Acts 17:22-31
Embracing the Unfamiliar: Practices, Rituals & Customs
August 25, 2019
It may not look like the battlefields we’ve read about in history classes – no bombed out buildings, bloody bodies on the ground, tanks rolling up the street, sharp shooters on roofs, gas masks at the ready – but we are in the midst of a war which threatens to permanently divide our nation and separate us from our allies around the globe. The war we are all engaged in – be you pacifist or combatant or something in between – is a culture war. What it looks like varies based on your geography, age, race, national origin, gender, religion, political affiliation, income, or education – to name just some of the most glaring identifiers. Some of us have reached a point where we would rather not hear any news than find ourselves in the middle of an on-going yelling match where all sides seem to prefer to listen only to respond and dismiss the other than to listen to truly hear and understand. Frankly, it is emotionally and, at times, physically exhausting. What will change all of this? How will we be the change we wish to see and hear in the world?
We could learn a lot about approaching and truly communicating from this surprising encounter that Paul has with these folks in Athens. It’s important to remember that Paul was basically kicked out of more than one town before arriving and so he has probably been rethinking his approach. Athens at this time was a center of great philosophical debate and learning. We also know that Paul was troubled by the idols he was seeing throughout Athens. Although the Areopagus is one of the most prominent locations in town and served as an outdoor courtroom, this is not a trial. Paul has obviously prepared and done his research because he is able to speak with these great thinkers knowledgably about what he has seen. One of the lessons we can take away from Paul is that it is important to pay attention to the details of another culture and not resort to gross generalizations if you want to have a chance for meaningful engagement with them – and especially if you hold onto any hope of influencing hearts and minds.
Consider if someone totally unfamiliar with our culture and history were to be plopped down here in Arlington and wanted to make sense of what they were experiencing. Like Paul, they would look around and see what seemed to be really important to folks here in our community – where they devoted their time, talent and treasure. The same is certainly true when anyone enters the doors of our church on a Sunday or Bailey Hall any other day of the week. Thanks to many donors, dedicated members like Olavi, Jeff and Diane and the hard work of our painters and gardener, we know that ours is now a more inviting exterior which hopefully speaks of what we treasure inside. When they then opened the doors we hope the newcomer would know that whatever their religious background or lack of one they come to us with, they will be welcomed here and not just welcomed to sit and listen but also welcomed to offer their perspective and ask questions and engage in the life of this community of seekers and believers.
All of us at one time or another has been a guest or a visitor in a church. It could be the first time you walked into this one, except for the very few of you who have come here since childhood or maybe another one somewhere else. What did the ornamentation or the smell or the music or the liturgy or the taste of the communion bread or the lighting or the prayers offered or the seating or the greeting you received from others convey to you about what was treasured in that setting? Paul wants to offer something greater to this culture that had many Gods and even one whose monument he spotted with the inscription, as Eugene Peterson puts it, “To the God nobody knows.” He was offering a single God that was the culmination of all these people treasured and so much more. He did this by coming to them prepared to meet them religiously where they were at. He also looked for openings where they might be curious. He recognized that if he approached them where their questions lay, that they might want to know more. The key factor for Paul was to embody a hospitality that he hoped to find reciprocated. If one approaches the unfamiliar with an open mind and open heart, there is less likelihood for defensiveness. Finally, Paul knew what was important within his belief system and was not hesitant to share that. Think about how we explain our beliefs to family or friends who may be curious. If not, maybe we could practice with just one of them. Are we able to clearly express the love we know and have received from God? Does that other person get a sense that our faith-life is important to us and has been a part of forming the person we are not just on Sunday morning but every other day of the week? Paul offers the Athenian scholars a perspective on God that has room for them. What a great place to begin with someone new to the faith or maybe even previously damaged by religion. This God that is known and unknown is their God also. And by using the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus we all can find ourselves in God’s story, even if unfamiliar or previously weaponized.
As we move closer to the end of our travel series, consider the roles of visitor and host. We’ve all been in both roles whether it was on your trip across country to see a dear friend or a time when your sister came to visit your home. To embody a spirit of openness to new ideas, a willingness to share space respectfully and a strong sense of who you are that you can share, comfortable in your own skin – these are the qualities that make real connection possible and can strengthen the ties that bind us together.
If Paul was to make any headway in offering these people in Athens what he had learned of God’s love through the lived example of Jesus, he was going to have to touch their hearts. The same hearts that we now may feel are broken by stories of immigrant children spending cold lonely nights separated from their parents can also be given hope by stories like the one this week of two African-American teenagers named Nate and Darius who a few days ago ran into a burning house in Rochester, NY and saved an entire family of 5. In the midst of the culture wars we are experiencing, there is always room for connection.
The late great Maya Angelou put it this way, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Ours is a tradition that is to be heart-driven. We continue to share Jesus’ stories of healing and hope because they reach that part of us that wants to be in relationship with others. This is the power of the Gospel story if we live it in our encounters with all of God’s children. We have great stories to tell and not just with our words. Amen.