“Men, why are you doing these things? We are also men of the same
nature as you, and preach the gospel to you that you should turn from these
vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and
all that is in them. In the generations gone by He permitted all the nations to
go their own ways; and yet He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He
did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your
hearts with food and gladness.”
Acts 14:15-17
Paul implores the people of Lystra, who were attempting to
deify Paul and Barnabas who had been healing and preaching, to honor God not
mere men. They go so far as to tear their robes in anguish at the misunderstanding
of the people. To clarify their thinking, Paul gives them a stunning refutation
of the worship of mere idols. His words, which were spoken to a very spiritual
yet ungodly people two thousand years ago, are particularly relevant for our
world today. He acknowledges their spiritual fervency by calling them to: “turn
from these vain things to the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and
the sea and all that is in it.” Paul calls them to worship a bigger God, the
living God, not a mute idol, not some dead pantheon.
In a world such as ours, which questions absolutes, worships
honestly yet incompletely, and settles for cultural traditions rather than a
living God these are words which should challenge us. Who do you worship? Is it
a partial understanding? Is it an incomplete picture?
Even as believers we pick and choose the elements of the
Lord we worship. We love Jesus the teacher but don’t like his challenging words
of judgement. We love the freedom of grace but ignore the prickly realities of
truth. We love the power evidenced in Acts but grow uncomfortable when we
ponder its role today. Do we Christians worship the true God today? The whole God? The living God?
“In the generations
gone by He permitted all the nations to go their own ways; and yet He did not
leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from
heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.”
Paul shows the people the real world, everyday examples of
the grace of God--- the common grace. This parallels his exposition in Romans
1:18-21.
How often do we attribute those acts to the power of God
today? How often do we see God working through the rains and harvest and food
and gladness? In the agrarian culture he was speaking to, these things were
equated to sustenance and bounty; goodness and plenty. These are the thing the
living God provides. The good things in live, Paul says, the things you need to
live and live well, come from God. They come from God in a very real and
tangible way. Do we acknowledge that?
For those of us who identify themselves as Christians, do we
praise God for all he does? If we,
who claim to honor God and praise God, don’t acknowledge him, who will? How can
we call those who do not yet know him to praise him if we ourselves are silent
to the countless ways he provides for us?
The world needs to hear the call to worship the One God, the
true God, the living God who has bestowed grace, common and saving upon us and
we all need to praise him for all he
has provided.
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