Sermon: An Unknown God

Pastor Alison Williams – Bethel Lutheran Church – May 24/25, 2014 - 6^th Sunday after Easter

FIRST READING Acts 17:22–31

²²Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, "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. ²⁶From 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, ²⁷so 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. ²⁸For '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.'

²⁹Since 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."

GOSPEL John 14:15–21

¹⁵If you love me, you will keep my commandments. ¹⁶And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. ¹⁷This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.

¹⁸I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. ¹⁹In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. ²⁰On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. ²¹They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them."

There's a group of people here at Bethel, myself included, that have begun the practice of Centering Prayer. What I like about it is that it makes space for intentional time spent with God. Certainly all kind of prayer can be this way, but I seem to bask in God's presence differently with centering prayer than I do at other times. Perhaps because I come with no agenda, no list, no prepared set of words but am simply open to God. Centering Prayer, therefore, is not an action like saying words but a time to be. A time for simply being. 

And really, I don't do enough of that “simply being” stuff. I take cups of coffee on the go, enjoy the sunshine from the windows of my car as I drive, or am in transit from one place to another, even within this building. If I'm sitting down, I'm on my phone, laptop open, music playing or a movie going. As a society, we seem to believe that being busy is the way life must be. Being run down is often our standard operating procedure. This gets especially tricky when so many things that are worth doing take time.

I took an online e-course from Brene Brown, one of my favorite authors and speakers, and she talked about this busy lifestyle and how we almost seem to wear our busy-ness like a badge of pride. We say, “Oh I've just so been so busy lately catching up with friends, helping out at my kids school, attending church functions, starting a new business on the side... I'm exhausted! I barely have time to sleep!” That sounds more typical, right? Or we get the “Don’t even ask!” when we ask how someone is. Even in retirement, there is so much DOING of all the things one could not do when one was too busy working and raising kids! 

What would it even sound like to hear that someone is doing well and is rested and lives at a calmer pace? What would you think, for instance, if you asked a friend how they were doing and they said, “Oh, I'm doing great. I'm well rested, I'm feeling balanced in my work life, I've enjoyed spending quality time with my family and seeing friends often, and I'm really deepening my faith as I've been taking time to pray and meditate”?

I for one would think he or she lived on a different planet. No one can be THAT balanced. Or rested. Or if they are, it certainly doesn't come as a widely accepted form of being. Part of that is cultural, part of that is generational. I remember traveling to Germany and being surprised at the number of coffee shops that absolutely did not carry to go cups. The idea that I was to get an 8 oz cup of coffee and sit down and enjoy it shocked my system into recognizing just how skewed my perspective was.

In today's story, Jesus is talking about abiding and it brings to mind the stories like Mary and Martha where the actions of doing and being are pitied against one another. Jesus is teaching here about the Spirit abiding in us. Abiding. That's such a rich word. The greek word can also be translated, “remain, stay at home, or continue to be with.” Remaining, staying, being, abiding. 

The author of this Gospel also seemed to love this word, especially when describing relationships. The spirit descends like a dove and abides with Christ. The son abides in the father as the father abides in the son. The disciples abide in the Word. The branch abides in the vine. The bread and wine that is the body and blood abide in us. We do not abide in darkness since the light has come. We abide in God's love. (John 6:56, 8:31, 12:46, 14:25, 15:9)

You can hear how relational a word abiding can be. Let me read our gospel again for you. Listen for the relationships.

¹⁵If you love me, you will keep my commandments. ¹⁶And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. ¹⁷This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.

¹⁸I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. ¹⁹In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. ²⁰On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. ²¹They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them."

If you could not follow who was abiding in whom, that's okay. It actually seems fitting that it is messy. It is a jumble of God the Father, Christ the Son, and the advocate of the holy spirit abiding in one another. Then we get thrown into the mix. That spirit abides in us. We abide in God. The relationships cycle back on themselves in a continuous circuit of abiding, of remaining, of staying with one another. 

If you believe this truth, that the Spirit abides in us, how does that make you feel? You hold God within you. God abides with you. And if we abide with God, that means that God keeps us, puts up with us, remains steadfast to us. Look at how God stayed with generations of faithful and unfaithful children throughout the Bible. 

This is the family we are baptized into. This is what Andrew and Declan become a part of this weekend. This is the Holy Spirit that is sealed on us after that water splashes across our heads. A constant reminder that we are not only made in the image of God but hold God within us.

And if you think about God as that trinity of three-in-one, that means at God's very core, God is relational. God is about connection. And if we are made in that image, we are made to be in relationship. We are made to love others. God created us with thirst to connect with God and also with other people. It is at the core of our being. 

Why then, are we so caught up in the pace of this world, in the rush of society, in the crush of politics and money that we so easily forget that God abides with us. Even in our other reading, Paul is talking to people who have no idea who this God is. They've set up altars all over the place for every god imaginable. And they created one to “An Unknown God.” So Paul starts talking to them about their desire to connect with a god, their searching and groping for God. And he tells them just what Jesus told his disciples – God created you and everything around you in this world. This unknown God is your maker and even created you with a desire to search out this creator God. Paul quotes, “In God, we live and move and have our being.” In other words, at the very core of your being, of who you are, is this God that you call unknown. 

Is this message much different today? So many seem lost amongst their altars. Even here, we forget. And so we gather in this place to remember that truth that we are all of us, children of God. Creatures of a creator that is filled with love for us and wants to be in relationship with us. Each of us.

For some of us, this Memorial Day weekend, we gather with family and friends for BBQ’s and picnics. We celebrate in community. We even go to gravesides to sit and remember those who have died. Even now, I know there is a flag on my grandfather’s grave. Because even after death, we are still connected with those we have loved. We continue to love, to remember, to grieve, to celebrate, to honor that life. Is this not further proof that are made to be in relationship? We honor the saints who have gone before us. And with two baptisms this weekend, new saints join our family.

Jesus tells us that God will send an advocate to be with us. There is that being idea again. The Spirit of Truth that will abide with us all as a community of believers. That will continue to be with us, to walk with us as we struggle and celebrate all the joys and frustrations of life in community with others. That is with us through wars waged overseas, battles in our heart, doubt in our faith. That sees us through the stress of beginnings and endings. That abides with us through every high and low.

What a gift God has given us. A spirit within us. No matter what altars we create, whether we build altars to money, independence, perfect balance, knowledge, health, or even a fantastic television show or amazing band, God is still there amongst all the altars: to an unknown God. And whether or not we know that God today, that God knows us. Loves us. Abides with us. 

I see God in sunsets. In new babies. In deep breaths. In the feel of the sun on my face. It’s one of the reasons I do centering prayer. To recognize, even for 20 minutes, that God is with me, that the spirit is in me, that I’m not alone. It’s also why I love swimming in the ocean. The push and pull of the waves feels like dancing with God.

Whatever your practice, wherever you go, the spirit abides. However fast or slow a pace you set in your life, the spirit abides. Whatever level of balance you have, the spirit abides. Here in this place, the spirit abides. And that very same spirit will continue to be with us always, abiding in you. 

Amen +