Acts 17:24-28 (Indigenous New Testament)
The Great Spirit is the one who created the universe and all the things in it. Since the Great Spirit is the rightful ruler of the spirit world above and the earth below he does not live in lodges built by human hands.
Creator does not really need human beings to do things since he is the one who gives all people life and breath and everything we need, beginning with the first human being.
Creator made all the tribes and nations. He wanted people to live all over the face of the earth.
Creator decided ahead of time when and where each tribe would live. Creator did this so that all people would look for him and find the trail that leads to him.
Creator is not far away from any one of us. It is through him that we live and walk and have our being.
Galatians 3:23-29
23-24 Until the time when we were mature enough to respond freely in faith to the living God, we were carefully surrounded and protected by the Mosaic law.
24 So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. 25 Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.
26 It is through faith that all of you are God's children in union with Christ Jesus. 27 You were baptized into union with Christ, and now you are clothed, so to speak, with the life of Christ himself.
28-29 In Christ’s family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us you are all equal. That is, we are all in a common relationship with Jesus Christ. Also, since you are Christ’s family, then you are Abraham’s heirs according to the covenant promises.
The Great Spirit is the one who created the universe and all the things in it. Since the Great Spirit is the rightful ruler of the spirit world above and the earth below he does not live in lodges built by human hands.
Creator does not really need human beings to do things since he is the one who gives all people life and breath and everything we need, beginning with the first human being.
Creator made all the tribes and nations. He wanted people to live all over the face of the earth.
Creator decided ahead of time when and where each tribe would live. Creator did this so that all people would look for him and find the trail that leads to him.
Creator is not far away from any one of us. It is through him that we live and walk and have our being.
Galatians 3:23-29
23-24 Until the time when we were mature enough to respond freely in faith to the living God, we were carefully surrounded and protected by the Mosaic law.
24 So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. 25 Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.
26 It is through faith that all of you are God's children in union with Christ Jesus. 27 You were baptized into union with Christ, and now you are clothed, so to speak, with the life of Christ himself.
28-29 In Christ’s family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us you are all equal. That is, we are all in a common relationship with Jesus Christ. Also, since you are Christ’s family, then you are Abraham’s heirs according to the covenant promises.
Reflection
“The Great Spirit is the one who created the universe and all the things in it. Since the Great Spirit is the rightful ruler of the spirit world above and the earth below he does not live in lodges built by human hands.” is not the way we usually hear Acts 17 read but since today is the Indigenous Day of Prayer, a day which usually precedes our celebration of National Indigenous Peoples Day on June 21st, it seemed like a good idea to look at a scripture passage from the Indigenous New Testament translation.
Sometimes it helps us to see the passage in a new way when we hear Great Spirit and Creator addressed rather than “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands.”
But what stood out for me when I read the passage was the line that said:
“Creator decided ahead of time when and
where each tribe would live. Creator did this
so that all people would look for him and
find the trail that leads to him.”
Perhaps not so different from the New International Version which reads:
“26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth;
and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him
and find him,”
And yet you know what? I saw that idea that there was a trail and I thought “Wow I never thought of it that way before. Maybe I just sort of skipped through the verses to the one I like best; you know; Acts 17 verse 27-28: God is not far from any one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’.
It’s easy to have verses we like and skim our way to them never even noticing the richness of the text before and after.
This story in Acts tells about Paul in Athens, where he addresses both Jews and non-Jews including those dreaded philosophers, calling them to see beyond their Greek statues, temples, alters and idols, calling them to hear the Good News about God and Jesus the Messiah who died and was resurrected.
And Paul is very clever about it because the Greeks had this alter with a plaque that read:
To An Unknown God who they credited saving them from a plague half a century before. See he said: “You praise and pray to Gods you don’t even know but I’m telling you about that God, I’m telling you about Jesus who shows us the way to know God because this is the way God works in the world: “God marked out their (nations) appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him,” Creator did this so that all people would look for him and find the trail that leads to him.””
Paul was building the trail that we follow today. But if we don’t just focus on Paul’s agenda to win converts in Athens to the Jesus trail we see the Indigenous translation broadens the whole concept of God and widens the pathway or many pathways which lead to God – Yahweh – Great Spirit.
And yet my commitment, my pathway, the trail
I follow, is the one we hear about in Galatians (Gal 3:26-29):
26 It is through faith that all of you are God's children in union with Christ Jesus.
27 You were baptized into union with Christ, and now you are clothed, so to speak,
with the life of Christ himself.
28-29 In Christ’s family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free,
male and female. Among us you are all equal.
That is, we are all in a common relationship with Jesus Christ. Also, since you are Christ’s family, then you are Abraham’s heirs according to the covenant promises.
This trail, Paul’s trail to God is called following the Way of Jesus, this path is populated by Christian churches and saints, it has guideposts called scriptures and important stops called sacraments and worship where we find refreshment and sustenance and support. Most importantly on this journey we have friends and neighbours we call the church congregation.
In this place we are offered the opportunity to be ourselves, and know who we really are is acceptable and welcomed in God’s sight. Paul put it very eloquently for his day when he made the claim: “In Christ’s family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us you are all equal. That is, we are all in a common relationship with Jesus Christ. Also, since you are Christ’s family, then you are Abraham’s heirs according to the covenant promises.”
Paul took all the things that usually divided people in his experience and erased those divisions for the church. Everyone was and is united under the name of Jesus the Christ.
We are all heirs to the promise that God makes throughout the Old Testament: “I will be your God and you will be my people.”
Each one of us, we are welcome in this place, we are an important and valued member of this church, we are beloved of God.
May it be so. Amen
“The Great Spirit is the one who created the universe and all the things in it. Since the Great Spirit is the rightful ruler of the spirit world above and the earth below he does not live in lodges built by human hands.” is not the way we usually hear Acts 17 read but since today is the Indigenous Day of Prayer, a day which usually precedes our celebration of National Indigenous Peoples Day on June 21st, it seemed like a good idea to look at a scripture passage from the Indigenous New Testament translation.
Sometimes it helps us to see the passage in a new way when we hear Great Spirit and Creator addressed rather than “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands.”
But what stood out for me when I read the passage was the line that said:
“Creator decided ahead of time when and
where each tribe would live. Creator did this
so that all people would look for him and
find the trail that leads to him.”
Perhaps not so different from the New International Version which reads:
“26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth;
and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him
and find him,”
And yet you know what? I saw that idea that there was a trail and I thought “Wow I never thought of it that way before. Maybe I just sort of skipped through the verses to the one I like best; you know; Acts 17 verse 27-28: God is not far from any one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’.
It’s easy to have verses we like and skim our way to them never even noticing the richness of the text before and after.
This story in Acts tells about Paul in Athens, where he addresses both Jews and non-Jews including those dreaded philosophers, calling them to see beyond their Greek statues, temples, alters and idols, calling them to hear the Good News about God and Jesus the Messiah who died and was resurrected.
And Paul is very clever about it because the Greeks had this alter with a plaque that read:
To An Unknown God who they credited saving them from a plague half a century before. See he said: “You praise and pray to Gods you don’t even know but I’m telling you about that God, I’m telling you about Jesus who shows us the way to know God because this is the way God works in the world: “God marked out their (nations) appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him,” Creator did this so that all people would look for him and find the trail that leads to him.””
Paul was building the trail that we follow today. But if we don’t just focus on Paul’s agenda to win converts in Athens to the Jesus trail we see the Indigenous translation broadens the whole concept of God and widens the pathway or many pathways which lead to God – Yahweh – Great Spirit.
And yet my commitment, my pathway, the trail
I follow, is the one we hear about in Galatians (Gal 3:26-29):
26 It is through faith that all of you are God's children in union with Christ Jesus.
27 You were baptized into union with Christ, and now you are clothed, so to speak,
with the life of Christ himself.
28-29 In Christ’s family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free,
male and female. Among us you are all equal.
That is, we are all in a common relationship with Jesus Christ. Also, since you are Christ’s family, then you are Abraham’s heirs according to the covenant promises.
This trail, Paul’s trail to God is called following the Way of Jesus, this path is populated by Christian churches and saints, it has guideposts called scriptures and important stops called sacraments and worship where we find refreshment and sustenance and support. Most importantly on this journey we have friends and neighbours we call the church congregation.
In this place we are offered the opportunity to be ourselves, and know who we really are is acceptable and welcomed in God’s sight. Paul put it very eloquently for his day when he made the claim: “In Christ’s family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us you are all equal. That is, we are all in a common relationship with Jesus Christ. Also, since you are Christ’s family, then you are Abraham’s heirs according to the covenant promises.”
Paul took all the things that usually divided people in his experience and erased those divisions for the church. Everyone was and is united under the name of Jesus the Christ.
We are all heirs to the promise that God makes throughout the Old Testament: “I will be your God and you will be my people.”
Each one of us, we are welcome in this place, we are an important and valued member of this church, we are beloved of God.
May it be so. Amen
