Acts 17:22-34 (NIV)

Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious.  For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.

“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.  ‘For in him we live and move and have our being. ’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

“Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill.  In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.  For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”

When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.” At that, Paul left the Council. Some of the people became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.

 

After reading the scripture for today from the Book of Acts concerning what and who we worship brought back memories of my packing a suitcase for a business trip several years ago prior to entering the ministry.

The destination was Hawaii for a three-day business convention on the main island. The time of the year was January, in Kansas, so going to a warm place like Hawaii in January seemed very inviting. My wife was also coming, so we had planned on doing some sightseeing during the later afternoons of a couple of the days there. Yet I could not resist packing some work from the office and home that needed to be done. Just in case we had more leisure time than we had expected. Being the month of January, the suitcase also included clothes for the winter along with the mild climate of the equator. With only one suitcase for myself and one for my wife, mine was overstuffed with items that I did not need.

When we arrived at our destination, I soon realized that I had overpacked. In fact, I only needed a few of the items that were in the suitcase. I was carrying extra weight and extra baggage for nothing.  In relating this to the “unknown god,” we often think that we need to cover all the bases, including our spiritual lives with an extra god, just in case. Yet we soon realize that there is only one God. The God that loves all of us so much that he sent His Son to die for us.

Our journey that we each have should be packed with the love of God and the grace that is provided for us. We can not only enjoy our walk with God but share it with others as we travel through this life.

-- Brad Zimmerman, Pastor
Meade UMC
bzimmerman@greatplainsumc.org

 

Prayer for Reflection

Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7
Psalm 66:1-12
2 Kings 5:1-3, 7-15c
Psalm 111
2 Timothy 2:8-15
Luke 17:11-19