IGNORING WISDOM

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

From there we put out to sea again and passed to the lee of Cyprus because the winds were against us.

When we had sailed across the open sea off the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we landed at Myra in Lycia. There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy and put us on board. We made slow headway for many days and had difficulty arriving off Cnidus. When the wind did not allow us to hold our course, we sailed to the lee of Crete, opposite Salmone. We moved along the coast with difficulty and came to a place called Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea.

Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Day of Atonement. So Paul warned them, “Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also.” But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship. Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided that we should sail on, hoping to reach Phoenix and winter there. This was a harbor in Crete, facing both southwest and northwest.

When a gentle south wind began to blow, they saw their opportunity; so they weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete. Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the Northeaster, swept down from the island. The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along. As we passed to the lee of a small island called Cauda, we were hardly able to make the lifeboat secure, so the men hoisted it aboard. Then they passed ropes under the ship itself to hold it together. Because they were afraid they would run aground on the sandbars of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor and let the ship be driven along.

We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard. On the third day, they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.

Acts 27:4-20

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

“Some people just won’t listen.”

Perhaps you have heard this saying a time or two. Speaking for myself, I haven’t just heard it but I have actually said it on more than one occasion.

Of course, the meaning behind the saying is grounded in a person consistently refusing to listen to wisdom provided, opting instead to do what they feel is right. Often, this rejection of wisdom leads to consequences for the person choosing their way over anything else and anyone on the outside looking in, who tried to provide counsel to try and prevent those consequences, might find themselves shaking their head over the stubborn ignoring of wisdom.

As we turn to our scripture passage today from Acts 27, we see that the matter of snubbing wisdom is not solely a 21st century phenomenon. The same problem existed in New Testament times as evident in the events that took place as Paul continued his journey to Rome to carry out his requested appeal to testify before the Roman emperor Caesar, just as God had discussed with Paul earlier when he was in Roman custody in Jerusalem.

Yesterday, we found Paul in the Phoenician city of Sidon, allowed to visit friends there by the Roman centurion, Julius in what amounted to a beautiful expression of kindness to the man who had been essentially under house arrest for more than two years in the city of Caesarea. As today’s passage opens, we first find Paul, Luke (the voice narrating in this chapter), and the others traveling with them back out at sea, sailing from Sidon past Cyprus before sailing the “open sea off the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia”.

From there, we read where the sea travelers “landed at Myra in Lycia” before transferring to “an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy” that the centurion had found. Once underway from Myra, Paul and the others “made slow headway for many days and had difficulty arriving off Cnidus” as “the wind did not allow” them to hold their course. And so the ship “sailed to the lee of Crete” which simply meant they took a course that took them away from the winds as the leeward side of an island was where shelter could be found from prevailing winds. As they “moved along the coast with difficulty”, the scriptures tell us they “came to a place called Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea”. It was there that Paul tried to provide wise counsel to the Roman centurion, the pilot, and the ship’s owner. Here’s what he said to them:

“Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also.”

The sea could be a brutal and dangerous place if the weather was inclement. Many people had lost their lives while sailing the waters after heavy weather struck and caused damage to their ship. Look to the bottom of the sea and you would most likely see a museum of capsized vessels that didn’t fare well in a storm. Paul wasn’t interested in being counted in the number of those who had died at sea and so he hoped to sway those in authority on the ship to seek safe harbor instead of pressing forward.

Unfortunately, his wisdom was ignored for we read where the centurion passed on Paul’s advice and instead sided with the guidance from “the pilot and of the owner of the ship”. That guidance was not to stay put but to sail on because it was felt “the harbor was unsuitable to winter in.” The hope was that the ship could reach Phoenix, a “harbor in Crete” so they could winter there to avoid the rough Mediterranean Seas of the winter months.

And so the Centurion, pilot, and owner of the ship thought they had an opportunity “after a gentle south wind began to blow” and so they “weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete”. But as often happens at sea, the weather didn’t remain good and “before very long” the ship found itself up against “a wind of hurricane force” which was called a Northeaster. As the storm “swept down from the island”, the “ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind” and so they “gave way” to the wind and allowed it to drive them along. It gave a whole new meaning to the phrase, “go with the flow.”

The scriptures tell us that the ship “passed to the lee of a small island called Cauda” and found themselves “hardly able to make the lifeboat secure” and so the crew “hoisted it aboard” and also “passed ropes under the ship itself to hold it together.” Additionally, the crew “lowered the sea anchor and let the ship be driven along” because “they were afraid they would run aground on the sandbars of Syrtis.”

As the ship was driven by the hurricane force winds, it “took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day” the crew “began to throw the cargo overboard” so to lighten the load. And then “on the third day”, the ship’s tackle was cast overboard. Things weren’t looking good for those destined for Rome and as “neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging”, everyone onboard started thinking that they had come to their end. They started to give “up all hope of being saved.”

Hindsight being 20/20, I guarantee the Roman centurion, pilot, and ship’s captain were thinking they should have listened to Paul and taken appropriate action when the opportunity first presented itself. But they chose to ignore wisdom and now they had not only placed themselves in peril but everyone else onboard.

What would happen next?

We’ll see in tomorrow’s message.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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