PERIL AND PROVIDENCE

PERIL AND PROVIDENCE

Acts 27:1-44

Dr. Wm. J. Maxwell, Pastor

First Presbyterian Church, Newport, RI

June 1, 2008

In preparing for this message, I considered contacting one or two of you in the congregation who have had considerable experience in ocean travel. I thought of asking you what it’s like to be a veteran of much experience in traveling on the ocean, and yet to discover, in the midst of a horrendous storm at sea, that you knew you weren’t in control of that event. Just because a person happens to be a veteran sailor or a seasoned traveler, does not mean that peril at sea will be taken lightly. In fact, it will be taken all the more seriously! And along with this, the knowledge that you are not ultimately in control of all that is happening!

This is what we see in the description of Paul’s sea voyage. After appealing his case to Caesar, his voyage began from Caesarea in Israel across the Mediterranean Sea to the city of Rome. Now, in late September or early October, the Romans considered such a voyage hazardous at such a time of year, and even suicidal a little later, because of the potential power of destructive winter storms.

This proved to be so as a nor’easter came upon them, a very damaging, destructive, typhoon-like wind. We need only look at the descriptive words from Luke, who was also on this voyage, to see how frightening this must have been: “a wind of hurricane force”; “swept down”; “the ship was caught by the storm”; “were driven along”; “a violent battering from the storm”; “neither sun nor stars appeared for many days”; “the storm cont’d raging”; “We gave up all hope of being saved.”

In the midst of all this peril, there was, of course, no sense whatsoever of being in control. And yet, there is always One who is fully and completely in control. This is the One who sent to Paul an angelic messenger, saying: “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.”

Luke informs us in his description of these events that Paul believed every bit of this message. He encouraged all the sailors and soldiers on board with this message and he would not allow them to act in any way that would run counter to it. After all, Paul had experienced God’s providential care many times before. So, Paul kept the faith, and in spite of an inevitable shipwreck, all 276 of the passengers and crew landed safely on the island of Malta, about 60 miles south of Sicily. The Lord had provided for, protected, and preserved every one of them.

GOD’S PROVIDENCE

As I think of this event and the place of God’s providence, I wonder why many contemporary Christians don’t seem to use the word “providence” any more. It’s just not a term that is used very often in our 21^st century world.

You may recall a TV documentary in the early ‘90’s on the people and the times of the Civil War. The drama of America’s own bloody war was intensified by the retelling of excerpts from the letters of soldiers. From either side, the South or the North, soldiers would write home and speak often of God’s providence.

On the battlefield for these soldiers, fear and uncertainty of the future were very real. But many would also refer to God’s providence, His rule and reign, and His activity in all the perilous events at hand. In fact, as is also true of the American Revolution, the word “providence” often became synonymous with God, in speaking of Providence with a capital “P.” They knew and affirmed that in spite of such earthly and human uncertainty, there is yet to be affirmed the sovereign plan and the sovereign rule of Almighty God.

It’s time for us in this 21^st century to reaffirm this biblical truth that we are not in control, but God is. Let’s not leave this tenet of the Faith to the generations of the past, because the implications are just far too important for us to leave it there. Belief in God’s providence will first sustain you in your own time of peril; for the time when a sudden “storm” comes upon you without any warning – suddenly, there comes a loss of employment, an injury or illness, surgery or the death of a friend or loved one.

Secondly, it will also strengthen you as you look to a future that may be uncertain to you, but one that is never uncertain to God. I want to explain these two important principles by using two illustrations.

In 1993, I was very enthusiastic to be flying from Cincinnati, Ohio to Boston’s Logan Airport. I was enthusiastic about this trip because I was going to Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary for my first residency period. For the next three years, I would be going there for two weeks in early November to take classes in working on my Doctor of Ministry degree.

As my plane made its way over Ohio, over some of West Virginia, and then into Pennsylvania, I was thinking of the books I had read in preparation for my classes and the content of the classes ahead, as with eager anticipation, I was really looking forward to this residency.

But once over central Pennsylvania, my attention was suddenly re-directed to the announcement of the captain over the public address system, and then to the increasing activity outside the plane. We were coming into a bad storm, and we had to pass through it instead of around it. Now, I could go into great detail about this storm, as I’ve never seen before or since such a show of lightning, or experienced such a shaking of a plane, with the wings bouncing up and down like rubber! Many people were frightened and a number were getting physically ill. This wasn’t looking good at all! Quite honestly, the thought of my residency at Gordon-Conwell was now a faint memory!

As I looked outside the window, and as I listened to the audible fears of passengers, it suddenly occurred to me: this was 1993, the 25^th anniversary of the year my father was killed … while in a passenger plane trying to fly through a storm just like this!

Now, I can only tell you want happened then: a sudden peace came all over me, a peace beyond all understanding, enveloping me, embracing me, assuring me that God was with me, and that I could rest in Him. No matter what happened, I was His … forever!

Well, seeing me today, you can tell what happened! Instead of a direct flight to Boston, the plane landed in Philadelphia to clean it up and to settle some nerves, before traveling on. (I believe some of those passengers never got on that plane again!) But I will never forget that moment on that plane, when I found an overwhelming sense of peace in knowing that, though I am not in control, God is; and in whatever peril I face, I will find God’s providence as well. Oh, dear friends, I assure you: sincere belief in God’s providence will sustain you in your own time and in your own form of peril.

But trusting in God’s providence will also strengthen you as you look to a future that is unknown only to you; but never to God.

Dr. R.C. Sproul lives in southern coastal Florida – a place of great beauty but also a place of great danger. Listen to his testimony as he writes in his book on the subject of providence:

I do not know what tomorrow will hold for me or for my family, so I take certain steps today to provide for tomorrow. When the weather channel warns of tropical storms and hurricanes that threaten our part of Florida, my wife fills the bathtub with water and stocks up with foodstuffs and other supplies. I have met with my attorney and drawn up a will to make provisions for my wife and children in the event of my death.

Yet with all the provisions I seek to make for my family’s future, I realize that ultimately their well-being is in the hands of God. I look to Him as the Great Provider for them as well as for myself. I do not control my destiny or that of my family. This is not my world; it is my Father’s world. I do not entrust my family to Allstate; there are better hands than theirs. [i]

Isn’t that a wonderful statement? Even if you have Allstate – “there are better hands than theirs”! I wonder if you feel the same way as does Dr. Sproul. He’s right, you know. You can’t control your destiny any more than I can control mine, nor that of our families or friends. Quite simply, we are not wise enough, nor knowledgeable enough, nor powerful enough to do so.

I can assure you that in some form or fashion, unexpected trials will come your way. Perhaps you are in the midst of one right now. But please remember that peril and providence are inseparable! Paul found this out again and again and again, and so he learned to rest in this truth. May we do no less than the same!