“And no small tempest lay on us …” – The Story of a Storm That St. Paul Endured and What It Has to Teach Us About Sin
It is an interesting fact that St. Luke devotes and entire Chapter of Acts (27) describing a storm at sea that St. Paul endured. The level of detail is high and thus we are signaled that such details are important. The Holy Spirit has something to teach of here of how we get into trouble, and how we can get out.
Storms in life often come to us out of our control. Perhaps they come from nature and the sudden vicissitudes of this world. Sometimes God permits storms to test and strengthen us. Sometimes too others drag us into storms and we suffer on account of the poor decisions of family members, or community and cultural leaders. And some storms to come from our own stupidity and poor choices.
In the story we are about to examine, St. Paul is dragged into a storm by the stupidity and poor choices of a military official and ships crew. Paul was under arrest and being sent to Rome for trial before Caesar. As such he was in the custody of a military officer. Of all the people in this storm St. Paul is the only one who is innocent of foolishness that made them endure this storm. At the end only he can show the proper way out of this fool’s errand. As for the rest of the cohort and crew, the storm we are about to study shows in great detail what can happen to us as individuals and a Culture when we defiantly and prideful resist God’s will and common sense. This is a storm that has a lot to teach us about ourselves. So lets look at a storm that Scripture calls a Euroclydon (a Noreaster). Here is the full text of Acts 27
I. The Coming Danger – God sends many warnings from the natural order, in our conscience, and from the Church. Note how often these are systematically ignored.
A. Whys and Wherefores - And when it was decided that we should sail for Italy, they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan Cohort, named Julius. 2 And embarking in a ship of Adramyttium, which was about to sail to the ports along the coast of Asia, we put to sea, accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica. 3 The next day we put in at Sidon; and Julius treated Paul kindly, and gave him leave to go to his friends and be cared for.
St. Paul was under arrest and had appealed his case to Rome. He was put in the custody of a Roman Centurion named Julius, who seemed a decent man but a poor judge of weather or the professional qualities of a ship’s captain. This appeal to Rome was his right as a Roman citizen and God had told him that he would testify in Rome and to have courage. Such words would be necessary for him to cling to for he was about to be dragged into a very foolish journey by those who simply wouldn’t see the danger despite warning after warning. If perhaps this sounds familiar, it is of course our human condition, that many easily act foolishly and recklessly and refuse to see the danger. It is also an unfortunate aspect of our Western Culture that has steered into a great and on-coming storm and refuses to see the danger.
B. Warnings - 4 And putting to sea from there we sailed under the lee of Cyprus, because the winds were against us. 5 And when we had sailed across the sea which is off Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra in Lycia. 6 There the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing for Italy, and put us on board.
So here are the initial signals of danger: the wind is against them. It is a poor time of year to sail. At best the conditions are chancy. It was common in the winter months to stay off the Mediterranean and remain at port and to make longer journeys by land. The sea was very dangerous at this time of year and whatever sailing did take place was done very near the coast. But never mind the danger signals, there seems little alarm by the Centurion who seems determined to get the task done.
C. Worsening - 7 We sailed slowly for a number of days, and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus, and as the wind did not allow us to go on, we sailed under the lee of Crete off Salmone. 8 Coasting along it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near which was the city of Lasea.
More danger signals! But now the Centurions determination becomes defiance. And here to is a portrait of many a sinner who sees the danger signals and experiences that the wind is against him, and the journey is fraught with difficulties. But never mind all that, the sinner will not be another statistic. He will escape the usual dangers. And cultures think this way to. Defiance is the sad result of hearts that are growing hard and wills that are growing stubborn. With necks of iron and foreheads of brass sinners sally forth and cultures set out on campaigns of self destruction.
II. The Continued Defiance – In the verses that follow we have quite a list of the elements of a poor and rash decision. Lets see what Scripture teaches us about the diagnosis of a a bad decision. Together these elements contribute to a foolish defiance and a failure to heed the warnings already given. There are five elements listed:
A. Precipitousness – As much time had been lost, and the voyage was already dangerous because the fast had already gone by
In other words, they are in the critical time where safe sailing if it still exists at all is a window that is closing fast. It’s now or never! But hasty decisions, decisions made more out of concern for time than what is wise or right are usually poor decisions. And in our culture we have a lot of this. Urgency seems to permeate most things. News crew love to create a sense of crisis and urgency, and suddenly everyone has opinions of what must be done quickly. Sob-stories and other emblematic but highly selective crisis situations are put before us by media and politically savvy organizations. Swift and draconian decisions are often demanded. Sometimes unhappy mobs are protesting and legislators make hasty fixes to complex problems. Careful deliberation and the realization that rushing is often a poor form of action is under-appreciated. But in our culture most people follow the priority of the urgent more than the priority of the important.
B. Preferring worldly wisdom - Paul advised them, 10 saying, “Sirs, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.” 11 But the centurion paid more attention to the captain and to the owner of the ship than to what Paul said.
Yes, what does this religious zealot know about sailing or weather. Never mind that Paul had sailed before and had known rough seas and shipwreck before. But what does this preacher have to offer? The captain and owner of the ship are the experts. Yes, we see how today many say the Church has nothing to offer, neither can priests speak to marriage or family life or sexuality. Only the scientists, doctors and other professionals can really be relied on to have anything worthy to offer. To be sure, all these experts and disciplines have much to offer, but it is dangerous to rely on the alone to set a course for this world. Worldly wisdom can still at best procure for us a worldly grave. But Godly wisdom pierces the heavens and seeks for the voice of God who alone can save us. To disregard the voice of faith is perilous indeed.
C. Passions Preferred - 12 And because the harbor was not suitable to winter in
Now here is a serious issue as well. Too often we allow our passions to trump our better judgement. They want to risk the storm to get a “nicer” port. They want to spend the winter in comfort and so take foolish risks. Here too, in an age dominated by an excessive need for comfort many are willing to take terrible risks, make foolish decisions, go into debt, risk disease, and even act illegally. Some are willing to steal, others use drugs, enter dangerous relationships and the like. All for the hope of the comfort that such things might, just might provide. Yes, our passions, individually and collectively inspire a lot of bad decisions and lock us in defiant attitudes that refuse to face the obvious.
D. Populism – the majority advised to put to sea from there, on the chance that somehow they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete, looking northeast and southeast, and winter there.
Yet another common problem is thinking that a poll will always render the right decision. No it will not. It will tell you what is popular, but not often what is right. Very often the crowds are wrong and they are not pooling their wisdom, they are pooling their ignorance. Jesus warns, “Woe to you when all speak well of you. For thus their fathers treated the false prophets.” Today there is almost a religious demand that polls should direct all things. Many are almost indignant that the Catholic Church’s teachings do not reflect the views of the “majority” of Roman Catholics. But the Church does not exist to reflect the views of its members. The Church exists to reflect the views of its head and founder Jesus Christ. At the end of the day, what is popular is not always right, and what is right is not always popular. Polls and votes are usually poor ways to discover what is right. As we shall see, it is certainly a poor way to predict the weather!
E. Presumption – 13 And when the south wind blew gently, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, they weighed anchor and sailed along Crete, close inshore.
Very often, because there are not immediate bad consequences to a bad choice people leap to the conclusion that they have decided well. Note that in this instance, despite repeated warnings and difficulties of sailing at a bad time of year, (e.g. contrary winds, and little progress possible, not to mention that they have resisted the teaching of St. Paul) one mere breeze from the south is magnified and causes them to presume there will be no consequences. Presumption is a sin against hope. Now hope is a confident expectation of God’s help in attaining eternal life. But as the word presumption implies, to presume is take something up ahead of time (Pre- before + sumere – to take up). But who hopes for what they already have. Hence presumption tosses hope away on the pretext that I can grasp what I want now, on my own terms. Those guilty of presumption think that no harm will ever befall them. The speeding teenager thinks he will never crash, but some of them wake up paralyzed. The drunk driver thinks he will never be caught, and then the red lights are in his mirror. The sexually promiscuous boasts of “safe-sex” and then has STDs. And just because consequences do not always happen or happen immediately, presumption is a very bad idea, as we shall see.
III. The Cost of Disobedience - Sin and disobedience are very costly. Satan promises ease, comfort and pleasure today, but the bill comes due tomorrow! Lets see what this storm teaches as to the cost of sin. Again five descriptions of the cost are given.
A. Control Lost - 14 But soon a tempestuous wind, called the northeaster, struck down from the land; 15 and when the ship was caught and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and were driven.
St. Augustine famously taught regarding sin: For out of the perverse will came lust, and the service of lust ended in habit, and habit, not resisted, became necessity. (Conf 8.5) Habitual sin leads to bondage to a loss of control, to being driven. The first cost of sin and disobedience is the increasing loss of control, the increasing loss of our freedom
B. Crushing Labors - 16 And running under the lee of a small island called Cauda, we managed with difficulty to secure the boat; 17 they took measures to pass ropes under the ship to hold it together; then, fearing that they should run on the Syrtis (sands of North Africa), they lowered the anchor, but were still driven.
We see that their defiant pride has now humbled them with a heavy work, a heavy task, not just of sailing but even of holding the boat together. Sin leads to heavy burdens. Consider the man who has been promiscuous and now sees his income dissipated by child support to children by three different women. Consider a glutton who easily gained 100 pounds who must now work for months, even years to burn off the fat etc. Consider a spendthrift who ran up his credit card and must now work for years to pay it off. Sin makes for work and crushing burdensome work.
C. Compounding Losses - 18 As we were violently storm-tossed, they began next day to throw the cargo overboard; 19 and the third day they cast out with their own hands the tackle of the ship.
As already stated, sin and disobedience leads inevitably to dissipation. So now they are throwing their precious cargo overboard. Suddenly the riches of the world are not enough and even the problem! Perhaps with us our money is dissipated, or perhaps it is our strength, or health, or family. But when you say in sin and disobedience, expect losses to compound
D. Ceding Lights - 20 And when neither sun nor stars appeared for many a day, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned….And fearing that we might run on the rocks, they let out four anchors from the stern, and prayed for day to come.
The ancients steered by the stars, and the sun. But this self-infliected storm has darkened the lights. All the navigation points are lost and the way back, out of sin is difficult to find. Sin clouds our intellect and makes it difficult to see our errors, let alone the way back. Many people are in such darkness that they actually celebrate what God calls sin. How do some of us get so blind and confused? Some have lost their way and the lights of the intellect have been clouded. Yet another cost of sin and disobedience is a darkened intellect. St. Paul says, they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish minds were darkened. (Romans 1:21)
E. Cowardly Leaping 30 And as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship, and had lowered the 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.”
So much for all the expert sailors, the captain and Centurion who ignored Paul and the obvious warnings of a coming storm. Now they are seeking to jump ship, to escape in lifeboats and leave the passengers behind. And so it is with many sinners today who seek to escape the consequences of their acts. Some escape to drugs and Alcohol, some just hide or blame others. Rarer indeed are the sinners who admit their fault and take responsibility what they have chosen and done. In a therapeutic culture is it easier to blame others: “Not my fault, My mother dropped me on my head when I was two…I’m not depraved, I’m deprived.” A lot of this is escaping in life boats and leaving the rest back on the boat to pay the bills and experience the disaster. And where are the “experts” who gave us such awful advice during the sexual and cultural revolution? Most of them headed for the boats and left the rest of us (who were foolish enough to listen to them) back on the boat to go down with the ship.
Thus the cost of sin and disobedience is high.
This storm really has a lot to teach. It shows how easily we ignore the coming danger and continue in the defiance of bad decisions. And then it counts the costs of our foolishness. Life is a lot easier when we obey God.
But the Storm is not done teaching us. For God has put a teacher in the storm to teach us and call us discipleship. More on what Paul teaches tomorrow.