CMLC 2026-05-10 Sermon

Howdy. And a quick reminder to all the confirmation

students to make sure you're doing your sermon

notes. So, I know, pastors gotta start checking

those, there you go. You know, every generation

develops its own little dictionary. Every age

invents words and phrases that reveal what people

fear, what they value, what they long for, what

they worship. Now, I barely managed to squeeze

into the beginning of millennials. I'm kind of

like right there in between them and everything.

But most of my friends are millennials, so I'm

kind of stuck with them. But you know, millennials,

they gave us a lot of fun ones. Good vibes only,

definitely a millennial phrase. Emotional support

coffee shops. Yeah, absolutely you get your well

-being from Starbucks turning every personality

into a Harry Potter Hogwarts house Don't lie.

You know which one you're a part of I'm a Gryffindor.

Okay, and of course Adulting they took the word

and made it a verb who would have thought everything's

a verb now. I don't even But you know, it's easy

then for Millennials to turn brunch into a therapy

session with avocado toast in under six minutes

You know But millennials can't have all the fun.

Gen Z came along. And they can diagnose emotional

boundaries faster than WebMD. They came up with

things like protect your peace. That's toxic.

Main character energy, and I'm setting boundaries.

Okay? And let's be honest, though. Gen Z did

not end it. Gen Alpha. Yes, there's a Gen Alpha.

There is a Gen Beta starting up soon, too, by

the way. Gen Alpha arrived speaking what sounds

less like English and more like someone dropped

a smartphone into a blender. Riz. What in the

world? Riz. Sigma and then Skibity. I don't even

know what skivity means. I don't think anybody

who even says it knows what skivity means. I

think it's literally not supposed to mean anything.

That's what we have to work with people. But

before we laugh too hard, older generations had

their own versions, too. What was it, the 60s

and the 70s, when we got find yourself and go

with the flow and peace and love and do your

own thing? But even more than that... Christians

love to come up with phrases that nobody in the

world understands outside of our little ecosystem.

I'm just waiting for a hedge of protection. The

Lord laid it on my heart. Traveling mercies to

you all. I plead the blood of Jesus and God won't

give you more than you can handle. Which for

the record is not actually in the Bible. I know,

I know. At least one person, every time, at least

one person. You know, every group, they develop

these phrases, and it shows how they see the

world. And today, when we're looking at the book

of Acts, Athens has its own vocabulary, too.

Because Paul walks into Athens, and he walks

into a city overflowing with different ideas.

And the more that you study Athens, the more

you realize Athens is not all that strange. Athens

is like us. Paul enters there and he sees idols

everywhere. Luke says Paul is deeply distressed,

but notice what Paul does not do. Paul does not

begin screaming at all the strangers. He does

not start with a top 10 reasons why Athens is

going to Hades. He doesn't end up coming to the

marketplace with a sermon series telling everybody

what idiots they truly are. Instead, he observes.

He listens. He reasons. And what does he do?

He does this in the marketplace. The Agora. Now,

the Agora was not merely a shopping center. It

was a marketplace, a courthouse, a debate hall,

a networking center, a political square, an educational

hub. Imagine... If a university campus, a courthouse,

a farmer's market, a social media, a coffee shop,

and a podcast studio all collided into a noisy

marble covered intersection, that was Athens.

That was the Agora. And in that marketplace,

Paul finds two groups of people, the Epicureans

and the Stoics. Now just before we go any further,

let's clear up two misunderstandings. Number

one, epicurean does not mean someone who shops

at an expensive organic grocery store discussing

artisan cheese while sipping imported sparkling

water. You know who you are. And stoic does not

mean someone with absolutely no emotions staring

into the distance like a human cinder block.

These philosophies are deeper than mere caricatures.

Epicureanism comes from Epicurus, and contrary

to popular assumption, they were not focused

on reckless pleasure. They were not saying party

hard, because nothing matters. Epicureans actually

believed that the goal of life was tranquility.

Freedom from fear, from anxiety, from pain. Sounds

actually kind of good. Their highest good was

pleasure, but pleasure for them meant peace,

calm, simplicity, an absence of distress. They

believed that if the gods existed, that they

were distant and uninvolved with the world. No

judgment, no interruptions, no resurrection,

no accountability. So the goal for them became

to protect your peace. Sound familiar? Modern

Epicureanism would sound like, cut out the negativity.

Protect your peace. Do what makes you happy.

I just want a quiet life. Life is about experiences,

and my personal favorite, I'm spiritual, not

religious. To be fair though, some of what they

would say would resonate with us. Friendship

matters, gratitude, simplicity can be healthy,

needless anxiety would destroy us, sure. But

Jesus never said, blessed are the comfortable.

Jesus would say, take up your cross and follow

me. Epicureanism would be about, how do I avoid

suffering? Jesus would say, how do I love faithfully

in the midst of suffering? It's not the same

destination. So if Epicureanism is about protecting

ourselves from pain, Stoicism would be like strengthening

ourselves against pain. Founded by Zeno of Sidium.

Yes, real names. And Marcus Aurelius and Seneca

the Younger. Stoicism taught that peace was about

mastering your inner life. Wisdom, courage, justice,

temperance, self -control, resilience. Sounds

almost like fruits of the spirit for a moment.

You focus on what you can control. Your choices,

your reactions, your character. You accept what

you cannot control. Fate, suffering, circumstances,

other people. Sounds almost like a serenity prayer,

right? Modern stoicism is everywhere today. Productivity

podcasts, leadership coaching, resilience training,

military language, self -help culture, phrases

like control what you can control, protect your

energy, stay disciplined, don't let emotions

control you, and my favorite, it is what it is.

While the ancients may have carried scrolls,

Modern Stoics today would have motivational podcasts

and water bottles with new logos. There are things

we appreciate like discipline, perseverance,

endurance, and self -control. But Christianity

parts ways when Stoicism sees that we can save

ourselves. Their answer may be, I must become

strong enough. Our answer is Christ meets us

in our weakness. The gospel is not you finally

became emotionally disciplined enough. The gospel

is while we were still weak, Christ died for

the ungodly, sinners like us. By the way, one

thing we should understand about them is that

these are not people that were merely bowing

in front of statues thinking this chunk of marble

is my god. Their gods and their heroes embodied

their ideals. Athena, wisdom. Aries, strength.

Aphrodite, beauty. Nike, triumph. Yes, your shoe

was a god. Zeus, representing power and authority.

The statues were visions of a good life. In other

words, their worship was about values, aspirations,

and identities. See, modern people, we may not

bow down before statues either, but we absolutely

build identities around our ideals. Success,

beauty, freedom, pleasure, power, productivity,

control. Our idols are often psychological before

they are physical. We create images of the kind

of person that we think will save us. Now, here's

what's fascinating. Paul sees all of these false

ideas that are there, but he doesn't begin by

mocking them. He goes in and he says, men of

Athens, I perceive that in every way you are

very religious. And then he notices an altar

to an unknown God. And instead of starting off

by saying, oh, you're so stupid, you worship

a God you don't even know about. Instead, he

uses it as a bridge. Paul starts where they are.

And that's important. Because he doesn't affirm

that pagan worship is true. But he recognizes

that underneath it, there's a genuine longing.

Human beings are searching. And Paul does something

astonishing. He actually quotes their crazy phrases.

He quotes the pagan philosophers and poets. Paul

says, in him we live and move and have our being.

That was probably from Epimenides, one of their

philosophers. Originally, not about the God of

Israel, it was about Zeus. Paul also says we

are indeed his offspring, and he's quoting Eratos,

definitely talking about Zeus, but echoing Stoicism.

See, Paul is not saying Zeus and the God of Israel

are the same. He's doing something much deeper.

He's saying even your own poets recognize the

fragments of truth. that went beyond you. Paul

takes the language that they used for the false

gods and he redirects it. He aims it for the

true God revealed in Christ. See, it's almost

like Paul is saying, you've been looking for

love in all the wrong places, searching for love

in too many faces. But you know, something in

your own hearts already suspects what is real.

And that's why Paul begins with understanding

rather than ridiculing. He recognizes that even

the distorted longings reveal our need for God.

So compare this, though, to Stephen last week.

Very different feel. Stephen was fiery, sharp,

prophetic. Why? Because Stephen is not speaking

to the pagans who have never known God. Stephen

is speaking to the temple leaders, the Scripture

trained people, the covenant people, the ones

who already knew the law and the prophets. Their

issue was different. Paul was talking to the

spiritual seekers. Stephen is talking to the

ones resisting what God was saying to them. Think

about it this way. Could you imagine Gordon Ramsay

coming into McDonald's and snatching the fries

out of someone's hand saying, you put too much

ketchup on there? Well, of course not. I mean,

there's no TV show for it. But also, Gordon Ramsay

critiques chefs. Why? Because the chefs are the

ones claiming, I know how to do this. They're

presenting themselves as professionals. Or could

you imagine Simon Cowell stopping a stranger

at karaoke and saying, your singing voice lacks

range. Never with me, but still. It would be

absurd, wouldn't it? His criticism, it exists

because people are standing up and saying, I

need a record deal because I can sing. And that's

the difference between Paul and Athens and Stephen

before the religious leaders. Paul is speaking

to people who are searching for God. Stephen

is speaking to the people who claim they already

know him. Accountability rises with revelation.

The more light that someone receives, the more

serious their rejection. must be taken. The distinction

matters because Christians, honestly, sometimes

we become furious at unbelievers when they're

just acting like unbelievers. Why would people

without the Spirit of God be following after

Jesus? Why would we expect people who do not

know Jesus to already think like disciples? Paul

doesn't walk into Athens expecting the pagans

to sound like the rabbis. When Jesus says if

you love me keep my commandments He promises

I will send you the helper Because the spirit

is not primarily given so that Christians can

win arguments and dominate culture wars and mock

the outsiders and become the prosecutors of all

the other religions The spirit is there to form

disciples The word of God tells us that the spirit

is to produce obedience repentance, humility,

love, patience, Christlikeness. The Spirit changes

us. The Spirit changes us. Maybe that explains

something. Because sometimes people wonder, Pastor,

why do you spend more time criticizing and correcting

Christians than criticizing the world? Yup. Because

the church... is the community that already knows

Christ. I do not expect, I will not expect, I

cannot expect the world to follow a Savior that

they don't know yet. But Christians are called

to grow in repentance, maturity, humility, and

obedience. That's you. And correction within

the church. It's not about hatred. It's family

language. Covenant language. Respect language.

If we correct our children, but not random strangers

in a grocery store, it's not because we hate

our children and love some strangers. It's because

those children belong to us. And frankly, that

applies to pastors too. Two ways. Why is pastor

always harder on Christians than the rest of

the world? Because the rest of the world hasn't

taken the name of Jesus and become his disciples.

Pastors will correct you, will tell you when

something is wrong, because we love and respect

you. And the church needs to hold each other

accountable. But it works the other way too.

Pastors also need accountability. We also need

repentance. Pastors also need humility. Correction

is not showing that we are enemies. Correction

is proof that we're actually on the same team.

Epicureans may have wanted peace. Stoics may

have wanted strength. Athens wanted meaning.

But so do we. Some people spend their lives trying

to avoid pain. Some try to spend their lives

trying to master themselves. But the Gospel is

not just about emotional management. It's not

about self -optimization. It's not about being

disciplined enough or calm enough. It's that

the unknown God has made Himself known through

Jesus Christ. It's not just about enduring the

world or escaping it. It's that God entered the

world. Jesus suffered. Jesus died. And Jesus

rose. See the answer is not detachment. It's

not comfort. It's not self mastery the answer

is Jesus Perhaps one of the hardest things for

us as Christians to admit is that we do not always

behave like Paul in Athens We are sometimes acting

like rival philosophers in the marketplace trying

to score points with everyone else like us There

have been moments when Christians became known

more for mockery than understanding, more for

outreach than wisdom, more for humiliation than

truth. And let's be honest, there are voices

that Christians have celebrated precisely because

they were willing to attack the culture loudly.

But a difficult question remains. Are we equally

willing to examine ourselves? Are we equally

willing to confess when we have distorted the

truth? When we have repeated things that we didn't

verify? When we have shared an outrage before

seeking understanding? When we took words out

of context because they fit the narrative we

wanted better? The Spirit does not lead Christians

into arrogance that is disguised as certainty.

It is leading us into truth. And truth requires

humility. Patience. The courage to say, I was

wrong. Repentance is not about humiliation. It's

the freedom in humility. Repentance means we

do not have to spend our lives defending every

mistake that we've ever made. Grace means our

identity is not built on hoping we were always

right. Our identity is built on Christ. So we

should be the first ones. The first ones honest

enough to apologize. To listen carefully to seek

context to resist twisting words to reject gossip

to admit when anger was our self -righteousness

Because the spirit is not forming a people obsessed

with winning arguments The spirit is forming

a people who look like Jesus When the world grows

more divided the answer is not well, I can do

it even better The answer is deeper faithfulness

honesty repentance you see the people of Athens

they offered ways to try to deal with death and

fear and suffering they were searching through

all their idols and philosophies and frankly

we do the same but the gospel declares that peace

is not found in protecting ourselves peace is

found in the one who never protected himself

It's not self -mastery. It's not always being

right. It's being found in the crucified and

risen Jesus. The unknown God who has made Himself

known. And He does not just invite us so that

we can win debates. He invites us to repentance,

to grace, to truth, to transformation. So may

the Spirit continue to be at work in us, teaching,

correcting, comforting, convicting, forgiving,

and reshaping us into the likeness of Christ.

Thanks be to God.