Eastertide

Scripture Reading:
Acts 17:22-31

Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, ‘Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. For 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. The 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, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. From 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, so 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. –Acts 17:22-27

God desires communion with each of us and all of us. Thus God is present, available to share in every aspect of our being. God does not force Godself on us but allows us to open those lines of communication. Through his grace, God maintains those lines even when we have turned away.

Bowing down to a well-carved statue in worship seems archaic to me as it probably does to most of us living in modernity. Our idols are more abstract. What do we worship? What do we place before or ahead of God in our lives? People are groping for something they are not able to find. Searching in all the wrong places for something to worship? People who read these devotions regularly probably get tired of my dealing with greed and power. I do think they would be high on a survey of idols if such a thing were even possible and if people actually realized what their idols are. Neither power nor greed is helpful in a pandemic that does not discriminate. The line from Shakespeare’s Richard III comes to mind. “A horse, a horse my kingdom for a horse.” Uttered as he stands on a battlefield with no way to escape.

The Lords’s peace is there for all who reach out to God. We, as God’s servants, need to be more outgoing in sharing this wonder-filled good news.

Prayer: Lord of Creation who was and is and is to come, renew in us a new spirit to share the wonder of your love. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.