Babbling as Vocation

The first reading assigned for today was from Acts 17. This particular story recounts the Apostle Paul's visit to Athens and his audience before the intelligensia at Mars' Hill. Paul had been in the city for a few days by the time of this conversation. He had argued with the Jewish religious leaders in the local synagogue and engaged the Epicureans and Stoics in some spirited philosophical debate. The monologue detailed in Acts 17:22-31 is Paul's parting address to anyone who happened to be present that day at the prestigious public forum.

But today's lesson omitted the way in which the locals described Paul to one another. They called him a "babbler". Imagine that! The person who arguably has had more influence on the interpretation of the Gospel than anyone else in the New Testament, the person who stands tall in the pantheon of early Christian "greats", is derogatorily described as a babbler.

Not much has changed. North American preachers routinely stand to give voice to their understanding of the Gospel. They are (for the most part) given a polite hearing by polite people. These preachers use the peculiar language of the Christian faith -- language that is not intended to be relevant, because it's subversive.

Then everyone moves on to the next thing. And the preacher goes back to stand before the texts assigned for the following week. I think all preachers pray that something we say will make some sense to someone along the way. In the meantime, we babble on.