Reading: Acts 17:16-34
Conference on Culture and Technology
By The Rev. Karen F. Siegfriedt,
St. Jude's Episcopal Church, Cupertino CA
9/23/00
"In God we live and move and have our being." (Acts 17) The year is about 51 A.D. The place is Athens, Greece. The apostle, Paul, and other early disciples have already had an incredible experience of the risen Christ. Some of these experiences were physical while others were emotional and spiritual. But what they held in common, was that these experiences of the risen Christ were life transforming events that filled them with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. Filled with this power of the Holy Spirit, they went out into the world to share their own personal experience and encouraged others to embrace this new way of following and experiencing God. Now at this time in history, Athens Greece, which had been the home of Pericles, Socrates, and Plato, a center of Philosophy, and the seat of the greatest university in the ancient world, was in a state of decline. It had a population of about 5000 people. Paul goes into the synagogue in Athens to study the Hebrew scriptures with fellow Jews and debate with them how these Scriptures point to Jesus as the Messiah. When he finishes with the synagogue, he is then invited by the gentile intelligentsia of the city to share this new teaching of which they know nothing about. Paul challenges the superstitious idolatry of the pagans while demonstrating to the Stoics and Epicureans that their philosophies did not go far or deep enough in understanding the concept of the God in whom we live and move and have our being. Many scoffed at his presentation and thus dismissed him, but not before a small group of people came to believe and embrace his theology. Let's turn the calendar ahead some 400 years. It is now 451. The place is the city of Chalcedon, Asia Minor (now known as northwest Turkey.) The Roman Empire has already been divided between the East and the West. Rome has been sacked by the Visigoths, national patriotism for the empire has given way to local self interest, Roman virtue has given way to narcissism, and the rulers of the empire have allowed self indulgent luxury to cloud their readiness to care for the populace. While the political power of the empire is waning, the power of the Christian Church is increasing. Centuries have gone by since those early disciples had a personal experience of Jesus as both human and divine. What remains is their memory. 600 bishops have now come together in Chalcedon for the third ecumenical council of the Church. The purpose of this council is to engrave this memory in stone by developing a doctrine that points to the two, but inseparable natures of the humanity and divinity of Christ. The second agenda item is to excommunicate those who refuse to embrace this doctrine. While having a unifying result for Christendom in general, it turns out to be a win/loose situation where the Nestorians, Eutychians, and Egyptian Christians are the loosers. While it is easier to look back into history from a modern perspective and criticize the Christian church for its excesses, abuses, and aggression, it is more difficult to understand the zeal, passion, commitment, and goodwill of the ecclesiastical authorities who truly believed in the unifying and life transforming path of the institutional Church. Let's turn the calendar ahead. It is now September 23, 2000. Today is the 1549th anniversary of the Council of Chalcedon. There has been a great shift in power. Christendom has given way to economism and economics is now the ruling theology. The European communities have embraced this new theology and are rearranging themselves as an economic unit. Transnational companies are expected to take on the role of dealing with problems on a global scale. It is not the Church or the empire with the greatest power or influence, but rather the banks and the World Trade Organizations. It is into this period of post-Christendom, post-institutionalism, post-nationalism, that we find people groping for God. The place is Silicon Valley, the heart of innovation, technology, and booming economy. Plurality, growth, competition, and hard work mark its character. Inspite of its new found riches, there is a starving population here in Silicon Valley where spiritual hunger is at epidemic proportions. What is different now from earlier times is that many people don't even recognize the hunger. Personal 'felt' experiences of God are few and far between. The memory of other peoples' experiences of God through institutional Church doctrine offers little power. The increase in the incidence of depression, unexplained physical illnesses, alienation, & the break down of family units, give credence to this spiritual hunger. There is a spiritual vacuum in the souls of our neighbors waiting to be filled. If we do not commend to them a life-giving, transfomative path to fill that vacuum, then superstition, narcissism, and fundamentalism will. What are we to do? I think we can learn both from the mistakes of the third ecumenical council of Chalcedon as well as from the strategies of Paul's mission in Athens. First of all, we know that engraving memory into Church doctrine and imposing that doctrine as a means of salvation is no longer a unifying strategy for the third millennium. This kind of strategy has led to wars in the name of God, thus making people suspicious of the institutional Church. But there is another way of commending a life-giving transformative path that can lead society towards compassion, peace, and respecting the dignity of every human being. Let's take a closer look at Paul's strategy in Athens. - First of all, Paul meets people where they are. Before he commends his faith to others, he is conscious of their philosophical outlook, their passions, and their customs. He speaks to the Jews through their Scriptures, using Hebrew thought. To the Stoics and Epicureans, he incorporates Greek Philosophy, commending them on their strengths and encouraging them to move beyond their limitations. He expresses the gospel in terms that are intelligible to his hearers without altering the essence of his message. Today we are here to learn about the people who live and act within the Silicon Valley culture and to better understand their spiritual journeys and spiritual needs. I want to applaud the Commission on Culture and Technology as well as our speakers who have come to help prepare us to witness among these folks. - Second of all, Paul is not afraid to spread the gospel even at the risk of embarrassment. He speaks to whomever will listen. Much of the time he is laughed at while other times he is run out of town. But on many occasions, he is heard, and people's lives are transformed by the good news that he preaches. If we knew of a medical treatment or a doctor that could save a person's life, would we not readily share our knowledge to help that person be healed? If we know of a path that leads a person from a place of fear to love, from alienation to wholeness, from narcissism to compassion, why would we not readily share that path with someone who is groping for God? - Finally, Paul is passionate and articulate about the saving power of the gospel. He knows his story and how God in Christ fits into that story and has transformed his life. Do we know our own story? We need to begin to examine our own experience of God; not someone else's. We need to share our own story of faith and healing; not some 5th century doctrine. Where has God and the faith community touched you? What is the good news of the gospel for you? How have Christians reached out in compassion and changed the course of history? For me, following Christ, the path of compassion, and allowing the Holy Spirit to direct my thoughts and actions can offer me a life of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, patience, and self-control. What more could a person groping for God want out of life?