Sixth Sunday of
Easter (A)
May 21, 2017
Text: John 14:15-21; Acts 17:16-31
He is risen! He
is risen, indeed! Alleuia!
St.
Paul’s mission strategy in Athens is brilliant.
He begins with what is familiar to the Athenians, talks philosophy with
the Epicureans and Stoics, tours the marketplace and the main street, all the
while making conversation with those around him. And he knows something about the Athenians,
the key to grabbing their attention.
They fancy themselves a thinking
people. Athens is a lot like a
university town. Paul knows that the
Athenians love to spend their time in nothing else but the telling or the hearing
of new ideas, new concepts, new philosophies.
And Paul has something extraordinarily new to tell them. A man, a flesh and blood God, died the accursed death of the Roman
cross. And this man, this flesh and
blood God, has been raised from the
dead. And He will come again to judge the world in
righteousness, therefore the people should repent and believe in this man,
Jesus, the Christ.
Now,
he just gives them a little hint of this here and there as he’s walking
about. He leaves them begging for
more. “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? For you bring some strange things to our ears”
(Acts 17:19-20; ESV). They bring Paul to
the Areopagus, the natural amphitheater where court is held and the important
business of the city is done, and they invite him to speak. He begins with a backhanded compliment. “Men
of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the
objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, ‘To an
unknown god’” (vv. 22-23). This was
actually very grievous to Paul, this rank idolatry and polytheism. And of course, this altar to an unknown god
is not directed to the one true God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This altar is simply meant to cover the
Athenians’ bases, make sure they don’t leave anybody out, lest they offend some
powerful deity. When it comes to the gods,
more is better, or so the thinking goes among the Greeks. But Paul will now tell them about this
unknown God. He’s the only one! And He is
the Maker of heaven and earth and everything that is. The Athenians know something of Him by
nature. Their own poets know that “In him we live and move and have our being,”
and “we are indeed his offspring”
(v. 28). This is what we call the
natural knowledge of God. But now Paul
will fill in the gaps with God as He reveals Himself in Christ. It is this
God whose Son became a man and died and rose for the salvation of the world and
is coming again to judge. Repent and
believe. Brilliant rhetoric! St. Paul would get an A+ in his seminary
homiletics class. Megachurches have been
named after this address. The English for
“Areopagus,” is “Mars Hill.” But what
happened? Hearing this ridiculous idea
about the resurrection of the dead,
most dismissed the Gospel as utter foolishness.
Many mocked. Some said they would
hear Paul again, but really they were just being polite, or at best, always up
for more intellectual discussion. Only a
few believed. Brilliant mission strategy,
yes. But even the great St. Paul does
not have a silver bullet for effective evangelism. Brilliant strategy or no, the Christian is
simply called to speak the Word of the Lord in the world. Our God will do with it what He will. Once in a great while, over 3,000 souls will
be added to the number of believers, as happened when Peter preached on
Pentecost. More often than not, most
will consider the preaching of Christ crucified and risen from the dead utter
foolishness. Some will mock, some will
hear politely, and only a few will believe.
Why
is this? St. Paul answers the question
for us in 1 Corinthians: “The natural
person,” the unconverted person, left to his own reason, “does not accept the things of the Spirit of
God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because
they are spiritually discerned” (2:14).
That is to say, because natural fallen man is born spiritually blind,
dead, and an enemy of God, he is unable to comprehend the Word of the Lord, no
matter how smart he may be. The Greeks
represent the very highest of human wisdom.
Really, you should study them.
They’ll teach you how to think, which (this being no commentary on the
present company) is a skill sadly lacking in this current generation. The very highest of human wisdom, beloved, is
unable to comprehend the things of God, unable to believe Jesus Christ and His
salvation. Foolishness. That is what the Gospel is to the highest of
human wisdom.
That
is why we need the Holy Spirit. “I
believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my
Lord, or come to Him.”[1] “I believe that I cannot… believe.” We’re born incapable of comprehending the
things of God, believing in Jesus Christ, and so, if we are to believe, God must do it in us. He does it by His Spirit, in the Gospel. He does it in Holy Scripture and
Preaching. The Spirit is poured out upon
you in Holy Baptism, even as He descended upon Jesus in Baptism. The Spirit delivers the forgiveness of sins
to you in Absolution. And He unites you
to Christ your Lord in the Supper of Jesus’ true body and blood. In other words, the Spirit does His work
where the Gospel is being done, which is to say the Holy Christian Church which
He has gathered together and in which He is daily and richly forgiving your
sins and the sins of all believers for Christ’s sake.
“I will ask the Father, and he will give you
another Helper,” Jesus says in our Holy Gospel this morning (John
14:16). “Helper.” There’s that word again, Paraclete, meaning
also Comforter, Counselor, Advocate, literally the One Called to your Side in
time of trouble. This is, of course, the
Third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit.
What a tremendous reading for this Sunday in the Church year. Here we get a little foretaste of the three
upcoming Feasts: The Ascension, Pentecost, and the Holy Trinity. The Ascension, which we get this Thursday,
because Jesus says He is going away (from the disciples’ sight, anyway… He
really isn’t going anywhere). But He
promises the Spirit will proceed from the Father and the Son so that we will
not be left as orphans. That’s Pentecost,
the coming of the Spirit. And Holy
Trinity: In this way, the Spirit will teach you that Jesus is in the Father,
and you are in Jesus, and Jesus is in you (v. 20); perfect fellowship with our
Triune God. Beautiful stuff. Stuff we only know now by faith, not by
sight.
Because
this is what the Spirit makes known to us.
The “Spirit of Truth,” Jesus calls Him (v. 17), because He leads us into
all truth. And we heard last week that
Jesus Himself is the “Truth” (v. 6). The
Spirit ever and always points us to Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, for the
forgiveness of sins. That is His
job. The Spirit rarely talks about
Himself. He is always talking about
Jesus. That is why every sermon is about
Jesus. That is why the cross is our
theology. The Spirit brings you to faith
in Jesus and keeps you in the faith of Jesus so that you have fellowship with
the Father as God’s own child. This
Spirit dwells with you and is in you and you know Him (v. 17). He is in you in His Word, which is the Word
of our Father, which is all about Jesus.
And here’s the kicker… It’s what St. Paul preached to the Athenians:
Because the Spirit is in the Word uniting you to Jesus and thus restoring you
to the Father, and because Jesus lives… you live (v. 19). That’s what Jesus says. Because He is risen, you have been raised
already spiritually, and He will raise you from the dead bodily on that
Day. Or as we say it in the Catechism,
“On the Last Day He will raise me and all the dead, and give eternal life to me
and all believers in Christ. This is
most certainly true.”
Now,
what does that mean for missions, and for a mission cogregation? What does it mean for preachers? What does it mean for the Church, for
you? It means the only mission to which
God calls His Church is to preach Jesus Christ.
Not to be hip. Not to be relevant
(as if God’s holy Church and His precious Gospel could ever be
irrelevant!). The mission of the Church
is not to conform to the world and make itself more palatable to the
world. Because Jesus says right here in
our Holy Gospel, “the world cannot
receive” the Spirit of Truth, “because
it neither sees him nor knows him” (v. 17).
If you go meet the world on the world’s terms, you may gather a lot of
people into the Church building, but they’ll leave here as unbelieving and dead
as they were when they came. The mission
of the Church is not simply to fill the pews and the offering plate, which is
too often how we think of missions. It
is to preach Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.
And in that Word, in the Gospel, the Spirit is present, creating faith
where and when He pleases in those who hear the Gospel (AC V). It’s all up to Him! Wow, that takes the pressure off! We aren’t called to succeed. We’re called to preach. Whatever happens as a result is the Holy
Spirit’s problem! Is there someone you
know who doesn’t believe in Jesus, someone you’ve been aching to bring to the
Savior? Say a prayer for that person and
invite them to Church. Tell them you
love them and Jesus loves them and you want them to know Jesus. They might say no. Or they might come. They might not believe. But they might. That’s God’s problem, not yours. When Paul preached to the crowd in Athens,
some mocked and others dismissed the message.
Most didn’t believe. But some
did. Because Paul preached Jesus, and by
the preaching of Jesus, the Spirit created faith.
And
you… rejoice, because you were once in the world that cannot receive the Spirit
because it neither sees Him nor knows Him.
But the Spirit, by grace, apart from any work or merit or worthiness in
you, called you by the Gospel, enlightened you with His gifts, sanctified and
has kept you to this very moment in the one true faith of Jesus Christ. Jesus promised you the Paraclete, and He gave
you the Paraclete. Baptized into Christ,
the Holy Spirit sent the evil spirits packing and took possession of you
whole. You live by the Spirit, the Lord
and Giver of Life. And because the
Spirit dwells with you and is in you, you have no altars to an unknown
God. Your altar is to the one true
God. You know Him by Name, and call upon
Him by Name. His Name is on you, and His
body and blood is in you. In the Name of
the Father, and of the Son (+), and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
He is risen! He is risen,
indeed! Alleluia!
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