Acts 17:22-31;
April 13, 08
1st Peter 3:13-18
Patrick Preheim
Paul, Peter and Evangelism
The texts we have before us today deal with the problematic topic of evangelism. I say problematic because evangelism creates awkward feelings for me. Talking about faith is not something I learned at home. I am eternally grateful to my parents and the way in which they modeled faithful behaviour, but they rarely talked about their faith. From my parents I learned that a person helps their neighbour in need, that a person gives generously of their treasure, that a person volunteers in the church; but I did not learn a vocabulary of faith from my parents. My hesitation in speaking of faith received reinforcement from individuals who loudly shared their faith without the reverence and gentleness about which Peter wrote in his epistle. I had a relative who filled his front yard with scripture laden placards predicting eternal doom for those who did not turn to Jesus. A spirited Christian of Newton, Kansas placed an amplifier on top of his car and routinely drove past my college loudly encouraging we young heathen to repent. While in Minneapolis I encountered tracts passed out by conservative Mennonite evangelists who had been in the city preaching revival. I was somewhat hurt that they didn’t tell the local Mennonite church they were coming to town and somewhat disturbed by the judgmentalism of the message they were distributing to people they did not know. In an effort to disassociate from these people who carelessly shared their faith I have tended to not talk about faith in the public sphere. A third reason I have in the past shied from public discourse on spiritual matters rests in a more universalistic theology which holds open the possibility that a moral person will be received into the heavenly kingdom regardless of their faith tradition. Why get into difficult conversations with people about religion since all roads lead to the same place? In the last years, however, I have had experiences that have convinced me that talking about our faith is vital.
1st Peter 3:15 tells us to always be ready to make a defence to anyone who demands from us an accounting for the hope that is in us. Like it or not, strangers will ask about our faith when they find out we attend church. God is at work awakening the souls of people regardless of what we do, and when they find out that we go to worship they will ask about our faith. I was stunned when this happened to me for the first time. Early in my pastorate in Minneapolis I gathered at a restaurant with a couple from church and her brother visiting from out of town. He was curious about Mennonites and I became the designated spokesperson for what our Mennonite faith means. I did not know where to start. I had shared my faith story many times at Seminary, but never to a stranger. So I began to describe Mennonites historically and theologically. I reflected about my response to this person as I walked home that evening. I was discouraged because I felt I had botched the opportunity to share about my faith. He didn’t want to know the history of Mennonites. He didn’t want to know the theology of Mennonites. He wanted to know about my experience of God--- how my relationship with God allows me to forgive myself and others, how my relationship with God enables me to give and receive support in a religious community, how my relationship with God sustains me in community service. When strangers ask about my faith or Mennonites these days I try to start by saying that my faith makes all the difference in life for me. And I go from there. People will ask about our faith. They will want to know how we have met God in community, in the bible, in personal encounters. We neither can nor should avoid words in describing our experiences. We don’t have to have all the answers. We have our experiences with God and God’s people, and that is enough. We are simply asked to share our story.
A second reason I have re-embraced the need to share my faith in words comes out of my experience of being a Christian in the United States. I have lived the last few years of my life in a country in which an openly Christian president has made decisions that implicate all who call themselves Christian. He initiated a war in Iraq. He has justified the death of non-combatants as collateral damage. He has cut social services to pay for the war. He supports the use of torture. I am Christian, but not that kind of Christian. My neighbours in Minneapolis, however, did not immediately know this when I identified myself as a Christian pastor. I soon realized that silence on my part perpetuated a misrepresentation of the Jesus I claim to follow. This deeply disturbed me. I came to realize that not all paths lead to the same destination. Some faith expressions in the Christian and inter-faith communities are destroying lives, and this is wrong. I am less relativistic these days on account of my experience living as a Christian in the United States. In this struggle between competing claims of what it means to be Christian we will need to use words. Like Paul in Athens, we are called to enter the fray of public discourse. This is not my natural inclination. While I am a capable public speaker, I do not consider myself an apologist. And yet we must use words in addition to actions.
A third impressionable experience I have had in the last years has been working with committed church members whose children are not in church. I do not know the reasons why children raised in the church do or do not decide to stay. I remained in the church while some of my peers in similar households are not. Parents need to support their children whether they do or do not regularly attend worship. It is a parent’s responsibility to support their child plain and simple. And still, our children need to know our faith. The choice to seek God in the Temple will ultimately be their decision, but they should know why it is we have chosen to worship, doubt, grieve, and question in this place. In just a bit I will give some thought to sharing our faith with our families and strangers. But first I want to take a closer look at Acts 17.
Acts 17 is, I believe, a helpful template for sharing our faith with reverence and gentleness. Paul’s address to the Athenians is a remarkable text in that he adopts language and style which Athenian philosophers would have understood. He sees what God has been doing among the Athenians and builds on it. “Like a philosopher, the apostle begins with the First Cause, the God who made the world and everything in it (v.24). He proceeds to show that such a one does not live in temples made by hands and does not need people to serve him...Thus he skilfully summarizes the best in Jewish and Christian thought in language acceptable to the Epicureans: God is self-sufficient. Then he makes a statement which the Stoics can approve, a free quotation of Isaiah 42:5 to the effect that God gives all humankind their life and breath (v.25) ...he uses terms [on the unity of humankind] that would appeal to the Stoics...To clinch his argument, the apostle now quotes from the Greek poets. First comes a line adapted from Epimenides of Crete, that in God we live and move and have our being (17.28a). The second is found in several writers and in Phaenomena by Aratus ...stating that we are God’s offspring (17:28b). Paul does not mean that Zeus is the same as the Christian God, nor that we are children of God in the way the poets view it. These quotations are points of contact from which he can proceed to share the good news in Jesus. Chalmer Faw, Acts: Believers Church Bible Commentary Herald Press (1993), p.195-196. Paul is clearly well read on the pop culture of the time. He uses these sources as he shares about the hope that is within him, which is Jesus Christ. What does that mean for us as we share our faith?
Sharing faith in the family: As I mentioned, I do not recall my parents ever explaining why they went to church, why they attended conferences, why they called themselves Christian. At some level I think my parents attended a Mennonite church because it is what they have always done. This generation needs to know why our elders go to church, and habit is not a compelling reason. This generation needs to hear the doubts and scepticism of our elders, and why we nonetheless continue to seek God here. Is it too much to once yearly share with our children or grandchildren why we attend worship at Nutana Park? Use of contemporary culture can be an asset here. An application of Paul’s speech at the Areopogas would have us citing the Lord of the Rings, the Golden Compass, The Simpsons, or Juno recipient Feist in the sharing of our spirituality. The Feist song "How My Heart Behaves", for example, could provide an opportunity to talk about how God works in our hearts when there is hurt. It is scary to share with our families why we attend worship, and yet it is so important. Moving on to sharing our faith with strangers.
I want to again highlight the fact that I am not an expert at this. I am a Christian who is a pastor who has a willing heart. I do not think it is my job to convert people or make assessments about where they will spend the afterlife. Directing people to heaven or hell is God’s job. I am not God. My job is to share my story. The sharing of my hope, ironically, often begins with listening. I don’t always listen well, but I do think it is the right way to go. On my flight back from Alabama several weeks ago mechanical problems with airplanes left me stranded in the Minneapolis airport for 12 hours. After spending the first four hours reading I decided to try visiting with people. I had three meaningful conversations that day. Each of the conversations started with me asking someone equally as stranded as I if they were willing to watch my bags while I went to the washroom, refilled my water, or found a snack. When I asked about where people were traveling they were happy to share with me about their work and the challenges of their field. Their work was important and I affirmed them to keep at it. I shared my story as it related to theirs-- similar frustrations or joys out of my life and also my belief that God is a force for good in the world. Some people knew something of Mennonites and asked about the peace position. Like Paul citing Greek philosophers I tried to draw on material they would know and respect. I could honestly say that my faith helps me become reconciled with family and friends when I am angry. I could honestly say that I believe the changes we have seen in South Africa, East Germany, the American South, India, and other places testify to the redeeming power of non-violence which Jesus taught. These changes came at the cost of lives, yes, but certainly the losses of life and resources were small compared with our current wars of liberation. My last conversation partner and I were sitting on stools watching a hockey game and he was quite sceptical about this non-violent peacemaking. I was content with that. My general philosophy is that sharing my story is much more important than converting people. Conversion is God’s responsibility and sometimes it takes awhile. My story may be the seed that leads to conversion some time down the road. I was content to live in disagreement and enjoy the hockey game together. I was, therefore, quite taken aback when the wait staff joined in the conversation saying, “I know about you Mennonites. I am a life-long Lutheran who hasn’t gone to church in years, but I know about you. If there is any group who tries to follow the teachings of Christ it is you guys.” I didn’t say anything after that because there wasn’t much more to say. I am confident, however, that the Lutheran wait staff said these things because he had either experienced or seen Mennonites doing the actions of our faith.
And here then is a good place to finish for this morning. Testimony to the
God of our salvation does not just happen with words or just with actions. It is
through words and actions. Faith without works is dead. Faith without words is
enigmatic. We tell the story as best as we can and let God do the rest. May God
grant us courage to tell the story in word and deed in the week ahead. Amen.