Apparently, the word ‘babbler’ in Greek referred to ‘an idler in the market-place who picked up whatever scraps of learning he could find and paraded them without digesting them himself’.  Not a word I would use to describe the apostle Paul yet, he was given that by some philosophers who saw fit to fill any possible ‘god’ spaces with an altar ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD’.

Paul was particularly adept at teaching and preaching to people from all backgrounds, so speaking to the Greeks whose pantheistic beliefs meant what they heard from Paul was truly a revelation: that the one God they hadn’t recognised was the one God who created the very things they worshipped.  Now that Paul had told them also of the resurrection, they could no longer use ignorance as an excuse to not repent.  Some followed but not all.

Paul was perhaps most comfortable teaching in the synagogues, where he understood the traditions and doctrines but from chapter 18 there is a real sense of frustration as the message is met with opposition: ‘he shook out his clothes in protest’.  This is an exaggerated version of what Jesus taught in Matthew 10:14 when he told the twelve, to shake the dust off their feet. Paul added that he would go to the Gentiles with the message knowing this would certainly bring a response but he never gave up on the Jews. This continued to be the case throughout Paul’s ministry but God offered words of comfort and encouragement in a vision, giving Paul all the security he needed to continue in Corinth for eighteen months.

In these passages, we can learn more about ourselves than we might at first expect:-

Do we know those who cross their fingers, make wishes, touch wood, check our star sign, look expectantly at this week’s lottery numbers and maybe pray (if all else fails)? They wouldn’t be alone but we know that’s no better than the Greeks 2,000 years ago who didn’t know about the Living God. The world offers a lot of false promises and distractions and we don’t have to look far in our own areas for idols sitting in strategic places - heads made out of wood or plaster.

Do we know and understand enough about these things and the people to show them the narrow way without judgement?

Are we able to accept that our efforts may not bring about change but trust in the God we know to work that miracle in them but never give on them?

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Almighty God, help us to be wise and understanding as we reach out to others.  Amen.