Read Acts 17:16-34
There is a restlessness in the world. I’m sure you’ve felt it. That restlessness that gives life to hidden longings and outward searching. Unattended it often leads us to lurch toward hatred or violence. That restlessness is not just something “out there” but something “in here.” It belies the restlessness and lack of peace inside of us. It’s the sort of thing that Bono gives voice to in the lyrics to the song, “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.” Each of us has lived moments of restless searching, a deep longing for something that seems just out of reach.
St. Augustine famously reflected both this human reality and the deep source of true peace in his Confessions: “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” The restlessness, Augustine diagnoses, is a subset of being created by God and for God in a way that nothing else can quite satisfy us.
It is here that this episode in Acts 17 leads forth from restlessness toward peace. Paul, walking among the crowded marketplace of Athens finds himself standing before an altar to an unknown God, a sort of monument to the restlessness of humanity that we struggle even to name. Yet Paul sees within this altar a name written on the heart of every human being that is given voice in one name: Jesus of Nazareth. It is this Jesus, Paul tells his hearers at the Areopagus, “this is what I am going to proclaim to you” (Acts 17:23b).
One of the most well-known Messianic titles applied to Jesus is that He is “the prince of peace” (Isaiah 9:6). Perhaps this is so well-known and loved as a title of Jesus because deep within us (as well as outside us) is the roiling restlessness that we cannot assuage through any other means. Paul says in another place of Jesus: “he himself is our peace” (Ephesians 2:14).
Like St. Paul and St. Augustine, like the listeners in Athens and many others before us, may we discover the resonant relief to our restlessness in Jesus, our king of peace.
For Reflection:
- Each Sunday we include discussion questions on the sermon insert that can be used for deeper reflection and/or small group discussions. Take time to read through those questions today. You can find a digital version online at eastbrook.org/JesusKingofNations.
by Pastor Matt Erickson
Family Talk: Week 2
Jesus, King of Peace
Read Acts 17:22-23
You know that knot in your stomach when you’ve lost your homework? You did the worksheet—you know you did. But WHERE is it? Did you fold it and put it in your book? Is it scrunched on the bottom of your backpack? Is it in your desk, or between couch cushions? The dog? He wouldn’t . . . would he? This search is all you can think about, but then, just when you thought you looked everywhere—THERE it is! On the kitchen table, under your sister’s jacket and a pile of mail. WHEW!
Searching for something is super stressful! But when the thing is found, what relief! Our heartbeat slows a little, and we become calm again. What was lost is now found—and everything is going to be okay. That feeling of relief can also be called “peace.” Peace is what Jesus wants us to feel when we finally find Him.
Sometimes we don’t even know we’re searching for Jesus, but our hearts know that we need Him. That’s how it was with the people of Athens when the apostle Paul was there. Everywhere he went, Paul saw signs that the people worshipped many gods—so many, in fact, that they even built an altar to “an unknown god.” They were worried that they might be missing a god they were supposed to worship, so they built a “just-in-case” altar. Paul spoke up and told the people that that the God they were searching for was Jesus! He told them of how Jesus was the same God Who created the world. He does not need anything from us, but instead, wants to give us what we most need—the peace of knowing that Jesus paid for our sin on the Cross so that we could live forever with Him.
When we have Jesus, we can stop the search for “more important” things. We are found, at peace and at home, with Jesus.
FAmily Storytelling:
- Parents: Share the story of your own search for Jesus. Describe the peace you felt in finding Him.
- Kids: You might not remember a time of searching for Jesus, because you have known about Him all your life! What do you think is the best part of knowing Jesus?