Proclaiming the unknown God

Acts 17:22-31

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. The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us.

 For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said,

‘For we too are his offspring. ’

 Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

John 14:15-21

The Promise of the Holy Spirit

 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And 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.

 “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”

In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, revealed in his closing address that those at the top table during the week, were fuelled by Jelly Babies. During the week, they consumed 23 packets of Jelly Babies.

Where I sat for most of the time, in the gallery, we were fuelled by Percy Pigs.

(Did you know that Percy now has friends, a cow and a sheep, there is also a vegetarian version of Percy with green ears and a globetrotting version of Percy and friends.) You can no doubt guess that I ate not a few packets!

One day, when I went to my pigeon hole to collect my daily notices, someone had left me some chocolate - a very welcome gift. It was a while before I discovered who the donor was.

In our gospel reading this morning, we find Jesus promising his disciples that he will leave them a gift, the gift of the Spirit. A gift of love that reminds us of the presence of God in all of life.

Jesus, having prepared his followers,having given them the commandment - to love one another-  now promises them help with that, to practice loving as a way of life. Jesus promises his disciples help with living in love so that folk notice. So that they too want to know the God that we know.

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. The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things.

Having started to prepare this sermon during the General Assembly - (it may surprise you to know that not all the debates are riveting!) these words about an altar to the unknown God struck a chord this week. Much of the business we dealt with arose directly out of our quest as people of God, to discover and to make God known in our communities and in the world. It may also surprise you, or perhaps not, to learn that there are as many opinions on how to do that as there were commissioners in the Assembly Hall(if not more!)

What Paul preaches is that discovering God comes through relationship.

It is not an academic pursuit, though to listen, at times, to the debate in the Assembly Hall, it may have seemed that way.

And while we are grateful to all those who are skilled in examining biblical texts and other ancient documents, the discovery of God is not the task of academics.

Nor is it an artistic pursuit to be undertaken by poets and painters though we will always be grateful to those who are able to portray some of the many facets of God in words and music and poetry and picture.

But.

The revelation of God is a revealing of relationship.

We are children of God.

In God we live and move and have our being.

And, however we might choose to understand that academically or portray it artistically, God offers relationship to us.

And that relationship is eternal.

It is a connection that was there before we ever knew it, a connection that stalks us through all of life,waiting to be discovered.

What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 

The Apostle Paul looks at those around him grappling with the pursuit of faith and finds himself buoyed up in faith. Buoyed up with the knowledge that for those who are prepared to grapple, there is the hope of discovering something real and lasting. It is difficult to reveal the living God to those who already have some fixed notion of a poor imitation or stereotype of God. But for those still seeking, we have a message to proclaim, a God to reveal. A God who cannot be contained in any description or illustration, a God who confounds even our wildest dreams and exceeds our greatest expectations. A God who cannot be pinned down. A God who forms an intimate relationship with us so that we can experience the love of God surrounding us through all of life.

That's why we cannot lead folk into faith simply by describing God in words or music or pictures.

We encourage those around us into faith by living out of the love that we know in God.

Sure, our words, our images and our worship help.

But if the way we live our lives does not mirror the way we speak of God then how can we hope to encourage those looking for depth and meaning in life, looking for something beyond themselves to explore the possibilities of relationship with a living God?

What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.

What are the ways that we proclaim, in daily life, the God whom folk seek, the unknown God who is right beside us?

That is the question with which we grapple every day.

How to reveal God for all those who seek a deeper meaning in life?

Those who are looking for something beyond themselves.

What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.

Many folk, if they think of God at all, have such distorted notions of God.

You and I have the opportunity to change that.

Not by what we say. But by what we do.

Proclaiming God by living as those who are loved by God.

Proclaiming God as one who is near,waiting to be discovered.

From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us.

As I sat through the many debates this week what probably saddened me more than anything else was not that we are STILL debating same sex relationships as though that were the only thing that mattered to the rest of the world, sad though that is. What saddened me most was the confident voices of those who think they have God all sussed. Those who think that the God of the Universe can be explained or encountered in a neat and tidy package. I used to yearn for that kind of certainty. But then I realised that that kind of God would not satisfy. That kind of god would not be the kind of companion I long for in everyday life. Because there are always questions that cannot be answered and mysteries that cannot be explained. And I need a God who presents us with a quest of discovery. I suspect that you do too. A God for whom we grope and in the searching, discover God not far from us. A God who loves us through all of life.

The gift of Gods Spirit remains with us today, enabling us to obey Jesus command - to love one another.

To love so much that others notice and want to know more about the God who m we follow.

To love so that those around us, who are looking for meaning in life, searching for something other, will be introduced to the God whom we serve. The God who is all around, closer than we might ever imagine.

Let us go and proclaim the God whom people seek by living in the love,of God.

For the glory of God.