John 14:15-21
“Surrounded by Gods”
Preached Sunday, May 14, 2023
Last week I got to share some images from my continuing education trip to Turkey and Greece that I took with the conference this last fall. Today’s Scripture also fits with a site that I was able to visit. In Acts, Paul is at the Areopagus or what is known as Mars Hill. It is here that the Athenians had many statues and temples of their gods. Now, several temples remain nearby and you can see them from this spot - including the famous Parthenon, a temple to Athena. They believed that this hill was where the 12 main ancient Greek gods held their first court. So the Athenians marked this as a holy place with lots of statues of gods - it was also an intellectual place where people would come, preach, lecture, listen, and learn.
Today, Mars Hill is really just a rock, slick and slippery with many people traveling over it, littered with trash from tourists, many of the statues gone…Here are some pictures of the area…
Now, among the statues there was a Statue of an Unknown God. This wasn’t terribly out of the ordinary for them. See, the Greeks were a superstitious and very religious people and they believed there were many gods - small gods and big gods - and sometimes even small gods could become big gods and they wanted to cover their butts in case a god got mad that they didn’t have a statue for them. What!? You’re not honoring me!? And then wrath would follow. So they had fire insurance by the statue of the unknown god.
And Paul saw that statue and he preached to the Athenians about Jesus Christ, his death, and resurrection.
And when looking over this text for today, it made me wonder, if Paul came to the church of America, looking around at our figurative Mars Hills, what would he say? He might say what he said to the Athenians - “You are extremely religious in every way.” He would certainly see the crosses and churches everywhere. Probably more than he ever could have imagined in his wildest dreams…But, would he also see the other gods, the other idols, that surrounded all of us. While we aren’t like the ancient Greeks with their temples and statues, we certainly have many idols or gods in our lives - even if we don’t tend to think of them like that.
The God of Country, The God of Economy, the God of Social Status, The God of Corporate Success, The God of White Picket Fences, The God of Beauty, the God of the Status Quo, The God of Political Party, the God of Being Right, even the God of the images of ourselves that we cling to…and we likely could go on and on.
We all, myself included, give in and worship at the altar of these gods, these idols. So what do we do? Start with soul searching to determine what idols have sway in our lives. What in our lives trumps God and the greatest commandments to love God and neighbor as self? Or what idol do we try to shoe-horn God into? Common examples of this are things like “God and Country,” or the prosperity gospel where we tie together wealth and faithfulness, or when we wed our understanding of health and wellness together with prayer.
There is a song by Jimmy Needham that helps us discern and identify idols in our lives. In the song “Clear the Stage,” he sings:
“Anything I put before my God is an idol
Anything I want with all my heart is an idol
And anything I can't stop thinking of is an idol
And anything that I give all my love is an idol”
So…we are surrounded by gods, by idols. Where is the hope in today’s sermon?
We may be surrounded by false gods but we are also surrounded by the God of Love. Paul says that God gives life and breath to all. That God is never far from all of us - as close as our next breath. We just need to breathe, to reach out, and God is right there. As Paul says, “In him we live and move and have our being.”
The Gospel reading today is also the God of Love assuring us that we have been sent an Advocate, the Holy Spirit who is ALWAYS with us, who will not leave us orphaned, who abides in us, that fills us and surrounds us.
When we think about the pitfalls and temptations of false gods that we can so easily fall into, it can be overwhelming…it is then we are need to turn our attention, our souls, and realize we are COMPLETELY surrounded by the God who is Love and in that…everything else, all the false gods, all the temptations and the pitfalls, they all seem so small…Because they are. And they are not worth our devotion or lives and all the time and energy we pour into them.
It makes me think of the hymn - that we actually sang last week - “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus” - will you sing it once through with me now?
“Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of his glory and grace.”
To close, let’s go back to the practical for a moment - to divest from the idols gods that surrounds us and reach for and find the God of Love that is in and all around us, we can ask ourselves these questions as part of our discernment:
Is this thing that I am pouring myself into in line with God’s commandments to love God and love neighbor as self?
Or is this thing being placed above or even level with God, that Divine Love which should be above all else?
Does this thing that is asking me for my time and energy, my devotion, does it fit into God’s desire for Love and abundant life for all? Or am I trying to shove or force my image of God to fit into this other thing?
Lastly, if I breathe deeply, and turn my whole attention to God, how does this other thing react? Does it lash out in anger, fear, or defiance? Or does it peacefully fall into line with God’s will?
All of us have discernment to do - and as we are always surrounded by idol gods that are always asking for our attention, vying for our devotion, this process of discernment is something we must always keep and carry with us so that everything else can fade, and first and foremost, we keep the God of Love who abides in us and is always with us, front and center in our lives.
Amen.
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