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Acts 17:24-28: An old recording.
“24 “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 human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26 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. 27 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. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’[a] As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.”NIV

In our times, where we are used to hearing the clean sounds of digital recordings, it sounds a little strange to hear preachers who were recorded on wax, or reel to reel tape recorders – especially if you still pick up the hiss and crackle. Well, in Acts 17, you have an old, old recording of the apostle Paul. It’s not on tape or vinyl, but we can hear this preacher through a written record, and his words have contemporary relevance.
We have seen that relevant communication involves starting where people are. We still find that principle woven into this opening section of the message, with Paul quoting words that would be familiar to his hearers (28). ‘All truth is God’s truth’, and the apostle is establishing a ‘bridge’ with his listeners. In Boston Spa, we live on one one side of the River Wharfe. In order for vehicles and pedestrians to travel across to the other side of the river to next village of Thorp Arch, a bridge has been built. For public speakers, it’s wise to think in terms of ‘building a bridge’ with your hearers. How are you going to get the content that is in your mind, on your heart, over to the ‘other bank’ where your listeners live. Paul was expert at spanning any gulf, and it is our privilege (and responsibility) to learn from him.
Paul seems to acknowledge that people in Athens were seeking after God (27). After all, God has set the world up in such a way as to facilitate this. Yet he did not fail to rebuke the idolatrous route by which they were travelling (29). Our creature-hood – the fact that we have been created in God’s image – tells us innately (if we will but listen) that we should not worship images. We know enough about God, from the created, order to keep us from idolatry and immorality (Romans 1:18-32). We are without excuse before God. Being relevant isn’t about being trendy and light. It involves finding meaningful ways to express the truths of the gospel – all of them – and to call people to repentance.
By the way, the church still needs to understand that, as helpful as buildings can be, God is not confined to them or limited by them (24). Verse 27b could not be said if God spent all His time in a church building!! He is active in the world. We will find Him still in the ‘market place’. Let’s join Him in His work.
‘Around them stood the most exquisite temples ever reared by human genius, but these were not the home of God. He seeks the lowly and contrite heart, not of the Jew alone, but wherever man is found, and on whatever intellectual plane.’ F.B. Meyer: ‘Devotional Commentary’, p.495.

Acts 17:22, 23: A landing stage for the gospel.

^“22 Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: ‘People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. ²³ For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship – and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.”

Canon Michael Green wrote that in evangelism you have to row your gospel ‘boat’ around the ‘island’ of a person’s life and decide where is the best place to ‘put in.’ I love that comment, and I believe Paul gives an outstanding illustration of the principle in today’s short reading. ‘Start where they are.’ Take them from the known to the unknown. Establish a point of contact. From the outset of his talk to the Areopagus, Paul knew exactly where he wanted to go, but he began with where they were.

Do I detect a bit of wry humour in the comment: ‘’Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious’’ ? Perhaps he had a twinkle in his eye when he said it. Whatever, it shows respect for people to take a genuine interest in their worlds, their lives. It can also take effort to enter into another person’s thought world, and learn about what they believe, and not caricature it. It may feel threatening to get close to someone whose beliefs and behaviours are vastly different to your own. It will be challenging and time-consuming to read books and periodicals by people who are atheists or agnostics or morally liberal etc. However we must do what it takes to understand the times we live in, and relate meaningfully to this generation.

John Stott famously said that the preacher stands between two worlds – the world of the Bible and the world of the listener – and our responsibility as communicators of the faith is to bring those two worlds together.

PRAYER: Lord, I am never less than daunted by the challenge of contemporary evangelism. You made maximum effort to reach us. You sacrificed more than any man ever could to step into our world. So help me please to stay ‘anchored to the Rock’ yet ‘geared to the times.’

Acts 17:16-21:More on the market place.

^“16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. ¹⁷ So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the market-place day by day with those who happened to be there. ¹⁸ A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, ‘What is this babbler trying to say?’ Others remarked, ‘He seems to be advocating foreign gods.’ They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. ¹⁹ Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, ‘May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? ²⁰ You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean.’ ²¹ (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)” NIV UK

Yesterday, we considered the importance of being in the ‘’market-place’’, as threatening as it can feel at times. It can be an intimidating place; but it’s also exciting and stretching. It’s where the action is.

1. Contact in the market-place (17b). There can be no communication without contact. Paul went to where the people were. His own ‘type’ were in the synagogues, although, truth to tell, many of them gave him a hard time. But he didn’t stay within the relative comfort zone of his own sort. He rubbed shoulders with people who were unlike himself. This is the Christ-like way. Jesus left the ultimate comfort zone of heaven. There has never been a comfort zone like it. He came down to the ‘market-place’ of this world.He became one of us to communicate most meaningfully with us; to show us what God is like in terms we understand. He became a human-being and speaks our language – the language of flesh and blood.

2. Communication in the market-place (17a). Someone said to a well-known preacher, ‘Thank you for your sermon, it moved me.’ He asked pointedly, ‘Where to?!’ Paul’s inner distress (16) moved him to where he could encounter people of other beliefs and strange ideas. He opened his mouth and he ‘broke the sound barrier’. He spoke ‘’about Jesus and the resurrection’’ (18b). In fact, I once read that the people thought that Paul was referring to two gods – possibly Jesus and His wife! Yet it is obvious that Paul was not ashamed to speak about Jesus and that he emphasised His resurrection. We must not be surprised if we are misunderstood when we attempt to share the faith that is so dear and meaningful to us.

3. Controversy in the market-place (18). The ‘’Epicurean’’ philosophers, were followers of ‘Epicurus’, who was born about three hundred years before Christ. He said, ‘Enjoy yourself. Meaning in life is to be found in pleasure.’ The ‘Stoics’ said the opposite. Their message was, ‘Discipline yourself.Be strong and endure pain and hardship.’ So the market-place was filled with controversy and confusion and conflict. Some called Paul a ‘’babbler’’, meaning, in the Greek language, someone who goes around like a bird, picking up scraps of knowledge. They probably recognised echoes of bits and pieces of their own systems in what he said. After all, truth is true wherever you find it. ‘All truth is God’s truth.’ However, to advocate ‘’foreign gods’’ was a serious crime. Socrates had been accused of the same, in Athens, some 450 years earlier, and it had led to his death.

So, Paul had the courage to engage with the diverse crowd in the market-place, and it led to a further significant opportunity (19,20). The ‘’Areopagus’’ is actually the name of a large hill in the middle of Athens. The council of rulers and elders used to meet on top of that hill. Later the council itself became known as the ‘’Areopagus.’’ They had great authority over all that went on in the city. In Paul’s day, they used to question all new teachers who came to the city.

Regarding (21), Warren Wiersbe writes: ‘How like our world today! The quest for novelty overshadows the search for reality.’ In fact, it is said that one of the main reasons the Romans were able to conquer the Greeks was because the Greeks spent more time talking than they did fighting. Come to think of it, that rather reminds me of many parts of the church!

Acts 17:16-21: In the market place.

^“16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. ¹⁷ So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the market-place day by day with those who happened to be there. ¹⁸ A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, ‘What is this babbler trying to say?’ Others remarked, ‘He seems to be advocating foreign gods.’ They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. ¹⁹ Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, ‘May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? ²⁰ You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean.’ ²¹ (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)”NIV UK

‘300-500 years before Christ’s time, Athens was the greatest and most important city in the entire Western world. It was also the capital of the Greek Empire. The Western world’s most famous philosophers lived in Athens. The idea of democracy was first conceived in Athens; thus Athens is still called the birthplace of democracy. Then in 146 B.C., the Romans conquered Athens and extended their authority over all of Greece. But they let Athens remain a free city. Indeed, the Romans admired Greek culture; thus in Paul’s time, Athens still remained one of the cultural and intellectual centres of the Roman Empire. In particular, many famous teachers and philosophers still came to Athens to teach and to debate (verse 21). The Greeks worshiped many kinds of gods. In Athens there were temples and images of these gods everywhere. Paul was distressed to see this great city full of idols. The sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, Paul wrote        (1 Corinthians 10:20).’ Tom Hale: ‘The Applied New Testament Commentary’, p.486.

How’s your heart? Do you care? Do you feel things as deeply as you should? Are you profoundly moved by things that matter, or have you become de-sensitised in some ways? Has your heart grown hard; or cold? Have you got used to sin? I can’t read (16) without feeling its challenge. Paul was moved, at a deep down level, by the paganism he saw in this great city. He didn’t view it through the eyes of tourism.

I am also struck by Paul’s refusal to waste time as he waited for Silas and Timothy (17). ‘One purpose consumed the apostle. ‘’One thing I do,’’ was the thread on which the many beads of his experiences were strung. Persecuted and rejected today, he is at his favourite work tomorrow. How different this intense earnestness from the trifling of the so-called philosophers of Athens!’ F.B. Meyer, ‘Devotional Commentary’, p.494.

He was distressed, but he didn’t despair. He found himself in another part of the mission field, and he sought to engage with the people there. Paul didn’t speak only in Jewish synagogues; in accordance with Greek custom, he also operated in the ‘’market-place’’.

The ‘’market-place’’ is where we belong as Christians; not sheltering (cowering?) behind the walls of some church building. It will often feel alien and comfortable there; we will regularly feel vulnerable and out of our comfort zone. Yet let’s do it! Let’s get out into the market place and engage with the people who have all kinds of philosophies, and idols, and strange beliefs. Our message of the gospel has no equal, and it carries its own irresistible power. Don’t be ashamed. You may be mocked by many, scoffed at and rejected. Nevertheless if there is an opportunity to get a hearing, let’s take it.

 Acts 17:10-14: Check this out.

^“10 As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. ¹¹ Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. ¹² As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men. ¹³ But when the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, some of them went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up. ¹⁴ The believers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea.”NIV UK

Genuine care for the welfare of others is a mark of real Christianity. The ‘’brothers’’ in Thessalonica – new converts remember – showed unselfishness in helping Paul and Silas leave town safely, while they remained behind to face consequences in a hostile atmosphere (10).

These early preachers were irrepressible. They had indomitable spirits. In spite of what had happened previously they didn’t put their feet up. Like a rubber ball, they kept bouncing back. They found their way to another synagogue, not knowing what the response would be, but they just marched on anyway.

‘Berea was a city about sixty miles west of Thessalonica. Christ had said to His disciples: ‘’When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another’’ (Matthew 10:23). But Christians don’t flee in order to hide; they flee in order to preach and witness in another place. By persecuting Christians the devil thinks he is stopping the Gospel, but in fact he is causing it to spread!’ Tom Hale: ‘The Applied New Testament Commentary’,p.486.

This time, however, the gospel team encountered people of a different order (11). The Bereans have set the standard, showing how all believers should listen to sermons, read books etc:

‘’…examining the Scriptures to see if they supported what he said.’’ The Message.

The ‘New International Version’ of the Bible says they ‘’…examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.’’ Whenever we hear any teaching, we must ask whether it agrees with what is written in the Bible. If it doesn’t, it is to be discarded

Warren Wiersbe comments: ‘There are fair-minded people in every nation, and God knows who they are.’  Once again, there was a major impact as a result of the preaching (12). Once again, Paul, Silas and Timothy met with trouble, but it came from the outside (13). The Thessalonian Jews were not content to persecute the evangelists only in their own city; they even made the trip to Berea to stir up trouble. It is no wonder that Paul criticised the Jews so severely in 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16. It seems that he was the main target (see 14).

PRAYER: Lord, I pray that I may not be naïve. I don’t want to be someone easily swayed by fads and trends that regularly surface in the church. Help me to remain grounded, with my feet firmly planted on the Rock of your truth.

Acts 17:10-14: Check this out.

Genuine care for the welfare of others is a mark of real Christianity. The ‘’brothers’’ in Thessalonica – new converts remember – showed unselfishness in helping Paul and Silas leave town safely, while they remained behind to face consequences in a hostile atmosphere (10). These early preachers were irrepressible. They had indomitable spirits. In spite of what had happened previously they didn’t put their feet up. Like a rubber ball, they kept bouncing back. They found their way to another synagogue, not knowing what the response would be, but they just marched on anyway.  ‘Berea was a city about sixty miles west of Thessalonica. Christ had said to His disciples: ‘’When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another’’ (Matthew 10:23). But Christians don’t flee in order to hide; they flee in order to preach and witness in another place. By persecuting Christians the devil thinks he is stopping the Gospel, but in fact he is causing it to spread!’ Tom Hale: ‘The Applied New Testament Commentary’,p.486.

This time, however, the gospel team encountered people of a different order (11). The Bereans have set the standard, showing how all believers should listen to sermons, read books etc: ‘’…examining the Scriptures to see if they supported what he said.’’ The Message. The ‘New International Version’ of the Bible says they ‘’…examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.’’

Whenever we hear any teaching, we must ask whether it agrees with what is written in the Bible. If it doesn’t, it is to be discarded Warren Wiersbe comments: ‘There are fair-minded people in every nation, and God knows who they are.’

Once again, there was a major impact as a result of the preaching (12). Once again, Paul, Silas and Timothy met with trouble, but it came from the outside (13). The Thessalonian Jews were not content to persecute the evangelists only in their own city; they even made the trip to Berea to stir up trouble. It is no wonder that Paul criticised the Jews so severely in 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16. It seems that he was the main target (see 14).

PRAYER: Lord, I pray that I may not be naïve. I don’t want to be someone easily swayed by fads and trends that regularly surface in the church. Help me to remain grounded, with my feet firmly planted on the Rock of your truth.