4/27/2008                                       Acts 17:22-31

“Extreme Religiosity”

Rev. Jonathan Rumburg

Introduction

           In Luke’s Acts of the Apostles, we find the Apostle Paul at the Areopagus in the legendary city of Athens.  The “Areopagus” is both a place and a thing. 

            As a place, it was a small rocky hill northwest of the Acropolis in Athens.  From Greek it translates as “hill of Ares” and from Latin it translates as “Mars Hill.” 

            As a thing, the Areopagus was the most prestigious and revered council of elders in the history of Athens, so-named because it met on that site.

            Dating back to the 5th-6th centuries BCE, the Areopagus consisted of nine chief magistrates who guided the city-state away from rule by a king to rule by an a small group that laid the foundations for Greece’s eventual democracy.  This body was the most influential entity for this society.  What they said was the guiding principle behind how the people lived.

             Across the centuries the Areopagus evolved further, and gained even more influence and power.  By the time of our text for today, it had become a place of such power and authority that even matters of the criminal courts, law, philosophy and politics were adjudicated. 

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            And then in walks Paul.  What was he thinking going into such a place?  What was he doing even going to such a place of power and authority?  A place where the people’s way of life were so different.  A place that by the obvious looks of things was a lost cause for redemption because of its extreme practices of paganism and heathenism.

            But then something unexpected happened, didn’t it?  Instead of running him out of town with threats of persecution and being stoned to death, this community of unlikely listeners, invited him in to talk to them, and to explain what they derided as Paul’s “strange ideas.”  Though they didn’t understand or even agree with what Paul was teaching, they were curious about what he was saying, because it sounded exactly like what they needed.

Move 1

            Religiosity, in its broadest sense, is a comprehensive sociological term used to refer to the numerous aspects of religious activity, dedication, and belief.  Another term would be religiousness.

            In its narrowest sense, religiosity deals more with how religious a person is, and less with how a person is religious.  Meaning, a person’s religiosity has nothing to do with what religion a person is or what belief system they live by, and everything to do with how deeply committed they are to their particular religion or belief system. 

            For instance, many people claim to be Christian, but only come to church on Christmas Eve and Easter.  Such a person has a much lower religiosity than the person who worships Baal, the pagan god of nature, each and every day of their life.

            Religiosity stems from the components of knowing, feeling, and doing.  What a person knows, feels, and does within their particular belief system determines how extreme, or how inconsequential, their religiousness, their religiosity, is. 

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            The people of Athens, who Paul was talking to had a very high and extreme religiosity.  And so Paul used this extreme religiosity to get them to listen to the Good News of Jesus.

            Paul did his homework before talking to the Athenians.  He walked around their city, taking in the insight that was to be gained from having done so, and he saw just how extremely religious they were in every way of their life.  He observed people exactly where they were, discovered what was important to them, and what it was that they needed.

            Paul saw first hand that the people of Athens were searching for something to put their faith and their whole being into.  They had created objects of worship that would provide definition and meaning to their lives.

            It is after taking all this in, and creating a respect and understanding of them, that Paul appeals to them with the Good News, right where they are, even citing their own poets to them.

            So Paul now had the audience he knew he needed if he was going to get anywhere with the good pagan people of Athens.  And now he had one opportunity, one moment to get them to listen to the Good News about Jesus.

            So how did Paul seize this moment?  How did he use this one opportunity? 

            Did he begin by railing against how wrong they were to have so many gods?  Did he tell them how they were all heathen sinners who would surely burn in hell if they didn’t change their ways?  Did he tell them how superior he was to them because of his faith and beliefs?

            The answer is obviously no.  He did nothing of the sort.

            Instead what Paul did—with his one opportunity, his one moment to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ to a people who were already people of spiritual yearning— was that he seized the moment and appealed to their extreme religiosity.

            And we can see that his method worked.  The Athenians didn’t run Paul out of town, nor did they stone him to death.  Instead they listened to his message, because, like so many people today, they were groping for an experience of the divine.

Move 2

            There is a spiritual yearning in society today, just as there was in Athens centuries ago.  We can see this spiritual yearning in people by their adherence to the values and core convictions in any number of “isms.”  Scientism, materialism, individualism, nationalism, naturalism, humanism.  People are drawn to such things because within such things they can order their lives according to some ultimate loyalty, and stake their futures on something or someone in which they believe.  People can find meaning and purpose and reason for being through such “isms.”

            The Athenians, whose altar is dedicated “to an unknown god,” are trying to cover all the bases.  If the gods of their other altars or shrines fail them, perhaps then the “as-yet-unnamed” deity will look favorably upon them. 

            Though this sounds like an ancient problem, I’ve seen similar sights in area parking lots.  In parking lots you can find a car that has a rabbit’s foot sitting in a cup holder, a sacred heart air freshener dangling from the rearview mirror, a bobble head Buddha sitting on the dashboard and a Darwin “fish with feet” emblem on the trunk.

            But don’t think for a moment that this misguided groping for the divine is done by just non-Christians.  This misguided groping for God doesn’t stay out of our churches by any stretch of the imagination.  In fact the importance of “a personal experience” often rides into the sanctuary and takes on a religious overtone. 

            Christians, too, grope for God by cultivating mountaintop emotions in worship and prayer time.  Many Christians believe that if they are in church or in a setting where two or more are gathered in Christ’s name, that there had better be a divine close encounter of any kind, whether it’s real or not. 

            People are reaching for an experience of the divine.  Some express their search in their automobile shrines, while others kneel at the altar of superlative experience where they are seeking the highest high, the biggest vehicle, the most extreme sport, and/or the most sordid confession on a reality show.  Many in our society are indulging in this cult of experience, which is a display of extreme religiosity, but in all actuality, is a misguided groping for God.

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            People are reaching and groping for an experience of the divine in different ways because they want to know, feel, and do something that gives them purpose, meaning, and a sense of belonging.  But so many are choosing “ism” centered religiosity rather than a God centered religiosity because no one is approaching them where they are like the Apostle Paul did in Athens.

Move 3

            The Dayton Daily News ran an article this past Monday with the headline, “Church holds service in bar.”  The tag line that followed said, “About one hundred attend first church service at Pub Lounge, hear sermon about ‘what real life is all about.’”

            The article by journalist Ken McCall says, “Imagine having church with two-stepping, line dancing, pizza and beer.  Throw in some cowboy jokes, a country band, and a bunch of group yee-haws.  Then top it off with a sermon and prayer, and what have you got?  The first meeting of Country Rock Church of Sidney, Ohio.

            The church is the brainchild of Rev. Chris Heckman.  Now before you scoff at this concept as a ridiculous idea of some whack job internet minister, know this.  Heckman is the forty-two year old pastor of First United Methodist Church in Sidney.  He earned his Masters of Divinity at United Theological Seminary, and a Doctorate of Ministry from Asbury Seminary.

            The article cites Heckman as saying, “…We’re just looking for creative ways to reach people in unconventional places.”

            In light of our text today, it doesn’t seem all that creative of an endeavor if you ask me.  Heckman, like Paul, went to a place where he knew people were not connecting to God.  Instead they were connecting with the gods, and objects of worship, of society today.

            And as for unconventional, Heckman, like Paul, was able to create an attentive discourse with an unlikely audience because he met them where they were.

            The title of Heckman’s first Country Rock sermon was “A Bull Riding Lesson.”  It was a sermon that compared staying on the bar’s mechanical bull to learning how to get along in life.  After the service ended, there was a bull riding contest.

            A member of Heckman’s church said that the main idea of this church service in a bar is to reach out to those who aren’t comfortable in a church setting.

            And David Porath, an assistant for this new church ministry states, “I think we have to fill a need instead of expecting them to come to us.”

            Paul certainly didn’t wait for the Athenians to come to him.

            Now, I’m not suggesting that we start a new service down at the Rainbow, but I do want us to consider how it is we meet people where they are in life, and how we introduce them to the Good News that is Jesus Christ.

Move 4

            The more I explored this text, the more I fell in love with it and discovered how we can both identify with this story and apply its teaching.

            Paul encountered a people who have an extreme religiosity—people who want and need something to give them purpose, meaning, and a sense of belonging— but yet they are putting their priorities and their faith into all the wrong places and things.          

            Who can’t identify with that?  And who doesn’t know someone going through the same?

            Then, add to all that, we can see just how Paul was able to effectively and respectfully show them a better way.  A more abundant way of having, in their lives, the very things they, and we, all want and need.

            Author and Pastor Brian McLaren coined the concept of “spiritual friendship,” a concept that Paul embodies in the way he engaged the people of Athens.  Paul encountered the people of Athens with attentiveness and respect and then learned from them.  Paul “looked carefully” at the objects of their worship, and then affirmed the people’s extreme religiosity.  He acknowledged and honored them just where they were.

            It was only after having done all this homework that Paul proclaimed the Good News.  And when he did proclaim it, he did so with a spirit of respect and not domination.  He had a tone of invitation and not insistence; relatedness and not rejection.  All of which are attitudes that make up a posture of hospitality which foster kinship rather than estrangement; transformation rather than entrenchment.

            So it becomes apparent throughout this text that when “spiritual friendship” collides with “extreme religiosity” the result is nothing short of an endeavor that draws everyone closer to God.

Conclusion

            We live in a time of spiritual yearning and extreme religiosity.  In many respects today is not unlike the pagan world of the Greeks when Paul went to Athens. 

They had a great attraction to novelty, and their city was full of idols to many gods.  Today our objects of worship include cars, money, celebrities, status and so one.

            Paul had one opportunity, one moment to approach and minister to the extreme religiosity of this day.  So how did he seize the moment?  His approach is the lesson for us today. 

            Paul approached and ministered to this extreme religiosity with creativity and an unconventional method.  He met people just where they were.  He wasn’t judgmental nor was he self righteous.  He didn’t hide behind walls.  And he certainly didn’t keep his mouth or his ears shut. 

            From “an unknown god”, to the one God they had been groping and yearning for, Paul would lead them.  He led them to the one who gave them life and breath, to the one whom we live and move and have our being.

            So I want you to ask yourself today—In our society of extreme religiosity, who are you leading people to?  And how are you doing it?  How are you seizing the moment to share the Good News with those who are yearning for and groping for God?

            Amen.