Acts 27:13-26 When a gentle south wind began to blow, they saw their opportunity; so they weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete. Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the Northeaster, swept down from the island. The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along. As we passed to the lee of a small island called Cauda, we were hardly able to make the lifeboat secure, so the men hoisted it aboard. Then they passed ropes under the ship itself to hold it together. Because they were afraid they would run aground on the sandbars of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor and let the ship be driven along. We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard. On the third day, they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved. After they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: “Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. Last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island.”
We see in this continued saga of Paul’s journey to Rome what it means when one has a partnership with God. In this union God never leaves Paul even when Paul is experiencing a harrowing journey to Rome. Paul might have questioned why he was on this ship that he knew eventually would have trouble on a turbulent Mediterranean Sea. Maybe he should have thought better of going to Rome. But Paul had a great love for God through the work of Jesus on the road to Damascus. After that interaction, we know God is committed to Paul, directing his life intimately, keeping in contact with Paul through dreams, trances, and angels. Through these supernatural interventions, Paul received encouragement not to fear the angry faces of men and women. One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.” So Paul stayed in Corinth for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God. (Acts 18:9-11) Without that assurance of not being afraid of the faces of people, he and Silas would not have been found in the Philippi jail singing and praying. In their imprisonment, bound by chains and stocks, they were singing and praising God. They had been beaten with rods, bruising their bodies; they heard ridicule and hatred from their captors. Their emotions should have been bitter, defeated, wallowed in despair; instead, they were praising God in the depths of the Philippi prison. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. (Acts 16:25) Paul was in Philippi because of a vision: During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” (Acts 16:8-9) Paul now could have thought, why am I here in Macedonia? But in Philippi, Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth, became Paul’s first convert in Europe. Paul was in partnership with God; God was the Director, Paul was fulfilling a role God had planned for him on this earth's stage. From the beginning of time, God used people to do his will. Some of his people became heroes in their societies and cultures, but others existed in ignominy, without recognition and reward. No audience standing and clapping for their performance; instead, There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. (Hebrews 11:35-38)
After Paul’s rescue from a murderous mob in Jerusalem by the Roman’s soldier, the commander of the Roman garrison summoned the Sanhedrin and Paul to come before him and explain why all this disruption in Jerusalem had occurred. Paul divided the Sanhedrin by claiming he believed in the resurrection, and some of them did not. A fight broke out between the Pharisees who believed in the resurrection and the Sadducees who did not believe in the resurrection, causing so much commotion that the commander ordered his soldiers to put Paul back into the barracks. That night, the Director of Paul’s life on earth, told Paul He had another scene for him to play. Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome. (Acts 23:11) In today's focus we see Paul playing out this last scene on the ship, Alexandria. He is a prisoner on the Alexandria, and the ship is at the mercy of a Northeaster storm on the Mediterranean. Eventually the ship will break up and run aground on some island. Of course this situation is desperate and filled with despair for the 276 onboard. But now the crew and passengers were ready to listen to Paul, only a prisoner, but one who seems to know God. He then gets up before them and tells them good news. Last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ (Acts 27:23-24) The intrusion of an angel in Paul’s life, once again reveals God’s partnership in Paul’s role in life. He could tell the occupants of the Alexandria that they would all come out of this scene with their lives. All of them would survive, for God has directed Paul to go to Rome. This theme of be not afraid, I am with you is throughout the scriptures. We see these words as Joshua is preparing to take Canaan with his army. Be strong and have strength of heart! Do not be afraid or lose faith. For the Lord your God is with you anywhere you go.” (Joshua 1:9) In Canaan during the time of the Judges: Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah had to act on the words of God: be not afraid, take courage, for I will use you to overcome your enemies. They believed what Isaiah expressed later about God’s faithfulness to his people: Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:10). Paul stood on the faithfulness of God. If He said, I should go to Rome, then I will go to Rome in safety. So Paul can tell the crew and passengers that God is faithful to fulfill his words. Paul can say, Yes, the ship will go aground; your lives will be endangered in the water, but you all will survive. Definitely encouraging to the humans on board that day.
But hearing and believing are two different things. Often people hear God’s voice in their inner ear, but to believe and act on what they heard in their spirits is a different story. Often God desires to direct us, but we fail to accept his direction. Jesus in the beatitudes spoke about how to be a true follower of God. He said that we are not to strike back at those who abuse us. We are not to hate our enemies. We are to be patient, loving, and caring for our neighbors. We are to be humble, servants to all. We are to be as God who sends the refreshing rain on the ones who love him and on the ones who despise him. We are to fix our lives on God’s words, for they are the rock of our salvation. The commandments and the teaching of the Lord should be obeyed, not ignored. Paul believed the words of the angel; he knew those words came from God. Take courage men, I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. Paul acts on the angel’s words by having everyone eat something and relax, for God will do what He told me. He convinces the Centurion not to let the crew abandon the ship to save their own lives. Paul’s words are heeded because the people and the Centurion know Paul is a man of God. He not only heard God, he listened to God and acted upon it. Often people hear, but do not listen with a desire to obey the words heard. We often put our own ideas about life in front of God’s commands. We hear but do not listen. Sometimes a child, who is hearing words of correction from a parent, will just hear, but not truly listen so that his or her misbehavior can be corrected. Jesus in Matthew 15:10 called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.” We are to listen and obey. As with food, what goes into our mouths is not the defiling agent, but what comes out of our mouths is the defilement. Words that go into our ears do not defile us, but what is generated in us with those words we hear do defile us. Jesus said, the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. (Matthew 15:18-19) What should we do with God’s words that we hear. We ought to listen to them and put them in practice. Paul knew what he should do with God’s words that he heard from the angel; he put them in action. He truly listened, not letting his own ideas about life dismiss God’s authority over his life. Paul knew God is his refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore he would not fear, though the earth gives away and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. (Psalm 46:1-3) Paul would obey the Director of his life. His life was in partnership with the lover of his soul. He could trust God to never abandon him or leave him, and that all things work together for those who are in this love relationship. Dear friends know God as the director of your life; trust him with your life, for He desires to bless the world through you. And we know you will!
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