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When I was in high school, I was really fortunate to go on a trip to Greece led by one of the classics department teachers, Bill Wortman. Bill had been a huge influence on me, helping me learn Hebrew and teaching me philosophy. Bill is also a devout Christian and supportive to us believers in our life in Faith.
On our trip to Greece, we ended up in Athens at the Acropolis. Now the Acropolis is well preserved and still standing. Across from it is the Areopagus also know as Mars’ Hill. This area was where the judiciary stood in ancient Athens. It was also the market place.
Today, there’s nothing left on Mars’ Hill but the hill. There’s also a plaque to the side as you ascend the hill (which is admittedly not that big). This plaque has on it, in Greek, the exact words of Paul’s speech that we read in Acts today.
Bill being the scholar and the Christian that he was, turned to tell us about Paul’s encounter with those in the market place on that fateful day. He went line by line explaining what Paul was saying. It was sort of an impromptu sermon. Extremely impressive was his continuing to turn back to the plaque to read through each Greek line and then tell us what it meant.
All of us students were pretty mesmerized by what Bill was saying to us. Now just for a second, I took a peek around us and was amazed to find other people, people not part of our group, stopping to listen to Bill too.
What was inspiring about Bill’s words is not only the affect they had on others. Bill was also taking Paul in his speaking to the Athenians and following that example in order to spread God’s word. Bill was taking what he had in front of him- a plaque written in Koine Greek and a bunch of people present and invested in learning about history- to teach about the word of God in the Acts of the Apostles.
All that Paul is doing in our reading today is taking what he has in front of him to speak to the people around him. What he’s really doing is speaking to the people where they are.
Paul’s not taking the things of his culture- the Law and the ancient Jewish Prophets- to speak to the people of Athens. He’s taking things from their culture, the things they would have understood to explain to them his Faith.
Athens, like many places in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, had shrines and altars to gods around every corner. These were places you could toss a coin to as you passed and gain each god’s favor. They were so afraid of making one of their supposed gods upset. They were so afraid, in fact, that they erected an altar to “an unknown god” just in case they missed one.
Paul sees this altar and uses it as an opportunity to tell the people about this God they don’t yet know, the One True God that actually exists in fact. He takes this opportunity to tell the people about what it is they do not yet know and what it is, as we saw last week, that they are all really searching for.
But Paul doesn’t stop using what is around him there. He uses the words of two Greek poets, Epimenides and Aratus, to explain to them who God really is. The words of both these poets referred to Zeus, the chief of the Greek mythological gods. These words have become even more famous for Paul’s use of them.
Paul’s words captures the audience around him until, that is, he gets to the Resurrection. At this point, some leave. Yet some also stay. They hear what it is Paul has to say and some even come to believe.
This Easter Season starts with the Resurrection. It starts with The Great Vigil of Easter, the greatest and most opportune time to be Baptized, to enter the Body of Christ, the church, the Children of God. What Easter concerns itself with after that start is ‘What do we do now?’
Throughout this Season of Easter, we have heard what the life of a Christian is like, as we continue to hear in 1 Peter today. We have heard what we are called to, as Jesus once again reminds us in the Gospel.
Paul shows us a key aspect of our life in Christ. We are called to share the Good News of our Lord Jesus Christ. Not only are we called to share it, we are also called to do so wisely. We are called to use all tools are our disposal to make sure that our words are heard and understood by those who surround us.
Sometimes we do so with poetry. Sometimes we do so with the plaques in front of us. Sometimes we do so through the classics, our understanding of pop culture, or the Gospel according to Superheroes even. The words we hear in Scripture are important and the first start for our understanding God’s work in this world. Yet not all will understand it like we do. For all those others, we must follow the examples of those who have come before us, those like Bill Wortman and Paul even, and take everything we see before us and use it to bring further glory to our Lord and our God.