Reflections on "Storms" Acts 27: 13-44

Another really fun story that had so much material for the sermon.  I included the comparison to Jonah in the introduction even though it really did not have much to with this particular sermon. But, it seemed so interesting to me that I wanted to share it!

"Storms” September 14, 2014; FPC, Troy; Significant Moments in Acts; 2014 Acts 27: 13-44

Introduction: Paul and his shipmates are caught in a nasty storm. A northeaster that has blown in and threatens to sink their boat.

I was on a lake once in a small boat during a thunderstorm, and I've seen a tropical storm roll and its huge waves rolls onto Port Aransas, but I've never been caught on the high sea in storm.

This I do know. I would not want to be on the sea during a nasty storm in a huge modern ship, much less a boat in Paul's time.

This story from Acts gives us lots of details about the storm and what is happening on the boat as Paul interacts with the pagan sailors to get safely shore.

As an aside, William Willmon (Acts from the commentary series Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching by William Willimon) draws an interesting parallel between Paul's experience on the ship and Jonah's experience.

The storm in Jonah's case reveals God's anger; the storm in Acts reveals how God approves of Paul and supports Paul's work.

If your remember, Jonah gets tossed into the sea to appease God and save the ship; in this story, Paul stays on board and is able to share his faith and save the ship.

Fascinating story.

Move 1: We all find ourselves in storms.

a. think about the storms in your life.

1. Not just the rainstorm that floods your basement or brings down tree limbs.

2. The difficult challenges you face.

2. Medical journeys we find ourselves traveling.
3. job situations.
4. broken relationships.

5. Dealing with your kids, or your parents, or both.

6. Sometimes the storms are of our own making, but seldom are they of our own choosing.

b. Being a faithful person does not keep us out of storms.

1. coming to church every Sunday does not keep us out of storms.

2. Being Paul does not keep him out of storms.

3. He a great leader of the early church, doing God's work, and he still finds himself in the midst of storm, both literally and figuratively.

Not whether we find ourselves in storms or not; but how we handle ourselves in those storms.

Move 2: Paul's faith and hope reveal themselves in the midst of the storm

a. “All hope of being saved was at last abandoned.”

1. So goes the story.
2. But then Paul steps forward.
3. He has a word for them in the midst of their crisis.
4. a word of hope.
5. Okay, Paul being Paul, first he has to remind them that he had told them not to start out on this trip.
6. But then he gives a word of hope and encouragement.

b. There are lots of stories in antiquity of boats being caught out in storms.

1. This story in Acts has many similarities with those those other stories, including having a main character like Paul make a speech to everyone in the midst of the crisis.
   2. But there is one critical difference.
   3. In the other stories, the person making the speech generally expounds about the dangers confronting them and exhorts them to prepare for their impending doom.
   4. But not Paul. Paul tells them that an angel of the Lord has appeared to him telling him that they will be saved.
   5. In the midst of the storm, Paul proclaims a message of hope and trust in God to save them.
   From the depths of their despair. (Witherington, 767).

6. Paul acts out of his faith.

b. You have probably heard of Dr. Elizabeth Kubler Ross who wrote her famous book on death and dying. Dr. Tom Long shares a story about what she discovered while doing her research.

Part of her research involved interviewing dying patients in the hospital, trying to find out how they felt and thought as they faced death.

As she went from room to room in the hospital, she began to notice a remarkable pattern. Sometimes she would go into a dying person's room and the person would be calm, at peace, and tranquil. She also began to notice that often this was after the patient's room had been cleaned by a certain hospital orderly.

One day, Dr. Ross happened to run into this orderly in the hospital corridor, and she said to her, "What are you doing with my patients?"

The orderly thought she was being reprimanded by the doctor, and she said, "I'm not doing anything with your patients."

"No, no," responded Dr. Ross. "It's a good thing. After you go into their rooms, they seem at peace. What are you doing with my patients?"

"I just talk to them," the orderly said. "You know, I've had two babies of my own die on my lap. But God never abandoned me. I tell them that. I tell them that they aren't alone, that God is with them, and that they don't have to be afraid." Long, Rev. Dr. Thomas G. “What’s the Gift?” Day 1. The Alliance for Christian Media. 27 May 2012. http://day1.org/3822-whats_the_gift. 7 June 2014; found in sermon preached by Matthew Miller, FPC,

1. A word of hope in the midst of a storm

2. God calls us to be people of hope.

3. we may not be able to avoid the storm, but we can turn to our faith and share out faith in the midst of the storm.

Move 3: We also see in this story God's desire to save (and that includes the pagan sailors)

a. We see the first instance in the middle of the night when some of the sailors decide their only chance is to set out in a small boat.

3. Paul discovers what they are doing and realizes that the only way they can be saved is to be on board the ship that God has promised to save.
4. They will die on their own on the sea.
5. So Paul reports what's happening to the centurion.
6. The centurion gets the sailors back on board and cuts the little boat loose so that no one can escape the boat, which they do not yet realize, would also means escaping God's saving grace.
7. 
   

I bet Paul was popular with the sailors in the a moment!

b. Then, as the they run aground, the soldiers in charge of the prisoners, including Paul, decide that it would be better to kill the prisoners than let them escape as they swim ashore.

1. 1. Of course, that would also mean killing Paul.
2. 2. The soldiers' plan to kill all the prisoners to keep them from escaping.
3. 3. But the centurion wants to save Paul – maybe because he is grateful for what Paul has done; maybe he knows that Paul is a Roman citizen.
4. 4. we do not know why – we just know that the centurion decrees that no prisoners be killed, which saves Paul and all the other prisoners.

c. Fascinating how God works.

1. Paul acts as a tattle-tale and saves some of the sailors.

the Roman centurion wants to save Paul, so he has to save all the prisoners.

I suppose that means that God's desire to save can be lived out by you and me.

1. Conclusion: Can we live our lives and never encounter storms? Probably not.Can we reveal our faith as we live in the midst of those storms. We can, with God's help.
2. Does God desire to save? Absolutely, and God is looking to us to be a part of that saving work.
3. Amen.