Thoughts for the Day

Paul in Athens

While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply distressed to see that the city was full of idols. So he argued in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and also in the market-place every day with those who happened to be there. Also some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers debated with him. Some said, ‘What does this babbler want to say?’ Others said, ‘He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign divinities.’ (This was because he was telling the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.) So they took him and brought him to the Areopagus and asked him, ‘May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? It sounds rather strange to us, so we would like to know what it means.’ Now all the Athenians and the foreigners living there would spend their time in nothing but telling or hearing something new.

Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, ‘Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. For 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. The 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, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. For “In him we live and move and have our being”; as even some of your own poets have said, “For we too are his offspring.”

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. While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because 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.’

When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some scoffed; but others said, ‘We will hear you again about this.’ At that point Paul left them. But some of them joined him and became believers, including Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

What is an idol? We know what idols were to Paul and to the Hebrews - they were items made by human hands from clay, pottery, or silver, or something else, which people worshipped as gods. We may laugh at such things now, but idols still exist. An idol today is anything that we put before God, and most of us have plenty of such things. Let's look at just a few that can occur:

Self: When we see everything through our own eyes. eg How do I feel about this new person I've met? How will they affect me? How do I appear to them? We spend so much time concerned with ourselves, making an idol of ourselves, that we forget to worship God.

Success: Often when we meet others we judge them by our own success. Either we feel great because we're one step up the ladder, or we feel insecure because it isn't (or wasn't) so impressive. Success in life has become an idol. God doesn't need us to be successful, only faithful.

Health: We make every effort to become healthier; we walk the dog three times a day; we take up running; or we cut out all unhealthy foods. But eventually none will succeed. Staying healthy is good, but when it's over-dominant and there's no time for God, then this is an idol.

There are plenty of idols around. All we can do is turn to God, re-evaluate our lives, and ask for God's forgiveness.

Heavenly Father,
giver of all good things,
You call us into relationship with You
and yet we put idols in Your place.
Forgive us our mistakes,
both unconscious and deliberate,
and teach us to put away all things
that lead us astray.
Then help us to listen for Your voice
that constantly calls us back to You.
Amen.