Notes on “Open our eyes” Sermon 17 May 2020

Message by NeilPeters in GWUC live broadcast -- Acts 17:22-31

We are called to share in the work of healing in the world. Where is Jesus in our midst?

The Bible reading is about Paul’s visit to Athens, arguable the intellectual centre of the west at the time where he delivered one of his most extensive sermons to the Gentiles. He was called to speak before the city council of Athens, a city where the contest of ideas was a regular part of life for the elite.

Paul was distressed by the idolatry of the city. But he did not focus on this. He had previously been preaching in the marketplace and he had been called a babbler. Meanwhile he had been looking around the city and he had found an altar to an unknown God. And he used this to engage with the audience; he builds a bridge.

And what about us? How well do you know your community? Where do they gather? What’s important to them? Now Alanee who has lived for 12 years in Glen Waverley will make some observations about the local community.

  1. food eating and coffee are preoccupations of the people in Glen Waverley: the shopping centre is full of restaurants and food shops.
  2. there has been a dramatically changing demographic over recent decades with a lot of people coming from Asia. Glen Waverley has become much more multicultural.
  3. there are now big houses which have taken over from the variety of houses from the past. Perhaps these big houses are multi-generational.
  4. There are massive new apartment buildings nearing completion.

Neil speaking again. Context: Neil counted 32 restaurants and coffee shops and two bakeries along Kingsway….

Paul approached the Athenian community with open eyes and engaged creatively.

The Presbytery is about to restart the Mission Pilot Project. It invites us to look beyond the idea of attracting people to the church complex. It challenges us to engage with the community in its territory. This is potentially scary. Do we want to connect people to the church or do we want to connect people with Jesus?

Let’s return to what Paul said to the Athenians: I’ll tell you about the God of whom you are only vaguely aware. He does not initially speak of Jesus. Jesus is not mentioned by name in the passage nor Abraham nor the prophets. God is the source and sustainer of life; God is the one who has divinely gifted them life and breath; God has given each people their own time and place to dwell.

Paul affirms those who spend their days seeking and even trying to touch God because God is very close to them. Just as God is very close to us through the Holy Spirit. Then interestingly Paul quotes from a Greek poet and not from scripture. The poet refers to “the one in whom we live and have our being“. Therefore, Paul continues, God cannot be fashioned by human hands and minds.

Only then having built the bridge does Paul become more explicitly Christian. He speaks of God choosing one man to bring truth and justice to the world and God raising this man from the dead. Some people mock Paul; others want to hear more; some came to him, discussed more and believed.

So we also need to understand our community and to find ways to engage perhaps through a served need.

Or through intentionally praying for the community and asking God to open doors.

We can spend time intentionally listening to the community.

This of course is a process that involves risk: not everything is successful but sharing about motivation and faith may arise openly in conversation not forced just arising from our doing. And we are not alone. We can share and pray as we share in opportunities together. Indeed, living faithfully each day is a way of witnessing. The work of the Holy Spirit in us, among us and already at work in our local community is critical. We don’t take God to our community. God is already there. We need the eyes to see where God is at work. We need to think, imagine, look around. Where is Jesus present and at work? How can we share in Jesus’ ministry? How might we keep the story of Jesus alive?

These are my notes from listening to Neil’s sermon so they are not word for word. GlynHowells

OpenOurEyesSermon (last edited 2020-05-28 04:34:07 by DavidMorgan)