Hope in despair

 Acts 27:21-44; 7/21/2024/2024; BCBC/IOUC; Rev. Paul Wang

Introduction

What choices do people make when they encounter risks or even despair?  How do they feel?  Today’s scripture shows us a picture of hope in despair.  Let’s look at the first point:

 Hope of justification by faith

If we look at this storm on the sea from a spiritual perspective, it is actually the result of people’s lack of faith in God.  First, you must stand before Caesar.  Paul said to the people on the boat, “If you had listened to my advice, stop and wait at Fair Havens in Crete, you would not have suffered such damage and destruction.”  If Paul stopped here, it would be a complaint.  But Paul continued to say: “Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship.”  Others may not know it, but Paul had assurance of life. This assurance is that Paul had a vision and a mission, because God said to Paul:  “Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you. (Acts 27:24)”  I was once hit by turbulence on a plane, and the flight attendant asked everyone to write their last words.  I say to everyone: Don’t be afraid!

Secondly, the sailors wanted to escape from the ship.  Why run away?   It’s just because of fear!  How can we not be afraid?  It is because a person not only has life but also has a mission.  Paul knew that he was going to Rome to testify before Caesar, so he was not afraid!  I told everyone on the plane not to be afraid because I knew I was going to China to preach the gospel and bear witness.  As long as I am sure that this mission is given by God, I don’t have to worry or be afraid.  If there are difficulties, He will solve them; if there are dangers, He will also deal with them!  The sailors were blessed with the ability to operate the boat and escape, so they prepared to make a getaway.  However, in the vast sea and vast ocean, the survival rate of small boats is even lower.  The centurion simply ordered the soldiers to cut the rope of the boat and let it float away.

 Finally, not a hair is to perish.  In this way, the boat drifted on the sea all night, and everyone’s hearts were hung up all night.  It’s finally dawn, and logically, it’s time to have breakfast.  However, everyone is still in a state of shock, so how can they still be in the mood to fill their stomachs?  At this time, Paul, who was not afraid, began to encourage the people who were afraid.  Paul said:  “Today is the fourteenth day that you have continued in suspense and without food, having taken nothing.”  It’s not like fasting and praying, it’s because they were too scared to eat!  Paul continued: “Therefore I urge you to take some food. For it will give you strength, for not a hair is to perish from the head of any of you.” The same lesson happened to everyone again and also to the centurion.  The key question remains: do you believe it?  Let’s look at the second point:

 Break bread and give thanks for trusting the Lord

The Last Supper was a Communion Fellowship that Jesus led his disciples to during a period of three years when their spiritual lives were at a low point.  Jesus clearly said, “One of you wants to betray me.”  Then they asked who that person was.   Jesus said:  “He who has dipped his hand in the dish with me will betray me. (Matthew 26:23)”  Then came Jesus’ breaking of bread, toast, and blessing.  First of all, you should receive it with a grateful heart. What Paul means is that if you haven’t eaten much for fourteen days, you should be hungry, right?  Since God promised, “for not a hair is to perish from the head of any of you.”  So why worry?  Can worrying increase life expectancy?  Instead of doing this, why not accept today’s meal with a grateful heart?  The Bible says:   “And when he had said these things, he took bread, and giving thanks to God in the presence of all he broke it and began to eat.”   Paul was imitating the Lord, bringing blessings in the trough, hope in despair, and personally demonstrating to everyone that it was time to eat.  This is also a good way to help people get out of spiritual troughs and leave worrying situations.  Besides saying it, what’s more important is how to do it!

Secondly, once you have peace of mind, you must be satisfied.  After Paul finished speaking, he broke the bread and began to eat.  A wonderful thing unfolded before his eyes:  “Then they all were encouraged and ate some food themselves.” Maybe we would say, it’s not that complicated, people will eat when they are hungry.  This sentence is correct, but not entirely correct.  If you don’t believe it, you can try it.  When people are worried to the extreme, they will not think about food and drink.  In other words, even if you are so hungry that you gorge yourself, what you get is not satiety.  Only when people have peace of mind can they experience the satiety brought by eating.  This is how Lin Daiyu, described by Cao Xueqin, lives in Jia’s house, has fine clothes and food, and lacks everything. But she died in depression because she couldn’t get love, couldn’t be pleased by Jia Baoyu’s mother, and couldn’t marry Jia Baoyu.

In the end, life is precious and to abandon the wheat.  The Bible says: “And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, throwing out the wheat into the sea.” What’s going on?  Why did they throw the wheat you depended on into the sea when you were full?  The purpose is also very simple, just to make the boat lighter.  It’s a little lighter, but not much lighter!  May I ask what made them do this?  No one initiated it, no one said a word, it was just done.  It shows that this is a consensus reached by everyone and does not require discussion.  Since it is a consensus, it means that someone has proposed it before, but it was shelved because no consensus was reached.  Now, Paul conveyed God’s promise, broke the bread, found peace,    and gained confidence in his heart.  Let’s look at the third point:

 Stop killing and be saved

Another dawn came to everyone.  Not only that, but they also saw land and could land.  What should they do?  First, Greek civilization had deliberations.  After leaving Caesarea, passing through Tire and Sidon, and bypassing Cilicia on the southern shore of the Mediterranean, they entered the environment of Greek civilization.  Even if there were centurions and Roman soldiers there, the people on the ship were still accustomed to conduct themselves according to the principles of negotiation.  They came to a strange place, and it seemed that they could land, but due to high winds and strong waves, it was not easy to sail the ship into the bay.  “So they cast off the anchors and left them in the sea, at the same time loosening the ropes that tied the rudders. Then hoisting the foresail to the wind they made for the beach. (Acts 27:40)”  At this time, the role of the captain becomes apparent.  To pull up the hood is to pull up the small sail in front of the ship, and rely on years of experience to ride the wind and waves and enter the harbor.

Secondly, Roman law required penal substitution.  We might as well think about the scene at that time.  Everyone on the ship was nervous and watched the ship they were riding passing through this dangerous storm.  Then, suddenly, the Bible says: “But striking a reef they ran the vessel aground. The bow stuck and remained immovable, and the stern was being broken up by the surf. (Acts 27:41)”  What to do? Who is the most nervous?  It turned out to be a hundred Roman soldiers. Why?  Because Roman law stipulates that if a prisoner escapes, the person guarding and escorting him must bear the punishment of the escaped prisoner.  It’s also a bit like Shang Yang‘s collective punishment.  What choice would a person make when either you die or I die?

Finally, everyone was rescued and landed.  The Bible says, “The soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners, lest any should swim away and escape. (Acts 27:42)“  This is also the weakness and ugliness of human nature!  You haven’t run away yet, but I’m afraid you’ll run away, so I assume you will run away, so I’ll just kill you!  At this moment, God took action!  He said, because not a hair of your head is to be lost on any one of you!  Therefore, the Holy Spirit inspired the centurion to stop the soldiers and not allow them to do whatever they wanted.  If you can swim, swim ashore; if you can’t swim, just pick up a wooden board or something and float it ashore.  Throughout the whole process, God was in control, taking care of and protecting Paul and his party, and they arrived in Rome safely.

 Conclusion

Well, thank the Lord!  Experiencing hope in despair is itself a miracle!  For those who truly believe in the Lord, signs and wonders will accompany them.  Paul’s faith became the salvation of a boatload of people!

Let us pray……

 

Acts 27:21-44

21 Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and incurred this injury and loss. 

22 Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. 

23 For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, 

24 and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ 

25 So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told. 26 But we must run aground on some island.”

27 When the fourteenth night had come, as we were being driven across the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors suspected that they were nearing land. 

28 So they took a sounding and found twenty fathoms.  A little farther on they took a sounding again and found fifteen fathoms.

29 And fearing that we might run on the rocks, they let down four anchors from the stern and prayed for day to come. 

30 And as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship, and had lowered the ship’s boat into the sea under pretense of laying out anchors from the bow, 

31 Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.” 

32 Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the ship’s boat and let it go.

33 As day was about to dawn, Paul urged them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have continued in suspense and without food, having taken nothing. 

34 Therefore I urge you to take some food. For it will give you strength, for not a hair is to perish from the head of any of you.” 

35 And when he had said these things, he took bread, and giving thanks to God in the presence of all he broke it and began to eat. 

36 Then they all were encouraged and ate some food themselves. 

37 (We were in all 276 persons in the ship.) 

38 And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, throwing out the wheat into the sea.

39 Now when it was day, they did not recognize the land, but they noticed a bay with a beach, on which they planned if possible to run the ship ashore. 

40 So they cast off the anchors and left them in the sea, at the same time loosening the ropes that tied the rudders. Then hoisting the foresail to the wind they made for the beach. 

41 But striking a reef, they ran the vessel aground. The bow stuck and remained immovable, and the stern was being broken up by the surf. 

42 The soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners, lest any should swim away and escape. 43 But the centurion, wishing to save Paul, kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and make for the land, 

44 and the rest on planks or on pieces of the ship. And so it was that all were brought safely to land.