See with New Eyes, See Past What We Understand
Meditation on Daily Office
Reading Acts 17:16-34
By The Rev. Marcia McRae
From Her Sermon Truth
Shatters Belief
Preached May 29, 2011, Easter 6, at St.
Barnabas’, Valdosta, GA
The Apostle
Paul says: “Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. For
as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship,
I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What
therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.”[1]
Like Paul, we
must meet people where they are
in their lives and speak in ways they can understand so that God’s Truth shatters
false belief. These days many of us put a lot of trust in technology to keep us
safe and free from harm. Most of us have experienced our technology crashing. In natural disasters
technology can fail. People call these "acts
of God" and think that God has crashed because of the death and destruction they see. God does not crash. God does
not fail.
I can hear
Paul speaking to us today: “People of the 21st century, I see how
extremely technological you are. As I surfed the net, I looked carefully at the objects of your
worship – your Doppler radar, your advanced warning systems, your Droids,
Twitter, and iphones,– and I found among them a pop-up ad inscribed: Totally
integrated Unity! The unknown
way to connect. What you
worship as the unknown way to connect, this I proclaim to you: I proclaim
the Ultimate Way
to connect. God – NOT things made by humans – is what I proclaim. God IS in charge even in disasters, even in death.”
Technology
does not prevent disaster and
death. Technology can enhance and save lives. It cannot breathe the Holy
Spirit into lives. Amen.
I hope to post full text of sermon Sept. 16, 2012,
after I take a photo of my apron that helps illustrates part of the sermon!
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