Notes from a Sojourn
May 11, 2020
Paul's Message in Athens
It’s not often that I preach, or reflect, on the Apostle Paul. To be honest, I usually find Paul to be preachy and misogynistic. Also, he’s kinda disorganized:
"I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, so no one can say that you were baptized in my name. Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else." (1 Cor. 1:13-16)
Come on Paul. Sort yourself out! It’s probably all in the parish vestry book. However, even if I do tend to assume Paul is a patriarchal hot mess of a character, there is one thing I have to give the guy: he knew how to speak with people, about God, like nobody else.
This Sunday we will hear a reading from the book of Acts that has Paul speaking to the Athenians, and he wants to tell them about Jesus. Notice how he does it. He doesn’t say, “Look you bunch of heretics, bow down to Jesus or else!” Instead, he takes the time to learn about the religious and social customs of the people. He knows that there is an altar to an unknown god, and so instead of telling them that their current beliefs are wrong, or bad, he tells them about the God they do not know yet. He adds another option to their story. He doesn’t need to take away what they’ve already found. It’s an invitation, not an imposition.
I always feel like this way of speaking with, and about, the followers of other religions is the way to go. First off, most of us probably already know that telling people how “wrong” they are usually results in a healthy changing of the mind. In fact, it’s usually pretty volatile.
Secondly, the way Paul takes the time to learn and understand about others is deeply rooted in the ministry and teachings of Jesus.
In the Gospel reading for Sunday, we hear Jesus telling the disciples that if they love him, they will keep his commandments. As well, Jesus will send the Spirit of Truth to be with the disciples for all time. Eventually we will hear Jesus say that the Spirit will lead us into all truth, because his followers don’t already know everything, and they can’t take it in all at once.
To love Jesus is to know that we don’t own the truth. We have part of the truth, but not all of it. To love our neighbour is to take the time to get to know them, and their truth. To learn their languages. To understand what is meaningful. To then take some space in their story, and they in ours. Not to wipe out their story with our version of the truth. This is also how we love God, because God is just as present within our neighbours, and our neighbour’s story, as God is present within ours.
Paul knew what so many in our time have to remember: To love Jesus is to love God, and neighbour just as much as ourselves. This is relational work, not doctrinal work. It means listening more than we speak. It means believing that God is present within those who are different than us, or with whom we disagree. And if we ever want to be able to share our Good News, or simply the love of God, then we need to spend our time listening and investing in our neighbours, because if we don’t understand them first, we will never be able to find common ground. Amen.
Jon Martin +
(Parish of South Dundas)
