Proclaim the God You Know!

6th Sunday of Easter, 5/21/17
Acts 17:22-31


Proclaim the God You Know!
I. The God who is Lord of all
II. The God who is Savior of all


It’s not too difficult to tell when a person doesn’t know what they’re talking about. They’ll cite “facts” which simply aren’t true. They’ll make statements which clearly are the opposite of what experts have proven. Or they’ll betray their lack of knowledge by their lack of confidence in the way they speak and in their demeanor. You can tell they’re uncomfortable. They stumble over their words. They hem and haw. So, what do you do when faced with just such a person? Well, when that person is in your living room on the screen of your TV, you have two options. You can either turn the channel or you can do something that doesn’t make much sense—you yell at him or argue with him. If the person is actually sitting or standing in front of you, you also have two options. You can say nothing because you simply don’t feel like getting into it with that person at this time, or you can begin to refute what they have said. You can make it clear that this is what you know to be true about the subject at hand whether that’s science, politics, ethics, or any number of topics.

But what do you do when the subject is your faith in God? You’re aware, aren’t you, that the number of spiritual opinions out there is countless? You’re also aware, aren’t you, that the prevailing spiritual wind today allows for any and every spiritual opinion to be valid? In other words, there is no such thing as absolute truth in spiritual matters.

But if that were true, then St. Paul wouldn’t have made the presentation before us this morning in Acts 17. He would have simply let what the Athenians believed to stand alongside of what he believed. Instead, Paul used this opportunity to make a bold declaration of spiritual truth. He proclaimed what he knew about the only true God.

We have the daily opportunity to do the same. In fact, it’s our calling from God as Christians to do so with every opportunity we have. Proclaim the God that you know! May the Holy Spirit inspire and equip us to do so through his word this morning!

Part I.

One of the aspects of athletic competition that enhances the experience is the presence of rivalries. Bengals-Browns, Ohio State-Michigan, Reds-Pirates. Games against your rival tend to ratchet up the intensity for players and fans alike. It makes for a better game when so much is on the line.

But how about rival gods? Have you ever even thought about such a thing? Probably not. First, that’s not our culture. Our coins don’t declare, “In gods we trust.” The idea that there are many gods who are rivals of one another is foolishness to us. It’s even foolish to those who don’t consider themselves to be Christians.

But there is a substantial number of people who are certain that no matter what you call your god, we all worship the same god and we all end up at the same place after this life. It’s a PC way of dealing with drastic differences in spiritual “truths.” No one gets offended. No one “judges” the faith of another. And we all leave the discussion feeling good because we’re all heading to the same spiritual destination.

In the city of Athens there was an altar to an unknown god. It was the Athenians’ way of covering their spiritual bases. Just in case they missed worshipping a god whom they didn’t even know, here was their way of honoring him or her. Paul used that altar to launch into proclaiming the God he knew. He declared, “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’” Paul asserts four truths about the only true God.

First, he “made the world and everything in it.” As the writer to the Hebrews states, “Every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything” (He. 3:4). Houses simply don’t appear. Neither did our world and universe. The only true God created all things.

What’s more, he sustains all things. He himself created the laws of nature, the predictable rhythm of the seasons, the course of the planets in our solar system, and the courses of the countless stars. Paul would later write to the Colossians, “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Col. 1:17). He enforces the laws of nature or he suspends them as he did when he performed miracles.

But God’s power isn’t simply out there in the vast cosmos. Paul makes his presence in our lives personal when he states, “From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.” Yes, we truly are sons and daughters of Adam and Eve. We have a shared humanity by God’s design.

And that design plays into our earthly existence. God determines the rise and fall of nations. Ultimately God determines where we’re born, where we live and where and when we die. By that we don’t mean fatalism in which we have no choice or effect, nor do we mean to say all is up to chance. God shapes us, influences us and uses the decisions we make to accomplish his will and purpose.

How’s that for a counter-cultural viewpoint? Our culture would claim that God has no influence in anything because our culture denies even his existence.

But you’re here to proclaim what you know. Proclaim the God you know. He is the God who is Lord of all.

Is that the God you know? Is that the God you trust? Indeed it is! We confess it every time we speak one of the Christian creeds. This is the God I know and this is what he did and does for me. That’s easy to proclaim shoulder to shoulder with your fellow Christians here in the friendly confines of your church. It’s not so easy when the rubber of life hits the road, or, better, when life begins to careen out of control around you. When the doctor uses the “C” word for his diagnosis for you or a loved one. When your employer downsizes and you’re one of the victims. When your teen or young adult child refuses your loving parental guidance and heads for disaster. When the national and international scenes cause you to wonder if God knows what he’s doing or even knows or cares what’s happening. And then we’re to proclaim the God we know—the Lord of all?!? Recall what he did. He used the worst injustice to a single person in all of history to bring about the greatest blessings for all people eternally. When the situation looked like it couldn’t possibly be more out of God’s control, he was actually in complete control right down to the words his Son spoke on the cross. And then he blasted the laws of nature when his Son raised himself from the dead as promised. He did that for you! Nothing is out of his control. Live like it! Proclaim the God you know—the God who is Lord of all.

Part II.

It’s been said that you can’t fix stupidity. If someone is intent on doing something foolish, your wise influence and sound advice won’t help them.

On this day in his ministry, Paul was facing spiritual stupidity. As cultured and learned as the Athenians claimed to be, their spiritual ignorance was rampant. There were shrines to false gods all around them.

But Paul was armed with the only advice that could penetrate their spiritual ignorance and help them—the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God.

Paul exposed in the Athenians the one deadly disease that affects every human being—sin. He stated, “Now [God] commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.” The countless shrines in Athens were evidence that the Athenians knew they were accountable to the gods. Not one Athenian could claim a spotless record. In fact, their lives, like every other life, were marred by transgressions great and small. And no amount of sacrifices could rescue them from an appointment with the Judge on the Last Day. That Judge was the One whom God raised from the dead.

That risen Judge is also the One who sacrificed himself for the transgressions of the whole world. That’s the good news of Christianity in a nutshell. What God requires of me, Jesus gave for me. He took away my sins and gave me his righteousness or holiness so that on the Last Day, I can rejoice with you and every other Christian that my Judge is my Savior. Could there be a more blessed situation for us? That’s what you know. By God’s grace, that’s what you believe. Proclaim the God you know! He is the Savior of all.

Would you care to switch places with me? Do you relish the idea of preparing and delivering a sermon from a pulpit like this one? Probably not. But every day your life is a pulpit from which you proclaim a sermon to others. What are they seeing? What are they hearing? Is it a sermon at odds with your Christian faith? In other words, are you talking the talk but not walking the walk? Are people unaware that you are a Christian? Could someone, seeing your life and hearing you talk, be convinced you aren’t? Or, do they see and hear a Pharisee? Look at what I do for the Lord!

Instead, live a humble Christian life. Encourage others to join you in repenting of your sins as Paul encourages. Then turn to your Savior, Jesus for forgiveness and life. That’s a sermon everyone needs to hear. Proclaim the God you know! Proclaim it with your life! Amen.