Acts 17:16-27, 32-33 “Going to Mars-Hill”

Paul’s summer journey continues today with Paul in the city of Athens. If you recall last week, he and Barnabas have split up their vacation plans. Barnabas has gone off with his cherished cousin John Mark, the writer of the Gospel of Mark. Barnabas has decided to partner with Silas, a leader of the new church in Jerusalem. So, Paul and Silas now set out once more from the church in Antioch, but this time Paul skips going to Cyprus, leaving that mission field open for Barnabas and buddies.

We are not 100% sure of the route that Paul takes. It is this time overland heading back up towards his home town of Tarsus, but the bible does not say he went there at all–which is again a little odd. You may recall that last time he went as far as Derbe, but then did not go home to Tarsus that would have been the next town over. The bible does tell us that he went back to Lystra and enrolled the young Timothy to come with him to Greece. They land in Philippi after crossing the hellespont. I would retell the story of their time in Philippi, but we just heard this story during our sermon series on famous women in the Bible. It was in Philippi that Paul met up with Lydia, who became the head of the church in Philippi and the chief financial supporter of Paul’s missions.

After the great time in Philippi, Paul is encouraged to go onto the new church in Thessalonica and then Borea. Timothy and Silas decided to stay on a bit longer and send Paul on to Athens alone. His route to Athens is still contested today, whether he went overland or around Evia to Attica, that is Athens. If you are looking at maps of this journey, you will see many different versions.

When Paul first arrives in Athens, he is looking around the Agora (marketplace) and is disgusted, provoked, insulted by the idols that are everywhere to be seen. There would have been larger-than-life statues in the colonnades of the buildings there. There would have been smaller idols for sale. His reaction to being surrounded by so much pagan belief was that he had a “paroxysm” as it is said in the Greek for this text. You will recall that last week I discussed this word with you when we discussed Paul’s breaking with Barnabas over John Mark. Paul was so angry at John Mark that he had a paroxysm. He was so angry that he was having fits of rage. This same word is being used again. Paul was really having a physical reaction to all of these idols in the market in Athens.

To describe what Paul was feeling, the author Luke “invents” a word in the Greek: κατειδωλος. This word never existed before! It literally means “being put down and oppressed by idolatry.” So, everyone else is walking through the marketplace in Athens with marvel and awe at all of the great statuary, all the amazing gods on display, while Paul is walking through feeling hopelessly undone by the outright paganism. He actually has this physical reaction to it: the paroxysm. He just feels so completely surrounded by evil that he has a physical reaction.

Have you ever felt that way? I remember once being in the Los Angeles area for a visit not too long ago. Helen and I were going to visit friends in Torrance. We stopped at the Del Amo Mall, one of the largest in the country in order to pick up some See’s Candy for the Tuesday game night crew. I have to say that I felt strangely like a fish out of water. Everything inside was so sterile, new, glittery, and smelling like perfume that I felt as if I were in a strange new world. I really felt uncomfortable. So, we found the candy store and left with the goods quickly.

The strangers around Paul are eager to hear something “new” from this foreigner. They really like “new.” Anything “new” is great. In fact, this is part of their idolatry. The Romans in those days were creating new idols and gods so fast. It is as if they really worship “new.” Perhaps the real idolatry even back then was “It has to be new.” Here on the island we cherish old people, old cars, and old houses. We like what we like, but the modern world keeps telling us that we have to have “new” stuff. Nobody questions this. However, I liken this to idolatry.

Those people who were trying to get something new from Paul could sense that he was agitated, and so they took him out of the Agora and up to the hill that is called the Areopagus–or Mars Hill. It was also a quieter area and a place that had already been traditionally used for hearing people speak on various subjects. It was like London’s Hyde Park or the Washington Mall of its day. You could go there and listen to people rant and rave about whatever. And apparently since Paul seemed to be babbling a bit, they thought that this was the right place for him to talk.

Now, the Bible tells us that he just did not preach the Word as such. It says that he got into a debate with Epicureans and Stoics. We will all recall that the Epicureans are the ones who believed that the most important thing in life is to create your own happiness. They did not believe in an afterlife. The stoics believed just the opposite that one should deny one’s self in this world. And, for the first time it seems that Christianity is no longer the sharing of the Good News but it becomes a strange philosophical debate.

What do you think? Can a person debate another person into accepting the Faith? Last week I mentioned CS Lewis with a quote from his book Surprised by Joy. After worship I was “surprised by the joy” that many of you had questions for me about CS Lewis! For Christians, I do recommend that everybody read his work Mere Christianity; however, for those who struggle with the idea of having a life of faith, I suggest his Chronicles of Narnia. In these books, there is no argument about faith, you just step through a closet into another world of faith. That is very much what we must do! Hebrews 11:1-3 has these famous lines about faith: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Indeed by faith our ancestors received approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the Word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.” You see, the Athenians had arguments about philosophy and a plethora of idols. They just simply had no faith to speak of. The question comes up then: how can there be a church if there is no faith?

I am reminded that this is the number one complaint of Jesus to his Disciples. Jesus tells them that they do not have enough faith. In Matthew 8:23-27 we have the story of Jesus and his disciples crossing the Sea of Galilee when a storm comes up and threatens to sink the boat. Jesus is asleep at the bow of the boat. They wake him up and said, “Save us, we are perishing.” Jesus responds: “Oh you of little faith.” Then he calms the storm and everything is fine again. The Athenians are just of “little faith.”

In verses 19-21, the Bible tells us that the Athenians just really loved whatever was new. Although Christianity was new, and what Paul was saying had never been heard before, we all know what happens to new things after awhile: They are no longer new and no longer interesting. That is why we read today’s newspaper rather than last week’s. If it is not new, then it is not news!

We all like new things right? We all love the smell of a new car. We all like to shave with a new razor! We like new clothes. We love new things so much that we tend to take it to extremes. We like new wives and new husbands! We start looking at anything or anybody who is old as if there is automatically something wrong. Stop that. This is also akin to idolatry.

The people listening to Paul ask sincerely then: “Are we even capable of knowing this new teaching?” (verse 19) I want us to consider that when Christians talk about “knowing Christ,” this is not in the sense of knowing a fact or a scientific theory. When we say that we know Christ, we mean that we have a personal relationship with the Lord. When someone comes to know Christ in his or her life, then it is a most exciting time, akin to getting to know someone for the first time as a friend. One slowly comes to trust the other person more and more with their feelings, triumphs, and disappointments. Getting to know new people is really a fantastic time.

However, in our lives if we were to put a value on our friendships, I think most of us would say that we value our life-long friends more. The people that we have known all our lives matter most to us. So, getting to know Christ as someone new in your life is fantastic, but having the assurance that Christ has always been there for you and always will be, is much greater!

Paul had pointed out a statue “To an unknown God” in the Agora (market). He takes that to be an admission from the Athenians that they themselves are seeking to know the one true God. Paul tells them to seek God and “feel” after Him. I translate this as “touch the heart of God.” Come to know God, not as a fact that can be debated, but as the person of Jesus Christ coming into your heart.

The last thing I want to bring out from this text has to do with what happens at the end of Paul’s preaching on the Areopagus. It says in the Bible that three things happened. And, these are the three different responses that anyone of us might face after sharing faith with others. First, there were those who scoffed. Second, there were those who said that they were undecided and might want to hear more about Jesus. And third, there were those who started to believe.

So, most people scoffed. A few said that they wouldn’t mind hearing a bit more from Paul, and even fewer said that they would follow Jesus and committed themselves to joining Paul on his journey, namely Dionysus the Areopagite and Damaris. Please note that nobody was therefore left to start a church in Athens. The bible has no further mention of a church in Athens at all. Historical records show that the first church in Athens was founded in the Agora (market) where Paul had preached first and was built in the fourth century–three hundred years after Paul’s visit.

To close, without faith, and knowing Christ, Jesus Christ, there can be no church. Without the people—without you—there can be no church. No church was started in Athens because these things were missing. Praise God that we have what Athens lacked! WE know Christ as our savior and have the faith. Amen.