Acts 17:22-34: a reflection

22Paul stood in the middle of the Areopagus and said, “You men of Athens, I perceive that you are very religious in all things. 23For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription: ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ What therefore you worship in ignorance, I announce to you. 24The God who made the world and all things in it, he, being Lord of heaven and earth, doesn’t dwell in temples made with hands. 25He isn’t served by men’s hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he himself gives to all life and breath and all things. 26He made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the surface of the earth, having determined appointed seasons and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27that they should seek the Lord, if perhaps they might reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 28‘For in him we live, move, and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also his offspring.’ 29Being then the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold, or silver, or stone, engraved by art and design of man. 30The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked. But now he commands that all people everywhere should repent, 31because he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained; of which he has given assurance to all men, in that he has raised him from the dead.” 32Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked; but others said, “We want to hear you again concerning this.” 33Thus Paul went out from among them. 34But certain men joined with him and believed, including Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

Standing before the philosophers of Athens, surrounded by their many altars, Paul preaches the true God. He notes an altar inscribed to an unknown God, and offers to make him known: the God who made the world and everything in it, who does not live in temples made by hands, who gives to all life and breath and everything. This God, Paul says, made every nation and set them in their places, that they should seek him and perhaps find him, though, he adds, he is not far from each one of us; for in him we live and move and have our being.

Notice how Paul describes God's nearness: he is not far from each one of us; in him we live and move and have our being. The true God is not a distant, unknowable deity, remote from human life; he is near, closer than we think, the one in whom we exist from moment to moment. He made us to seek him, and he is not far off, waiting to be found. And now, Paul says, he calls all people everywhere to turn to him, having appointed the risen Christ as the one through whom the world will be set right.

That is good news for every seeking heart. God is not distant or hidden; he is near, the one in whom we live and move and have our being, and he has made us to seek and find him. If you are reaching for God, groping toward something you cannot quite name, know that he is not far from you, and that he has made himself known in the risen Christ. Do not imagine God to be remote and unknowable. Seek him, for he is near, closer than your own breath, and he calls you to turn to him and find him. The God in whom you live and move is not far from you; reach for him, and he will be found.

Lord, at Athens Paul made known the true God, who made all things and gives to all life and breath, and who is not far from each one of us, for in you we live and move and have our being. Thank you that you are not a distant, unknowable God, remote from human life, but near, closer than I think, the one in whom I exist from moment to moment. You made me to seek you, and you are not far off, waiting to be found. When I am reaching for you, groping toward something I cannot quite name, remind me that you are near, and that you have made yourself known in the risen Christ. Keep me from imagining you to be remote and unknowable. Help me seek you, for you are near, closer than my own breath, and you call me to turn to you and find you. The God in whom I live and move is not far from me; I reach for you, and you are found.