Easter 6A 2026

THE REV. E. WAYNE ROLLINS

 ​ A friend said recently that if the Apostle Paul heard what was going on in our country and in our world, we’d be getting a letter. She said this because many of Paul’s writings are in response to current events and the early church’s straying away from Paul’s teachings. 

Today we’re on a journey with the apostle as he travels through Greece. He has moved away from Thessalonica and Philippi, where he faced challenges from religious authorities and even beatings and imprisonment. He finds himself in Athens, a city with no lack of places of worship. And, just to make sure all the bases are covered and no deity is left behind, there’s an altar dedicated to “an unknown god.” 

There’s nothing more troubling to a pantheon of deities than a god left standing in an ignored corner of Mt. Olympus. Not troubling to the other gods, mind you, since their only concern is being worshipped as much as possible. Just imagine not having paid tribute to the one deity that’s in charge of keeping all the milk from spoiling. Bummer. 

You might have noticed that Paul is well-versed in the Greek form of rhetoric. He takes a stand, speaks of it, then argues every point against it, revealing the inaccuracy of each one. Then, after using all our words in support of the alternative to prove that it’s false, he returns to his point to reinforce its veracity. Preachers have been parsing his words for nearly 2,000 years, and we still haven’t covered all the bases. 

Getting back to my friend’s statement, I wonder what Paul would say after taking a long walk through Wilmington, Delaware. 

He wouldn’t have to go very far to see the many places of worship, the altars where the faithful present their own sacrifices to please the gods. If he came by sea, he could not miss the shrines rising into the sky, their names writ large to identify themselves. Chase. Barclays. WSFS. Highmark. Nearby he would find arenas where worship is encouraged. Although Paul might enjoy a good game of baseball or football and the like, he might question the huge tributes paid to the gods of celebrity and athletic prowess. 

If Paul found himself strangely transported by air, he would find a demi-pantheon just across the highway and along his journey into town. He might wonder what a burger is and why it needs a king, then explain who the real King of life is. Paul might see billboards advertising other arenas of worship and even a few places with his name on the front with the added word “saint.” 

In his own words, he might ask, "Was I crucified for you? Is Christ divided, as you divide yourselves invoking his name?” That’s just for starters. He would then wonder, out loud, mind you, why we’re devoting so much of ourselves to maintaining idled spaces while so many of our brothers and sisters are forced to sleep in tents in a park. Then, just to make his point, he would join those in the park to help them mend and support their tents all while telling them about his own encounter with the risen Christ.

He would probably tell them, while showing us, that the really big tent, the only one that truly matters, is the tent supported at its center by a cross. It’s a tent of love intended to gather all the world into its sheltering embrace, where Love itself makes us God’s children together as one as the body of our risen Lord continues to become manifest in our own time.
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I wonder if those who hear Paul and trust his words to be true will find that truth all around them as they journey through their lives in this place we all call home. If not, he would remind us that salvation is likely not to be found on social media. Heaven help us if he starts addressing that place of worship.