We only have one sermon by the Apostle Paul, recorded in Acts 17, his sermon in Athens at the Areopagus, a kind of open-air marketplace of philosophical ideas. Paul gives a wonderful sermon, oft quoted, creative, subtle, and meeting people where they are.

"Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I pass along, and observe the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, 'To an Unknown God.' What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you."

Then Paul preaches about the Creator God, Lord of heaven & earth, and quotes some Greek poets, the God "in whom we live & move and have our being." This is good stuff. "For we ar indeed his offspring," so how can we worship idols. Then he points to Christ as the one God has appointed to judge the world, "and of this he has given assurance by raising him from the dead." End of sermon. Good stuff. Except that's the sermon Paul wishes he could take back, or do over.

Next Paul goes to Corinth, with a different resolve. Read 1 Corinthians 1:20b-2:5. What had Paul failled to proclaim in Athens that he now determines to place at the center of proclamation?

"When I came to you, I did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God in lofty words of wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified!" Why is that so important? The cross of Christ is a scandal, then and now. Imagine God in Christ dying weak & powerless on a cross! The very idea is offensive. But that is the heart of the gospel, revealing the very heart of God, "the crucified God" as Luther says.

That scandal places suffering right at the heart of God's character and of meaningful & faithful response to God, the call for us "...to take our cross and follow him." (Mark 8:31-35)

So, says Paul, "I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God!"

Page Last Updated: March 31, 2003