Sermon Delivered 5/30/2011: Making the Unknown, Known

Making the Unknown, Known

I know you have heard the following statement spoken by at least someone in your lifetime. I can almost guarantee it. Perhaps you have even said it yourself. Perhaps you have even said it to me. It’s a phrase that gets uttered anytime someone wants to justify themselves when going hunting or fishing or to the beach or to the mountains or what have you. They use it to justify not going to church. Can you guess the phrase yet?

"I don’t need to worship God in church. I can worship Him out in nature." Yep, that’s the phrase, and it has all sorts of variations. How many of you have heard that phrase? Quite a few hands. Now, confession time, how many of you have ever used it?

Now, don’t be embarrassed if you have used this phrase. On one level I completely agree with you. You can indeed worship God out in creation. In fact, as one looks at creation, one can easily see the work of God. Scripture tells us this beyond the shadow of a doubt. Take for instance these references:

Psalm 8 verses 3 and 4 says: "When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?"

When looking at the heavens, the Psalmist sees God’s hand in creating them.

Psalm 19:1 says: "The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork."
I think that one is self explanatory.

Psalm 36 verses 5 and 6 read: "Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your judgments are like the great deep; you save humans and animals alike, O Lord."

Again, the seeing of God’s majesty in creation. It’s there. All you have to do is look for it.

Let’s skip to the book of Romans chapter 1 where St. Paul writes, "19For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made."

Paul even says that we can see evidence of God’s power and divine nature mediated through creation. It’s there. So, can you worship God in creation? Can you see His handiwork? Can you come to know there is a God by being out in creation and sensing His presence?

Absolutely. You will get no argument from me on that one.

But, you knew there was going to be a but, didn’t you? And so there is. But there is one problem with coming to know God through nature. And that problem is actually revealed in our first lesson this morning from the book of Acts. St. Paul is preaching in Athens and he is seeking to proclaim the Gospel. As he is looking around at all the temples and altars constructed in the city, he spots a very intriguing altar. It has a very interesting inscription which says, "To an Unknown God."

When Paul spots this altar, he addresses the crowd, " "Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. 23For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, 25nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things."

Do you see the problem revealed by the Athenians and addressed by Paul? The people of Athens worshiped a plethora of gods. They were very spiritual. Through their observations in nature and in the world around them they understood something of the spirituality of the world. They knew a God or several gods existed, but they did not know that God. Let me say that again. Those in Athens did not who that God was. They did not know the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They did not know the God who created the heavens and the earth. They knew of Him, but they did not know Him.

And so now, Paul had to help them along. He had to help them come to know the Creator of the universe. He had to introduce them to God the Father and to Jesus Christ, who one cannot come to know in nature. Skip down now to verse 29 where Paul says, "Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. 30While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead."

Paul lays it all out for the Athenians. He talks about God who cannot be represented with gold or silver or stone. And Paul talks about the God who has called all to repentance because of a coming day of judgment by a man whom God has appointed. And God has given assurance to us regarding this by rasing this man, Jesus, from the dead. Paul was trying desperately to connect with the Athenians to help make the unknown known to them. He was trying to help them connect their spiritual understanding of god to the one True God.
And as you can expect, he was a little successful and a little unsuccessful. Some folks listened to what Paul
had to say, and others scoffed. Such is the case with us as well.

For in this day and time, we are now ambassadors for Christ. We are now called to go out into the world and make the unknown, known. And we have the perfect setting to do it in as well. Why do I say this?

Well, think about how I began this sermon. Think of all the times you have heard folks talk about worshiping God in nature. Think about all the times you have heard someone say that they are spiritual but not religious.
For you see, my brothers and sisters, we live in a society which is hungering to experience the divine. We live in a society where people are hungering to be spiritual and come in contact with the One who created and formed them. Folks are clamoring for religious experience.

And yet, many of them are not looking in churches. Many of them shun Christianity. Oh, there are numerous reasons why, but I think perhaps one of the greatest reasons is our unwillingness to help them along like Paul did. Perhaps one of the greatest reasons is our failure to make connections with them and then take the time to explain to them calmly and assuredly that we have come to know what was once unknown. We don’t like the feeling of rejection if people scoff, and so we clam up instead of taking the risk and saying, "I see that you are very spiritual. But let me help you go deeper. I believe you can find and sense God in nature, but if you really want to know Him, let’s talk about how He came down to earth."

By our willingness to take that risk, by our willingness to invite others into conversation with us, we open up the possibilities of God’s Spirit to work through us and help others understand a reality that we have come to know ourselves. The unknown has come to be known. Amen.