Sixth Sunday of Easter (Sermon)

Sermon Text: Acts 17:22b-23 (Christ for the very “Religious”)

Paul praises the pagan Athenians for being “very religious”. Why? Even though they do not know Christ, they do practice their beliefs faithfully. Similarly, there are groups like those in Paul’s day which practice faithfully, although they do not believe in Jesus Christ. There are spiritual but not religious people and materialists who always “trust the science”. They are pious but the spiritual people tend to ignore sin and the materialists overlook our problem of decay and death. Yet, in Christ, we have the forgiveness of sins at the cross and the promise of the resurrection. The Lord provides a way to address the problems of the world in a way that we can explain. Therefore, we can praise people for what they get right and direct them to Christ in a way they can understand so that they may have the Truth.