Altars (Pastor's message from Emanuel UCC's July, 2014 newsletter)

Dear Emanuel Members and Friends –

 

“Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, ‘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.’  What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.’”  Acts 17:22-23

 

During my vacation at the end of June, I spent a week in Greece.  I stayed in Athens and took day trips to several places, including ancient Corinth (where Paul established a church, to which he wrote in I and II Corinthians) and Delphi, the “navel of the cosmos” (at Delphi there’s actually a carved stone navel, shaped like an egg!!) and center of worship of the Greek pantheon, where the “Oracle at Delphi” was said to foretell the future.  I also saw the Acropolis, the center of worship of the Greek gods in the city of Athens, located at the highest point of the city.  Just west of the Acropolis was the Areopagus, a hill on which the leaders of Athens met for their deliberations. 

 

On his visit to Athens nearly 2,000 years ago, Paul had been upset by the many idols he found in Athens (remains of which can be seen there to this day) and began proclaiming Jesus and the resurrection out in the marketplaces (the remains of which can also be seen to this day).  Some of the leaders of Athens invited Paul to the Areopagus to explain his beliefs in more detail.  Previously, as he had walked around Athens, Paul had noticed an altar with an inscription, “To an unknown god.” (Presumably the Athenians were trying to cover all their bases and not accidentally omit any minor deities or demigods from their devotions.)  This altar gave Paul an opportunity to explain his belief in the one God who created all things, and in Jesus Christ and the resurrection from the dead.  

 

Because the ancient Greeks left behind so many buildings and statues and stone inscriptions, it’s possible to learn a great deal about ancient Greek society and beliefs, and about daily life in ancient Greece.  One can learn what ideas and values were important to the ancient Greeks. While we readily dismiss the pantheon of Greek gods as human myths and inventions, they are evidence of a profound respect the ancient Greeks held for the forces of nature and for the created world.

 

As I marveled at the buildings and artifacts left behind by the ancient Greeks – and they are truly wonders to behold - I began to ponder what artifacts our society will leave behind, and what coming generations will learn about us.  We no longer worship Ares, the Greek god of war, but will our arsenals of weapons continue to proclaim to coming generations our society’s costly devotion to war and destruction?  Will our city’s crumbling schools, roads, bridges, and railways continue to proclaim our society’s neglect for the needs of the poorest among us?   Will accelerating environmental devastation continue to proclaim the triumph of human greed over the long-term human need for a healthy planet and respect for God’s creation?  

 

What will coming generations learn about the Christian church?  Will we go along with our society, giving lip service to the Gospel while offering our most heartfelt devotion and our costliest sacrifices at the altars of war and greed?  Or will coming generations learn that Christians proclaimed a different message, a message about God’s call for reconciliation instead of war, for generosity instead of greed, for life instead of death?  Will our churches become “altars to an unknown god”, or will the gospel of Jesus Christ continue to transform future generation with the good news of God’s reign in our midst?

 

Paul wrote to the ancient church at Corinth, “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, the work of each builder will become visible…because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each has done.”  (I Corinthians 3:12-13).   May all that we do and all that we are proclaim to future generations the good news of God’s love as proclaimed by Jesus Christ, who lived and taught and died and rose from the dead so that we may live abundantly in this world, and eternally in the world to come.   

 

See you in church! - Pastor Dave