September 2, 2018 “Surviving Shipwreck” – Acts 27:27-44

Acts 27:27-44
“Surviving Shipwreck”
September 2, 2018 – Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

“How old is that ferry?” I asked. The agent looked at us in disgust and waved us out of her office. We were buying tickets for a ferry to Crete in 2002. My wife’s good research told us to ask the age of a ferry before boarding. Though overshadowed now by other maritime disasters, including other large ferries, a Greek ferry had sunk two years before and newspapers reported that Greece had some of the oldest ships on the water.

On September 28, 2000 the 25 year old Express Samina struck easily avoidable rocks off the Greek island of Paros at full speed. Within two or three minutes the ship was listing on its side and passengers tried to escape the rapidly sinking vessel. Four hundred were rescued, but nearly 80 people died. Many survivors had hypothermia. That was a modern vessel in September in relatively calm Mediterranean waters.

Now imagine a large but ancient wooden boat like the Egyptian cargo ship on which Paul travelled. Verse 37 says that besides the load of grain, there were 276 people on board. Crew, soldiers, passengers and prisoners. It was late October and a horrible storm had been blowing for days. There were no life jackets. Most people in the ancient world did not know how to swim. Like the boat in “The Perfect Storm,” Paul’s ship was destined for disaster.

As we pick up the story today, Luke tells us they were driven for fourteen days across the “Sea of Adria.” As a note in your Bible may tell you, in the ancient world that meant a much bigger piece of water than the gulf between eastern Italy and what are now the countries of Croatia, Bosnia, Yugoslavia and the like. Then, the “Adriatic” covered the ocean south and east of Italy, all the way to Crete. The hapless ship was blown 475 miles.

This past week we stopped at Cook’s Chasm out on the coast and watched the “Spouting Horn” and “Thor’s Well” gush as the waves rolled in near high tide. Before we even got to the railing and saw the crashing water, we could hear it. It’s like that at the traditional site of the shipwreck on Malta, a rocky promontory called the Point of Koura or Qawra in modern Maltese. The sound of breakers against those rocks is audible for miles. That’s how the sailors “suspected they were nearing land,” as it says in verse 27. It’s also why they were afraid of being driven against the rocks mentioned in verse 29.

The first action of the crew was to take soundings in verse 28. The first was “20 fathoms,” or 120 feet. The second was 15 fathoms or 90 feet. The water was growing shallow. They needed to slow down. So in verse 29 four anchors go down, not sea anchors this time, but stone or lead anchors that would grab the bottom and really slow the ship. They dropped them from the stern in order to keep the bow pointed toward the beach.

Then, says Luke, they prayed for daylight, not to Paul and Luke’s God, but to their own pagan gods, the gods of Egypt and Greece and Rome. But they didn’t trust their gods very much, because in verse 30 the crew saw an opportunity. Under cover of darkness, they pretended to drop anchors from the bow, but instead lowered the lifeboat to escape the doomed ship. Paul warned Julius the centurion that they must keep the sailors on board to steer the ship or else everyone would be lost. So in verse 32 the soldiers stepped in and cut the ropes. The lifeboat dropped away into the ocean. Drastic, but necessary.

What Paul said was that “unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.” Repeatedly in describing the shipwreck, Luke uses the Greek word for salvation. He means of course saving physical life, but his Christian readers make the connection to spiritual salvation. So we draw a few spiritual lessons from Paul’s shipwreck.

I’d like to propose three lessons here for surviving shipwreck in your life. As I suggested three weeks ago, storms blow over us in many forms: natural disaster, sickness, financial loss and troubled relationships. These threaten to sink our boats, drown us in pain and sorrow. In all of it, the first lesson here from Paul is “Don’t jump ship.” Don’t give up and leave the community of God’s people.

As I said before, Christians have often expressed their faith in nautical terms. The Church of our Lord is a ship out on stormy seas. But however much it gets tossed around in the waves, that ship is where the Lord is, where salvation is. Bailing out is the worst thing we can do.

My friend Jay once told me about one of the men who led him to Christ. A few years later, in a difficult time, that man left his wife and children to play in a band, drink and do drugs. Jay asked him, “What about your family? What about your faith? What about God?” He said to Jay, “I just don’t care about all that anymore.” He had jumped ship in a storm and now seems to be lost.

That’s why I always pray for you and for me that we won’t bail out of the church’s boat when the water gets rough. I see it happen too often. A loved one or a job is lost, a family conflict occurs, or depression sets in, and a faithful believer just stops showing up. But like those sailors trying to get away in the lifeboat, it’s the wrong move. It only cuts a person off from all the love and grace and help to be found in the community of the people of Jesus. Quitting could be disastrous, not just for myself but for others. Jay says his friend’s loss of faith rocked his own. How could someone so committed change like that? Was Christ real or not? Jay had to wrestle with his own doubts and questions all over again. In a storm we stay on board not just for ourselves, but for everyone else around us.

The second lesson to be found in the middle of this shipwreck is in verses 33-38. Paul told them to eat something. I understand. On that same trip to Europe, we crossed from Wales to Ireland on a ferry in rough seas. We planned to spend part of the two hour trip having lunch. Fifteen bouncing, heaving minutes later, we looked at each other and gave up all thought of eating. Just the smell from the McDonald’s on board almost put us over the edge. Paul’s remark in verse 33 that they hadn’t eaten in fourteen days is no surprise.

But now all those on board the ship desperately needed to eat. Paul said, “You need it to survive.” Once again Luke is using that Greek word which means “salvation.” They needed food in order to be saved. They were hungry and weak. Without nourishment they would not have strength to swim ashore.

Having something to eat is good advice is life’s storms. I don’t know how many times I’ve ministered to the spouse or family of someone in the hospital just by getting them a cup of coffee or pulling them away from the bedside for a few minutes to get a sandwich. In times of stress and heartache, you need nourishment.

We need to eat, but there is something even deeper going on here in verse 35. Luke tells us Paul “took bread; and giving thanks to God in the presence of all, he broke it and began to eat.” Sound familiar? To Christian ears those words strike deep chords. The word for thanks here is eucharistoÐ, from which we get “Eucharist,” the Lord’s Supper.

Of course Paul did not celebrate Holy Communion on that ship. Most of those present were pagans. He began to eat. They began to eat. Yet watching Paul give thanks and break bread, those onboard sensed something, or rather someone. By his choice of words, “break bread,” and “gave thanks,” Luke reminds us of the One who is “present in the breaking of bread.” The pagan soldiers and sailors and other prisoners were encouraged. They took bread and ate themselves. They did not know Him, but through Paul they felt the presence of Jesus, ate some food, and found strength.

The second lesson, then, is that Jesus Christ is with you in the storm. His Table spread before us constantly reminds us of that. Don’t jump the ship of church. Come to the Table because Christ is here. When the vessel of your life seems to be breaking up, remember that He is present. As the fifth century preacher John Chrysostom prayed, “Christ sails with those who sail.” He sails with every believer whether the seas are calm or rough.

Our early Communion service here at Valley Covenant started at a time when I personally needed a reminder that Jesus sails with us. It was a rough and rocky time in my life and the life of this congregation. I was looking for a way to be reminded weekly that the Lord was still here, that He was with us in the waves.

We started first on Wednesdays, with an evening prayer gathering that prayed the psalms and then celebrated Communion. It dwindled to just Beth and me some nights. Then we tried a Saturday evening service, hoping to reach people who couldn’t come on Sunday mornings. It started really strong but then started to fade too. Finally someone suggested an early Sunday morning time. It’s held strong. The gathering is small, but there is always a group of us who come each week to take and eat and remember He is here.

Jesus sailed with Paul on his ship. The sailors prayed to their gods for daylight, but it was Paul’s God who answered. Daylight came, we’re told in verse 39, and they saw hope, a bay with a sandy beach. That bay is traditionally identified still today as St. Paul’s Bay on the northeast end of the island of Malta, off the southern tip of Sicily.

Seeing a safe harbor, they cut loose the anchors, untied the rudders, and set up the small steering sail that was left. They aimed to beach the ship safely on the sandy shore. But still some ways out, the ship struck sand under the water and was caught in the action of the waves. With the surf pounding it, the boat began to break up.

Now it was time for everyone to abandon ship and get to shore. One last danger remained for Paul. The Roman soldiers. As we learned earlier in Acts, guards for prisoners were held completely responsible for their captives. Lose a prisoner you are guarding and you may lose your own freedom or even your life. So rather than have them swim or float away and escape, verse 42 explains that the Romans planned to kill the prisoners.

The Lord was still with Paul. In verse 43 Julius the centurion wanted to spare Paul’s life. So he kept the soldiers from killing anyone. Instead he ordered them all to make for shore, swimmers first, then everyone else to find a floating piece of the ship as an improvised life preserver. So Paul was saved. But not just Paul.

What would you expect in a shipwreck like this? Even in modern times, a shipwreck is lethal. On that Greek ferry, four hundred of 480 passengers survived. When an Egyptian ferry went down several years later, 1,000 out of 1,400 were lost. This past January a ferry in Micronesia sank and 81 out of 88 passengers died. In ancient times, Josephus tells of his own shipwreck on the Adriatic Sea. There were only 80 survivors out of six hundred. Yet in verse 44 Luke tells us that “all were brought safely to land.” Not just Paul, but all.

Lesson 1: Don’t jump ship, stay with God’s people. Lesson 2: Come to the Lord’s Table and remember Jesus is with you. Now this third lesson for surviving shipwreck. Help save someone else. God’s whole purpose for this boat was to get Paul to Rome. His main intent was to bring a great witness for the Gospel safely to the capital of the empire so he could testify for Christ. Yet Paul’s presence brought salvation to everyone.

It’s the opposite of Jonah. Remember when Jonah ran from God by taking a ship to Tarshish? He became a threat to everyone onboard. A storm came up and endangered the boat because of Jonah. They threw him overboard to stop the storm. The presence of Jonah was a menace. But here in Acts, the presence of Paul on board that ship was its crew’s salvation. By faith in Jesus and service to God, Paul brought them all to safety.

If you stay on board. If you remember Jesus is with you. If you serve Him faithfully even in the middle of a shipwreck, God can use you to save others from shipwreck. He did it with Paul. He still does it.

Last year Kim took over as site leader for the Egan Warming Center in our building. Her dedication and care helped us give shelter in bad weather to hundreds of people. This summer Kerry accepted the role of liaison to Kennedy Middle School and led us in two evenings of yard work there. As I hope you heard in the principal’s letter last week, the result was the love of Jesus shown to staff and teachers and students. In a couple weeks Pete will attend a meeting about changes in the Family Shelter we’ve hosted for three decades so we can keep serving those parents and children. These three people who have been saved by Jesus serve Him by helping save others.

And I could go on and on. You who work on our parking ministry team. You who teach children in Sunday School and children’s church. You who take meals to those who are sick or struggling. Not to mention those of you who go on mission trips or volunteer in other ways, or whose very employment puts you on the frontline showing love and care to people who need the salvation of Jesus.

We may not always be able to see it work out completely in others’ lives, but when you stay onboard and seek the presence of Christ even when your own ship is sinking, you stay exactly where you need to be to save someone else. Your faithfulness in your own trial could be just what is needed to offer Jesus’ grace and love to another worried sailor.

That’s the way to survive a shipwreck, then. Stay on board. Come to the Table and remember Jesus is with you. And when you have opportunity, rescue someone else. Those are the lessons we learn here from Paul. And the great good news of it all is right there in verse 44, “all were brought safely to land.” In a few moments we will confess our faith saying we believe in Jesus and saying we believe in “the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.” No one who trusts in Christ needs to fear a shipwreck. No one needs to be lost. Everyone who believes in Jesus will be saved. Everyone. Forever.

Amen.