Searching for Meaning
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Acts 17:16-31 May 3rd, 2026
I. Paul’s Approach to People without The Bible
In today’s reading, Paul was trying to share the Gospel with people who had never read the Books of the Old Testament. They had prior knowledge of God. How does Paul approach it? Well, he begins by going where the people are. He enters the city, actually he’s pretty much dragged into court in this city…this is the exact same court where the philosopher, Socrates, was condemned and killed for promoting other gods than the gods of the Greeks. The people of Athens drag Paul into this court, and the stakes are high. They think Paul too may be promoting some new gods.
Paul starts where they are. As he stands in this court, surrounded by statues depicting dozens of gods that these people worship…he looks at it all and acknowledges, “I see, you are very religious people.” Good start, Paul! Diplomacy, at least. But he is also empathizing and next, he acknowledges something else. He notices one spot among their statues that’s dedicated to “an unknown god.” The people here are searching…searching for more, more meaning, more fulfillment, more gods. And that’s where Paul begins.
I think Paul’s approach is still super relevant today. How many of our neighbors and even family members have never read the Bible? Paul’s task is not unlike our own. Most of us, at some time or other, have a feeling that something is missing in our lives. Many people searching. Not everybody’s searching for God, of course. Some do, but others… search for meaning… others search for joy. I think the top Google search in 2026 is “YouTube”. Some seek health and happiness…others look for belonging. Some want to be rich or famous. I bet every one of us, and everyone you’ll ever meet is searching. That’s where Paul starts with the Greeks… and it’s still a great place to start, especially for people who know little or nothing about the Bible.
II. What Do You Crave?
So let’s do it. Let’s practice, how to share what Jesus means with people who don’t know the Bible. I think a modern version of Paul’s argument could start with…a simple question. Now go with me here… How hungry you are? Did you notice all the yummy Panera Bread on the tables? If you’re anything like me, they look pretty tasty! You might even look and start craving a bite of a delicious pastry, bagel, scone, or croissant. But I want you to notice one thing right away: Cravings are not the same as hunger – in fact they are VERY different. Hunger is controlled by the stomach. Cravings are controlled by the brain. Hunger is a survival mechanism. But cravings … hummm.
If you had trouble passing by the Panera Bread without wanting to dive in headfirst, it might NOT be because you’re hungry. According to Dr. Michael Smolensky who teaches at the Houston School of Public Health, the reason may be that you are sleep deprived!
Apparently within 2 days of being sleep deprived (like sleeping only 6 hours a night), almost 100 percent of us will start grazing on breads, and buns, and all sorts of starchy foods.
I’m not against bread – I love bread! The point is simply that our cravings often misguide us. We may think we know what we need, what we’re searching for…We might even pursue it and enjoy it … that buttery croissant! Yet what we never realize is that our real need is for 2 more hours of sleep. If we neglect what we need and only feed what we crave, we will never be satisfied.
I met a man on a ski slope once, who was very sad. We met on a gondola and when he discovered I was a pastor he started sharing his life story. He had spent his whole life pursuing the next big achievement and a bigger and bigger paycheck. He worked hard, so hard that it was like an obsession. It cost him his marriage, because e he never had time or attention for her. It cost him his relationship with each of his children. And today, this lonely man with lots of money, was pouring his heart out to a stranger saying he now knew what he really needed was faith in God. He had so many regrets and now knew that Jesus loved him and gave him purpose beyond what any amount of money could ever buy.
What are you really searching for? What do you really need?
Searching isn’t a bad thing. It means you care about deeper meaning. Yet some quests are more noble than others? Shallow goals typically produce shallow results. Fame and possessions, for example, don’t usually yield deep satisfaction.
There used to be a preacher for children who called himself, “The Doughnut Man.” His message was that all of us have a hole in our center…like a doughnut. That hole is a God-shaped hole. In other words you can put anything else inside it – money, fame, popularity, sex, career…anything – but like jelly in a doughnut, it will just drip out. The only thing that fits, is that piece of dough that was created for that space – the doughnut hole. But in you and me, the only thing that fits is God, who fulfils us and makes us whole.
The pursuits, the shallow ones we crave, (money, fame, popularity, sex, career) can turn into what the Bible calls idols. We Americans tend to be pretty good at the shallower pursuits. Ads reach into our need to seek something more, but they generally offer solutions that aren’t particularly meaningful.
What if we took Paul’s advice to look for the God who is not far away, but actually close by? What if our inward looking led us to see the places in our souls where God has already been at work, stirring in us the desire for meaning? What if our searching could lead us to recognize meaning, happiness, peace, belonging, and all those things we need, that aren’t that far away at all?
The God-shaped hole is a real thing. In fact, The Bible’s way of saying it, is to say you were created in the image of God. And your fulfillment will only come live out that image…as you center your life on God…on being shaped by God so much that your life comes to reflect who God is in the world.
In fact, the whole Bible leads to Jesus as the perfect human image of God who is teaching and leading you. Your search for purpose, fulfillment, peace, and joy are found by relationship to Jesus and allowing his Way of life to shape who you are
The human problem isn’t that we have just broken some arbitrary rules. The human problem is one of seeking our cravings instead of what we truly need. The Bible calls it idolatry. Instead of worshiping God, in whose image we have been made, we follow our cravings to “worship” bits and pieces of creation. The ancient Greeks gave these cravings quasi-human names.
Mars was the god of war. When we actually find that we are driven towards force, or might makes right, in actuality that’s what we’re doing.
Aphrodite was the goddess of erotic love.
Mammon was the god of money.
When you live for your cravings...worship that which is not God, something happens to your ‘image-bearingness, your humanness. It starts to deconstruct. You are not being the human being you are made to be. And the sign of that deconstruction is that you do things which are less than fully human.
Fundamentally, the solution is about following Jesus, learning the ways of Jesus, living with Him as your focus and guide. It is about loving Jesus by doing what he did and commanded: through connecting with people in need, through prayer, reading Scripture, and even through spiritual songs. In fact, you and I are so blessed because we can do all these things in worship services right here, every week at Vista Lutheran Church! We pray, we gather with other Christians, we sing spiritual songs, we even collect money and stuff to give to the poor, both locally and around the globe.
But, is one hour of focusing on God enough each week? If you ATE just ONE meal a week, how satisfied would you be?
Jesus is offering to love, forgive, and fulfill you…and lead you into the wholeness. I invite you this week to offer your cravings to Jesus. Pray to Him today, and ask him to lead your life…Say to Jesus, I know I’ve let my cravings rule my life – please forgive me and teach me your ways. That was Paul’s message so many years ago, and it is still the truth…the truth, the Way, and life – in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Pastor Doug Cox