Something New (Acts 17:21)

 

Friday, August 15, 2025

Psalm 104:1-25

2 Samuel 19:24-40

Acts 17:15-21

Observance: Mary, Mother Of Our Lord

Something New (Acts 17:21)

Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new.

The journey of discipleship which we are all making means that, as we live, we learn. It is a natural part of growing as Christians, that as God exposes us to different life events, we learn more about who God is, how he would have us live, and how much he loves us.

Yet we must also be growing our sense of discernment: specifically, discerning between what is a deeper understanding of God, and what is just a fun fact or interesting idea invented in someone’s head. Fun facts and interesting ideas invented in people’s heads can be an amusing way to pass one’s time, but the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new. An amusing pastime had become their life’s work.

In C. S. Lewis’ The Great Divorce there is a bishop who, unfortunately, has found himself in hell. He had spent his life in nothing except telling or hearing something new. When he is invited by an acquaintance up to heaven, the bishop will only go if he can be assured that it is a place of free inquiry. He receives no assurance of anything of the sort, only “I will bring you to the land not of questions but of answers, and you shall see the face of God.”

There is plenty new to learn in the old paths of Christian orthodoxy, and Paul’s spirit was provoked within him to share this with the Athenians. I wonder about ourselves, too. Have we ever grown bored with the old truths of the gospel? Did it make us try to go deeper into those old truths, or did we wander off, looking for something new?

Christ our Teacher, you are the same always, and always have new things to teach us: settle our wandering hearts, that we may direct our intellect to the pursuit of a deeper understanding of true religion, and grow a deeper sense of your great love for us.