When Paul and Silas and Timothy came to Thessalonica, they again started in the synagogue. They spent three weeks reasoning with the Jews out of the scriptures. Paul always preached Jesus Christ and him crucified when he taught in the synagogues. To explain Jesus Christ crucified, he had to explain the cross. To many the Cross meant only death and disgrace. After centuries of associating the cross with piety and faith, it can still be a shock to realize exactly how Christ met such an undeserved and bitter end. How can God be the Father of Jesus and let his son suffer such affliction. Sovereignty and suffering did not go together in the ancient mind.

As is true still today, interpreters of the Cross must explain that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer. Paul argued from the scriptures that it was necessary for Christ to suffer. Those listening to him did not correlate Isaiah’s suffering servant with the Messiah. Today we try to point out that the Cross is something done for us. It restores the dignity of the human family and opens the way for a new relationship with the Father. When a man is down and out, someone else has to make his decisions for him and assume the responsibility of them. When humanity was down and out, Jesus made the decision in favor of love. He died for us, and took upon his own shoulders the burden of the world’s sin. He had to suffer, for in no other way could he have taken the brunt of Man’s behavior.

The Cross also does something to us. It has entered into the blood stream of humanity. We can never be the same. We can never be content with the standard of self-preservation. We know there is a better way and we must seek it. The Cross also does something through us. Almost immediately it began to reproduce sacrifice in miniature. Stephen was the first but not the last. Through people like ourselves it carries its banner proclaiming "Love at any price."

Paul’s preaching was in succession of the prophets. He was one of the "upsetters of the whole world." The prophets of the world have always made the authorities uneasy. Who are our prophets today? Many leaders of the Church today do not upset anyone if they can avoid it. They avoid upsetting the world’s complacency; its status quo; its conscience; its moral indifference and its smug self-satisfaction. Jesus said his kingdom is not like this world and we should understand the difference. On the other hand, there is a time and place for soothing. After all, a Church that is upset all the time only hears a portion of the Gospel. It is not easy to mix the sharp words that prick the conscience with the tender words of affection and trust.

Taking security of Jason meant holding him responsible if the Christians caused any further trouble. So Paul and Silas and Timothy moved on to Berea and again went into the synagogue. There they met a group of Jews open to their teaching and eager to learn. As in previous cases, when the Jews from Thessalonica heard of their success, they made the trip to Berea and again stirred up the people against Paul who was conducted to Athens.

While Paul was waiting for Silas and Timothy to come to Athens, he noticed the city was wholly given to idolatry. It stirred him yet again to preach. But this congregation was quite different. These people lived for lectures, speculation, argument, and discussion. They had the intellectual curiosity but lacked the commitment to make their ideas real in the world. They were content to leave them as abstractions of the mind. As long as the ideas have no value in and of themselves, no commitment can be expected. Paul did not encounter the violent protest of the forth-right men of Philippi and Thessalonica. He faced the silent scorn of the intellectual snob and the cool indifference of the self-absorbed.

Of course, Paul did not shrink from this challenge. After all, he was not lacking in intellect or its application to his faith. Christianity is not only a way of life; it is also an explanation of life. As a way of life, it appeals to a man’s moral and religious consciousness, and as an explanation of life it appeals to a man’s mind. Religion not only moves a man to feel deeply but it also move him to make up his mind about the universe and his place in it. We talk more of Jesus’ heart than his mind but he made observations; he drew conclusions; he revised old ideas; he challenged prejudices. That is a lot of mental activity. His followers have included some of the greatest thinkers of world: Augustine, Aquinas, Luther, and Temple.

Paul knew he was addressing a different congregation and altered his sermon accordingly. He began by telling them how religious they already were. The idols in the city showed they were not blind to the mystery of life. Paul gave them credit for what they had already accomplished. They may not be religious in the formal sense of the word, but they were stirred by thoughts of where life comes from and where it goes.

Paul found an altar with the inscription "To the Unknown God." He told them they were wasting their precious capacity for religion on unworthy gods, small ones that could be contained in an idol or an image. He told them about the God who was the maker and master of the universe, the source of all life, the Lord of all nations, the indwelling Spirit of every single individual. In effect, he said: "If you are going to be religious, be religious in a big way. Adore something inconceivably good and great. The God of the universe is too much alive to dwell in a gold or silver shrine. He once dwelt in a person and that living image of God is the only image that is worthy of your serious devotion. Furthermore, there is a day coming when you will all be judged by him who is the living image of the invisible God."

Today Christians are often asked, "What more do I need to do?" If I pray and worship as I go about my daily routine, should I be doing more? Man is equipped with a natural impulse to pray and worship. He has a natural thirst for God. Religion nurtures and correlates those natural impulses, eliminating that which is harmful, restraining that which is distracting and diverting, avoiding waste of spiritual energy, and in this way increases and intensifies their power.

Beyond that, the man with scientific inclinations wants to know the truth about science. The man with artistic talents wants to know the best in art. A naturally religious man will insist on knowing the truth in religion. If he is going to worship any god at all, he wants to worship the real one. We worship the God in whom we live, and move, and have our being and we owe him our highest spiritual capacity.

The results of Paul’s sermon were not the results that normally followed his preaching. There was no persecution, and no strong church was established. Does that mean it was a failure? The strong churches in Philippi and Thessalonica were tangible proof of his efforts. There is no way to know how many people were shaken from their intellectual perches and began to look for truth in their lives. We know that Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris accompanied them out of Athens along with others. One must also consider the part of the listeners when evaluating the sermon. The most powerful speaker can not speak to stones and get them to respond. Perhaps the most critical part of this sermon was the lack of passion on the part of the listeners. Their intellectual calm could not be shaken up and their hearts were hard to touch.

Perhaps it is not possible to persuade intellectuals with rational arguments. Rational arguments are like bread and water to them. They use them and move on to something new. They are more likely to be converted by an experience in which their moral consciousness has been shocked or their spiritual awareness has been awakened.

Jesus’ examples were not intellectual exercises. They were taken from real life: like a farmer sowing seed, like a shepherd, like a father, like a woman who has lost a coin. We must keep our teaching as real as our God and his Son our Lord.