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March 26th, 2022

3/26/2022

When we are at the Fourth Sunday in Lent, we are closer to the end of our Lenten journey than to its beginning. And that is the same way with our look this week at St. Paul’s journey to Rome in the book of Acts. He is almost there, but he is also a bit off-track. In fact, he is not quite sure where he is. Last week we took a close look at St. Paul’s words to the others on the ship during that terrible storm. He focused on both necessity and God, and those two things are very closely related.

The connection was made between St. Paul’s speech and God’s very close involvement with the creation account. The first verse of Genesis says that, ‘In beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.’ And it would be a totally different thing to say that ‘God was there while the heavens and the earth evolved over billions of years.’ The latter perspective easily leads to a huge focus on self and great selfishness. The centrality and intimate involvement of God is a totally opposite and unique thing, and that perspective works its way into the rest of St. Paul’s journey as well, although not in an obvious way.

In one part of St. Paul’s speech that he related to the others on the ship, he indicated that the angel of God had said this to him: ‘God has granted to you all the ones sailing with you.’ And it was mentioned that the word ‘granted’ is closely connected to the words ‘gift’ and ‘grace’, and that certainly makes it an amazing gift. And it is a huge gift as well, since it is revealed that there are two hundred and seventy-six people on this ship. That gift explains some of the actions of St. Paul as he receives this huge gift and takes good care of it. And he makes a good example for other Christians to follow when they receive both huge and wonderful gifts.

What follows is a somewhat-literal translation of a somewhat-lengthy section of text, from the time immediately following St. Paul’s talk to those on the ship to the safe arrival on land of those on the ship. They are still not in Rome, and we are still not celebrating Easter Sunday. [The text below is Acts 27:27-44; now since this is describing the travels of a ship, there is some rare and unique terminology, and you may wish to look at another translation; but an effort was made in the following translation to translate in the same way if the word was recently used.]

And as the fourteenth night came, we, being carried about in the Adria[tic Sea], toward the middle of the night, the sailors suspecting a certain country to come near to them. And, sounding, they found twenty fathoms. And having moved a little, also again sounding, they found fifteen fathoms. And fearing, that not toward rough places we might fall out, throwing four anchors from the stern, they wished for day to come.

And the sailors, seeking to flee from the ship, and lowering the boat into the sea, pretending, as from the bow, being about to cast out anchors. Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers: “If these themselves do not remain in the ship, you yourselves are not able to be saved.” Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the boat, and they let it fall out.

And until the day was about to come, Paul encouraged all to partake of food, saying: “The fourteenth day is today, you continue waiting without food, taking nothing. Therefore, I encourage you to partake of food. For this is to your salvation; for of no one of you a hair from the head will be lost.” And saying these things and taking bread, he gave thanks to God before all, and having broken, he began to eat. And all becoming in good spirits, they themselves also took food. And we were, all the souls in the ship, two hundred, seventy-six. And, having been satisfied with food, they lightened the ship, throwing out the grain into the sea.

And when day came, the land they did not recognize, but they noticed a certain bay having a beach, onto which they were resolved, if they were able to push out the ship. And the anchors, having cast off, they left them in the sea, at the same time loosening the fastenings of the rudders, and raising the foresail to the breeze, they held course to the beach.

And falling into a place between two seas, they drove the vessel, and the bow, on the one hand, having got stuck, remained immovable, on the other hand, the stern was being destroyed by the force of the waves. And of the soldiers, the plan was that they would kill the prisoners, that not anyone swimming away should escape; and the centurion, planning to bring Paul safely through, he prevented them from the plan, and he commanded the ones being able to swim, throwing out first, to go out onto the land, and the rest, some on planks, others on some of the things from the ship. And thus it happened, all brought safely through to the land.

Right before St. Paul’s talk, there was mention that ‘all hope for being saved was taken away (27:20b).’ God started working through the mouthpiece of St. Paul, and positive things started to happen. The two hundred and seventy-six people were kept together, they ended up eating, and they ended up all being saved. And that is the way that this part of the journey ends. Although that could be called a miracle, it was also a ‘hidden miracle’, and while that phrase may be a type of contradiction, it was certainly due to a gracious God.

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March 19th, 2022

3/19/2022

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This week is the Third Sunday in Lent, and during this Lenten journey of 2022 we have been looking at St. Paul’s long and difficult voyage to Rome in Acts as a positive thing. He had made a case for Christianity before King Agrippa, and it was time to make that case before Caesar. And we have seen how the progression that occurs in the details of the beginning of that voyage has some connections to the beginning of the creation account—and THAT account is certainly a positive thing.

To remind you of the order of the first verses in Genesis, first there is an overview that God created everything. Then there is a brief description of the chaos. And then, there was the Spirit (literally the ‘wind’ or ‘breath’) of God over the waters. And then there was the creation of light. And then there was the calling of things ‘day’ and ‘night’.

The events of Paul’s trip are in reverse order to Genesis. It was previously pointed out in the talk of St. Paul to King Agrippa (and others) that Paul first used the word ‘day, and then ‘light’, and then, when he was traveling, there was the emphasis on the wind pushing the ship around. The section that was translated last week ends up with the ship in the midst of a terrible storm, and this is the last verse [27:20] that was included in last week’s writing (and, as I warned you before, it is quite depressing): ‘And neither sun nor stars appearing over many days, and not a little stormy weather was lying down hard [on us], finally all hope for us to be saved was taken away.’ If there is a deliberate literary connection to the reverse order of creation, this point is perhaps a connection to the chaos that was before creation. And those who have ever been out on the water in the midst of the storm may also be thinking ‘chaos’.

An additional point could be made about the double negative description of ‘not a little’, the peculiar description of the stormy weather that was happening. (These are called ‘litotes’ if you are interested—OR if you are not disinterested.) Do not focus too much on these descriptions. By using them, the writer does not have to use more attractive words such as ‘great’, ‘many’, etc. And using those words would probably attract too much attention to what is happening.

Now since these double negatives are much more frequent in the second half of the book of Acts, this may help the reader (or listener) focus more on the important first half of the work, when the church goes from Jesus leading his disciples to Jesus leading his Church with a clear statement of what the gospel is (see Acts 1-15). After all, the Gospel according to Luke is described as what Jesus BEGINS to do and to teach (see Acts 1:1). Although what happens later is most certainly true and important to some extent, it is not as important as the first half of this book.

The last part of that verse above is probably the most depressing, that ‘all hope for us to be saved was taken away.’ Now there is an appropriate response to such a thing. Given the reverse progression of the creation account, the next thing described is that God creates the heavens and the earth. The response, after all hope is lost, is that God definitely will be doing something. (He is, after all, the ULTIMATE starting point.) And, in the case of this storm, he chooses to do something through St. Paul.

Below is a somewhat-literal translation of Paul’s response to the very depressing situation of Acts 27:1-20. The following text is 27:21-26, and these are his words to those who are on the ship with him (and although it does NOT contain a LOT of sailor terminology, you may still wish to look at it in another translation; I have tried, in some places, to keep the order of the words in the same order as the Greek text):

And there being much abstinence, then Paul standing in the midst of them, said, “It is necessary, O men, not obeying me to set sail from Crete and to gain both this injury and loss. And now I urge you to be in good spirits; for throwing away of life there will be none of you, but of the ship. For stood by me, this night, of God, of whom I am, whom also I serve, an angel, saying, ‘Fear not, Paul; Caesar it is necessary for you to stand before, and, behold, God has granted to you all the ones sailing with you.’ Wherefore, be in good spirits, men. For I believe God that thus it will be in the way in which it was spoken to me. But into a certain island it is necessary for us to fall off.”

There are a LOT of things could be said about ANY words taken from the Bible. Both what is said and the way it is said is important. And, therefore, the order in which these words come is important.

With the emphasis on NECESSITY from the mouth of Jesus in the Gospel according to Luke from the beginning [at Luke 2:49] to the end [at Luke 24:26] shows how important that idea is in this talk as well. It is given THREE times in such a very short time.

It is first of all, the very first word that is recorded out of the mouth of St. Paul. In its first use, he is telling the group that they should have listened to him. But he does not continue to focus on that. In fact, there are two times that he encourages them to ‘be in good spirits’.

In the second use of ‘necessity’, St. Paul is sharing with those on the ship what the angel of God shared with him, that it is necessary for him to stand before Caesar. The angel, Paul, and Caesar are all mentioned quite close together. And all three of them—even Caesar—are certainly not as important as God. And he happens to be mentioned three times within this short text as well.

The third use of ‘necessity’ has to do with ‘falling off’ or, in sea-faring language, ‘running aground’, since it is a certain island to which St. Paul is referring. This is what happens, and we can certainly focus too much on the ability to predict the future. It is better to focus on the One behind it all.

At the beginning of St. Paul’s talk, he says that those in charge of the ship should have ‘obeyed’ him. The word ‘to obey’ is made up of the words ‘persuasive’ and ‘ruler’. The people who ruled in some way had their chance. The same could be said about many people today. The fact that God still ‘granted’ to St. Paul all the ones sailing with him is a wonderful thing. And this word is very closely connected to the word for ‘grace’ or ‘gift’. And the verbal form of the word, in the so-called ‘perfect’ tense, makes this a lasting thing. And THAT is NOT a BAD picture of God.

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March 12th, 2022

3/12/2022

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Last week was the First Sunday in Lent, and we began to look at St. Paul’s trip to Rome in the last chapters of Acts as a positive thing. He had made a strong case for Christianity before King Agrippa, and now it was time to make that case before Caesar. And as Lent is a journey, these next weeks will be looking at that important journey of St. Paul to Rome.

This is the Second Sunday in Lent, and last Sunday’s writing laid the beginnings of a concrete way in which this trip to Rome by the under-arrest St. Paul has a positive perspective. St. Paul’s case before King Agrippa emphasized the words ‘day’ and ‘light’, and now, as the trip begins, we will be seeing an important emphasis on the wind. While it may not be deliberate, connections may be seen between this progression and a backward movement in the creation account from the start of the day (literally day one), to the creation of light, to the ‘Spirit’ (or ‘Wind’) of God that was on the face of the waters.

With that in mind, there have been some details given in St. Paul’s trip to Rome that have been considered unimportant. Some of the vocabulary is quite rare and obscure. (And although some details have been added below to make the text clearer, you may wish to read this text in another translation.) While many would consider some of these words to be unimportant, those within the account did not think that way. And this may be a good example of how God can be in the details.

So, finally, here is the somewhat-literal translation of Acts 27:1-20 that was promised last week:

And when it was judged, we sailed out into Italy, they delivered over both Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion named Julius, of a cohort of Augusta. And embarking on an Adramyttium ship, being about to sail into the along-the Asia-coast-places, we put out to sea, being with us, Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica.

And on another [day], we were led down into Sidon, and Julius was friendly to Paul, allowed to go to the friends, to receive care. And from there, putting out to sea, we sailed under [the lee of] Cyprus, because of the winds, being contrary. And sailing through the open sea, along Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came down into Myra of Lycia.

And there, the centurion, having found an Alexandrian ship, sailing into Italy; he caused us to enter into it. And in many days, sailing slowly and with difficulty, along Cnidus; the wind not allowing us, we sailed under [the lee of] Crete along Salmone. And hardly sailing alongside it, we came into a certain place called "Good Havens", near to which was a city, Lasea.

And much time having passed, and the voyage being now dangerous, because now the fast [of the Day of Atonement, in September or October] already had gone by, Paul advised, saying to them, “Men, I behold that with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and of the ship, but also of our lives, will about to be, the voyage.”

And the centurion was more persuaded by the steersman and the shipmaster rather than the things said by Paul. And the port, being unsuitable for wintering, the majority placed counsel to set sail from there, if somehow they might be able, having arrived at Phoenix, a port of Crete, to pass the winter, looking toward the southwest and toward the northwest.

And, blowing gently, a south wind, thinking the purpose to have secured, raising [anchor], they sailed closer along Crete. And after not much, rushed down from it [Crete] a typhoon wind called "Euraquilo". And the ship being seized, and not being able to face up against the wind, giving way, we were carried.

And running under [the lee of] a small island called Clauda, we were hardly able to get control of the boat, which taking helps, they used, undergirding the ship. And fearing that they might fall out [and run aground] into Syrtis, lowering the gear, thus they were carried.

And being exceedingly tempest-tossed, on the next [day], they made a jettison [of cargo], and on the third [day], with their own hands, they threw the gear of the ship.
And neither sun nor stars appearing over many days, and not a little stormy weather was lying down hard, finally all hope for us to be saved was taken away.

Did you notice, first of all, with St. Paul’s words above, that he saves the word ‘voyage’ for the very end of the sentence? That certainly emphasizes the importance of the event. And another point that should be made is that this is a very sad point on which to end. It is also a sad thing to say that a Christian hope is not present with some people today. If you can wait until next week, the next section is much more positive than this one. If you cannot wait, you may certainly read ahead in your Bible. And since St. Paul does eventually reach Rome, the good news about Jesus spreads—and it continues to do so.

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March 6th, 2022

3/6/2022

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Ash Wednesday was the beginning of the Lenten season, and this Sunday is the First Sunday in Lent. For many weeks we have been looking at how Christianity was spoken about, both for and against, in the book of Acts. And I hope that it has been helpful for you.

Last week was a look at St. Paul, the one who was arrested, and we heard him speaking quite positively regarding Christianity. This was the last, extensive speech of the entire book. And he was essentially defending Jesus more than himself. And St. Paul was saying that this Jesus is the One about whom Moses and the Prophets were writing.

At the end of St. Paul’s speech and the ensuing discussion, there is a striking statement that often gets the reader’s or listener’s attention. Agrippa says to Festus: ‘This man was able to be released if he had not appealed to Caesar (Acts 26:32b; a somewhat-literal translation).’ So, if you feel badly for St. Paul at this point in time, that is normal, but that is also not necessary. First of all, with those words, his release was only stated as a POSSIBILITY. On the other hand, St. Paul’s trip to Rome MUST happen, at least from his perspective, and that will become more obvious as the trip is described.

The following trip to Rome should therefore be read with a positive perspective. And since the Lenten season is also like a trip, and a very positive one as well (although sometimes that may not be so obvious), that will be the emphasis for the next forty days or so. And the rest of the writing for this week will be a starting point to help us get a proper perspective of this important trip.

First of all, it may be helpful at this point to incorporate a small quotation from a huge commentary on the book of Acts. Here is how Craig S. Keener sums up this journey to Rome in a recent writing:

The message of this voyage narrative, then, is of a piece with the message of the rest of Acts: “Nothing can stop the gospel.” Also, it reiterates that the gospel is for all peoples; through God’s providence and his servants’ obedience and sacrifice, it will penetrate even the heart of the empire. This mission will require suffering, but the suffering itself becomes an opportunity to show what God’s servants are made of (a pattern also recognized by ancient philosophers) and hence to glorify God all the more [Acts: An Exegetical Commentary, Volume 4. Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA: Baker Academic, 2015; page 3569.].

Perhaps you are already somewhat familiar with St. Paul’s trip to Rome. If not, that is certainly okay. There are a lot of details about that trip within the book of Acts that you might consider boring or unimportant. In the text we will have many details about the boat ride to Rome and how the people tried to get there at a time of the year when it was not very easy to do.

Was the writer of Acts a man who liked to show off his knowledge of seafaring vocabulary? Was meteorology a favorite hobby of his? Probably 'no' to both questions.
As the speech given last week was historical, this way of travel is also historical, and it actually happened. But with such great detail, there may be something more in this account that is not so obvious, but it is still most certainly true.

Next week’s writing will have a somewhat-literal translation of that first part of the trip by boat, and it will contain all those small details within the text. And there are a LOT of them. And eventually there will be a not-too-positive event—spoiler alert—there will eventually be a shipwreck. (But St. Paul also predicted that as well.)

As was mentioned above, we will leave for next week a translation of Acts 27:1-20. And the translation given will try to point out the complexity of some of those details, but in ways that focus on something more important than the weather or the waves. We should never forget the One who is working ‘behind the scenes’.

Last week’s emphasis within the speech of St. Paul may give a hint as to what is important within this historical retelling. If there truly is an importance within the speech of St. Paul regarding FIRST the day and THEN the light, this is the completely OPPOSITE order as to what happens in the creation account. To give a reminder of those verses, here is Genesis 1:1-5, also in a somewhat-literal translation:

In beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was formless and empty. And darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering on the face of the waters. And God said, ‘Let it be light.’ And it was light. And God saw the light, that it was good. And God separated between the light and between the darkness. And God called to the light ‘day’, and to the darkness he called ‘night’. And it was evening, and it was morning, day one.

If there is a progression from day to light in the speech of St. Paul, and if this is meant to be a backward progression that connects in a way to the creation account, then the next thing in reverse order is the Spirit—literally ‘breath’ or ‘wind’ of God—on the face of the waters. With that in mind, perhaps the winds that are described in the following text are not completely evil, and their details may be helpful to gain a more positive perspective. This is a good reminder of a bigger picture, one that especially includes God, the Maker of heaven and earth.

Even more important than connecting the winds to the Spirit, if you continue in the opposite direction as they appear in Genesis, you are led back to the One who started it all. And that is not a bad place to end.

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