1. Paulo Juu ya Kilima cha Mars1. Paul on Mars Hill

Paulo aliingia Athene akaona sanamu za kila mungu wa Kigiriki ambaye mtu angeweza kumwazia. Kulikuwa na Apollo, mungu wa jua. Kulikuwa na Bacchus, mungu wa divai. Kulikuwa na Aphrodite, mungu mke wa mapenzi. Kulikuwa na Mars, mungu wa vita. Na kisha, ili tu kuhakikisha kwamba hawajamkosea mungu yeyote kwa bahati mbaya, kulikuwa na madhabahu iliyoandikwa KWA MUNGU ASIYEJULIKANA. Waathene walikuwa watu wa kidini kila upande. Pia walikuwa, kwa hesabu ya Paulo, wamepotea. Alikuwa na mahubiri mamoja tu ya kuwahubiri, na wasikilizaji wenye uadui, Waepikureo na Wastoiko. Ilimbidi awalete, kwa dakika chache, kutoka uumbaji hadi kwa Kristo.Paul walked into Athens and saw statues to every Greek god a man could imagine. There was Apollo, god of the sun. There was Bacchus, god of wine. There was Aphrodite, goddess of love. There was Mars, god of war. And then, just to make sure they had not offended any deity by accident, there was an altar inscribed To the Unknown God. The Athenians were religious in every direction. They were also, by Paul’s reckoning, lost. He had a single sermon to preach to them, and a hostile audience of Stoics and Epicureans. He had to bring them, in a few minutes, from creation to Christ.

Angalia alichofanya. Alianzia pale walipokuwa. Naona kwamba ninyi ni watu wa kidini. Mna hata madhabahu kwa Mungu asiyejulikana. Niwaambie habari zake. Kisha akawanukuu washairi wao wenyewe — ndani yake yeye tunaishi, tunakwenda, na kuwa na uhai wetu — na kuufuatilia mstari huo mbele hadi kwa Muumba wa vitu vyote, na hadi kwenye ufufuo wa Mtu ambaye kupitia yeye Mungu atauhukumu ulimwengu. Safari kutoka kwa mungu asiyejulikana hadi kwa Kristo aliyefufuka ilichukua mahubiri mamoja. Hiyo ndiyo kanuni ya sehemu hii. Biblia nzima ni hadithi moja inayomfuatilia Kristo. Kila andiko katika Kitabu ni sehemu ya hadithi hiyo. Mchungaji anayeweza kuufuatilia mstari huo katika Biblia nzima anaweza kuufuatilia katika kifungu chochote kimoja.Notice what he did. He started where they were. I see that you are religious. You even have a statue to the unknown God. Let me tell you about Him. Then he reached for their own poets — in Him we live and move and have our being — and tracked the line forward to the Creator of all things, and to the resurrection of a Man through whom God will judge the world. The journey from unknown god to risen Christ took one sermon. That is the principle of this unit. The whole Bible is one Christ-tracking story. Every text in the Book belongs to that story. The pastor who can trace the line through the Bible can trace it through any single passage.

Neno la tahadhari linafaa hapa kabla hatujaendelea, kwa sababu kanuni hii hutumiwa vibaya kwa urahisi. Kusema kwamba kila andiko ni sehemu ya hadithi moja inayofikia kilele chake katika Kristo si sawa na kusema kwamba kila mstari mmoja mmoja ni unabii wa moja kwa moja, kivuli, ishara, au rejeo la Yesu. Vifungu vingine vinamwelekea moja kwa moja, kwa ahadi au kivuli au picha, kama sehemu zinazofuata zitakavyoonyesha. Vingine vinachangia katika hadithi kwa kuwa tu sehemu ya kweli ya kufunuliwa kwake — sheria inayofunua utakatifu ambao haki yake ingeutimiza, orodha ya vizazi inayofuatilia ukoo ambao kuzaliwa kwake kungeukamilisha, msemo wa hekima unaoeleza maisha mema ambayo ufalme wake huleta. Njia yoyote unayoichora kutoka katika andiko hadi kwa Kristo lazima bado iheshimu muktadha wa andiko hilo na aina yake ya fasihi. Mahubiri yanayomweka Kristo katikati si kibali cha kupuuza kile kifungu kinachosema hasa ili kumfikia kwa njia ya mkato; ni nidhamu ya kuonyesha, kwa uaminifu na kutoka katika andiko lenyewe, mahali kifungu hicho kinaposimama katika hadithi moja anayoikamilisha Yeye.A word of caution belongs here before we go further, because this principle is easily misused. Saying that every text belongs to the one story that culminates in Christ is not the same as saying that every single verse is a direct prophecy, type, symbol, or reference to Jesus. Some passages point to Him directly, by promise or type or image, as the sections below will show. Others contribute to the story simply by being a true part of its unfolding — a law that reveals the holiness His righteousness would satisfy, a genealogy that traces the line His birth would complete, a wisdom saying that describes the good life His kingdom brings. Any route you draw from a text to Christ must still respect that text’s own context and genre. Christ-centered preaching is not a license to ignore what a passage actually says in order to arrive at Him by a shortcut; it is the discipline of showing, honestly and from the text itself, where that passage stands in the one story He completes.

2. Biblia Nzima Ni Hadithi Yake2. The Whole Bible Is His Story

Jumapili alasiri ya siku ya ufufuo wake, Yesu alitembea katika njia ya kwenda Emau pamoja na wanafunzi wawili waliovunjika moyo. Walikuwa bado hawajamtambua. Aliwauliza walikuwa wakizungumza nini. Wakamweleza habari za Yesu wa Nazareti, ambaye walikuwa wametumaini kwamba angewakomboa Israeli lakini badala yake alikuwa amesulibiwa. Kisha Yesu akafanya jambo lililokuwa msingi wa kila mahubiri yanayomweka Kristo katikati yaliyowahi kuhubiriwa baada yake:On the Sunday afternoon of His resurrection, Jesus walked the road to Emmaus with two heartbroken disciples. They did not yet recognize Him. He asked what they had been talking about. They told Him about Jesus of Nazareth, whom they had hoped would redeem Israel and who had instead been crucified. Then Jesus did something that became the foundation for every Christ-centered sermon ever preached after Him:

Maandiko yote. Mambo yaliyomhusu yeye. Yesu alichukua Agano la Kale lote — Musa, Manabii, Maandishi — na kuonyesha jinsi kila sehemu yake ilivyokuwa ikimwelekea Yeye. Uzao wa mwanamke, kondoo dume vichakani, Mwana-Kondoo wa Pasaka, mana, mwamba, nyoka wa shaba, mwana wa Daudi, mtumishi anayeteseka wa Isaya, agano jipya la Yeremia, ufufuo ambao Ayubu aliutumaini. Kila sura ya Agano la Kale ilikuwa sura inayomhusu Yeye. Kufikia wakati wale wawili walipofika nyumba ya wageni, wangeliona.All the Scriptures. The things concerning Himself. Jesus took the whole Old Testament — Moses, the Prophets, the Writings — and showed how every part of it had been pointing at Him. The seed of the woman, the ram in the thicket, the Passover Lamb, the manna, the rock, the bronze serpent, the son of David, the suffering servant of Isaiah, the new covenant of Jeremiah, the resurrection Job hoped for. Every chapter of the older Testament was a chapter about Him. By the time the two reached the inn, they would see it.

3. Tao Kuu la Biblia3. The Macro-Arc of the Bible

Kabla mchungaji hajaweza kumfuatilia Kristo katika kifungu chochote kimoja, lazima aujue umbo la hadithi nzima. Hatua sita zinaipanga maktaba yote. Uumbaji: Mungu aliumba kila kitu kikiwa chema. Ulimwengu ulikuwa na Muumba, na Muumba alikuwa na kusudi. Anguko: mwanadamu aliasi, laana ikaanguka, na kila sura tangu hapo inabeba mabaki ya uharibifu huo. Israeli: Mungu alichagua watu wa agano ambao kupitia kwao angeleta ukombozi kwa ulimwengu wote, na historia ndefu ya mababu, kutoka Misri, kuiteka nchi, wafalme, uhamisho, na kurudi ni hadithi ya watu hao wakiandaliwa na kupogolewa. Kristo: Mungu mwenyewe aliingia katika hadithi kama mwanadamu, akaishi bila dhambi, akafa kwa ajili ya uasi wetu, na akafufuka ili kuivunja laana. Kanisa: injili inatoka Yerusalemu hadi Uyahudi hadi Samaria hadi miisho ya dunia, ikikusanya watu wapya kwa ajili ya jina la Mungu. Utimilifu: Kristo anarudi, laana inabatilishwa kabisa, na Edeni ya asili inarejeshwa kama mji wa Mungu milele.Before a pastor can track Christ through any single passage, he must know the shape of the whole story. Six movements organize the entire library. Creation: God made everything good. The world had a Maker, and the Maker had a purpose. Fall: man rebelled, the curse fell, and every chapter since carries the wreckage. Israel: God chose a covenant people through whom He would bring redemption to the whole world, and the long history of patriarchs, exodus, conquest, kings, exile, and return is the story of that people being prepared and pruned. Christ: God Himself entered the story as a man, lived without sin, died for our rebellion, and rose again to break the curse. Church: the gospel goes out from Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria to the ends of the earth, gathering a new people for God’s name. Consummation: Christ returns, the curse is fully reversed, and the original Eden is restored as a city of God forever.

Kila kifungu katika Biblia kinakaa mahali fulani juu ya tao hili. Tao ndilo ramani. Hadithi ya Mwanzo inakaa kabla ya Kristo na inatazamia mbele kwake. Kifungu cha Injili kinamweka Yeye katikati yake. Waraka unafunua kile alichokifanya. Ufunuo unatazamia kurudi kwake. Mchungaji asiye na ramani husoma kila kifungu kama tukio linalojitegemea na kukosa kile kinachofanya kila kifungu kuwa sura katika hadithi yake.Every passage in the Bible sits somewhere on this arc. The arc is the map. A Genesis story sits before Christ and forward-looks to Him. A Gospel passage has Him at its center. An Epistle unfolds what He did. Revelation looks forward to His return. The pastor without the map reads each passage as a stand-alone moment and misses what makes every passage a chapter in His story.

4. Njia Nne za Kumfikia Kristo4. Four Roads to Christ

Kutoka katika kifungu chochote cha Agano la Kale, kuna njia nne za kuaminika za kumfikia Kristo. Ahadi. Mungu alisema; Kristo alitimiza. Mwanzo 3:15, uzao wa mwanamke; 2 Samweli 7, mwana wa Daudi; Isaya 53, mtumishi anayeteseka; Yeremia 31, agano jipya. Mstari unaenda moja kwa moja kutoka kwa ahadi hadi kwa Mtu. Kivuli (type). Mtu au tukio la kihistoria linamwonyesha Kristo kabla kwa umbo ingawa si kwa utambulisho. Adamu ni kivuli cha Adamu wa pili. Yusufu ni kivuli cha ndugu aliyesalitiwa anayeiokoa familia yake. Musa ni kivuli cha nabii atakayekuja. Nyoka wa shaba jangwani ni kivuli ambacho Yesu mwenyewe alikidai. Picha. Biblia inatumia picha ambazo Kristo baadaye anazikalia. Mwana-Kondoo wa Pasaka. Mana. Mwamba uliotoa maji. Kuhani mkuu. Hekalu. Anasema, Mimi ndimi mkate, Mimi ndimi mlango, Mimi ndimi njia, na kila picha anayoidai ina historia ndefu katika Agano la Kale ambayo Yeye anaitimiza. Uwepo. Kristo kabla ya kufanyika mwili anajitokeza katika Agano la Kale lote — Mtu wa nne katika tanuru ya moto, Malaika wa BWANA akishindana na Yakobo, Amiri wa jeshi la BWANA akikutana na Yoshua. Mtu yule yule atakayezaliwa Bethlehemu amekuwa tayari akitembea katika kitabu cha Mwanzo.From any Old Testament passage, there are four reliable roads to Christ. Promise. God said it; Christ fulfilled it. Genesis 3:15, the seed of the woman; 2 Samuel 7, the son of David; Isaiah 53, the suffering servant; Jeremiah 31, the new covenant. The line runs straight from the promise to the Person. Type. A historical figure or event prefigures Christ in shape if not in identity. Adam is a type of the second Adam. Joseph is a type of the brother betrayed who saves his family. Moses is a type of the prophet who would come. The bronze serpent in the wilderness is a type Jesus Himself claimed. Image. The Bible uses pictures that Christ later inhabits. The Passover lamb. The manna. The rock that gave water. The high priest. The temple. He says, I am the bread, I am the door, I am the way, and every image He claims has a long Old Testament history that He is fulfilling. Presence. The pre-incarnate Christ appears throughout the Old Testament — the fourth Man in the fiery furnace, the Angel of the Lord wrestling Jacob, the Captain of the host meeting Joshua. The same Person who will be born in Bethlehem has been walking through Genesis already.

Kwa kila kifungu cha Agano la Kale utakachohubiri, uliza ni ipi kati ya njia hizo nne inayokiunganisha na Kristo. Vifungu vingi vina angalau njia moja. Vingine vina zote nne. Vifungu visivyotoa hata moja kati ya hizo nne moja kwa moja — msemo wa hekima, kanuni za sheria, orodha ya vizazi — bado vinapata nafasi yao katika hadithi kubwa ambayo sehemu hii imeifuatilia; hata hapo, kuwa mwaminifu kuhusu tofauti kati ya kifungu kinachomtaja Yeye na kifungu kinachotumikia tu hadithi inayoelekea kwake.For any Old Testament passage you will preach, ask which of the four roads connects it to Christ. Most passages have at least one. Some have all four. Passages that offer none of the four directly — a wisdom saying, a law code, a genealogy — still find their place in the larger story this unit has traced; even there, be honest about the difference between a passage that names Him and a passage that simply serves the story that leads to Him.

5. Mtu wa Maono Huko Cochrane5. The Man of Vision in Cochrane

Nje ya mji wa Cochrane katika jimbo la Alberta, Kanada, kuna sanamu ya shaba iitwayo The Man of Vision (Mtu wa Maono). Inaonyesha mchunga ng'ombe aliyepanda farasi kwenye eneo la asili la Ranchi ya Cochrane, akitazama Bonde la Bow. Sanamu hiyo ndiyo kitu kinachoonekana zaidi mjini. Kama mtume Paulo angepita Cochrane jinsi alivyopita Athene, angesimama chini ya sanamu hiyo na kuifikia injili kupitia kwayo. Naona Mtu wenu wa Maono analilinda bonde. Niwaambie habari za Mtu wa Maono wa asili. Angeanzia pale mji ulipokuwa na kusonga mbele kuelekea kwa Kristo.Outside the town of Cochrane in Alberta, Canada, there is a bronze statue called The Man of Vision. It depicts a cowboy on horseback at the original Cochrane Ranch site, looking out over the Bow Valley. The statue is the most visible sight in town. If the apostle Paul had traveled through Cochrane the way he traveled through Athens, he would have stood beneath that statue and reached for the gospel through it. I see your Man of Vision watches over the valley. Let me tell you about the original Man of Vision. He would have begun where the town was and worked toward Christ.

Kila mchungaji anaingia katika Kilima cha Mars Jumapili asubuhi. Sanamu ni tofauti, lakini kanuni ni ile ile. Watu wako ni wa kidini kuhusu kitu fulani — kazi yao, timu yao, siasa zao, miili yao, familia yao. Wamesimamisha madhabahu kwa miungu ambayo hawaiti miungu. Kazi yako kama mhubiri si kuzidhihaki madhabahu hizo. Ni kuutafuta mstari unaotoka pale wanaposimama hadi kwa Kristo, na kuwapandisha juu yake. Mtu wa Maono wa Cochrane analitazama bonde; Kristo wa Mungu anawaona watu wake na anaonekana nao. Anza na kile wanachokijua. Fuatilia hadi kwa yeye alivyo. Hiyo ndiyo hermeneutiki ikitenda kazi hadharani.Every pastor walks into a Mars Hill on Sunday morning. The statues are different, but the principle is identical. Your people are religious about something — their work, their team, their politics, their bodies, their family. They have erected altars to gods they do not name as gods. Your task as the preacher is not to mock the altars. It is to find the line that runs from where they stand to Christ, and walk them up it. The Cochrane Man of Vision watches the valley; the Christ of God sees His people and is seen by them. Begin with what they know. Track to who He is. That is hermeneutics in motion in the public square.

6. Kama Mwanadamu, Lakini Kama Mungu6. As a Man, But as God

Kiini cha kumfuatilia Kristo ni Mtu mwenyewe, Mungu kamili na mwanadamu kamili. Wakristo wamelithibitisha hili tangu mabaraza ya kwanza kabisa, na Biblia nzima inaelekea kwenye ukiri huu. Ama Yesu ni Mungu ama ni mdanganyifu mkuu kuliko wote waliowahi kuishi. Hakuna chaguo la tatu. Mchungaji anayemfuatilia Kristo katika Biblia lazima aishike asili zote mbili machoni pake kwa wakati mmoja. Injili ya Mtume Yohana inaanza kwa kusema zote mbili katika mstari mmoja: Hapo mwanzo kulikuwako Neno, naye Neno alikuwako kwa Mungu, naye Neno alikuwa Mungu. Manabii wa Kiebrania walikuwa wamemwona akija kama Mungu Mwenye Nguvu na kama Mtumishi Anayeteseka. Waandishi wa Injili walituambia jinsi asili hizo mbili zilivyoishi katika Mtu mmoja. Hapa kuna tofauti inayotembea katika hadithi nzima.The center of Christ-tracking is the Person Himself, fully God and fully man. Christians have affirmed this from the earliest councils, and the whole Bible bends toward this confession. Either Jesus is God or He is the greatest fraud who ever lived. There is no third option. The pastor who tracks Christ through the Bible must hold both natures in view at once. The Apostle John’s Gospel begins by saying both in one verse: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Hebrew prophets had seen Him coming as the Mighty God and as the Suffering Servant. The Gospel writers told us how the two natures lived in one Person. Here is the contrast that walks through the whole story.

Kama mwanadamu alizaliwa horini; lakini kama Mungu Yeye ndiye wa Milele. Kama mwanadamu aliona njaa; lakini kama Mungu Yeye ndiye Mkate wa Uzima. Kama mwanadamu aliona kiu; lakini kama Mungu Yeye ndiye Maji ya Uzima. Kama mwanadamu alichoka; lakini kama Mungu alisema, Njooni kwangu, ninyi nyote msumbukao. Kama mwanadamu alijaribiwa sawasawa na sisi katika mambo yote; lakini kama Mungu hakuwa na dhambi. Kama mwanadamu alilia Gethsemane; lakini kama Mungu anafuta kila chozi katika macho yetu. Kama mwanadamu alibatizwa kwa maji; lakini kama Mungu anabatiza kwa moto. Kama mwanadamu alitembea pamoja na walio gizani; lakini kama Mungu Yeye ndiye nuru ya ulimwengu. Kama mwanadamu aliitwa Mnazareti; lakini kama Mungu anaitwa Imanueli. Kama mwanadamu alikuwa Mwana wa Adamu; lakini kama Mungu Yeye ni Mwana wa Mungu. Kama mwanadamu aliitwa kichaa; lakini kama Mungu anaitwa Bwana. Kama mwanadamu aliitwa mtumishi; lakini kama Mungu anaitwa Mwokozi. Kama mwanadamu alikufa msalabani; lakini kama Mungu angeweza kuita malaika milioni. Kama mwanadamu alilazwa kaburini; lakini kama Mungu alitoka kwa kishindo siku tatu baadaye akiwa na mamlaka yote mkononi mwake. Kama mwanadamu alikuwa na makovu mikononi mwake; lakini kama Mungu ameketi mkono wa kuume wa Baba.As a man He was born in a manger; but as God He is the Everlasting One. As a man He was hungry; but as God He is the Bread of Life. As a man He was thirsty; but as God He is the Living Water. As a man He was tired; but as God He said, Come to Me, all that are weary. As a man He was tempted in all points; but as God He was sinless. As a man He wept in Gethsemane; but as God He wipes away every tear from our eyes. As a man He was baptized with water; but as God He baptizes with fire. As a man He walked with those in darkness; but as God He is the light of the world. As a man He was called a Nazarene; but as God He is called Emmanuel. As a man He was the Son of Man; but as God He is the Son of God. As a man He was called a lunatic; but as God He is called Lord. As a man He was called a servant; but as God He is called Savior. As a man He died on a cross; but as God He could have called a million angels. As a man He was laid in a tomb; but as God He came crashing out three days later with all power in His hand. As a man He had scars in His hands; but as God He sits at the right hand of the Father.

Hiyo ndiyo Biblia katika mistari kumi na saba. Huyo ndiye Mtu ambaye kila kifungu kinamwelekea. Andiko lolote utakalohubiri Jumapili, mahali fulani katika mstari wa mahubiri yako lazima Yeye aonekane katika asili zote mbili. Maandiko mengine yataegemea ubinadamu wake — machozi yake, njaa yake, uchovu wake. Maandiko mengine yataegemea uungu wake — mamlaka yake, ufufuo wake, hukumu yake. Kristo kamili anahitaji zote mbili, na Biblia inasisitiza zote mbili. Mahubiri yanayokupa moja tu kati ya hizo mbili bado hayajamfuatilia Mtu huyo hadi mwisho.That is the Bible in seventeen lines. That is the Person every passage tracks toward. Whatever text you preach on Sunday, somewhere in the line of your sermon He must appear in both natures. Some texts will lean on His humanity — His tears, His hunger, His weariness. Some texts will lean on His deity — His authority, His resurrection, His judgment. The full Christ requires both, and the Bible insists on both. A sermon that gives you only one of the two has not yet tracked all the way to the Person.

7. Makosa Matatu Katika Kumfuatilia Kristo7. Three Errors in Christ-Tracking

Kosa la kwanza ni kulazimisha kila jambo dogo limaanishe Kristo. Mawe matano laini katika mfuko wa Daudi si yale majeraha matano. Vipande thelathini vya fedha katika hadithi ya Yusufu havilingani hasa na vile thelathini ambavyo Yuda alivitupa chini. Mambo madogo mengine yanaungana; mengi hayaungani. Mchungaji anayepa kila kitu kilichotajwa maana ya kikristolojia hupoteza miunganiko halali katika ukungu wa miunganiko ya kubuni. Heshimu kile ambacho andiko linaunganisha; kataa kile ambacho haliunganishi.The first error is forcing every detail to mean Christ. The five smooth stones in David’s bag are not the five wounds. The thirty pieces of silver in Joseph’s story do not exactly equal the thirty Judas threw down. Some details connect; many do not. The pastor who assigns christological meaning to every named object loses the legitimate connections in a fog of invented ones. Honor what the text makes; resist what it does not.

Kosa la pili ni kupuuza miunganiko ambayo Biblia yenyewe inaifanya. Mchungaji anahubiri Mwanzo 22 kama hadithi kuhusu imani ya baba na hataji kamwe kwamba Agano Jipya linaitazama kama picha ya Baba akimtoa Mwana. Anahubiri Hesabu 21 kama tukio la nyoka wa shaba na hanukuu kamwe Yohana 3:14: Na kama vile Musa alivyomwinua yule nyoka jangwani, vivyo hivyo imempasa Mwana wa Adamu kuinuliwa. Roho alitoa ramani; usikatae kuifuata.The second error is ignoring the connections the Bible itself makes. The pastor preaches Genesis 22 as a story about a father’s faith and never mentions that the New Testament treats it as a picture of the Father offering the Son. He preaches Numbers 21 as an episode with a bronze serpent and never quotes John 3:14: as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. The Spirit provided the map; do not refuse to follow it.

Kosa la tatu ni kuliruka Agano la Kale kabisa. Mchungaji anayehubiri kutoka Injili na Nyaraka peke yake anawanyima watu wake robo tatu ya Biblia na kuwatenga na udongo ambamo injili ilikua. Bila Pasaka hawawezi kuielewa Meza ya Bwana. Bila ukuhani hawawezi kuielewa Waebrania. Bila ufalme wa Daudi hawawezi kukielewa kiti cha enzi ambacho malaika alimwahidi Mwana wa Mariamu. Liruke Agano la Kale na kilele kinapoteza sehemu kubwa ya uzito wake.The third error is skipping the Old Testament entirely. The pastor who preaches only from the Gospels and the Epistles starves his people of three-quarters of the Bible and disconnects them from the soil out of which the gospel grew. Without Passover they cannot understand the Lord’s Supper. Without the priesthood they cannot understand Hebrews. Without David’s kingdom they cannot understand the throne the angel promised Mary’s Son. Skip the Old Testament and the climax loses most of its weight.

8. Njia ya Kuhubiri ya Kilima cha Mars8. The Mars Hill Preaching Method

Mahubiri ya Paulo huko Athene ni njia ya kufanya kazi, si mfano tu. Yanaweza kufupishwa kuwa hatua nne ambazo mchungaji anaweza kuzitumia Jumapili yoyote. Moja: anza pale walipo. Paulo alianza na madhabahu zao, si na Biblia yake. Mchungaji anayeanza kila mahubiri kwa swali, hadithi, au jambo analoliona katika maisha ya jamii ya watu wake, tayari amevuka kizingiti kwa njia ile ile aliyofanya Paulo. Mbili: taja kisichojulikana kinachoishi katika maisha yao. Waathene walikuwa na madhabahu halisi kwa mungu asiyejulikana. Watu wako wana shauku zisizo na jina, huzuni zisizo na jina, hofu zisizo na jina. Zitaje. Waonyeshe watu wako kwamba Biblia inazungumza na hayo yasiyojulikana mahususi. Tatu: mtambulishe Yule ambaye wamekuwa wakimtafuta bila kujua. Paulo alisema, Basi, mnayemwabudu bila kumjua, huyo ndiye ninayewahubiri. Mchungaji anachukua msimamo ule ule. Shauku ambayo hujaweza kuipa jina, nyumba ambayo hujaweza kuipata, msamaha ambao huwezi kujitengenezea — niwahubiri Yule ambaye amekuwa akikutafuta muda wote. Nne: sukuma hadi kwenye ufufuo. Paulo hakuishia kwenye imani ya kuwepo kwa Mungu tu. Alisonga hadi mwisho kwa mtu yule aliyemchagua; naye amewapa watu wote uthibitisho wa mambo hayo kwa kumfufua katika wafu. Bila ufufuo hakuna injili. Malizia kila mahubiri ya Kilima cha Mars kwenye kaburi lililo tupu.Paul’s Athens sermon is a method, not just a model. It can be reduced to four steps that a pastor can use any Sunday. One: begin where they are. Paul began with their altars, not with his Bible. The pastor who begins each sermon with a question, a story, an observation about the community life of his people, has already passed the threshold the same way Paul did. Two: name the unknown that lives in their lives. The Athenians had a literal altar to the unknown god. Your people have unnamed longings, unnamed griefs, unnamed fears. Name them. Show your people that the Bible speaks to those specific unknowns. Three: introduce the One they have been unwittingly seeking. Paul said, that unknown God whom you worship without knowing — I declare Him to you. The pastor takes the same posture. The longing you have not been able to name, the home you have not been able to find, the forgiveness you cannot manufacture — let me declare to you the One who has been seeking you all along. Four: drive to the resurrection. Paul did not stop at theism. He pressed all the way to the Man whom He has appointed, of whom He has given assurance by raising Him from the dead. Without the resurrection there is no gospel. End every Mars Hill sermon at the empty tomb.

9. Majibu Matatu Juu ya Kilima cha Mars9. The Three Responses on Mars Hill

Paulo alipofika kwenye ufufuo, Waathene waligawanyika katika makundi matatu. Wengine walidhihaki. Wanafalsafa wa Kigiriki waliicheka wazo kwamba mtu alikuwa amerudi kutoka kwa wafu. Walikuwa na mfumo wa fikra uliokataa ufufuo, nao wakayakataa mahubiri. Mchungaji lazima atarajie wadhihaki katika kila kusanyiko. Wengine watacheka, wakati mwingine waziwazi. Usiache kuhubiri ufufuo. Wengine waliahirisha. Walisema, Tutakusikiliza tena katika habari hii. Hili ndilo jibu la kawaida zaidi, na la hatari zaidi. Kuahirisha ni uamuzi, na wengi wanaoahirisha hawarudi. Mchungaji lazima asisitize jibu sasa. Wengine waliamini wakaokolewa. Dionisio na Damari na wengine wakaambatana na Paulo, wakaamini. Hata jibu dogo kabisa la Kilima cha Mars hubeba mbegu ya kanisa. Paulo aliondoka Athene akiwa na waongofu wachache, na kutokana na hao wachache jumuiya ya imani hatimaye ilianzishwa.When Paul reached the resurrection, the Athenians divided into three groups. Some mocked. The Greek philosophers laughed at the idea that a man had come back from the dead. They had a categorical framework that excluded the resurrection, and they rejected the sermon. The pastor must expect mockers in every congregation. Some will laugh, sometimes openly. Do not stop preaching the resurrection. Some delayed. They said, we will hear you again on this matter. This is the most common response, and the most dangerous. Delay is decision, and most who delay do not return. The pastor must press for response now. Some believed and were saved. Dionysius and Damaris and others clave unto Paul and believed. Even the smallest Mars Hill response carries the seed of a church. Paul left Athens with a few converts, and from those few a community of faith eventually formed.

Hubiri ukiwa na majibu hayo matatu akilini. Wadhihaki hawahitaji ujumbe laini zaidi; wanahitaji ujumbe mkali zaidi. Wanaoahirisha hawahitaji muda zaidi; wanahitaji mwaliko wenye nguvu zaidi. Waumini hawahitaji kutiwa moyo waendelee kusubiri; wanahitaji kanisa la kuwa sehemu yake. Hermeneutiki yako itamfikisha kila aina ya msikilizaji kwenye mojawapo ya milango hii mitatu. Hakikisha mahubiri yako yanaiacha yote mitatu wazi.Preach with the three responses in mind. The mockers do not need a softer message; they need a sharper one. The delayers do not need more time; they need a stronger invitation. The believers do not need encouragement to keep waiting; they need a church to belong to. Your hermeneutics will deliver each kind of hearer to one of these three doors. Make sure your preaching keeps all three open.

10. Mungu Alikuwa na Anwani Yake10. God Had His Address

Mchungaji mmoja anasimulia habari ya mvulana aliyezaliwa nje ya ndoa, ambaye wazazi wake walimtelekeza. Alitumia mawe kama mto wa kulalia. Alioga katika Mto St. Johns. Aliuza makopo ya alumini ili kupata chakula na alisoma chini ya mwanga wa duka la 7-Eleven. Usiku mwingine alilala katika kituo cha polisi ili apate joto, na usiku mwingine kando ya barabara chini ya daraja. Ndani ya miaka kumi na mitatu alikuwa mchungaji akihubiri kila Jumapili kwa watu elfu moja na mia tano. Alitazama nyuma akasema, Mungu alikuwa na anwani yangu. Daudi alisema vivyo hivyo katika Zaburi 27: Baba yangu na mama yangu wameniacha, bali BWANA atanikaribisha kwake.A pastor tells the story of a boy, born illegitimate, whose parents abandoned him. He used rocks for a pillow. He bathed in the St. John’s River. He sold aluminum cans for food and studied under the light of a 7-Eleven. He slept some nights at the police station for warmth, others on the pavement under a bridge. Within thirteen years he was a pastor preaching every Sunday to fifteen hundred people. He looked back and said, God had my address. David said the same in Psalm 27: When my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will take me up.

Mchungaji, watu walio mbele yako Jumapili wana Kilima chao cha Mars. Wengine ni matajiri wenye madhabahu kwa kazi zao na familia zao. Wengine wanalala chini ya madaraja yao wenyewe bila madhabahu yoyote. Mungu wa Biblia ana anwani ya kila mmoja wao. Kitabu chote kimekuwa kikimwelekea Yule aliyekuja kuwatafuta. Mfuatilie Kristo katika andiko lako wiki hii nawe utakuwa ukifanya kile Paulo alichofanya katika Areopago. Anza pale walipo. Malizia pale alipo Yeye. Alikuwa na anwani yao kabla hawajalijua jina lake.Pastor, the people in front of you on Sunday have their own Mars Hill. Some are wealthy with altars to careers and family. Some are sleeping under their own bridges with no altars at all. The God of the Bible has every one of their addresses. The whole Book has been pointing at the One who came to find them. Track Christ through your text this week and you will be doing what Paul did on the Areopagus. Begin where they are. End where He is. He had their address before they knew His name.