Acts 17:21

Something New

Now all the Athenians and the strangers sojourning: there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or to hear some new thing. Acts 17:21.

If I showed you a map of Europe I suppose most of you could point out the city of Athens. You know that it is the capital of Greece and is situated on the Gulf of Aegina. You also know that it is celebrated for its beauty and antiquity, and that Edinburgh has often been called “the modern Athens” on account of its beauty.

But I didn't come here to give you a geography lesson. I want to tell you something about the Athenians in St. Paul's time.

Once upon a time Athens was the center of learning and art and beauty. It was noted for its wonderful buildings, for its famous statesmen, for its philosophers, its poets, its sculptors. Perhaps the world owes more to Athens in the way of culture than it does to any other city. When our forefathers were savages, living in dens or caves or rude huts, the Athenians were giving to the world their poetry, their learning, and their culture.

But when St. Paul came to Athens its glory had departed. The city was not less beautiful than it had been. Magnificent palaces and fine statues and temple-crowned hills were still to be seen. The sun still shone as brilliantly, the sea was still as gloriously blue, as it had been in the days of yore. But the people had changed. There were no longer any famous men in Athens; and the Athenians, instead of devoting themselves to the pursuit of knowledge and poetry and art, “spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or to hear some new thing.” They rushed after the latest craze, but as soon as the novelty had worn off they tired of it and deserted it for the next new thing. It was this love of new things that was sapping the very life of Athens. Her glory lay in the past, and the Athenians were content to let it rest there. For the present their chief concern was the latest sensation, the most recent idea.

Now I want you to notice three things, and the first is that mere talkers and listeners never accomplish any great thing. It is not the boy who talks but the boy who acts that counts. The boy who boasts of what he will do generally fails when the test comes. And it is all very well to glow with enthusiasm and pride when we hear of noble and brave deeds; but if our enthusiasm does not carry us any farther, if it does not help us to be noble too and to bear bravely the little troubles that come our way, then it has been all in vain.

And the second thing I want you to notice is that those who are constantly rushing from one thing to another never accomplish any one thing well. It is easy enough to begin with enthusiasm, but the thing that counts is keeping on to the end. If we set out to learn a game it won't do just to play a few times and then give it up. If we want really to excel we must peg away at it and get through a lot of drudgery.

Some of you are constantly changing your hobbies. You tease your father and mother for rabbits, or a canary, or a kitten; but are you quite as keen on them when you have owned them for a few weeks? Are you sure they wouldn't die of starvation if somebody else didn't feed them? And some of you are constantly changing your friends. You are “friends” with a boy or a girl one day and have fallen out with them the next, and so you never make a real friend.

And if it is so with your games, and your hobbies, and your friendships, how is it with your work? It is a splendid thing to have a nice clean fresh copybook and to try to write in it better than in the old one, but it is a more splendid thing to keep on writing well to the end. Perseverance always wins the day. It wins against mere brilliance. One day the late Mr. Chamberlain was talking to a man who was bright, but lazy who often began things well but seldom finished them. Mr. Chamberlain gave this man some good advice. “My dear boy,” he said, “observe the postage stamp. After you have put the stamp on a letter, it sticks to that one thing till it gets there.”

Lastly, I want you to remember that old things are often the best. We return to the old toys and the old books when we are tired of the new ones. And as we grow up we sometimes think that the old home is the dearest place on earth, and the old friends are the best. Of course if we were always going to stick to old things we should never make progress, but we must be sure that the new thing is better before we reject the old for it.

And remember that the grandest, most wonderful thing in the world is nearly two thousand years old the old, old story of the love of Jesus and of how He came to earth to give His life for us that we might live with Him forever. That story is very old, and yet the wonderful thing about it is that it is always new. It is new for every boy and girl who comes into the world, just as if it had been written for them alone. And Jesus wishes every one of you to claim that story as your own, and to share in the joy of His love.