Fifth Sunday After Pentecost Acts 27:1-12 Storms Come up 1 When It
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June 27 -- Fifth Sunday after Pentecost Acts 27:1-12 Storms come up 1 When it was decided that we would sail for Italy, Paul and some other prisoners were handed over to a centurion named Julius, who belonged to the Imperial Regiment. 2 We boarded a ship from Adramyttium about to sail for ports along the coast of the province of Asia, and we put out to sea. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was with us. 3 The next day we landed at Sidon; and Julius, in kindness to Paul, allowed him to go to his friends so they might provide for his needs. 4 From there we put out to sea again and passed to the lee of Cyprus because the winds were against us. 5 When we had sailed across the open sea off the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we landed at Myra in Lycia. 6 There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy and put us on board. 7 We made slow headway for many days and had difficulty arriving off Cnidus. When the wind did not allow us to hold our course, we sailed to the lee of Crete, opposite Salmone. 8 We moved along the coast with difficulty and came to a place called Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea. 9 Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Fast. So Paul warned them, 10 “Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also.” 11 But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship. 12 Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided that we should sail on, hoping to reach Phoenix and winter there. This was a harbor in Crete, facing both southwest and northwest. If anyone needed courage, it was the Apostle Paul. Dark storm clouds had been hanging over his head for the last several years. After another difficult and dangerous missionary trip to cities around the Agean Sea, he had gone to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover and to bring financial help to Christians suffering from poverty. Jewish religious leaders rioted when Paul appeared in the temple; they made false accusations against him and even tried to kill him. Paul was taken into custody by the Roman officials. A corrupt official, who may have been looking for a bribe, held Paul in something like house-arrest for two years. Paul appealed and was granted a hearing before the imperial court of Caesar in Rome. The storms were about to turn even more violent. A trip to Rome was a momentous undertaking. Even a direct route by sea would have covered about 1,500 miles. Most ships followed much safer routes along the coast. The Roman centurion in charge of prisoner Paul took him, Luke and Aristarchus on a boat headed along the coast for southwestern Turkey. Contrary winds slowed their progress. The boat didn’t reach southwestern Turkey until the end of August. In a couple of weeks fall and winter storms would make sailing across open waters dangerous and eventually foolhardy. In hindsight the centurion would have chosen a safer route to Rome, along the coast of western Turkey, then by land across Macedonia, then a short trip across the Adriatic Sea and finally by land up the Italian peninsula to Rome. The centurion found a boat that had stopped at the harbor on its way to Rome. It was carrying grain from Egypt; and its owner wanted to deliver his product before shipping was closed down. Likely, he’d also make a bigger profit if he delivered when grain was about to become more precious during the winter months. They hoped to follow a direct route to Rome, but winds blowing in from the northwest slowed their progress and forced them to head out of their way to the south side of Crete. They were losing time. It was now late September or early October, when sailing across the open sea had to be halted. Paul had sailed the eastern Mediterranean and Agean Seas many times. He had been shipwrecked three times and once spent a day and a night hanging onto debris in open water. Stop at this harbor in southern Crete and wait until good weather returns next spring, he warned the Centurion and the ship’s pilot. Paul was overruled by the ship owner; he wanted to get that grain to Rome as soon as possible next spring, likely to sell it at a higher price when the supply of grain in Rome had dwindled. And why should the owner listen to Paul? He’s a prisoner! Often, like Paul, we have little or no control over events that affect us. A corrupt governor, bureaucracy, a centurion willing to take a risk to get to Rome sooner than choosing a safer route, a grain merchant wanting to maximize his profits all took decisions over which Paul had no control. He and his two coworkers were just three passengers and crew of 276 people when they sailed from Turkey for a quicker route to Rome. And Paul was a prisoner at that! We have little say over the policies followed by our government; we have no control over the weather or the pressure of time running out. When storms come up in our lives, we may feel helpless. Acts 27:13-20 Our efforts are limited 13 When a gentle south wind began to blow, they thought they had obtained what they wanted; so they weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete. 14 Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the “northeaster,” swept down from the island. 15 The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along. 16 As we passed to the lee of a small island called Cauda, we were hardly able to make the lifeboat secure. 17 When the men had hoisted it aboard, they passed ropes under the ship itself to hold it together. Fearing that they would run aground on the sandbars of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor and let the ship be driven along. 18 We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard. 19 On the third day, they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. 20 When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved. They pressed on for another segment, they could at least reach a better harbor in Crete about 50 miles further west and closer to Rome. Besides a gentle southwestern breeze would help them get that far. They left harbor. Soon a strong, hurricane like wind from the northeast blew them off course. The sailors can’t turn back because of the wind. To control their ship, they secure the lifeboat and throw off some cargo and equipment. They tie ropes around the vessel to keep it from breaking apart. They fear being pushed into the African coast and its sandbar. They place a sea anchor to slow the ship down and make it more manageable. And they throw more equipment overboard. The storm lasts two weeks. Because they can’t see the sun or the stars, they don’t know where they are; they can’t navigate. Nature has overpowered the sailors. The owner, the Roman guard, and the passengers—276 people—aren’t eating. Is it seasickness as the mighty waves toss the ship about? Are they consumed by fear? Some suggest that sailors might fast to appease the gods, to end the storm. Whatever the reason, the sailors and passengers are losing their courage, they are giving up, they are expecting to die. If the people 2,000 years ago had our ships, they would have managed the storm much better. More importantly, satellite observation would have told them not to leave port in the first place. Wait a couple of weeks and then they will reach Rome safe and sound. Even so, we still feel helpless before nature. Many fret that global climate change will flood cities, others worry that eventually a large meteor will strike our planet and end life as we know it. Plastic from Asia floats over an area the size of the United States in the Pacific Ocean. Pollution pours into rivers and oceans. Animal and plant species disappear. The Apostle Paul wrote, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time” (Romans 8:22); and nature is still groaning from the consequences of sin. Our efforts to save the natural world from the abuse we humans bring to it seem futile, like tying ropes around a boat to keep it from breaking apart, like casting off cargo and sending out a sea anchor to avoid grounding in shoals or sinking on the open sea. We can become depressed, lose courage, get down, lose hope, lose heart, become afraid when our efforts to save ourselves fail. Acts 27:21-26 God will bring us through 21 After the men 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.