Today we’re going to talk about a love story… and a rather unusual love story at that.
Lots of our favorite movies and books are about love stories: two people meet, fall in love, overcome challenges, grow stronger together, and live happily ever after. Or not, as the case may be.
But the love story we’re looking at today is a very rare kind of love story. It’s a love story where the one who’s loved doesn’t know it. It’s a love unknown.
An old hymn-writer back in the 1600s in England captured this kind of love when he wrote:
“My song is love unknown
My Saviour’s love for me;
Love to the loveless shown
That they might lovely be…”
But I’m getting ahead of myself. We’re going to be looking today at Acts 17:22-31, but first I want to touch briefly on our reading from John 14:15-21.
John is relating a conversation that takes place between Jesus and the disciples during the last week of Jesus’ life. Jesus is teaching the disciples what they’ll need to know when he’s no longer with them on a daily basis. And the disciples are not catching on very well. Jesus is saying the Messiah (himself) is going to die – which goes against everything the disciples have ever believed about the Messiah – and then after three days he will rise again, and then ascend into heaven, and then he will send the Holy Spirit. And – Jesus says – when all this happens, “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. Whoever loves me will keep my commandments and will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”
This passage tells us there is a love yet to be revealed by Jesus. A love unknown. Bookmark that thought – we’ll come back to it.
Turning to our reading from Acts, the reading for today starts in the middle of the chapter, which means we are coming in on the middle of the story, so we need to back up and start at the beginning.
Paul and Silas were traveling through the part of the Roman Empire that was occupied Greece. And as they traveled, they would stop at the local synagogues and share the gospel – because for people who attended synagogue, the gospel was not entirely unknown. It might be unexpected, but the Old Testament was taught in the synagogues, and the Old Testament included prophecies about the Messiah, so their listeners at least had the background to understand the gospel message.
First Paul and Silas arrived in Thessalonica. They went into the synagogue and taught and preached for a few weeks, giving evidence from the Old Testament that the Messiah had to suffer and then rise from the dead, and proving that Jesus met the criteria. And some of the Jews believed, along with a large number of Gentile Greeks.
The synagogue rulers were jealous to see so many Gentiles responding to Paul’s message. So they went out and stirred up a mob who went and grabbed these new believers and had them arrested. Of course having no charges the people were released, but Paul and Silas (for their own safety) were sent on to the next city.
So they travelled to a town called Berea, about 45 miles away. When they got there, again they went to the local synagogue and started preaching. And this time the good news about Jesus was well-received. Verse 11 says: “they welcomed the message very eagerly and examined the scriptures every day to see whether these things were so.” And many of them became believers, both Jews and Greeks.
Now the synagogue rulers in Thessalonica heard about this, and they were so ticked off they walked 45 miles to Berea stir up trouble for Paul and Silas. (45 miles is roughly the distance from Pittsburgh to Uniontown! Have you ever been so ticked off at somebody that you would walk to Uniontown just to bother them?)
Anyway for safety’s sake the Bereans suggested Paul and Silas move on, and they accompanied them as far as Athens (about 150 miles from Berea – at which point the Thessalonians gave up).
So Paul and Silas arrived in Athens. During Paul’s lifetime, and for about 400 years before he was born, Athens was one of the greatest educational centers of the world. Aristotle had taught there, and Socrates, and Plato; Hippocrates, the founder of modern medicine (you’ve heard of the Hippocratic oath). Athens was the birthplace of democracy – the first place democracy was thought of, and the first place it was ever tried. Life in the United States in the 21st century would not exist as we know it, if not for Athens back then.
Even the Romans appreciated Athens. Though they conquered all of Greece, they considered Athens a ‘free city’ so that it’s teaching and its arts and culture would continue uninterrupted.
Paul and Silas, when they got to Athens, had a lot to see, and a lot to take in as they walked around the city. But what Paul noticed more than anything was that it was “a city full of idols”. Verse 16 says he was deeply troubled at this; because the message Paul had to share was a love story – a story about a love unknown. As Paul and Silas walked around the city, they saw people who did not know they were loved by God, people who were being led astray to worship idols and to serve what was not God. And this moved Paul’s heart very deeply.
Paul started out, as usual, in the local synagogue. And he had a little success there. But then he went to the marketplace – the Agora as it was called (you remember that name from high school social studies?). The Agora was a place where people would buy and sell, but it was also the central public space in the city – a place for events, a place where political speeches would be made, and where religious and philosophical debates happened.
So Paul joined in the debates in the Agora. Verse 18 says he got into conversations with the Epicureans and the Stoics. The Epicureans belonged to a school of philosophy that taught materialism and the pursuit of happiness, and ridiculed the idea of God interfering in human affairs. The Stoics on the other hand belonged to a school of philosophy that believed the path to happiness is found in accepting what we’re given in life; and not being controlled by our desire for pleasure or our fear of pain, but using our minds to understand.
Do I really need to say how much these philosophies still influence people’s thinking? We may not call it by those names any more, but we still live in a materialistic culture, that pokes fun at religion, that pursues happiness, and that values logic over too much drama in our relationships. Things haven’t changed much in 2000 years!
Paul made enough of an impact on the Greek philosophers to be invited to speak at the Areopagus where many of the great debates were held. So he came, and they asked him, “what are you teaching?” And that’s where our reading for today picks up.
What Paul said to the philosophers is a wonderful example of how we can share our faith in the world around us.
- Step One, Paul begins where his listeners are. He says “I observe that you are very religious in all respects.” Paul doesn’t attack their idols; he doesn’t stand up and call the people ‘idolaters and sinners’. He takes his observation of their idols and casts it in a good light. He praises the fact that they’re religious. In today’s culture we might say something like, “I see that you are very spiritual. You care about living things, you care about the planet, you believe in doing what is compassionate, and you are mindful of how you treat others.”
- Step Two, Paul builds on where his listeners are and finds a connection to the gospel. He says, “as I went through the city and looked at the objects of your worship, I found an altar with the inscription ‘to an unknown god’.” Paul knows about this love unknown, knows that it is a universal truth, and he connects it to their ‘unknown god’.In our own day there are still many people who call themselves agnostic – who say they don’t know who God is, or they’re not sure. Even churchgoers sometimes can be sort of functionally agnostic –knowing there’s a God and his son’s name is Jesus but not really sure what that means. The word agnostic – a Greek word – literally means to not know.
- In Step Three, Paul zeros in on the unknown and makes it known. He says: “What you believe is unknown, this is what I proclaim to you.’ And he goes on to talk about the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He says God created the world and everything in it; God does not live in temples or buildings made by hands; God is not served by people, as if God needed anything; in fact God gives us what we God sets the times and boundaries for nations and encourages people to seek God “groping around as we do, though God is not far from us” – Paul says – “for in Him we live and move and have our being”. And Paul adds, “as some of your own Greek poets have said, “we are God’s children.””
Can you imagine how people today would appreciate hearing that God does not live in buildings and is not served by people? And that we live and move in God – and as God’s children, we are loved?
Paul does criticize the making of idols: he reminds his listeners that God isn’t made of silver or gold. These days people don’t usually have household gods, but idolatry is still one of the most commonly practiced sins. Today’s idols might include wealth, power, youthfulness, fame, food, sex, shopping… anything that becomes more important to us than God.
King Solomon once said: “the worship of idols… is the beginning and cause and end of every evil.” (Wisdom 14:27 edited) In Paul’s words, idols are “a representation by the art and imagination of humanity”. I could preach a whole sermon on just that – but for now the important concept is that idols are made up. They represent a lie. And when people put their trust in lies, tragedy is the result. If Paul were here today he would most likely remind us that God doesn’t need fame, or political power, or front page headlines, or a pile of money in order for God’s will to be done.
Bottom line, Paul says in verse 30: in the past God has overlooked such ignorance – overlooked our not knowing – but now God requires all people everywhere to have a change of heart, because there is a day coming in which all people will be measured by the man who walked out of the grave alive.
As soon as Paul mentions the resurrection of the dead, the philosophers in the Areopagus begin to laugh and poke fun. But some believe and want to hear more.
As for Paul himself, he’s not interested in debating for the sake of debating (which sets a very good example for those of us who hang out on Facebook). For Paul, once he’s delivered the message, his job is done, and he’s ready to move on. Next stop: Corinth!
But back to our love story. We’ve been talking about an ‘unknown’ God: a God who knew us and loved us before we knew God. Can you imagine what that’s like for God – to love us, and for us to not even know it?
You don’t see that kind of love story in movies very often. But I did see a story like it once in an old TV show. It was a story about two soldiers – a man and a woman, Marcus and Susan. They cared about each other as comrades: they teased each other, they had each others’ backs, but their duties kept them apart most of the time, so they were friends and nothing more. But Marcus loved Susan… and for her sake and the sake of her career he never let on.
One day in the heat of battle there was an explosion and Susan was mortally wounded. She didn’t die right away, so Marcus found her and carried her back to the medics, but there was nothing could be done.
Except this particular story takes place in the future, and in the future there’s a machine used for healing by which a healthy person can transfer health into the body of an injured person in order to heal them. So for example, if a child scrapes their knee a parent can hook up the machine to themselves and to their child and pour healing from their own body into the child’s body. Or if the child breaks a bone, which is a greater injury, it would require more energy from the parent, but it could still be healed. But if the wound was fatal… using the machine would be fatal.
And for that reason the machine was made illegal. But Marcus finds one, and hooks it up, and pours his life into Susan. And just as she’s coming around, with his last breath, Marcus whispers ‘I love you’.
That’s the kind of love God has for us: a love that gives all it can give, before we even knew it was there.
The good news is that Jesus lives.
Which brings us back to the Gospel of John, where Jesus says: “In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; and because I live, you also will live.” Jesus also says “If you love me, keep my commandments” – and the first and greatest commandment is love: love of God, and love of neighbor.
So the first thing we can do with all of this is to know God’s love. Don’t let God’s love go unknown. Read about God’s love, meditate on it, immerse ourselves in it, until our souls are convinced, by the power of the Holy Spirit, of how very much we are loved.
And second, tell others about the unknown God (who is now known) and about the unknown love that’s waiting for them.
The old hymn I quoted earlier ends with these words:
“Here might I stay and sing
of him my soul adores:
never was love, dear King,
never was grief like yours.
This is my friend in whose sweet praise,
I gladly would spend all my days.” AMEN.
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Preached at Fairhaven United Methodist Church, Spencer United Methodist Church, and Incarnation Church (Anglican) Pittsburgh, 5/21/17
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[collection of video clips summarizing the story from which the illustration was taken:]
Acts 17:22-31 22 Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. 23 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. 24 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, 25 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. 26 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, 27 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. 28 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.’
29 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. 30 While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 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 15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. 17 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.
18 “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. 19 In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 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.”