The Seventh Sunday after Pentecost
Acts 17:16–31 & John 14:15–21
Life in Christ Lutheran Church, Grand Marais, MN
May 10, 2026
Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
“Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols.”
“Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious.”
“I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.”
“The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent…”
“…because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”
In Athens, Paul confronted the idols and philosophy of the day.
There were idols everywhere.
Temples everywhere.
And conversations about truth everywhere.
Would he see the same thing today?
Of course.
Just think about it.
The Athenians had statues.
We have bank accounts, politics, entertainment, comfort, identity, technology, and self.
But Martin Luther says the same thing Paul saw in Athens remains true:
“Whatever you trust in and depend upon in trouble—that is your god.”
Paul and Luther agree.
What you run to in trouble;
what you fear losing;
what you trust in distress;
what you believe will finally save you;
that is your god.
You’ve heard Acts 17 so many times that it barely touches you anymore.
You shake your heads at the Athenians and their idols while lying in your own dirty beds beside idols of your own making.
You hear about carved statues and pagan temples and think, “How foolish they were.”
Meanwhile, we trust our own idols.
We push the truth about our own idolatry onto people we call blind and foolish, all while clinging to gods we have simply made more respectable.
The Athenians bowed before stone.
We bow before screens, bank accounts, desires, entertainment, reputations, and fears.
And Luther’s words cut straight through us:
“Whatever you trust in and depend upon in trouble, that is properly your god.”
That is why Paul was provoked in Athens.
Not because idolatry is strange—but because it is normal to fallen man.
And the worst idols are often the ones we defend, excuse, and baptize with religious language while pretending we are wiser than the pagans.
Paul was not impressed by the Athenians; he would not be impressed with us.
He sees people worshipping lies.
Our town is no different.
It’s not less religious, just less honest.
People do not naturally drift toward God; they drift toward something they think they can control.
That’s what the Athenians did.
With all their advanced philosophy, all their culture, all their effort, all they could really say was:
“We don’t know.”
They created an altar to an unknown god.
It was a safety measure. They didn’t want any god to be left out.
You hear these things every day:
“I think God is…”
“For me, God means…”
“All religions are basically the same…”
It is meant to be humble.
It isn’t.
It is a confession of blindness.
Left to themselves, people—that’s you and me—do not find God.
We find everything but.
We invent a god in our own image.
“What you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.”
Paul doesn’t start a discussion; he makes a proclamation.
He proclaims that God, the true God, is the Creator of all that exists.
He isn’t just a part of creation.
The Athenians saw gods as a part of the created world.
The God who is the Creator isn’t served by human effort.
If He created everything, He doesn’t need anything.
He doesn’t need any help.
He is the one who gives life.
And He is near to us.
He isn’t discovered by guesswork.
He can’t be reached by climbing up.
He must come down.
With these thoughts, Paul destroys the idea that you can earn a place in God’s favor by doing good things.
He doesn’t need you to do that for Him.
He destroys spirituality that is based on emotion.
God is outside of creation.
Emotion does not create God’s presence or truth.
It reacts to what God has already done.
And he destroys the pride that goes with using your mind to bring God close.
With all these pushed aside, Paul shows that you can’t build a ladder or tower to God.
He must be the one who comes down to you.
And that is exactly what He has done.
But He comes with a demand.
“God… now commands all people everywhere to repent.”
Repentance is returning to God.
It isn’t optional.
Repentance is a word we don’t really like.
It requires a change of life.
He is not one path among many paths.
He is the only path.
He commands, and we must obey.
Why?
Because now, ignorance is no longer an excuse.
After driving the Law, the command, home, Paul continues:
“He has fixed a day… by a man… and has given assurance by raising Him from the dead.”
It all turns here.
Jesus Christ raised from the dead.
All of Christianity is centered on this point.
Christianity isn’t an idea born in the mind of people.
It isn’t fleeting feelings that turn and fade.
It isn’t a system that is used to get good things out of life.
Christianity is… a man.
Crucified and raised.
There is no neutral ground here.
Jesus is either raised after His crucifixion, or He isn’t.
If it is true, it means everything.
If He isn’t, it means nothing.
The truth of Jesus divides.
People mock the idea.
It strains scientific credibility.
Some people delay.
“Not now. I’m too connected to my life the way it is.”
And some believe.
The question isn’t:
Do you like Christianity?
The real question is:
What do you do with the risen Christ?
If Jesus, crucified, dead, buried, and risen, is the only true God made known… He isn’t neutral.
If He isn’t neutral, you must ask what that means for you.
The Athenians did not know the true God.
Their danger was real.
But ours is even more so.
We confess the true God with our lips while at the same time trusting gods with our hearts.
Luther’s quote still stands:
“Whatever you trust in and depend upon in trouble, that is properly your god.”
It is quite simple to test.
Ask yourself:
What do I actually trust when fear comes?
What controls my decisions?
What devastates me when threatened?
What do I believe will finally save me?
If, like me, you have doubts about these questions when push comes to shove, Paul’s preaching can be devastating.
You can feel alone, orphaned.
But Jesus says:
“I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth…”
“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”
“Because I live, you also will live.”
In steps the crucified, risen Lord, Jesus.
In the Gospel for today He says:
“I will not leave you as orphans.”
The God who was unknown in Athens, and is undefinable by human effort, does so much more than reveal Himself.
He comes to you, and He stays.
He does it through the Word, proclaimed to you.
Jesus says the Spirit of truth will be in you.
The Spirit is in you.
He is not feelings.
He does not leave us to guesses.
Jesus is proclaimed, preached to you, right into your ears, right from Scripture.
That proclamation comes with promises.
The Word proclaimed creates and strengthens faith.
It isn’t vague unreliable words.
It is Christ’s own Word.
The truth proclaimed.
Jesus Christ, crucified, dead, buried, and raised, for you.
The Holy Spirit is key here.
Jesus says:
“The world cannot receive Him… but you know Him.”
The world still lives in “unknown god” mode.
It can’t do anything else.
But the church, Christ’s true church, has received the Spirit.
The world looks inward for answers; the church looks to Christ.
Jesus isn’t found by looking into yourself.
He is found on the cross and the empty tomb.
The Spirit points to Him constantly, through Word and Sacraments.
Through these concrete means, He keeps you in Christ.
There is nothing abstract here, nothing vague or unknown.
Jesus comes to you through concrete, visible, earthly things.
That is the Holy Spirit at work.
Holy Baptism is God putting His name on you with water, a visible common element.
And with that water and the working of God in the Holy Spirit, you are changed from struggling with an unknown god to being filled with the real one.
When you struggle with your doubts, when sin troubles you, when you feel too weak to go on, God sends His forgiveness to you through a spoken voice.
It is an audible, concrete thing:
“I forgive you, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
There can be no more positive assurance that you are forgiven than to hear these words—Christ’s words—spoken into your ears.
That is Confession and Absolution.
And then there is the Holy Supper.
Again common, visible elements.
Bread, you eat.
Wine, you drink.
And yet, Jesus is there in His very body and blood.
In it you become a part of Him.
You are given all that He has for you.
It’s too simple!
Yes.
But the Means of Grace are meant to be that way, because we need it.
In these Jesus is delivered.
He is not unknown.
He is not far away.
He is present, visible, and available.
“Because I live, you also will live.”
And there it is, the resurrection again.
The certainty of faith.
In Athens there was uncertainty.
They put up an altar, just in case.
Our altar is a confession of certainty, a symbol of Jesus coming to us here.
And it isn’t because we have struggled and figured it out.
It is given.
It is because of Jesus.
He died.
He rose.
Really.
Physical.
Provable.
He comes to you here in your need.
The world still worships an unknown god.
It still guesses.
It still searches.
It still invents.
But you are not left in that darkness.
The true God has been made known to you—in the man Jesus Christ, crucified and risen.
And He does not leave you there wondering.
He comes to you.
He speaks to you.
He gives Himself to you.
“I will not leave you as orphans.”
Because He lives—you live. Amen.
The peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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