Acts 17:22-31 (NRSV)
Read Acts 17:22-31 on biblegateway.com
Verse 22Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, "Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. Verse 23For 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. Verse 24The 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, Verse 25nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. Verse 26From 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, Verse 27so 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. Verse 28For '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.' Verse 29Since 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. Verse 30While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, Verse 31because 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."
Devotion
In our multi-cultural age, when examining the Apostle Paul’s presentation to the pagan Greeks at the Areopagus, it is tempting to highlight his culture-crossing expertise, to focus on his clever use of literate quotations from the Cretan poet Epimenides and the Cilician poet Aratus to make his point. It is tempting to focus on the manner by which Paul enters into conversation with his audience, his contextualization of his message.
But Paul’s point might surprise us. He calls the sophisticated pagans of his time to repentance and alerts them to their upcoming judgment at the hands of Jesus. As proof of their need for repentance before the coming judgment, Paul refers to Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. Resting his proof on a concept rejected by his audience may not have been contextually wise – but what Paul said was true.
Bringing the truth to one’s context is precious; contextualization without the truth is cheap.
Prayer
Father, Son and Holy Spirit, forgive us for seeking to speak to context at the expense of content. Lead us to follow the example of your apostle Paul, who boldly spoke cross-culturally about the need for repentance in light of Jesus’ coming to judge the world. Thank you that, through trusting in Jesus as our Lord and savior, we can look forward to his return. Amen.