Ares’ Hill in the era of Pandemic

Ares’ Hill in the era of Pandemic

 

          The Areopogas, Ares’ Hill, was named for the famous first trial in Greek Mythology. Ares the god of war, murdered the son of Poseidon, the god of the sea, and was put on trial and acquitted… found innocent on Ares Hill.

          Ares’ Hill, was a place bursting with new ideas both high brow and low, filled with idols on every corner—Idols and idle chatter—people trying to figure out what it means to be human in that particular time and place…

          There, on Ares’ Hill, that’s where Paul found himself preaching!

          And so, today, I would like to preach on a subject I’ve preach on in the past, but this time with a new twist: “Preaching on Ares’ Hill, in the era of Pandemic…
Ares’ Hill in the era of Pandemic.

Prayer

          Preaching on Ares’ Hill, in the era of Pandemic.

          Paul… being Paul… has stirred up all kinds of trouble for himself in Northern Greece, and was whisked away to Athens to lay low for a while…

          But Paul… being Paul… didn’t lay low. He saw the Idols lining the streets of Athens and starts to argue with the various Greek Philosophers who commonly lined the streets of Athens.

          And just like that these Philosophers drag Paul up Ares’ Hill in order to, “Find out what all these words he is sewing mean.”

          And there, on Ares’ Hill, he begins his defense with a compliment (though perhaps a backhanded one):
“I see you are a very religious people.”

          He looks at those idols, the fast paced flinging of ideas, a people who gravitate and grab at anything new, and sees it for what it is, people yearning for, and reaching for, and sometimes even finding, their Creator.

          With this in mind, he attempts to make the Gospel relevant to them.

          He knows them, and knows their culture, or at least takes a stab at it. He alludes to E-Pikt-etus and Euripides, and quotes directly the stoic philosopher Aratus—he even compliments their pagan statues and altars!

 

          And these days, in the era of Pandemic, I can imagine he would try for a similar relevancy:

          “I see you are in worship now—even as you miss and yearn and grasp for the holy ground of normalcy.

          Please be grounded in the God breathed promise: “He lives not in temples hewn by human hands” but is Creator of all that is, seen and unseen.
Sacred is the moment you meet in person,
sacred when you see this service from a screen,
sacred too the green grass, and dining room table,
and family and fellowships both far and near.

          In this time of questioning—in this time when there is so much unknown,” he continues.
“Know that there is One who was, is, and will be
who seeks you always and
has known and always will know you!
In Him our many question marks
may become exclamation points!

          As that well worn phrase states: “I may not know what the future holds, but I know who holds the future.”

 

          You see, when Paul preaches on Ares’ Hill, he builds a bridge between his listener and his message, he makes sure they can cross over to hear what he’s saying.

          But not only that, he takes the idols of his age, and refashions them… Imagine that… he doesn’t smash ‘em, instead he shows them to be what they are… he redeems them!

          He says: “This value you have, you’ve made into a god… well it’s just part of God’s creation, and as such is good, just not The Good, not The Creator.

          So too, today, Paul takes those things we fear, love and trust into, those things we’ve enthroned and deified, and places them where they belong.

 

          Friends, I hear the cracking in your voice—social distancing has become social isolation…

          Please know you are not alone, never alone!
God is as close to you as your breath…
for that matter did you know
Christ, our Lord, on the cross,
cried with the same tempo and tenor as you:
“Why have you forgotten me?”
and yet, that psalm he quotes ends,
“They will proclaim God’s righteousness to those not yet born,
telling them what God has done.”

 

          I hear so many of you end your phone calls, not with goodbye, but “Keep safe.”
A watch word for many, as we Purell,
wash our hands for 20 seconds,
live behind masks
get used to plexi-glass shielding
in the grocery stores
all to the good, to be clear.

          But in this goodness, do not forget its origin.

          All these things that sustain us,
all that is necessary and nourishing for body, mind, and soul,
it is the daily bread that comes from our Father in Heaven.

          With all our precautions, may we still see it all as a precious gift from God.

 

          “Liberate!”
is the word to which some of you adhere.
Do not, friends, let liberty become license…
Do not mistake “Freedom From” with “Freedom For.”
We are, as Luther writes, “Slaves to none AND Servants to all.”

We’re freed FOR love of neighbor.
Jesus insists neighbor and mercy and wrapped up so tight you can’t tell them apart.
          If it is true that we are all one blood, then we have so many neighbors!
          Libertarian philosophers rightly state: “my neighbor’s liberty ends where my nose begins.”
          At this moment it just so happens, that nose needs six feet of distance and to be kept covered.

 

          Finally, there are many worried about the economy…
          You are not worried on account of percentages of GDP or Unemployment Rates, but instead for what they represent—these percentages point to people!

          People, who are made in the image of God and need to be treated as such… people who need dignity and routine and livelihood.

          Yes, people—
for surely the root of this word, Economy,
points to its true end—the Oikos…
          No Oikos isn’t just a brand of yogurt, no it means Household and family…
          Economy is about care of family, households of all types, or it is about nothing.

          And let me tell you, the Economy of the City of God includes you
—you dear friend are part of the family of God
—truly, you are a Child of God!
All of you!

 

          Yes, when Paul preaches on Ares’ Hill he changes the Idols of Athens into an affirmation that:
God is a whisker’s-length away,
that in God and God alone,
“We live and move and have our being.”

          Yes, there on Ares’ Hill he preaches, and there, on Ares’ Hill…
Having built a bridge to the yearnings of Athens,
Having relativized the Idols,
Having pointed to the God and Parent of us all…

          After all that, he points back to that other god, who haunts the hill.
He points to the trial of Ares;
Ares was found justified in the killing of Posieden’s son,
was judged innocent there.

          And then Paul preaches about another Judge,
the one who was innocent
and yet was killed.
          Another judgement,
Jesus found guilty
and among sinners,
yet holy and innocent,
dying and rising for sinners.
          The Judge who sees all our idols
—the Pantheon of false gods we worship
—and favors us anyway!
          His judgment acquits us of Sin and reconciles us to God and neighbor.
          Jesus Christ, or Lord and God, crucified and risen!

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