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So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.”

Acts 17:22–23, LSB

Have you ever noticed that in times of great tragedy, there is a cry to something above, even from those who would otherwise not show belief in anything? Isn’t it interesting how, when people criticize God, they utilize things done by those who perpetrate evil? Human nature seeks to connect to the divine. This was true for the Athenians, and I believe it to be true today. Inside of us all is a conflict between our human will and the will of God. As people hear something that brings them comfort or sparks a sense of curiosity, their ears and hearts are opened. Paul did not attack the Athenians for their mythologies, but he drew them in through their questioning. As we proclaim Christ, we begin first through listening and then through bringing Christ into the conversation to fill in gaps that appear in the seeking. Like Paul, we are not to make Christ into something He is not, but to find the passages prepared by the Holy Spirit in the heart of the one with whom we are speaking. As we find how another is seeking to know the Father and be connected to the divine, we can give them the words of our Lord and bring them into His peace.

Let us pray. I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, that you have kept me this night from all harm and danger, and I ask you to protect me this day also from sin and every evil, that in all I do today, I may please you. For into your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all that is mine. Let your holy angel watch over me, that the wicked foe have no power over me. Amen.