Firstly Paul explains who God is and that all life comes from him. Already St. Paul’s words are an offence to those who think that the world came into being without any divine hand. Paul also explains that God is beyond the earthly understanding and can not be restricted to a temple or structure built by human hands. Please understand that we can not shape God into a god that suits our philosophy of life.
Acts 17:26, 27 “From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.”
Paul proclaims that we are all connected, coming from the one man, but the nations and times appointed in history are designed by God to prompt us to turn to him.
Acts 17:28-31 “‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’
“Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”
Paul continues to make known to people that God is kind and overlooks past ignorance, but once the truth is proclaimed, a response of repentance is required, because Jesus will come to judge. The proof that this will happen was given by God raising Jesus from the dead.
We can see that while Paul was respectful he was also very straight about the facts. There will be a judgment day! Supposedly it was going to take place last week. I discovered this through my best source of information – facebook. If we read our Bibles we will know that the Day of Judgment is unknown – so anyone who claims to know is a fake. But we also have personal days of judgment and the common factor is that the time is unknown.... and the moral to the story is to live prepared always with a heart that has a clear conscience before God. We do this by understanding the Good News – that is- Christ died for our sins. We acknowledge our sinfulness and thank God for his sacrifice which atones for our sin.
1 Peter 3:18 – 22 “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. In that state he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits— to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.”
We have an amazing message of hope. We have an amazing message of God taking away the barrier between humankind and himself so that we can live eternally. We have the proof in the resurrection of Christ –
For many the concept of religion is just something you “believe in”. It is subjective because it is based on human perception and human perception is very subjective and able to change with the times. But our faith is beyond our perception. If nothing else was clear in St. Paul’s message to the people of Athens, hopefully this one aspect was impressed, that God is not subject to human hands and minds, but regardless of what we believe or perceive, we are subject to God.
1 Peter 3:15a. “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord....”
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