In the name of the Risen Lord. Amen.
“Always
be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for
the hope that is in you.” That line comes from today’s reading from 1 Peter,
and is, in my opinion, one of the most important verses in the Bible. Another translation
puts it slightly differently- “Whenever anyone asks you to speak of your hope,
be ready to give an answer.” If, when
you walk out of church today, someone stopped you and asked “what gives you
hope” or “why do you believe,” how would you respond? This is one of the most important
questions that we can consider in our faith. This Easter season, as we
celebrate the power of the Resurrection in our lives and in our world, how
would we describe that Easter hope to others?
It’s a
question that St. Paul was wrestling with as well. On one of his missionary
journeys, Paul finds himself in Athens- a city renowned for its strong
intellectual tradition and pantheon of gods. He stands before them and
proclaims that what they worship as an unknown god is, in fact, the God who raised
Jesus from the dead. There are at least two ways in which we can give that
accounting of the hope that is in us. One way is to use Paul’s method, and the
other is to give testimony, as laid out in today’s Psalm. Both ways of sharing
the Good News, when done well, provide an accounting of the hope that is in us.
The
first of these methods of evangelism is the intellectual one. Paul knows his
audience, and one verse before today’s reading from Acts begins, it says that
Paul is debating with some Epicureans and Stoics. Paul knows that this isn’t a
group where an emotional appeal is going to work. Context is an important part
of giving an accounting of the hope that is in us. Evangelism isn’t a battle
for souls, or a contest to be won. Rather, telling others about this hope that
is in us is about sharing Good News- and arguments aren’t generally good news. If
on a Saturday morning, you see someone approaching your front door with
pamphlets in hand, and you decide to answer the door instead of hide behind the
couch, what you’ll often find is that their opening line is something like “you’re
going to hell if you don’t repent and believe what I tell you.” Now, I’m not
sure who did their evangelism training, but it clearly wasn’t anyone who has read
the Bible.
Paul
knows that you’re going to catch more flies with honey than vinegar. If he would
have stood up and talked about his Damascus road conversion story, or made an
emotional appeal to the power of transformation in his life, he would have been
laughed off the stage. After all, he’s talking to Epicureans and Stoics. This
is an overly simplistic explanation, but for the purpose of better understanding
the passage- Epicureans would have believed that god was distant and not
personal, and certainly would not be interested in the affairs of humanity. Stoics
would have likely thought of god not as a deity, but rather the perfection of
logic; in this sense, god is certainly not anything they would consider to be
living. This audience isn’t going to be open to hearing about a personable and
active God, so Paul doesn’t waste his time there.
Paul
could have talked about Abraham and Moses and quoted some of the prophets to
them to try to convince them, but he doesn’t. Instead, Paul references the
works of Euripides, Cicero, and Plato. As he said in 1 Corinthians, he became
all things to all people. Paschal described the infinite abyss in our souls
that is reserved for God alone. Augustine famously said “our hearts are
restless, O Lord, until they rest in thee.” And these Athenians had an altar to
an unknown god. Paul senses that they were yearning for something in their
hearts and souls. It is to this yearning to which he speaks. We are in a very
similar place in our society with the rise of those who describe themselves as “spiritual
but not religious.” They are no different from those Athenians.
Back in the 70s, or so I’ve been
told, I wasn’t around for that decade, pet rocks were a big fad. You could buy
a small box with a rock in it. It was marketed as the best kind of pet- one that
you didn’t need to walk, or feed, or bathe. But if someone asked you if you had
pet, you could say yes. It was there when you wanted it, and gone when you didn’t.
How many of us treat God like a pet rock? Oh- a family member is sick, better
pull God out of my pocket. Money is tight, need to get God on that. But, time
to vote in the election- well, it’s best not to mix politics and religion. Got
that pledge card in the mail, hmm, I’m sure they’ll be okay, I mean, how much
do bread and wine do they really need? Is God an unknown god in your life?
Something you turn to only when you need it? Is your god like the god of the
Stoics- dead? Or perhaps we have an Epicurean god- one that is best kept at an
arm’s length.
Paul comes to them and tells them
about the living God, the God in whom we live and move and have our being; the
God who created the world; the God whose offspring we are. After he made his
comments, some of people listening said to him “we want to hear more about this
God of whom you speak.” But too often, evangelism isn’t done quite so skillfully
or authentically.
There has been a lot of press about
the movie God’s Not Dead, and I’m
sure some of you have seen it. Before bringing it into this sermon, I watched
it to make sure I gave it a fair chance. Now, I’m not a movie critic, so I won’t
mention the terrible plot. But what disappointed me were the arguments for God’s
existence made in the movie. The accounting of hope left much to be desired. The
evidence for God given was built upon flawed understandings of science, flimsy
philosophy, and theology that could easily be dismantled by an amateur. Now, if
you happened to see the movie and liked it, I don’t mean to be harsh- but the
reality is that no one is going to see that movie and think “oh, now I realize
that God makes sense and I’m going to start going to church.” Instead, the
likely reaction is “Christians are so stupid.”
As
followers of Jesus, it is incumbent upon us to be always be ready to make a
defense for the hope that is in us. Now, I’m not saying that everyone needs to earn
a Ph.D. in theology; and I’m not suggesting that only trained professionals
should be allowed to discuss God. Rather, the opposite is true. In our
Baptismal Covenants, those of us who are baptized promised to “continue in the
apostles’ teaching” and to “proclaim by word and example the Good News of God
in Christ.” In other words, we are all called to be theologians. Each and every
one of us is called to go deeper into our faith. So if you feel comfortable giving
an accounting of your hope using cosmological, philosophical, and ontological reasoning,
then go ahead. But if you don’t, then don’t. The error of that movie was that
it presented a very weak and poor case for faith because it did not follow Paul’s
example of using reason. The bar for theological conversation need not be made
so low. Much evangelism makes the mistake of treading into waters in which it
is not equipped to swim, and so it sinks.
Instead
of challenging their suppositions, Paul builds on them. He met them where they
were. He didn’t chastise or damn them for their ignorance or lack of faith. He came
to them on their terms, and presented an account of the hope that was in him
that made sense to them; he gave them a foundation upon which to build a solid
faith. And that is our example for the first way of doing evangelism and
sharing our faith.
That is, until he mentioned the
Resurrection. As he will write in another letter “we proclaim Christ crucified,
a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.” The Resurrection defies
all logic. As I’ve said before about the Resurrection, it is not an event to
comprehend or explain, but rather a reality to live into. The Resurrection is
like the kiss of a lover or the beauty of music. They are things to experience,
not simply explain. And so there must be another element of evangelism which
accounts for this, and that is the personal accounting of the hope that is in
us.
Perhaps the intellectual discussion
doesn’t do it for you, but the words of Psalm 66 verse 14 do resonate with you-
“Come and listen, all you who fear God, and I will tell you what he has done
for me.” Come and listen, and I will give you an account of the hope that is in
me. I will tell you about how God saved me, about how God transformed me, of
how I came to know the deep love that God has for me, or how I’ve been aware of
God’s presence in my life. This is powerful evangelism.
Even if you’re a bit shaky on the
philosophy, we all have a story. Why are you here this morning? It’s a gorgeous
day. You could be sleeping in or out enjoying the weather. We’re going to pass
around an offering plate later in the service. And most of you are going to put
some of your hard earned money into that plate. Why? You could do other things
with that money. God knows that no church is perfect and the same goes for
clergy. Why do you put up with the dysfunction of church politics and clergy
that frustrate you? Why in God’s name are you here?
The answer to that is your accounting
for the hope that is in you. And this personal witness is just as a good and
holy form of evangelism as the intellectual one that Paul uses in Acts. As
Jesus says in John, “In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you
will see me.” Now is the little while. The choir today will be singing a wonderful
anthem based on a prayer attributed to St. Teresa of Ávila:
Christ has no body now on earth but yours: no hands but yours; no feet
but yours; Christ has no body now on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes
through which to look out Christ’s compassion to the world. Yours are the feet
on which he is to go about doing good. And yours are the hands with which he is
to bless us now.
Your
stories are the way that people will be led to know God. Jesus tells his
followers that we will not be left orphaned, but rather, through the Spirit,
will always know the love of God. If I had the audacity to amend that prayer, I’d
add a line that says “yours is the heart with which God loves.” Let us not
forget that evangelism is about the Good News that Jesus showed us, of the love
that God has for us. Whether you defend the hope that is in your through
intellectual arguments, or through the sharing of your faith story, or both,
let it be done through and for love.
You
don’t have to dig deep into the opinion pages and survey data to know that religiosity
is on the decline and Christianity is often seen as a misogynistic, homophobic,
and unscientific fairy tale. As a whole, we’ve ignored this good advice today’s
Scripture passages. An account for the hope that is in us has been demanded-
and we have responded by digging our heels in, by excommunicating people whom
we disagree with, by making weak arguments, and being shy about sharing our
faith. And by sharing our faith I don’t mean simply saying that you believe in
God- I mean opening ourselves to the other and showing them the deep and
wounded parts of soul which Jesus has healed and blessed. We have responded
with fear, with violence, and defensiveness, not the love to which God has
called us.
The
secret to church growth, to a world that looks more like God’s Kingdom, to
justice for all is really simple- let love be the answer to the accounting of
the hope that is in you. Love God, love your neighbor, love yourself. The love
of God is the greatest tool we have for evangelism, let’s use it.
