Today we read the last bit of Acts and we will have completed our journey through this book, which began last May. Because the reading is again long, I’ll combine a summary of the scripture with the sermon.
These two ending chapters cover Paul’s journey as a prisoner from Caesarea to Rome. He’s under the charge of the soldier Julius, who treats him like royalty in this story rather than like a common prisoner. The journey is full of Mediterranean place names which aren’t familiar to us, but we recognize the Island of Crete where they arrive as winter is setting in and sailing becomes difficult. Paul suggests (Why would a prisoner have any say about the ship captain’s plans?) that they winter in Fair Haven but it’s decided to move further west on the Island to Phoenix, which is a better harbor for winter.
On the way to Phoenix a huge storm comes up and blows them toward the coast of North Africa. In order to save the ship they throw the cargo overboard and then the ship’s tackle. When they’ve been 14 days at sea without food (no cargo) Paul tells them to prepare a meal with what they have left and celebrate that they are about to be saved. Soldiers in charge of prisoners (there must have been several) suggest that they be killed so they don’t escape, but Julius convinces them otherwise and so Paul lives. Some of the sailors try to escape on the lifeboat but Paul tells Julius to stop them and he cuts the lifeboat free before it can be used. Finally, they shipwreck on the island of Malta, where they are welcomed warmly by the inhabitants, who are called barbarians because they don’t speak Greek. They build a bonfire on the beach to warm the people coming wet from the sea. Paul adds wood to the fire and is bitten by a snake hiding in the brush. Rather than dying, he shows no signs of poisoning. The people decide he’s a god and give him special treatment.
Eventually spring comes, they hire another ship and arrive in Rome, where Paul is under house arrest and seems able to meet with the leaders of the Jewish synagogue. Some Jews in Rome accept his teaching about Jesus being the Messiah and some don’t – just like in all the other towns he’s visited. It’s interesting that although we have a long letter of Paul to the church in Rome, Acts doesn’t mention that church or show Paul relating to them the way he did to churches in other towns. We learn that Paul lived in Rome for two years. Although tradition tells us that he died there, Acts doesn’t mention his trial or death.
Some things to note from these final chapters…
The sea voyage that brings Paul to Rome is reminiscent of his other voyages and patterned again after the great sea voyages of Greek mythology. They reinforce the idea that Paul is an epic hero, coming in triumph to Rome, even though he comes in chains. Rome is the heart of the Empire and with Paul the good news about Jesus comes into the very center of power there. Paul as a great hero is able to do miraculous things – survive a snake bite, rescue a whole ship of people from a storm, heal several folks along the way. Again we see that Paul has the same powers that Jesus had and so his message is truly from Jesus.
The entire book of Acts has served the purpose of its second century author – show that Paul’s mission to the Gentiles was with the approval of the original apostles in Jerusalem, prove that the Jews were offered the message about Jesus and rejected it, and show that even the Gentile believers were closely connected to “true” Judaism as practiced by Jesus and Paul. While Paul is the hero of more than half this tale, his teachings are much less important (and not outlined in much detail) than his presence. Our author is in the thick of the second century church figuring out what it means to be a follower of Jesus among the many options that had developed over time. He’s staking his ground and standing firmly on it. His view prevails in the history of the church. But there is not a single way to be a follower of Jesus and we can celebrate diversity and each find our own way within it.
I want to spend some time with the idea that winds through this tale that God intends for Paul to spread the message of Jesus and come eventually to Rome, and so through every difficulty God opens a way for Paul to succeed. In today’s reading, all the people on the ship are saved from shipwreck because they are with Paul and he must be saved to continue his journey. Our author shows Paul living his life under God’s direction and confident that everything is going to work out in the way God planned.
Over the centuries, that line of thinking has led some to believe that God has planned each individual life and that for any one of us, all that happens during our lifetime is the direct choice of God’s plan for us. That can be comforting, giving us confidence that all is well no matter how hard life seems in the moment. It can also lead to thinking that seems quite abusive to me. I’ve had parents tell me that the death of a child is a good thing because it’s God’s will. We’ve heard preachers say that the devastation of New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina was God’s will as judgment on the lifestyle of people who lived there. If we follow this line, everything bad is supposedly really good and we can’t do anything about correcting it. It seems dangerous for me to say, “Not everything that happens in our lives is the direct result of a choice God makes.” But I want to indeed say that and invite you to see if that fits with your experience. I’m convinced that people have more freedom to make their own choices and also more responsibility for how life unfolds for themselves and others.
At the same time, I absolutely believe that God is present in our lives as a powerful, positive energy of love and connection. When we face hard times and find strength to keep going, we tap into that love energy. When we face decisions about what we will do, where we will go, how we will live, whom we will live with – we can choose whether or not to align those decisions with the values we identify as God-like. In that way it’s true that we can be guided by God as our life unfolds. I know that at times I’ve felt like God was in the events of my life – when I was hired in one place and not another, when I was raising children alone and worrying about how that would turn out, when I was learning new things or trying new skills on for size. But I no longer understand that to be a distant and distinct God manipulating my life to go according to a pre-conceived plan. Rather I’ve come to believe that when we align ourselves with what is good and kind and even holy, then the events of our lives can be seen through the lens of that world view. I don’t get the job I want, but I get another that is rewarding. My father doesn’t accept cancer treatments which would prolong his life, but he has a peaceful death and I still feel a connection to him that’s bigger than life.
Maybe this boils down to two things we might consider – how we look at our own lives, seeing what’s good in spite of what’s hard, and how we take responsibility for the common life that we are creating on this earth. The first is about finding inner peace and acceptance for what is, even when we’re planning for what’s next. It’s about giving and receiving support when life is hard.
The second is about working to change our culture to be better for everyone. It’s not, I’d suggest, God’s will that some people are hungry or homeless or without education or denied access to advancement because of their color or language or religion. That’s the responsibility of a system of inequality and it may well be our responsibility to change it.
If God is love, and I believe God certainly is love, then we live in God and with God when we know that we are loved and when we create a society that’s loving toward others – all others. We’re not passively waiting for God to move our life in a direction of God’s choice. We’re actively creating a life – our own and our common life – that reflects the presence of God as love in all we do. I see that as a correction to a way of thinking too long endorsed by the church. We can’t use God as an excuse. Life happens – sometimes beyond our control. But we can choose our response to life and we can choose how we structure our community to be inclusive and just.
So we have read Acts, heard some wonderful stories, learned how one author understood his moment in the scope of Christian history. Our job isn’t to shape our church or our own lives in the mold of his time, but to consider carefully how we feel called to live and move in our time. Where is God moving among us? What will that mean for us today and in the future?