Thomas J Parlette
“God’s Offspring”
Acts 17: 22-31
5/10/26, Mother’s Day
Eugene Peterson is a long-time pastor, probably best known for his paraphrase of the Bible called The Message. He’s actually written a number of books over the years. In 2011, he wrote a book called The Pastor: A Memoir, a very personal account of his time in the ministry dealing with the questions that all pastors face.
In that book, he tells a story about a couple he knew from one of the churches he served – Charles and Betty. Peterson had gone to visit them because they used to be regular attenders, but then they dropped off significantly, and Peterson went to find out why. He writes: “Early in our conversation in their living room, Charles put it like this: “You know, pastor, I think I am as surprised as you are that I am not in church these Sundays. All my life I have attended church. I don’t think there have been more than 15 or 20 Sundays in the last 40 years that I have not been in church. I always liked being in church – there is something centering and stabilizing about it – a protected time to reflect and stay in touch with the way I was brought up.”
“And then a few weeks ago on a whim that seemed totally spontaneous – I didn’t plan it, certainly didn’t think about it much – I said to Betty, “I think I’ll go fishing today.” She was surprised as I was. It was a beautiful spring day. The wildflowers were in bloom, and the warbler migration was under way. I got my fly rod and fishing gear together, she packed a picnic lunch and put her watercolors and sketch pad in a tote bag. We drove to the Big Gunpowder River, and while you preached, I fished and Betty caught the emerging bloodroot and round-lobed hepatica blossoms with her watercolors. It was a lovely three hours. When we got home we were both astonished that we felt like we always felt on Sundays – easy, calm, rested. We had abruptly, even casually, interrupted a 40-year routine of Sunday worship and nothing happened. We didn’t feel guilty. We didn’t miss it. Lighting didn’t strike us down. Everything was just the way it had always been. We didn’t intend to make a habit of it, but I guess we have. We aren’t quitting the church. We still want you as our pastor. But don’t expect us to be there every Sunday – at least not while the fish are biting and the wildflowers are in bloom.” (1)
That kind of story is getting more and more common. Seems like everywhere we turn there are stories about the decline of traditional Christian faith and the rise of secularism in our culture. Perhaps you’ve heard of the term “Nones” – N,O,N,E,S. These are people who claim no religious faith or affiliation. Nones now represent approximately 28 percent of the US population – up from 21.6 in 2016. Almost 40% of young adults age 18-29 claim to be Nones. That puts them at the top of the list of the largest religious – or in this case, non-religious – groups in the country.
A writer named David Dark defines religion as “a controlling story,” or “The question of how we dispose our energies, how we see fit to organize our own lives and, in many cases, the lives of others.” (2) One’s religion is the factor that sets priorities, focuses desire and informs how we look at the rest of the world.
When I was serving a church in Western Pennsylvania, we founded a CROP Walk to raise money for local food pantries and other hunger-relief projects. We always held our CROP Walk sometime in October – but we never finalized a date until we checked the Steelers schedule. We looked for a Sunday evening game, or a late afternoon game – or even better, a bye week or a Monday Night game, so we could catch all those people who approached football as a religion and organized their lives around it.
Well, this morning, Paul is dealing with secularism in his own day. So, it’s helpful to consider what we can learn from him.
Paul arrives in Athens after having caused an uproar in Philippi, Thessalonica and Berea. He is taking a bit of a cooling off period while he waits for his partners Silas and Timothy to join him.
So Paul takes a walk around the city of Athens, a smaller city than we know today, one that may have resembled a bustling little liberal arts college town in New England. He visits the Synagogue, he chats with the esteemed philosophers debating in the streets, he sees the curiosity of the average citizens who are genuinely interested in new ideas. As he visits with the local people, city leaders take note of what he has to say, and they bring him to the Aeropagus to share his message.
We’re not certain exactly what the Aeropagus was, it could have been as simple as a gathering place on a hilltop where people met for the 1st century equivalent of coffee to listen to new speakers with fresh ideas. We DO know that there were many statues and monuments to a variety of Gods there – and indeed all over the city.
Paul seems to have learned some things during this cooling off period, because he employs an ingenious strategy in his public speaking. Instead of attacking the multiple gods represented in the Aeropagus, Paul acknowledges the deep reverence of the Athenians – “I see how extremely religious you are. I see you have even included an altar dedicated to an Unknown God. Let me tell you about this unknown God you honor.
Then, Paul quotes one of their own, a local poet named Epimenides, who said in his work Cretica, referring to the god Zeus – “In him we live and move and have our being.”
Paul builds on that and says, “Since we are God’s offspring, we shouldn’t think that the deity is like gold or silver or stone…” And Paul gives one of the most well-documented sermons that we have from him.
It’s a brilliant move, adapting his message to the secular environment around him. He doesn’t change the message, he finds a suitable entry point to meet the Athenians where they are. We can learn some things from Paul as we navigate our way through our own public square filled with a multitude of gods.
First, Paul listened carefully. He listened to what the Athenian culture had to say – what was important to them, what did they need, what did they long for, what guided their decisions? He acknowledged that clearly they were religious – after all, they had an altar dedicated to an Unknown God. So, an interest and respect for spirituality and the Divine is a source of common ground.
Beginning with Augustine, who said of God, “You have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you,” and continuing through Blaise Pascal who described an “infinite abyss within the soul of every person reserved for God alone,” (3) human beings have been aware of the need for God, even if they can’t put their finger on it. Paul listened carefully, and he saw their need.
After listening carefully, Paul then looks for openings, he thinks to himself, “How can the God made known in Jesus Christ fill the needs of the people here in Athens?”
William Willimon once suggested that “the church, rather than standing back from pagan religiousity, pointing our fingers in righteous indignation, should, like Paul in Athens, minister to their searching.” (4)
Listen carefully, and look for openings.
Then, we must be prepared to speak boldly – as Paul does here. “Here is my truth,” says Paul. “God made everything there is – in him we live and move and have our being, as Epimenides said. Therefore, we are all his offspring. The God I speak of calls all people to repent, judgment is coming, through a man God has appointed, one whom God has raised from the dead.”
Certainly a bold proclamation, but as theologian Gerhard Krodel once said about this passage, “There comes a point when the Christian witness must speak of Christ’s resurrection and its consequences and take the risk of being switched off by the partner in dialogue.” (5)
And that happened to Paul. Some switched him off. But others did not. Some listened. The seeds were planted. That’s all we can ask. God will give the growth.
Paul had no desire to add Jesus to the Pantheon of Gods honored in Athens. No – Paul uses this opportunity to share about the God he knows. Jesus showed us that the only way to truly know this unknown God was by looking at him, by following Jesus’ way and living his example.
Even though we live in a world dominated by secular Gods and people who are not willing to claim any religious affiliation – there is hope.
The well-known preacher Fred Craddock, now retired and living in Georgia, tells the story of walking down the sidewalk in Decatur, on the way to the church where he was to preach. He says, “I met an acquaintance sitting at an outdoor coffee shop. We chatted and she asked me to join her, but I said that I needed to get to church. I invited her to join me, but she held up her Sunday paper and said, “This is my Bible”, and then he coffee cup, “This is my communion.”
He goes on, “I think the days of that nonsense are ending. I believe that our traditions are going to return with strength, carefully crafted sermons that will demand to be published and reread after they are heard.” He knows that coffee and the Sunday Times are not sufficient. He also knows that the church has work to do. “The question,” Craddock has often said, “is not whether the church is dying, but whether it is giving its life for the world.” (6)
If we follow Paul’s example – listen carefully, look for openings and speak boldly about the God we know through Jesus Christ – we can do just that, give our life for the world God loves.
May God be praised. Amen.
1. Eugene Peterson, The Pastor: A Memoir (Harper Collins, 2011).
2. Homileticsonline, retrieved 5/4/26.
3. Sean A White, Feasting on the Word, Year A, Vol. 2, Westminster John Knox Press, 2010, p 474.
4. Randle R. Mixon, Feasting on the Word, Year A, Vol. 2, Westminster John Knox Press, 2010, p 474.
5. Sean A White, Feasting on the Word, Year A, Vol. 2, Westminster John Knox Press, 2010, p 476.
6. Wiiliam Brosend, “The people’s preaching class: Fred Craddock in retirement,” The Christian Century, February 19, 2015.
