Pastor Cal Lord's Recent Sermons
"A Name You Can Love"
April 27, 2008 Acts 17:17-34
This morning I want to spend a few minutes looking at one of the Apostle Paul’s most famous
sermons. We don’t get a lot of his messages in the Bible. We get summaries and hear testimonies.
We find his teaching and his hope for the church. But in Acts 17 we get the real deal. He comes to
center of the intellectual world and delivers a message about the simple, yet powerful, love of
Jesus. That love is at once awesome, and yet very personal.
Paul can do this because he knows Jesus. Jesus isn’t just a name to him. On the Damascus
road he came face to face with his Lord. Everything he thought he knew about God was suddenly
challenged and reshaped.
We began our worship this morning by singing “Holy, Holy, holy.” This is the vision of the
transcendent and holy God who is apart from his creation. This is the image of Isaiah the prophet
and John the apostle as they try to point to the majesty of that which is like none other. This is the
God, the angry and distant God who demands much from his people that Paul grew up with. Aloof
and high on a mountain looking down on his creation. As Paul was persecuting the Christians, this
God was his employer.
This God was also one that the Greeks could understand. He fit right in with their images of
Zeus and Apollo, Poseidon and Athena. The Greeks loved to debate and the gods were a constant
source of discussion.
The two major philosophical camps in Paul’s day were the epicureans, who felt that life was all
about fulfilling your every desire and the stoics who believed that in seeking virtue in life you could
become god-like.
In the epicurean mind, the gods didn’t care what you did. They had their own concerns that had
little to do with humanity. Life was short and you should be merry. Eat, drink and go for all the joy
you can get.
The truth is that there are a lot of people who still think this way today. Eternity doesn’t matter.
We are all going to die anyway.
As an aside, that is the big debate that Ben Stein touches on in the new movie Expelled. Most of
the scientists, agnostics and atheists who promote the origin of species arguments and big bang
theories say that this is all there is so you should go for it now.
It is the God helps those who help themselves philosophy. Sounds religious but in reality it is
the thought that we are on our own and we are responsible for our own happiness.
The stoics on the other hand, held that the gods had set the natural law in place and the goal of
life was to live with virtue. Nothing else mattered. If you did things right, then you have your own
reward by simply knowing you did things right. The problem is that it became a matter of pride.
You didn’t care about anyone else. All you cared about was what you did. It was the ultimate in
selfishness. There are an awful lot of people, many who call themselves Christian, who live this
way today. What matters is that you follow Christ and the fact that others are falling by the
wayside, doesn’t concern them at all.
Now if you know Paul’s story, you know that he, like most of us, lived somewhere in between
these two philosophies. That is until the day he met Jesus. Then his whole world turned upside
down. For God was no longer some ideological image. God became personal. He knew Paul’s
name. He invested in Paul’s life. He invited him to become a partner in the mission to transform the
world.
It is no accident that on the day that Paul preached his most famous sermon, he was in the
middle of the Areopagus, the place where all the temples to the gods were located. It was at the
center of Greek culture. There among the temples was one that Paul knew from personal
experience. It was the temple to the unknown God.
The truth is that even today there is a temple to the unknown God. People live with all kinds of
philosophies. They try to make sense out of life. They create all kinds of gods, images they can
worship. There is the god of money and wealth, the god of youth the god of sexuality, the god of
delight, the god of feasts and banquets, (my favorite), the god of fast cars, the god of Hollywood,
the god of patriotism, the god of intellectual prowess, the god of self and so on.., Yet, they come
away empty. But in the middle of our modern day Areopagus, just like it was back then, is that
tribute to the unknown god.
You see God reveals himself to the world, but we often ignore him. It is too good to be true. So
we know he is there but we walk right by. But the apostle Paul calls us to stop and look again.
I love his first words. “Men of Athens, I perceive in every way you are very religious.” Too often
when we confront the people we know, we put them down. We belittle their efforts to find God. I
read recently that we are living in a time of spiritual awakening. There is more openness to spiritual
talk now than there has been for decades. People are searching. Too often they search in the
wrong places, but they are looking. We need to think like Paul.
For you see Paul understood where the Greeks were coming from. Last week we talked about
Stephen and noted that Paul was a witness to his stoning. In his ignorance, Paul wasn’t even
aware that Stephen had found what Paul had been searching for his whole life.
In our story today that all changed. On that road to Damascus, Jesus confronted Paul and
turned his world upside down. In Jesus, God became a name he could love.
So Paul relays the good news to the people of Athens. He tells them of a God who wants to get
to know them. He tells them of a God who knows their names, their hopes and fears. He tells them
of a God who created the heavens and the earth and has invested his being into the future of his
creation. In Christ, Paul says, this God, the God of all Gods, became one with them.
Compare that to a silver of gold statue. Compare that to the other substitutes we make. Nothing
compares. You see the same message Paul preached two thousands years ago appeals to us today.
You see it was God in Christ who reached out to a Samaritan woman at a well.
You see it was God in Christ who reached out to a centurian named Jairus whose daughter was
dieing.
You see it was God in Christ who reached out ten blind beggars and gave them their sight.
You see it was God in Christ who reached out to woman caught in adultery and forgave her sin.
You see it was God in Christ who reached out to a criminal on a cross beside him and told him
he would be in paradise that day.
You see it was God in Christ who looked down from the cross and forgave the soldiers who
had put him there.
You see it was God in Christ who saw you and me and called our names and put his arms
around us.
You know my story. As a little boy I knew the name of god. As a teenager I came to know him
for real.
Amen
.
April 27, 2008 Acts 17:17-34
This morning I want to spend a few minutes looking at one of the Apostle Paul’s most famous
sermons. We don’t get a lot of his messages in the Bible. We get summaries and hear testimonies.
We find his teaching and his hope for the church. But in Acts 17 we get the real deal. He comes to
center of the intellectual world and delivers a message about the simple, yet powerful, love of
Jesus. That love is at once awesome, and yet very personal.
Paul can do this because he knows Jesus. Jesus isn’t just a name to him. On the Damascus
road he came face to face with his Lord. Everything he thought he knew about God was suddenly
challenged and reshaped.
We began our worship this morning by singing “Holy, Holy, holy.” This is the vision of the
transcendent and holy God who is apart from his creation. This is the image of Isaiah the prophet
and John the apostle as they try to point to the majesty of that which is like none other. This is the
God, the angry and distant God who demands much from his people that Paul grew up with. Aloof
and high on a mountain looking down on his creation. As Paul was persecuting the Christians, this
God was his employer.
This God was also one that the Greeks could understand. He fit right in with their images of
Zeus and Apollo, Poseidon and Athena. The Greeks loved to debate and the gods were a constant
source of discussion.
The two major philosophical camps in Paul’s day were the epicureans, who felt that life was all
about fulfilling your every desire and the stoics who believed that in seeking virtue in life you could
become god-like.
In the epicurean mind, the gods didn’t care what you did. They had their own concerns that had
little to do with humanity. Life was short and you should be merry. Eat, drink and go for all the joy
you can get.
The truth is that there are a lot of people who still think this way today. Eternity doesn’t matter.
We are all going to die anyway.
As an aside, that is the big debate that Ben Stein touches on in the new movie Expelled. Most of
the scientists, agnostics and atheists who promote the origin of species arguments and big bang
theories say that this is all there is so you should go for it now.
It is the God helps those who help themselves philosophy. Sounds religious but in reality it is
the thought that we are on our own and we are responsible for our own happiness.
The stoics on the other hand, held that the gods had set the natural law in place and the goal of
life was to live with virtue. Nothing else mattered. If you did things right, then you have your own
reward by simply knowing you did things right. The problem is that it became a matter of pride.
You didn’t care about anyone else. All you cared about was what you did. It was the ultimate in
selfishness. There are an awful lot of people, many who call themselves Christian, who live this
way today. What matters is that you follow Christ and the fact that others are falling by the
wayside, doesn’t concern them at all.
Now if you know Paul’s story, you know that he, like most of us, lived somewhere in between
these two philosophies. That is until the day he met Jesus. Then his whole world turned upside
down. For God was no longer some ideological image. God became personal. He knew Paul’s
name. He invested in Paul’s life. He invited him to become a partner in the mission to transform the
world.
It is no accident that on the day that Paul preached his most famous sermon, he was in the
middle of the Areopagus, the place where all the temples to the gods were located. It was at the
center of Greek culture. There among the temples was one that Paul knew from personal
experience. It was the temple to the unknown God.
The truth is that even today there is a temple to the unknown God. People live with all kinds of
philosophies. They try to make sense out of life. They create all kinds of gods, images they can
worship. There is the god of money and wealth, the god of youth the god of sexuality, the god of
delight, the god of feasts and banquets, (my favorite), the god of fast cars, the god of Hollywood,
the god of patriotism, the god of intellectual prowess, the god of self and so on.., Yet, they come
away empty. But in the middle of our modern day Areopagus, just like it was back then, is that
tribute to the unknown god.
You see God reveals himself to the world, but we often ignore him. It is too good to be true. So
we know he is there but we walk right by. But the apostle Paul calls us to stop and look again.
I love his first words. “Men of Athens, I perceive in every way you are very religious.” Too often
when we confront the people we know, we put them down. We belittle their efforts to find God. I
read recently that we are living in a time of spiritual awakening. There is more openness to spiritual
talk now than there has been for decades. People are searching. Too often they search in the
wrong places, but they are looking. We need to think like Paul.
For you see Paul understood where the Greeks were coming from. Last week we talked about
Stephen and noted that Paul was a witness to his stoning. In his ignorance, Paul wasn’t even
aware that Stephen had found what Paul had been searching for his whole life.
In our story today that all changed. On that road to Damascus, Jesus confronted Paul and
turned his world upside down. In Jesus, God became a name he could love.
So Paul relays the good news to the people of Athens. He tells them of a God who wants to get
to know them. He tells them of a God who knows their names, their hopes and fears. He tells them
of a God who created the heavens and the earth and has invested his being into the future of his
creation. In Christ, Paul says, this God, the God of all Gods, became one with them.
Compare that to a silver of gold statue. Compare that to the other substitutes we make. Nothing
compares. You see the same message Paul preached two thousands years ago appeals to us today.
You see it was God in Christ who reached out to a Samaritan woman at a well.
You see it was God in Christ who reached out to a centurian named Jairus whose daughter was
dieing.
You see it was God in Christ who reached out ten blind beggars and gave them their sight.
You see it was God in Christ who reached out to woman caught in adultery and forgave her sin.
You see it was God in Christ who reached out to a criminal on a cross beside him and told him
he would be in paradise that day.
You see it was God in Christ who looked down from the cross and forgave the soldiers who
had put him there.
You see it was God in Christ who saw you and me and called our names and put his arms
around us.
You know my story. As a little boy I knew the name of god. As a teenager I came to know him
for real.
Amen
.
| Welcome to the First Baptist Church of Norwich 239 West Main Street Norwich, Connecticut Phone: 860-889-0369 |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |