There are times I wish we had not yet heard about Jesus Christ. There are moments I crave the chance to experience the truth and power of the Gospel for the very first time, without preconceptions, without projections, without prejudice of any kind. Wouldn't it be great to hear the good news like those first disciples? Couldn't it be totally transforming to experience the grace and mercy of Christ in a fresh, new way?

Living in the twenty-first century where Christ, the Church, and the Bible are such common words that conjure a multitude of preconditioned responses we know this just isn't possible. Simply type the name "Jesus Christ" into your computer and your search engine will locate over a million sites to visit - 1,989,683 to be exact. From websites called the "Jesus Homepage" that give you a chance to be saved online, to the Jesus Christ Superstore selling products promising to put "the fun back into fundamentalism," to an artificial intelligence system named "Jesus Chat" which attempts to mimic God's responses to questions entered by the user, there is what we might well call overkill when it comes to available information about the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. For those of us living in this age and in this culture, the possibility of hearing the good news for the first time simply isn't possible.

But what is interesting - and very important - to remember is that no matter when knowledge of Christ was shared it was always in an environment of partiality and judgment. Whether in a town cut off from all commercial traffic and technological advance in the nineteen hundreds or in a thriving city back in the first century, hearing about the life and ministry of Jesus always meant filtering through one's own judgments, preconceptions and cultural comfort zones. So you see, no one has ever really heard about Jesus Christ from a totally fresh and impartial perspective.

This is exactly what we witness in the passage from the Book of Acts. We watch a group of people take in the truth of the Gospel for the very first time in a very guarded way. Highly sophisticated and intelligent, they see Paul as just one more babbling fool in the ongoing parade of religious freaks and political fanatics. These men know he's been talking to the Jews in the synagogue and to crowds in the marketplace and now they have a chance to hear his plea. Now it's their turn to question his logic and claims.

At the time this story was written, Athens was a hub of scholarly activity. Located midway between Jerusalem and Rome it was the city that served as the symbol for Greek philosophy, religion and culture, even then drawing people to see the Parthenon and places where Socrates and Plato had taught. Just as Jerusalem served as the heart of the church and symbol of salvation history and Rome represented the center of imperial power, Athens was held up as the axis of pagan thought and Hellenistic religiosity. It was the place to be if you were anyone of intellectual importance in the Gentile world. Certainly the author of the Gospel of Luke who also wrote this Book of Acts knew this. Including the description of Paul's encounter with the Greeks was of great importance to these writings for it demonstrated the fact that the mission of the Gospel had fully entered the pagan and Gentile world. This story proved to the first century Christian community that the teachings of Christ weren't just for the Jewish people but rather for all who would listen and believe. It is an account that brings the message of God's merciful grace to the world community.

"Athenians," Paul states with great care and deference, "I see how extremely religious you are in every way. I see that your idols are everywhere…but," and here we watch him move from a spirit of respectful flattery to that of Christian teaching, "…but I found among them an altar with the inscription, 'To an unknown god.'"

If there was ever a statement that ran contrary to the Christian faith it could be summed up by those three words: "an unknown god." Providing a sharp contrast to the revelation received in Jesus Christ Paul uses this phrase to begin his teaching, offering a clear understanding of the Christian God in the face of a multitude of manmade idols. "What therefore you worship as unknown," he states, "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."

Idolatry is defined as the worship of a physical object as a god. Described in greater detail by Martin Luther it is, "Not only the adoration of images…but also trust in one's own righteousness, works and merits, putting confidence in riches and power." Seeing those Athenians surrounded by so many self-created idols troubled Paul greatly, not simply because he wanted their faith to mirror his own but rather because he knew such efforts resulted in only futile waste and worry. Obviously these were a people seeking peace, hope and purpose in their lives. Unfortunately they were men and women relying on their own human prowess to bring such meaning to life.

And so Paul carefully delineates the need to rely on God's grace in order to find truth in this world. He demonstrates to these scholars that God can be known through the Christian tradition. Using the straightforward logic of a Greek philosopher, he bases his argument on the premise that it is God who creates all things independent of human design. "You see," Paul is saying to those rather arrogant Athenians, "no matter how intelligent we may be it is God's ultimate brilliance that brought us into this world. No matter how self-reliant we may feel it is God's eternal plan that gives us life." Yes, to know God is possible Paul is telling those pagans, for it is "in God we live and move and have our being."

Oh, how important it is to recognize the author of life and this world. Ancient Greek philosophers placed great emphasis on the need to understand the universe and its origins - but they did so by relying solely on the human ability of rational analysis. Paul knew this and he struggled with it here as well as with the early church in Corinth, preaching to the Hellenistic community that the shape of reality can only be known through revelation, as one trusts the Spirit of God to communicate things known only to God. Demonstrating that it is through creation, the Word, and the person of Jesus Christ that we come to know the reality of God's presence in this world Paul shows that in Christianity there is no such thing as "an unknown God." On the contrary, there is a God to be known, to be loved and to be served.

Taking this truth to heart it can be helpful to look closely at each of these concepts (to know, to love, to serve) from a more ancient perspective. For example, appreciating the Hebrew meaning of the word "to know" we see that knowledge comes not simply from the accrual of hard data but from the active processing and actual integration of new learning. Like the phrase, "to know in the Biblical sense," Paul's Jewish background makes the knowledge of God an intimately transforming process requiring not only belief in God but also engagement with God, as one learns from the revelation in Christ and applies the knowledge to daily living. A God that is known is not just a solitary intellectual concept. It is a creative, dynamic relationship that influences all of life.

With this kind of knowledge we see how natural it is to love God. Looking this time at the most frequent use of the word "love" in the New Testament the focus remains on an active integration of belief rather than on the individual feeling of emotion. As described in Paul's Letter to the Ephesians, Christians understand that they are to "live a life of love, just as Christ loved us" (Eph. 5: 2), following the command of Jesus himself that we are to "Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another" (John 13: 34). Similar to the dynamic concept of knowledge, love in the Christian context moves from a philosophical ideal to an actual engagement with God and others in the world.

The same can certainly be said for the meaning of service. The frequent appearance of the words "serve," "servant" and "service" in both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible show that knowledge of God requires the devotion of our hands as well as our hearts and minds. Recognizing that as offspring of God we are inspired to live like God, the Christian faith gives the ultimate example of service through the ministry of Christ, the Savior who came to this world not to be served, but rather to serve others. In Christ, God shows that service is the path to greatness. In Christ one is able to achieve his or her full potential by benevolent and compassionate giving.

Back in Athens this isn't exactly what one would call great news. Far from the clean confines of philosophical debate these teachings demanded the whole of one's life, heart, mind, body and soul. Integrating belief with action the truth of the gospel required one to be subservient to God, making it impossible for one's own ideas and idols to be gods themselves. It asked men to serve humankind, a humiliating proposition in ancient Greek culture that prescribed the self and the achievement of success as one's greatest concern. With these teachings, with this so-called "good news" Paul was treading a fine line.

"Athenians, I see how religious you are in every way," he says to that crowd gathered in front of the Areopagus. "I see your idols and self-serving spirituality everywhere I turn. Let me set you free from these futile efforts through true faith in God. Let me help you know and love and serve the One who created the world and all of us in it."

Paul's words could so easily be spoken to us here today as we struggle to find meaning and peace in our lives. Paul's argument, philosophic in nature but life transforming in content, might well be what we need to hear in this age. Surrounded by the idols of wealth and materialism, science and technology, political opinion and national pride we are a people encircled by gods that are ultimately powerless and unknown. Can we instead embrace the Christian God who can be known, loved and served?

"Free choice is the greatest gift God gives to his children." The words of Elisabeth Kubler-Ross summarize the miraculous nature of God's grace in this world reminding us that we are free to choose how we will live and what we will believe. Like those Athenians, like the early converts in Ireland, Germany, North Africa and Spain we are able to reflect upon the message of the good news from our own unique cultural and intellectual perspectives, asking questions at the Jesus Chat site or logging on to www.WhoIsJesus.com if we think it will help. Yet no matter where we go to try to understand God's message, no matter where we turn to seek God's ultimate truth we must trust that Christ is there, Christ is here, waiting to reveal the grace and mercy and loving nature of God.

Let us pray.

Eternal God, Creator of life and all that is living, we bow our heads to in need of understanding. We open our hearts to your Spirit in want of love and peace. Grant that we may know you this day, grant that we may come to more fully love you and serve you through your revelation in Jesus Christ. Amen.

SCRIPTURE READING
Acts 17: 16-30

While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply distressed to see that the city was full of idols. So he argued in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and also in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. Also some Epicurean and stoic philosophers debated with him. Some said, "What does this babbler want to say?" Others said, "He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign divinities." (This was because he was telling the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.) So they took him and brought him to the Areopagus and asked him, "May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? It sounds rather strange to us. Now all the Athenians and the foreigners living there would spend their time in nothing but telling or hearing something new.

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 through 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 sliver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals.