Paul's message is simple. God has come to judge and save all people through Jesus’ resurrection.
There is something decidedly familiar about Paul’s behavior in this text. Here, we have a contest between alternate beliefs about divinity. It is a showdown of sorts, where Paul is confronting the opposition to the true revelation of God in Christ. This resistant audience thought they were “talking shop” about ideas, but Paul puts himself forward as the authorized herald of the living God. His message is simple. God has come to judge and save all people through Jesus’ resurrection. This message is so similar to the way prophets in the Old Testament spoke that you cannot help but hear the parallels.
For Paul, this was not a philosophical debate. It was not something that can be fixed with a pagan notion of the gods, where you can bribe, bargain, or politic your way out. Paul’s prophetic like proclamation is about radical reorientation before God’s coming judgement. Paul’s words are not speculative like the Greeks were used to. Instead, his words carried authority because Christ sent him to proclaim this message starting in Jerusalem, then Judea, and Samaria, and even Greece, apparently, before heading off to the ends of the earth. Paul was the messenger of the unknown God which exposed the inadequacy of Athenian philosophy. This fiery proclamation was not violent but gracious, lit by the very fires of Pentecost from Acts chapter 2.
When you look at Paul on Mars Hill this way, it is not difficult to see the silhouette of another prophet from the Bible. Elijah on Mount Carmel from 1 Kings 18:1-19:3 makes an interesting comparison to Paul in Acts 17:16-31. When you compare both instances, you notice that each of them fundamentally challenged false religious systems and declared the truth of the living God. It could be beneficial for a sermon on this text to line these two events up next to each other to show the similarities and the key differences. This can create meaning and clarity as we attend to the teaching and preaching of God’s Word.
One major similarity between these two ministers is how they both publicly proclaim that you cannot serve the real God and false gods. Elijah’s apologetic form on Mount Carmel was by means of the miraculous. This event proved that Yahweh, not Baal, is the true God. Paul’s apologetic was by presenting the evidence that God existed as creator and then, by means of history, that Christ was the Son of God proven by His death and resurrection. This event confirmed that Paul’s God was true, not Greek polytheism.
This matters to our hearers who live in a world of religious pluralism. We know the truth of the Gospel, but we cannot call down fire from Heaven. Instead, the fire of Pentecost Sunday will confront the world head-on, demonstrating that our faith is founded on the facts of God’s work of salvation through Jesus Christ. Our proof is Jesus’ glorious resurrection from the dead.
Instead, the fire of Pentecost Sunday will confront the world head-on, demonstrating that our faith is founded on the facts of God’s work of salvation through Jesus Christ.
This evidence-based strategy forms a way that we, the Church, can engage unbelievers. Mount Carmel and the resurrection of Christ reveal the identity of the true God and true Savior. The stakes were very high in both contests. This truth of the living God was not simply an intellectual assent. Instead, their message was a complete reorientation of their entire worldview. Both were prophetic voices calling people to exclusive allegiance to the one, true, living God. If you compared each confrontation, they both forced a choice: Commitment to truth or persistence in error.
Nevertheless, however similar these two events may seem, it is important to note that these two encounters represent fundamentally different approaches to confronting religious error. Elijah’s confrontation on Mount Carmel involved a direct challenge to the prophets of Baal, calling the people to choose between Yahweh or Baal, and when God answered his prayer with fire, the people recognized Yahweh as the true God. This event exemplified a pattern based off the Law, where power demonstrates supremacy over all other gods and the forces of creation. We know it is the power of the Law because the confrontation culminated in the execution of the false prophets, bringing that old phrase, “The Law always kills,” into sharp focus.
Paul’s Mars Hill proclamation operated in an entirely different way. Rather than a public contest ending in violence, Paul used the Word of God to combat the educated Stoic and Epicurean philosophers. Notice how he adapted his message to his audience by beginning with their altar to an unknown god. By using the physical evidence right in front of them as a springboard, he explained how the true God has made Himself known. Paul’s method marks a different approach than Elijah. Sure, both use an altar, but one leads to death and the other leads to life. Paul subverted Stoic philosophy by proclaiming God’s personal interest in humanity through the incarnation of Jesus Christ. This devastating critique of Athenian idolatry is just as forceful as Elijah’s banter at the prophets of Baal. Notably different, though, is how the climax of Paul’s sermon was the violence done to only Jesus and the vindication of Christ by the resurrection. This event initiated a future day of judgment that God pledged through the raising of Jesus from the dead. Paul’s message leads to life through the power of the proclamation of the Gospel.
Paul’s message leads to life through the power of the proclamation of the Gospel.
The outcomes differed markedly. Elijah’s is using the power of the Law, while Paul is proclaiming the Gospel for full and free salvation. Elijah had huge national success, but Paul’s efforts bore more modest fruit. Elijah revealed divine power through miraculous intervention. Paul revealed divine truth through the miraculous resurrection of Jesus from the grave. Both challenged idolatries, but Elijah’s approach was confrontational and conclusive, while Paul’s was dialogical and invitatory. This distinction between Law and Gospel highlights our own shared value of how we read, approach, and interpret the scriptures out in the world.
In whatever way you compare or contrast these two, one thing is clear. Nothing of them or what they had done compares to the prophet greater than Elijah and a preacher better than Paul. If you believe on account of anything or anyone, believe because of Jesus who went up Mount Calvary to be the only and best place where Law and Gospel converge to show you the reality of judgement and deliverance by His shed blood and righteousness. Then follow to the empty tomb and you will see our faith is the only true faith of the living God. He is the message and the means by which we are saved through the power of the Holy Spirit.
In the final move of the sermon, and throughout the sermon in each moment of development and application, it would be good to unpack the work of the Holy Spirit to create and sustain our faith in the midst of a pluralistic world. Take time to draw meaningful connections to the Gospel lesson for the day from John 14:15-21. It would be too small a thing to just tag it in at the end. Take time to build the poetics of Jesus’ words from John into each part of the sermon so it is stitched together by a refrain or central teaching of the faith. The best structure for a sermon on this text would be the Compare and Contrast Structure.[1] Click the link to see how that structure can frame your thoughts as you guide your hearers in a sermon for this Sunday.
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Craft of Preaching-Check out 1517’s resources on Acts 17:16-31.
Concordia Theology-Various helps from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO to assist you in preaching Acts 17:16-31.
Lectionary Kick-Start-Check out this fantastic podcast from Craft of Preaching authors Peter Nafzger and David Schmitt as they dig into the texts for this Sunday!
The Pastor’s Workshop-Check out all the great preaching resources from our friends at the Pastor’s Workshop!
[1] https://concordiatheology.org/sermon-structs/thematic/comparisoncontrast/
