Lord of the winds! I feel thee nigh,
I know thy breath in the burning sky!
And I wait, with a thrill in every vein,
For the coming of the hurricane!
William Cullen Bryant (1854)
Do you get as excited about storms as the poet Bryant did? I don’t think little children especially enjoy storms. They’re not used to the deep crash of thunder and winds that pull at roof shingles like a giant trying to pop the lid on a tuna can. But as we grow older we learn to like storms. We like them, that is, if we’re not caught in them. Dodging lightning strikes while descending a mountain on foot is not my definition of fun, but watching that same flashing from the dry comfort of a cabin is second to none.
I’m talking about storms this morning because the Apostle Paul was caught in one that lasted fourteen days and fourteen nights – about as long as your Christmas-break from school. Having to weather such a long-lasting storm in our comfortable, well-built houses today would be trying enough. Paul, however, had to ride it out in a wooden ship in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea with no coast guard helicopter standing by to carry out a rescue. But this storm, like every storm we must weather, was a blessing. Our sermon text today gives us two reasons to love a good storm: it destroys our sense of self-importance while heightening our sense of God’s providence.
Paul was on his way to Rome to stand trial for preaching about Jesus when the storm hit. What happened was that when Paul’s ship left the coast of present-day Turkey, it was blown off course and ended up on the island of Crete. Paul said they should spend the winter there because it was already October and not a good time for sailing because of frequent and sudden storms. The pilot and owner of the ship didn’t disagree but they wanted to sail to a better port to spend the winter. The port they had in mind was only 65 kilometers away so when a gentle south wind began to blow, they went for it thinking it would be smooth sailing.
But as soon as they had gotten out into open water, a furious wind with the strength of a hurricane came avalanching down the 2,000 m-high peaks of Crete making it impossible to return to harbor but instead drove the ship into the middle of the Mediterranean. This was the beginning of the fourteen day and fourteen night barrage. Luke, who was with Paul, described the growing desperation of the sailors as they fought to keep the ship afloat. They passed stout ropes underneath the ship to keep the planks from popping apart. They threw into the water a heavy canvass funnel to slow the ship down so that it wouldn’t run aground on sand bars off the coast of North Africa. They threw overboard cargo and rigging to lighten the ship which was being swamped by water. But the storm continued and the sailors had no idea where they were. They finally despaired of all hope and thought they were done for.
But it’s here that we find the first reason to love a good storm; it destroys our sense of self-importance. The pilot and owner of the ship had been confident that they could make it to safe harbor. The seasoned sailors thought they knew all the tricks to keep a ship afloat. But they weren’t as smart or as strong as they thought. The storm exposed that truth. And now these self-important men were more likely to listen to the Apostle Paul the next time he spoke.
You may have never experienced a fourteen-day storm at sea but you may have had to endure a fourteen-hour wait in Emergency, or a fourteen thousand dollar bill for unexpected home repairs. These are often the kinds of storms we have to weather but the result is the same: they destroy our sense of self-importance. That’s a blessing because by nature we think we’re hot stuff. Oh sure, others might have car trouble on long trips but not us. We’re thorough in our pre-trip car inspections. Others might suffer from heart trouble. Not us. We eat right. Don’t we even start to think this way with spiritual matters? “Of course I’m one of God’s dearly-loved children. Look at my church attendance record, my offering total, my choice of friends…”
God certainly wants us to be circumspect with our lives but he also wants us to humbly acknowledge that if we have any success, it’s because he has blessed us. And if we live in such a way that our lives are in line with his will, it’s because he has prompted it. Since we so easily forget this, God sends storms to destroy our sense of self-importance. Just to be clear, these storms are not punishment but further evidence of God’s love for us. For these storms not only destroy our sense of self-importance, they heighten our sense of God’s providence, that is, his care for us. Let’s turn back to our text to see how this is true.
When the men on board Paul’s ship had despaired of all hope, he stood in their midst and spoke these words: “Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. 22 But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. 23 Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me 24 and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ 25 So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. 26 Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island” (Acts 27:21-26).
Paul wasn’t rubbing it in when he said: “You should have taken my advice.” Paul’s point was to get the sailors and the other passengers to realize that what he was about to tell them could be trusted. Paul then promised that not one of them would die. How did he know this? An angel had appeared to him and had told him so. Paul wouldn’t have needed an angelic vision to know that he was going to survive. Jesus himself had appeared to him before the trip to say that Paul would be his witness in Rome. And what God says will happen always happens. But Paul didn’t know the fate of the other men until the angel said, “God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you” (Acts 27:24). Now everyone knew that when they survived it wouldn’t be because of “dumb luck.” It would be because God had taken a special interest in them, for Paul’s sake.
OK, but how would they be rescued? Paul wasn’t given many details was he? He knew that the ship would be lost when they ran aground on some island but he didn’t know when or where that would be. In essence all Paul had to go on was God’s Word. He hadn’t been given life jackets to hand out, or a rescue submarine to pilot the men to safety. The storm didn’t even let up after the angel spoke. It continued to blow for several more days!
That’s how it still is today isn’t it? We believers haven’t been given some sort of magic wand that helps us detect and avoid storms, or to quickly escape them should they engulf us. No, we have to weather storms like everyone else. BUT we do have his word that God is with us and will not allow anything to happen to us that could harm us eternally. We only have his Word on this but that is enough! When we don’t trust his Word it only leads to fear and torment. Look at the disciples in our Gospel Lesson. Had not Jesus called them to be fishers of men? Well they hadn’t really started that work of preaching to the people yet, so they should have been confident that they weren’t going to perish in that Galilean storm. They too could have been fast asleep as was Jesus, totally confident that the heavenly Father was keeping watch. But because they had failed to fully trust in Jesus’ words, they were instead in a full panic.
Jesus too had promised to be with Paul and so the apostle and everyone else on his boat eventually made it to safety. But was it a good thing that Paul survived? Remember where he had been headed: to Rome - not as a tourist but as a prisoner to stand trial for his faith. So why did God bother rescuing Paul? Because Paul was going to be a witness of God’s grace and tell perhaps even the emperor that Jesus had died to take away his sins.
Likewise friends, God saved us and God saves us for service, not self-centeredness. Think about that when you cry out to God in the middle of the next storm. We often just want the storm to stop so life can go back to “normal.” Could it be, however, that “normal” has been a life of self-focus and self-gratification? If so, that’s a life that’s slowly sinking and will lead to drowning in one’s own sins. Do you think God is going to stand idly by as that happens? No. Get ready for a storm! And when it comes, hang on to God and his promises for all your worth as you rejoice. For God is using that storm to drive you into heaven’s harbor as he seeks to destroy a damming sense of self-importance and heighten your sense and faith in his saving providence.
You might not wax eloquently as the poet Bryant did when the next storm hits. But you have reasons to love a good storm. And thankfully we know that every storm is good even when it lasts fourteen days, or fourteen months, or even when it hits when you’re fourteen or fifteen years-old. Every storm is good because it comes from a heavenly Father who has already poured out onto his Son his raging anger over our sins. The lightning that now flashes across your life only illuminates how serious this God is about bringing you safely home to heaven. You have his Word on that. Amen.
