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By Being In The Storm
Authored by Takao Kiyohiro, Osaka, Japan ktakao@po.teleway.ne.jp
Translated by Rev. Mike Furey mfurey@seidata.com
at http://www.j-e-s-u-s.org.
TEXT: Acts 27:1-26
We have entered chapter twenty-seven. Paul finishes his prison life at
Caesarea where he spent two years and is transported to Rome. From here
the story is composed with the focus on a detailed picture of the journey.
In verse one since the word "we" appears, we surmise that Luke was involved
in this trip. He probably wrote this passage based on their travelogues.
It seems clear from the place we read today that this trip was not one of
tranquility and peace. Because of hardships at sea, they had experiences
near the shores of death. When we consider the account based on the people
involved in that journey, each word recorded here which is loaded with
importance will urge us on. What was it Luke saw in this situation? And, what
is it he is seeking to convey to us through the pictures of those events?
A Stormy Passage From Head winds
Please refer to the beginning from verse one to verse eight. What is touched
upon in the account of Paul's conveyance was a character Julius, a centurion
under the direct control of the imperial army. It seems that several other
prisoners had been given to his custody. They boarded a ship from Adramyttium
harbour and set sail from Caesarea. So the next day the ship first pulled into
the port of Sidon. Here Paul was allowed to associate with the Christians of
Sidon. We think Paul who had Roman citizenship received favorable treatment by
the centurion Julius. Then, hardly after the ship had set out, here it met up
with some head winds. We think this was some seasonal winds blowing out of the
west. For that reason they went north and headed for the north shores of the
island of Cyprus, and they went towards the west making use of the land breeze
blowing toward the open sea of Cilicia and Pamphylia. This voyage
was looking to be a stormy passage, so the ship anchored down at Myra of Lycia.
Mira had a harbour that could be described as a refuge for ships unable to sail
due to wind conditions. We don't think that this pulling into port was part of
the scheduled run. Furthermore, at this location the centurion was able to locate
a ship from Alexandria going to Italy and he made Paul and his company take passage
on it. This seemed to be a ship that engaged in cereal transactions between
Alexandria and Rome. By the way, even this ship did not move along with any speed
because of strong north-westerly winds. All they could do was approach Cnidus
harbour. But, even there they were hindered in their power to go into the winds.
Finally, the ship rounded the Salmone promontory and sailed in the shadows of the
island of Crete, then it made headway along the island coast. So at last it arrived
at a place called "a good harbour, a haven" near the small town named Lasea.
What I noticed when reading here was that Luke repeatedly makes reference to
"winds." The course of the ship was altered by the winds, or they may have decided
to go that way because things weren't working out according to their original
plans. If the case was that it was a sailing ship without a motor, it would not
have been a strange thing to happen, rather it would have been a natural occurrence.
On the Mediterranean sea route, this type of occurrence was apt to take place.
However, if we see this story as promoting a picture of humanity tossed about in a
ship by a wind storm, then what Luke has recorded doesn't just appear as merely
documentation of a natural occurrence. Actually, in the development of this entire
twenty-seventh chapter, "the winds" are playing a key role.
Needless to say but, "the winds" being spoken about here are a power from nature.
We could say calling it a power from nature represents the various powers which
human strength can do nothing about. In this story, the directions which move
along according to such power are altered. In modern times, this kind of power
may not have such influence to alter directions. If we were concerned only with
winds, we would think that everything was okay if a motor was fixed to the ship.
But we could say in a certain sense in both ancient and modern times there has not
been much change in the phenomenon of humans concerning directions getting altered
by powers that exceed human power, schedules getting changed, or things not
proceeding at all according to our satisfaction. Rather than calling it an image
of that time period we might consider how the image of persons who set sails which
get into trouble with contrary winds symbolizes the unchanging fundamental
condition of humanity in any time period. Although humanity in each and every time
period has lived acting haughtily as though man or woman was the owner of life and
the master of history, in actual practice, he or she has not been able to become
such an owner or master. Humanity has always been swung around by various winds
and forced to modify his or her course. Of course, we are not exempted from this
either. I think we can surely see an image of our own selves here as well.
Being Attacked By Gale Winds
Next, let's read verses nine to twenty. Although the text says "after some
considerable time," this was probably quite a prolongment of the voyage than
estimated. As they had already passed the days of the fast, the voyage changed
into the dangerous season. What is called "the days of the fast" is the span
of five days before the Day of Atonement as set in the Old Testament book
Leviticus in chapter sixteen and verse twenty-nine, and this falls in today's
calendar from the end of September to the beginning of October. With this Paul
is issuing a warning to the people. "Everyone, what I am seeing is that on this
voyage not just the cargo and the hull of the ship, but even we also will suffer
danger and great loss," (verse ten). We should see this as a general common
sense utterance from Paul rather than a message from his special gift of prophecy.
Or Paul's warning may have originated from his experiences when he had suffered
troubles at sea on three occasions (II Corinthians 11:25). However, Paul's
message was not accepted because he made the claim that the captain and the owner
of the ship continued sailing. Furthermore, a large number of persons also went
to Phenice harbour which was just under a distance of seventy kilometers from
there, and they sought to spend the winter there because it was believed it was
best to spend winter there.
It's deeply interesting how Paul who believed here that he was heading for Rome
in accordance with God's will had an outlook tending towards prudence while the
persons on the same voyage had a positive outlook. Being faithful is different
from being reckless. In addition, this so called "positive thinking" is a whole
different thing from "the faith" approach which Paul embraced. There was not a
fragment of the idea that "If you believe you can, then you can," in Paul. For
sure, Paul believed that he would soon be standing on Roman soil. He believed it
would surely come to pass based on the fact it was God's will. However, because
of this very belief he doesn't say "we really ought to go on," but instead he
says "we should wait."
At last, the centurion handed down a decision for them to continue sailing.
The text says (verse thirteen), "Then as south winds were blowing in calmly,
when the men thought things were going their way they pulled anchor and
proceeded along the coast of the island of Crete." Again, we have a story about
"winds." This one was about a favorable wind. Thwarting a crisis is important;
but, at that moment they were missing something. What they were missing was the
awareness that they had been living under various powers which they could not
control and the modesty produced from such an awareness. The Bible says they took
up anchor "when the men thought things were going their way." (This translation
conveys the nuance of the original text well.) Now, how familiar is their
position to us? We also think like that without even noticing it. "Thinking
that things are going our way..." We think like that without any basis in fact.
We think that way when the gentlest of favorable winds is blowing by.
However, things do not usually proceed the way humans think or wish. Suddenly,
the wind rose up. It is written that "But, in an instant a violent wind called
'Euroclydon,' blew down from the island area. As the ship got caught up in it
and could not advance against the wind, we turned it over to the force of the
flow," (vv. 14-15).
Well, when a man is tossed by such great storm-like power and the crisis touches
him personally, what in the world does he think of then? Luke recorded the
following. "But, after we were troubled by the terrible gale, the next day the
men began throwing the cargo into the sea, and on the third day we ended up
pitching the ship's rigging with our own hands. Without seeing the sun or the
stars for several days, as the gale blew violently through, at last we decided
to completely extinguish any hope for rescue," (vv. 18-20). Our attention is
drawn to ponder several points through the image of humanity illustrated here.
At the beginning the owner of the ship must have shouted "Save the cargo!" In a
desperate attempt they tried to save the cargo and ship; for, should they lose it
all, it would be a major loss. However, in no time the men began to cast off the
cargo. I guess both the owner as well as the captain themselves heaved away the
cargo with their very own hands.
We realize that in the middle of storms what we thought was important becomes only
a hindrance in crucial moments. When one's life is exposed to crisis, one is made
aware of many things that he or she doesn't truly need. I once read the story of
when a certain very rich man was informed that he was dying, and he shouted out,
"I'll give all these riches so extend my life span!" When one's life in this world
becomes an issue, a person thinks about what is or is not important. However, if
we'd think about it, the time when life becomes the issue will surely come calling
on everyone sooner or later. The time when a person's existence is exposed to
crisis comes all too surely. If then (when our existence is exposed to crisis) we
first start to think about what is important, we have to admit that our life is quite
poor in quality, though we are not the rich man in that story I mentioned. Wait,
if we have anything to say, in such a time it is not merely just our earthly life and
death that is at issue, but eternal life is the issue, and it is time for asking
about salvation or hell. What do we tenaciously hold to? Isn't what we hold to what
we truly value? What are we truly making important? What is it that we really need
in the end? I think we have a real need about which we should carefully think, even
though we have so far been thinking about the image of the persons on this ship.
Encouragement From God
Well, after heaving off what was unnecessary and doing their best to do what they
could, for several more days they were tossed by the gale and finally they decided
they should let their hope for rescue die out completely. When it gets to the
point where a person cannot save himself by his own power, he cannot help but lose
hope. However, among those desperate men stands a lone figure. It is the figure
of Paul. He stands as a completely different character than the other men. He
says (vv. 21-26) [quoting the King James Version], "...Sirs, ye should have
hearkened unto me, and not loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss.
And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man's
life among you, but of the ship. For there stood by me this night the angel of God,
whose I am, and whom I serve, saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before
Caesar; and lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee. Wherefore, sirs,
be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me.
Howbeit we must be cast upon a certain island."
The important thing here is that Paul has spoken of God to these who have lost hope.
To those who have lost hope so to speak at the horizontal direction (or water level)
Paul is speaking about conditions at the vertical direction. To persons who have
been tossed about by powers that human strength cannot shoulder, Paul tells about the
exceedingly great One who controls from above even those very same particular powers.
Paul knows that very One because this is the One Paul calls "the God who I am serving
and who I am worshipping, ['...God, whose I am, and whom I serve' from the King James
Version quote given above]." He has been living in such a relationship with God.
Therefore, Paul is not a man who loses hope here along with them; rather, he is acting
as a man who encourages and gives hope to the others.
"For there stood by me this night the angel of God..." I don't really know in what
way the angel stood there, whether Paul had a vision or a dream. But, one thing I
know for sure. When the men became desperate to save themselves in the storm and had
soon lost even their hope, Paul calmly turned to God. Even more than when the angel
appeared and all that, we can say there had been a definite difference here between
Paul and those men, which is, Paul listened to the message from God "Fear not," which
God had spoken through his messenger back there. I believe Paul needed that message,
too. He was also in the storm. He was also in fear. But, he had heard the message
from heaven that said, "Fear not."
Although he was a man who served and worshipped God, he was not exempted from the
storm on that spiritual basis. After all, in the same way even other people who
serve and worship God encounter storms. We also are placed under conditions where
we ought to feel afraid. We are tossed by tempests in the same way. We might
become afraid as well. We might end up completely losing our hope in this world.
But, as for the person who serves and worships God, he or she still looks to God
even in such a place of seeming hopelessness. He or she earnestly waits in hope on
God alone. Furthermore, he or she hears the message from God that says "Fear not."
The person who has heard the "Fear not" message from God in that particular way
will also be able to tell about conditions of the vertical dimension to the [unsaved]
world.
I believe the image of Paul in the midst of this storm could be described as the image
the church ought to have which has been placed right in the middle of this world where
the storms are still sweeping through with their devastations. As we are in the storm
being tossed along with the people in this world, we should not lose all hope. This is
something that we should do not just for ourselves. It is not just for ourselves that
we serve God, worship God, wait in hope for God, or listen to the word of God. We
believers have a responsibility. We are placed in this world to bear the
responsibility to listen to God's word, to re-gain our balance through God's word, to
tell this world God's word, and to make plain the hope based on the God who controls
the storms.
Translated by Mike Furey
Hanover, IN, USA
mfurey@seidata.com
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