July 16, 2022 — Words of Wisdom, Terry Pratchett (English Satirist)

“In ancient times cats were worshipped as gods; they have not forgotten this.” – Terry Pratchett

“Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely spiritual you are in every way. For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things.” Acts 17:22-25

To An Unknown God

Paul was so taken by the altar to an “Unknown God” that he chose to address the presence of this altar with the Athenians. His words drip with sarcasm when he says “I see how extremely spiritual you are…” They are so spiritual they have an altar to something that does not exist – just to hedge their bets.

We live in the very presence of Jesus Christ, the Son of our Living G-d. G-d makes G-d’s presence known to us through the Son and the Holy Spirit. Even though we cannot see the Father, we know Jesus is present in the sacraments of the church, in the words that we read, in the water of our baptism — all through the power of the Holy Spirit.

We do not worship an unknown G-d. We worship a crucified and risen G-d whose presence is with us every day in all that G-d has made – in the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Let us pray,

Lord Jesus, you make yourself known to us in the word, in the breaking of the bread, in the wine and in the water. Come to me now and be present with me every day. Amen.

Pastor Dave