TOO RELIGIOUS!

 

Sunday, June 11, 2023

 

TOO RELIGIOUS!

 

Acts 17:22-23

22 Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.

23 For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN God. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.

 

          The word “superstitious,” as it is used here is the very long Greek word deisidaimonesteros and it basically means “more religious than others!” What Paul found on Mars’ hill was a vast collection of shrines and statues honoring every conceivable deity and finally one erected to an inconceivable god. The fear of the Greeks was that they might offend one overlooked deity and so they erected a shrine to “the unknown god.”

 

          Merriam-Webster explains that the word “religious” means “scrupulously and conscientiously faithful” and if that is the strict definition then many of my friends and church members fall far short. In other words, we are not very religious. We are not scrupulously and conscientiously faithful to our stated beliefs. We say we believe in God, but He is regularly ignored and excluded from our daily lives. Even on the day set aside for worship we allow, even wish for, some other pursuit to prevent us from attending worship. No, I’m afraid we are not very religious at all.

 

          What a thrill it must have been for Paul to find a group of people who were already scrupulously and conscientiously faithful to a god they did not know! All he had to do was to introduce them to the One they were already ignorantly worshipping. Once they were acquainted with the One True God, they would abandon all other imposters. Surely, once they were introduced to their Creator – their Sustainer – and their Redeemer, they would continue to be scrupulously and conscientiously faithful. Or would they become like the rest of us?

 

Rev 3:15-16

15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.

16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

 

Dear Lord, we are so forgetful of Who you are and so casual regarding our worship. Help us today to be scrupulously and conscientiously faithful. AMEN