Demotivators.

Are you familiar with “Demotivators?”  It is a tongue-in-cheek product line that spoofs the once-popular “motivational” posters present in every HR office in Canada.  Instead of the clichés such as, “Teamwork makes the dream work,” Demotivators use lines like, “Consequences:  Everything happens for a reason. Sometimes that reason is you're foolish and you make poor decisions.”  Or, “Destiny:  Born too late to explore the world, born too early to explore the stars, born right on time to explore unemployment thanks to A.I.”

There is a dark humour at play here.  If you are in the right mood, they can be very funny.  Explore with caution.

Humanity has always loved a good quote or pithy line of wisdom.  An insightful truism can survive for thousands of years.  “The journey is its own reward” comes from Homer who lived around 800 BC.  There is an entire book of the Bible dedicated to curating great quotes (Proverbs).  “He who finds a wife finds a good thing and receives a grace from God” (Prov. 18:22). On the flip side, “It is better to live in a corner of the roof than in a house in the company of a quarrelsome wife” (Prov. 21:9).  Both statements are true.  Both are insightful.

Here is one of my favourite Apostle Paul quotes.  He is speaking to a diverse group of people near the city of Athens, presenting to them the idea of a knowable God.  Paul was commenting on an idol dedicated to the “unknown god.”

The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for "'In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said, "'For we are indeed his offspring.'  (Acts 17:14-28 ESV)

Here’s why I love this quote.  First, for its context.  Paul doesn’t preach a sermon of fire and brimstone.  He engages in a warm and winsome conversation with his listeners.  He finds that thing they have in common and then respectfully uses that as a foundation to move forward and present a new idea to them:  the God who is unknown to them CAN be known.  Genius.

Next, I love how Paul starts at the beginning - not with Jesus, but with the Creator.  The Greeks and Romans believed that all the stuff of the universe was the result of the procreation of the gods, most of which happened in the context of inter-deity battles, jealousy, and unfaithfulness.

Paul offers a contrast:  God created the heavens and the earth.  He doesn’t debate the how.  He simply states the fact and stresses the superiority of God - He needs nothing from what He has created.  This Creator God gives to and sustains His creation.  This is a radical departure from the Greco-Roman worldview.  For them, the purpose of religion was to keep the gods happy lest they strike someone with disaster.

Finally, to drive the point home, Paul quotes one of their own poets (Aratus, 310-245 BC).  How brilliant is that?  At this point Paul transitions into the nature of our relationship with God, the resurrection, and the truths regarding Jesus.  

In all of this, there is one line that stands out to me in particular.

“And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him.”

Pause and reflect on that.  We are shovelling snow out of our driveways this morning because God determined that we live in this place at this time.  Even though the world goes through continual crisis and fluidity in political and economic powers, it is God who has established who does what when.  Why does God do this?

God desires that we, His image-bearers, have relationship with Him.  This Creator keeps all things ordered in spite of the chaos caused by sin.  In contrast to the gods of the Greeks, He can be known.

I know not everyone loves winter like I do :-).  But even today - every shovelful - is a reminder that God is at work (Job 38:22).  However today’s weather affects us, it is for divine purpose, most of which we may not see or understand.  Of this one thing we can be certain:  we can know our God.  He cares for every detail of our lives (including snow).