22nd Sunday
after Trinity-2022 (no video)

22Then Paul stood up in front of the council of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I see that you are very religious in every way. 23For as I was walking around and carefully observing your objects of worship, I even found an altar on which had been inscribed, ‘To an unknown god.’ Now what you worship as unknown—this is what I am going to proclaim to you. 24“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples made with hands. 25Neither is he served by human hands as if he needed anything since he himself gives all people life and breath and everything they have. 26From one man, he made every nation of mankind to live over the entire face of the earth. He determined the appointed times and the boundaries where they would live. 27He did this so they would seek God and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 28‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘Indeed, we are also his offspring.’29“Therefore, since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by human skill and planning. 30Although God over- looked the times of ignorance, he is now commanding all people everywhere to repent, 31be- cause he has set a day on which he is going to judge the world in righteousness by the man he appointed. He provided proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”

Dear fellow redeemed: Last Sunday I was watching the Lutheran high school coral fest concert at Bethany Lutheran College. (I had hoped to attend, but the Wuhan Flu kept me watching on a Livestream.) After the concert, President Pfeiffer from Bethany made a plea to everyone that they recognize the importance of Christian higher education if we are going to preserve the faith for generations yet to come.

Scripture calls these the “latter days,” or the “end times,” in which we will see a return of the darkness that covered much of the world. If you wonder how the darkness of unbelief has come to cover much of the world in many ages, then this is how it happened. People built families without faith and failed to prioritize the faith in their families, so the faith was not passed on to the next generation, leaving them in rebellion against the true God, the living God, who is there.

Therefore we will face many of the challenges that Paul faced in reaching out into the darkness with the light of the gospel. It’s urgent, because, as Paul puts it, the Lord is now commanding all people everywhere to repent, 31because he has set a day on which he is going to judge the world in righteousness by the man he appointed. He provided proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”

As our culture is descending again into darkness the warning becomes more strident: The day is coming when Christ who came as Savior will come again as judge. Listen to Him as Savior now or as Judge hereafter. Everyone will either…

I. The Darkness of the Age

Even if the Jews at the time of Jesus did not believe the gospel, they were still blessed with the source of light itself, as Paul wrote to the Romans, “What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew? Or what benefit is there to circumcision? Much in every way! Indeed, above all else, they were entrusted with the messages of God. Now, what if some did not believe? Their unbelief will not nullify God’s faithfulness, will it?” (Romans 3:1–3, EHV)

Having the source of the light amongst them was a blessing in every way, for it governed their worldview and was a conduit of God’s faithfulness to them. They could have no complaints on that score if at last, they come under God’s judgment. So it is has been in Western Civilization. We are heirs of the gospel. It has shaped our culture, our civilization, our science, our literature, our art, our under- standing of the world, our government, law, and justice. If they didn’t know anything else about Christianity, people grew up knowing that Christmas is the celebration of the incarnation of God, and Easter is the celebration of the resurrection of the incarnate Son.

But darkness comes upon the world. Especially here in Oregon, people can get through their whole education without ever grappling with these essential Truths. If we are to reach out to them we need to grasp how great is their darkness. They are lost in it, and without God and without hope in the world. Paul describes their situation this way, writing to the Ephesians who were in such darkness: “Therefore, remember that at one time, you Gentiles in the flesh … were separated from Christ, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of the promise. You were without hope and without God in the world.” (Ephesians 2:11–12, EHV)

This was impressed upon me in the last election season –not the results of the elections as such– but the ungodly and anti-Christian beliefs that were expressed. The disregard for life, the belief in no absolute truth, the rejection of the natural orders of marriage, family, and sex, the amorality, the worship of power, and more.

Such is the world in which we live, and their fate is eternal darkness. And yet our Lord has not written them off, nor is He stingy with mercy toward them, but has still made provision for the light to shine into their hearts, as He did to the Athenians, here according to Luke’s account.

II. Our Lord’s Provisions for the Light

Paul appeals to the natural knowledge of God, the knowledge that is written on our hearts as a conscience, and that exists in our very essence as spiritual beings. The natural knowledge of God is not sufficient to know Him personally, for God is revealed truly only through His word. The natural knowledge of God tells us that there must be something from which all things come, and to which all things must be compared. Sometimes people conceive of this in personal terms, as with the Greek gods, and so many others. Sometimes people conceive of this as an impersonal force, like some Eastern religions. Always the opinio legis plays a part. This is the verdict of the law that is written in every heart so that we judge one another. So all false religions know about justice, but not about mercy. Only through God’s revelation of Himself can we come to know that He is both just and gracious. This is unique in the world.

Nevertheless, the point is that while Paul couldn’t reference the Scriptures to the Athenians, there is a starting point for all human beings. He picked up at the point that spiritual blindness set in. They knew and were honest enough to admit, that they didn’t know beyond what they could see and deduce. So that’s where he started: 24“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples made with hands. 25Neither is he served by human hands as if he needed anything since he himself gives all people life and breath and everything they have.

Having confirmed that God is a personal being who relates to each of us as our Creator and Preserver, he goes on to tell them of His merciful intent. 26From one man, he made every nation of mankind to live over the entire face of the earth. He determined the appointed times and the boundaries where they would live. 27He did this so they would seek God and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.

III. Light Comes in Repentance to the Risen One

But past ignorance of God’s merciful intentions doesn’t change the fact that our sinfulness is deserving of God’s justice and judgment. The gospel has been so far proclaimed and He is so “dis- coverable,” that there is no excuse: 30Although God overlooked the times of ignorance, he is now commanding all people everywhere to repent, 31because he has set a day on which he is going to judge the world in righteousness by the man he appointed. He provided proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”

“Now” is always the time for repentance. The judgment that is coming is not a time when God will make up His mind about us; that judgment day is when He carries out His judgment. It is NOW that we must be reconciled to Him.

Upon those who repent, who turn back from sin and death and toward our true redeemer, will fall the judgment of righteousness, for there is a righteousness that is from God and is by faith, and this righteousness is yours. It is yours because Jesus lived it out every hour of every day and because it replaces the sinfulness which was yours, for which Christ has paid the atonement price. This is the light and hope in which we live as the faithful, the believers.

But upon those who do not repent will fall the judgment of death for sin. The concerns of politicians and news commentators and philosophers mean nothing compared to this, the real crisis of our times. Paul wrote of just this issue to the Thessalonians, “… When the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his powerful angels, he will exercise vengeance in a flaming fire on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. Such people will receive a just penalty: eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord and from his glorious strength,” (2 Thessalonians 1:6–9, EHV)

This is a warning to our age and every age. And for every age it is our hope: Let darkness give way to light! For the Lord … has set a day on which he is going to judge the world in righteousness by the man he appointed. He provided proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.” In Jesus Christ is life, for from Him is forgiveness, life, and salvation.

AMEN