When I was young, I traveled with my parents to a few places in the provinces. It was there that I learned that people worshipped various objects as gods (with a small “g".) Some worshipped stones, some trees, some the sea, and so on. In ancient days, being the land of diamonds, they also worship diamonds. Others used them to decorate their homes. It was strange to me then because at the time I was busy memorizing parts of the Bible. I was being taught lots of Christian stuff. True to say that at the same time they too were busy worshipping their inanimate gods..

Moving forward a little to the nineties, I was conversing about Faith with someone I knew very well. To my surprise, the person told me she worshipped the sea. She described how she gained satisfaction from the sea and the strength she gained from the element. So I remarked that if she could gain so much strength from the sea, why not worship the one who created the sea? Logic means little to those people.

The first reading today gave us an insight into history. How the people in the Greek city of Athens worshipped many objects. You see, they worshipped the sun, moon, stars, the cloud, thunder, lightning, the sea, and so on. They even built altars and shrines. It was serious business.

Today is not any different from the Greeks of old. We still find objects to worship. If we search deep in our minds we will discover that the God we profess to worship hardly takes first place in our lives. Our objects of worship are usually material things. If we are honest with ourselves and list down our priorities, the church is usually down the list. As for our finances, the church usually have the leftover, if any. Are you surprised that in the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges we become restless, anxious, and afraid?

In a sense, we like the Greeks, consciously or unconsciously, still seek an unknown God.

This brings to mind one profound truth. It was Augustine of Hippo who once said, “Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in thee.”

Paul, standing before Areopagus, told him that the unknown God is the God who created the heavens and the earth. The only God who is so alive that Paul, who spent his time persecuting God`s followers, and who met Christ at the Damascus Road, can witness so strongly before Areopagus in our first lesson in Acts, that “the God of the universe has chosen His Son, the only chosen one ever, Jesus Christ, who in due course, will judge in righteousness and has given assurance to all by raising Him from the dead.”

Our God is not dead; He is a living God who even the Greeks could later say, He is the Alpha and the Omega – the beginning and the end - It is the God that the real Chosen One can say of Him in John 4:22 & 23, “The hour is coming and now is, when the true worshippers will worship Him in Spirit and Truth: for God is Spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and Truth.”

So the message to you is that we worship a Living God who loves us so much as if there is “only one of us to love” for He is a God of Love. If you love Him in return, He will send His Holy Spirit to be with you, the Spirit of Truth. It is that Spirit that will be with you and will protect you so that whatever Satan is busy doing at the moment, whatever fear, worry, anxiety, and even death he may bring about, we will not be afraid; for He is our Shepherd who will never leave us nor forsake us.
Amen.