Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry. Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him. Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection. And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is? For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean. (For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.) Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
Superstition and the Means of Grace
Beloved
of the Lord.....Webster's dictionary defines superstition as a "belief
or practice resulting from ignorance, fear of the unknown, trust in
magic or chance, or a false conception of causation." One superstition is if you break a mirror you will have seven years of bad luck. Another superstition is if you find a penny and pick up it up, and all day long you'll have good luck. There are countless foolish superstitions like this and many believe. Martin Luther for example, was a very superstitious boy. In his day, old German paganism had been mixed with Christian mythology. Many
Germans believed "the woods and winds and water were people by elves,
gnomes, fairies, mermen and mermaids, sprites and witches….Luther's
mother believed that they played such minor pranks as stealing eggs,
milk, and butter." Luther himself wrote, "In my
native country on the top of a high mountain called the Pubelsberg is a
lake into which if a stone be thrown a tempest will arise over the whole
region because the waters are the abode of captive demons." (Here I
Stand, a Life of Martin Luther, pg. 19, Roland Bainton, 1977, Abingdon
Press).
Of course it is true, there are devils and demons in this world, evil angels who rebelled against God. It is also true they are very busy and active in this world, doing and performing all kinds of things which appear miraculous. But
their real and most terrible work is to lead believers away from the
true Word of God, so they trust in petty works for salvation. Superstition
then is a faith of heart which rests upon outward objects or events,
rather than Christ and His revealed Word of our Scriptures.
Once
Luther learned the God has revealed Himself to us in the Scriptures,
Luther wrote differently regarding superstition. Luther explains, "When
the devil saw God building His holy church, he took no holiday but built
his chapel next door, larger than God's church. And this is how [the devil] did it: He saw that God took outward things - Baptism, Word, Sacrament, Keys - and made His church holy through these means. Since
he is always aping God and trying to imitate and improve everything God
does, he too, took outward things that were to be means to
holiness…..Bells are to drive away the devils in storms; St. Anthony's
knives stab the devil; the blessing of herbs drives away poisonous
worms; certain blessings heal cows, ward off milk thieves, put out
fires; certain writings give security in war and, at other times,
against iron, fire, water, wild beasts, etc. Monastic life, Masses, and the like offer a more than ordinary salvation.. Who can tell it all? Why,
no need was so trifling that the devil did not institute a sacrament or
a sacred charm for it, whereby one may find aid and help against it"
(What Luther Says, #1371)
Quite contrary to superstition (outward signs and remedies), God has given us His Means of Grace, Baptism and Holy Communion. When
you find yourself wondering where you stand with God, or you are
fearful of going to hell for your sins, or you are inwardly thinking
there must be something good you must do, God does not want you to
look for signs and wonders as superstitious people do, rather you are to
confess your sins to God looking to the Means of Grace God has given
you. Through the waters of Baptism, God has washed you clean by the blood of Jesus Christ. Likewise
in Holy Communion Jesus gives you His true body and blood, as a proof
and token, a pledge and promise, His earnest and most sure seal, that
all your sins are forgiven. Thus if you really want to know where you stand in God's sight, do not seek after signs and wonders and superstition. Seek and find God in His Means of Grace. For "this cup is the New Testament in My blood, which is shed for you for the remission of sins. This do, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of Me."
I. Idolatry and superstition.
In our lesson today, as Paul walked the streets of Athens, there were
thousands of idols, gods and goddesses, along with countless altars. They literally worshipped everything under the sun. By building an altar to an unknown God, they were trying to cover all their bases. This altar itself was proof they doubts regarding which god is true. The Greek word then which the King James men translated as superstitious, means "overly religious". They
had many works to appease their many gods, as opposed to our True God,
the ONE GOD of Israel who said, "I am the Lord; that is My name; and My
glory will I not give to another, neither My praise to graven images."
Is. 42:8 This true God teaches us we are saved by grace alone, given through Christ alone. Faith alone in Him is all we need for salvation. Therefore
"Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having
our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with
pure water."
Without Christ and without faith, we see the true spiritual blindness of men. The Stoics left everything to fate and the Epicureans took delight in intellectual and sensual pleasure. Yet none of these things brought their guilty conscience peace. They knew something was missing, but they didn't know what. Paul thus "preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection." Wanting to hear more, they took Paul to Mar's Hill. From
this high vantage point on a mountainside, one could see the whole city
of Athens, and all her temples to all her gods and goddesses.
Lest
we fall into superstition and idolatry ourselves, let us learn to
recognize the appeal behind it, and God's remedy of the Word. We
are superstitious when we feel closer to God by outward things, signs,
or events, and then we conclude God is with us or against us by such
signs. If (for example) we go to a large and beautiful church, the sheer size of it might cause us to feel closer to God. In like manner there are many grand and impressive, majestic cathedrals in Europe where you feel as tiny as a mouse. Their spires reach up to the heavens and often there is a stairway up to the tippy tippy top. It is easy to think God must be there, and how could He be in a little church like our own, or those in our LCR fellowship? Some of us can't even attend church and we meet and worship at home. Consider also the superstition of Pentecostal and Charismatic churches. These are not necessarily large and majestic churches, but they have speaking in tongues. This special experience which they claim is from God, is really nothing more than superstition. At
its heart is the spirit of dissatisfaction with God's Word, and the
desire for something more, something different, something special…..a
special outward sign from God that they are in God's good favor. The question then which we face is this: can
we seek God by signs and wonders and feel His presence with our outward
senses and experiences, or is God far higher and above all that? Could it be that "God dwelleth in temples made without hands?" Could it be that in order to save man from sin, God Himself became one of us in the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ? Could it be Jesus is the Resurrection, and our Life?
II. Seek and find your Lord in the Means of Grace. That is why Paul preached on Mar's Hill, about Jesus, their unknown God. "Ye men of Athens"…..notice that Paul did not call them brethren. "I
perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious…..God that made
the world and all things therein, seeing that He is Lord of heaven and
earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped
with men's hands, as though He needed anything." Here again Paul appeals to their natural knowledge. There
can only be One God who has created everything here on earth, and it is
not possible for the great God of heaven to live in earthly buildings,
temples made with hands. Nor can man with his hands worship God, for what can man offer to god with his hands, what God already possesses? The Creator already possesses all the gold in the hills. How foolish then for man to fashion and shape a god of gold with his hands, and then say "This is now my god and creator"!
Thus
Paul told the Athenians "they should seek the Lord, if haply they might
feel after Him and find Him, though He be not far from every one of
us." Thus Paul is saying they should be searching
out the True God of heaven, for even now they know that they do not
know Him who is true. Unbelievers then can indeed
grope around like blind people in the dark, searching and looking, but
only the True God can reveal Himself to them by the Word. First
Corinthians 12:3 thus says, "No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but
by the Holy Ghost" and Hebrews 11:6 explains, "Without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." It
is thus evident faith is necessary if man is to find God, yet man
cannot produce his own faith, for "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing
by the Word of God." If man is to be saved, God must come to men!
This is the faith, dear believer. God has indeed come to us, in the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ. We too once were in darkness, but Christ is now our light. We didn't find God, but God found us. For "there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth." Since Jesus truly came to save us in His own flesh and blood, ….we should not in any way think of God as distant or unattached. You are His own creation, and each child of God is dear to God's heart. He
created and gave you faith through Baptism, that Means of Grace, and
still today He keeps and preserves you in the true faith, by Holy
Communion. And while no man can build God's temple, God can build His temple in us, giving us the gift of faith. "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is
in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are
bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your
spirit, which are God's." How wonderful to understand we are God's temple, made without hands. That is why we need not fear how big our church is, the size of this temple. Neither
do we need to worry if we are distant from the faithful congregation we
belong to, for Jesus said "where two or three are gathered together in
my name, there am I in the midst of them." Where there is faith, there is God's temple made without hands. You are the temple of the Ling God, dear child of God, by faith in Christ Jesus.
Finally beloved of the Lord, don't be superstitious, overly religious by works. Instead "Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near." Seek your Lord, your God, your Savior in the Means of Grace. For you are not saved by works of righteousness which you have done. When you come to Holy Communion to commune with God, understand in Holy Communion it is God who is communing with you. By His body, by His blood, He has received you into His own body, the Body of Christ, His Holy and Everlasting Temple. When we come to the altar, we kneel before Him in reverence, knowing He fell to His knees carrying our cross. In
communion He then communes with us and speaks to us, by giving us His
True body and blood, "given and shed for you for the remission of sins." We cannot be closer to God, than when He is closest to us in Holy Communion, and even now He lives in us. Thus let us close today with the words of our dear Savior in John chapter six, for it ties everything together. "Whoso
eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will
raise him up at the last day……He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my
blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him." Truly we are the temple of the Living God, and we are His offspring. Amen.
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