Saint Luke Ev. Lutheran Church of Watertown

Sermon delivered by Pastor Anthony E. Schultz

Confirmation Easter 6 Acts 17:22-28

Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth, and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

People of God—rescued from the flaming lake of fire in hell by the innocent blood of the very Lamb of God:

There are in this world people who possess great physical strength. They exercise and work out. They run. They lift weights. They do situps and pushups. They go into strict training. They eat lots of fruits and vegetables. They eat breads that have cracked grains and whole grains—bread as gritty and grainy as birdseed. They never ever eat rocky road ice cream or French fries with catsup or potato chips or taco chips dipped in melted cheese or double stuffed Oreos. There was a man like that just the other day. A young man in such incredible physical shape that he had run many marathons. Many times he had run 26 miles plus three football fields and then some. He was entered in a competition—a triathlon! Part of the race was in a kayak—paddling through churning rapids. Part of the race was on a dirt bike—peddling up and down these rocky paths—up and down the sides of mountains. And part of the race was running—running and running and running. He was strong. He was determined. He was in shape—running through the wilderness in 105-degree temperatures! Except—he got lost. He kept running and running—running and running the wrong direction. He was just 40 years old. There are literally billions—billions with a “B”—billions of people in this world of some 6 billion people—who don’t know that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life! Jesus is the only way to Heaven! This Sunday morning—this 6^th Easter Sunday—this Confirmation Sunday God’s Word is our comfort and encouragement!

We Are The Children of God!

1. He gives everything life and breath

2. He gives us eternal life!

There is a huge hill—the highest point in the city of Athens! At the very top of that hill is the Parthenon. The Parthenon is an architectural marvel made of the most beautiful creamy stone. The pillars are actually not technically perfectly straight—in order to give the optical illusion that they are! Across the top of the Parthenon are sculptures of people and horses—so wondrously carved from stone—that you would think if you watched close enough the nostrils of the horses actually move. The muscles of the soldiers so real—you would think if you could touch them—they would actually be warm! The Parthenon is so beautiful—that the ruins—the shell—the remnants—all that is left—is so wondrous people travel half way around the world to see it! If you go down the steps from the Parthenon—down, down, down, down—there are stone steps carved into the side of a lesser hill. The stone steps are that same creamy colored. They are worn smooth—almost slippery. There is no handrail—no handicap access. But if you crawl up those steps—you can stand where the apostle Paul must have stood. You can look down on the city of Athens—upon the ruins of her temples—her altars—her great show of religion. It is on that rocky hilltop that the wisest men of Athens used to meet to think deep thoughts and to have deep discussions. The people of Athens were—humanly speaking—some of the wisest people who ever lived. They were blessed by their Heavenly Father with incredible insight into the things and stuff God has made. Take almost any field of study. Mathematics? Euclid—Euclidian geometry. Physics? Archimedes! Philosophy? Aristotle and Plato and Socrates! Medicine? Physicians still today take the Hippocratic oath that begins with the powerful thought—“Do no harm!” What would Hippocrates say when those who claim the wondrous title of physician and healer—will put to death a little unborn baby in their mother’s tummy for $300 to $500? When those who claim the wondrous title of physician and healer—participate in physician-assisted suicide! The situation comedies that are perhaps more accurately tragedies are again and again based on the Greek comedies and Greek tragedies. The plots of Monday night and Tuesday night and Wednesday night and Thursday night high definition big screen TV are based on the plots of the ancient Greeks! The poetry of the ancient Greeks told magical stories that were memorized and repeated from generation to generation—the super heroes of today have their roots in the Supermen of the Greeks!

The Apostle Paul stood up in the middle of some of the wisest men in the world and said, “Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your object of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.” We have an old hand-me-down lawnmower that doesn’t work. The gas leaks out. I think it’s the gas line but I’m not sure—because I don’t know much about lawnmower repair. That’s not good. But to not know who Jesus is? That has forever consequences. The apostle Paul shared with these wise men of Athens that one essential needful thing—Jesus their Savior.

The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything… God made everything—designed and engineered and built and maintains everything! Sometimes I forget that. We were in Boston Store the other day. We walked through the part where they have all the quilts and blankets and pillows. There was this bed that was made out of branches—these huge branches at the foot of the bed—all nailed together. There were pine tree branches. And then there were these artificial pine needles. And then the headboard was made of pine branches, too. Except by the headboard there were these huge tree trunks—that went six or seven or eight feet above the pillows. They had lots of pine needles, too. And then they had these little white Christmas tree lights in little clumps. So that when you would be lying in that bed and you would look up—it would be like you were sleeping in the forest—looking up between the pine needles to see the stars twinkle. Then they had all these down comforters—layers of them—a cream one and a brown one and a grass green one and a lake water colored one and a blue sky one and a dark sky one. It was wonderful! And yet—as neat as that was—just think what Jesus did! Jesus actually made the trees—that were these branches. Jesus made real pine needles—Jesus made real stars that twinkle in the night. Jesus actually made the soil and topsoil and grass and shrubs and the lakes and the sky and the deep night sky—like dark velvet with the stars like ten-thousand diamonds spilled on the velvet. Jesus invented velvet and diamonds, too! Jesus actually made the geese—whose soft tummies are covered with the feathers that filled those comforters! So wondrous is our Heavenly Father’s power and wisdom and love!

From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God made all the people who live in this world. Jesus made the man in Bangladesh. The man in Bangladesh who knew he had a problem—a problem with snakes living under his house. So he called the snake charmer. The man who would come and play his little flute thing—so that the snakes would crawl out from under his house. Do you know how many snakes there were? Not two or three or ten or twenty or even a hundred. They found 3,500 snakes—3,500 cobras plus hundreds and hundreds more snake eggs! How horrible. And yet—what threatens you and me is not some poisonous snake living under our porch. What threatens you and me is the snake from the horrible pit of hell—who is looking to seduce us into hurtful wickedness and painful sin! The serpent from hell is a threat to everyone on this planet! It’s easy to get so caught up in our own lives—our worries. If it keeps on raining will my basement get all wet? If I don’t get my lawnmower back from the repair place soon—I’m gonna have to bale my back yard! They keep saying on TV that everybody is driving around on under inflated tires. What if I have a flat tire going 65 miles an hour half way to Milwaukee in the dark in a rainstorm? What if I get heartburn and then I get this acid reflux thing—and the acid in my stomach starts to eat away at my throat? What if all the deer in Wisconsin get sick and I accidentally eat some venison summer sausage and I get sick? Who has time to be concerned about the people in France—where there is political upheaval? Who has time to be concerned about the people in Israel who are being killed by teenage suicide bombers? Who has time to worry about the people in India that are dying in the streets? What about this whole world—dying in the blindness of unbelief? Who is responsible? We are! We who have had the Gospel our whole life—need to share the Word of Life with everyone before it’s too late! You can share the Gospel with your life. Be the missionaries that go to China and Japan and South America. You can share the Gospel with your thank offerings for our schools and for our missionaries! You can share the Gospel with your prayers that Jesus would keep missionaries safe from all harm and danger!

“For in him we live and move and have our being. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’” We are the people of God—the children of our Heavenly Father by grace alone, faith alone, Scripture alone! The fact that we are confirmed doesn’t mean the battle is over. The attacks of the devil are sure to continue! I heard the other day about a teacher—a marine biologist—a college professor who was teaching his class about sharks. This was one of those hands on—put on your swimsuit and come into the water learning things. The professor was standing in the water in front of the class when this shark came swimming by. Don’t worry. Don’t be scared—the professor said. Sharks don’t bite people! That’s when the shark attacked. That shark bite—and he bit hard. That professor will have a scar on his thigh for the rest of his life. He will have 28 little dimples in his thigh—where that shark nailed him! That shark is nothing—absolutely nothing—compared to what the devil would like to do to us—sitting here in our little white gowns! We can sit here—with our new shiny shoes and our pretty dresses and our hair all mousse-d. Some of the most difficult days are just ahead! Peer pressure will push real hard—to try to make you just like everybody else. Only the Holy Spirit—working though the power of the Gospel will make you strong enough to remember and to live like who you are and what you are—bought back children of our Heavenly Father!

We are his offspring. We are the children of God! I was having my morning cup of Highlander Grogg coffee and my cinnamon raisin bagel the other morning—and we had the TV switched on to what was supposed to be a family comedy. But it wasn’t very funny. It was a police officer bringing flowers to a grave. He stood there with a tear on his cheek saying to the man buried there—I’m sorry. I’m sorry that in the hostage situation I missed that one moment when I could have saved you. I missed what must have been my instant to save you and you died in that little convenience store! I’m sorry. A little grandma walked up beside the policeman. She told him he didn’t need to feel guilty. You see—for a long time she had felt so guilty that her husband had died. You see—they were watching TV and she said she would really like some ice cream. And her husband was so nice he said he’d just run out and get her that ice cream. And that was why he was at that little convenience store—when the robber came and ended up taking his life! Guilt! What a horrible painful thing—guilt and remorse and regret. It could squish the joy right out of a person if we would ever forget just who we are and what we are. We are sinners. But much more than that—we are people of God—rescued and saved by Jesus’ forgiving love. Confirmation day we promise to be faithful to the Lord Jesus—even unto death. Only Jesus can keep us faithful. And only Jesus can bring us home to Heaven. Amen!