SERIES
Acts: Empowered to Extend
2018-05-13T11:00:00-05:00
27:1 And when it was decided that we should sail for Italy, they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan Cohort named Julius.
9 Since much time had passed, and the voyage was now dangerous because even the Fast was already over, Paul advised them, 10 saying, “Sirs, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.” 11 But the centurion paid more attention to the pilot and to the owner of the ship than to what Paul said.
18 Since we were violently storm-tossed, they began the next day to jettison the cargo. 19 And on the third day they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. 20 When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned.
21 Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and incurred this injury and loss. 22 Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. 23 For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, 24 and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ 25 So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told. 26 But we must run aground on some island.”
33 As day was about to dawn, Paul urged them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have continued in suspense and without food, having taken nothing. 34 Therefore I urge you to take some food. For it will give you strength, for not a hair is to perish from the head of any of you.” 35 And when he had said these things, he took bread, and giving thanks to God in the presence of all he broke it and began to eat. 36 Then they all were encouraged and ate some food themselves. 37 (We were in all 276 persons in the ship.)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright (c)2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. http://www.esv.org
From the perspective of our culture – which prizes self-worth, self-protection, and self-promotion – the Apostle Paul is someone about whom we should be worried. He seems emotionally unstable at times, perhaps even reckless. Listen to his opening words in Acts 20:24, “But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself.” He doesn’t consider his life to be valuable or precious? This guy definitely needs a friend, and probably needs a counselor too.
What happened to Paul that was so bad that he would say this? As it turns out, it wasn’t something bad, but something so very good. Listen to the same words set in their context of the entire verse: “But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God (Acts 20:24).” Paul didn’t consider his life to be valuable or precious in itself because something infinitely valuable and precious had transformed his life: the gospel of the grace of God.
The good news of the gospel tore down Paul’s old identity, and built up a brand new one. As he says in Philippians 3:7-8, “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.” Knowing the depths of his sin and the heights of God’s holiness, Paul discarded credentials of human merit for credentials of divine grace in Jesus Christ. What are self-worth, self-protection, and self-promotion compared with the love of the Father, the righteousness of the Son, and the in the presence of the Holy Spirit freely given to all who believe? May our answer be Paul’s answer: those old ways are worthless compared to the surpassing worth of Jesus Christ!
The good news of the gospel not only transformed Paul’s identity, but also his calling. Becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ not only transformed who he was in God’s sight, but what he was to do in his life: to be faithful to the ministry Jesus gave him (Acts 20:24). While all human lives have absolute value because they bear the image of God, Paul understood that the significance of the Christian’s life is heightened when it is invested in the Kingdom of God. And so Paul, led by the Holy Spirit (Acts 20:22-23) willingly walked away from his friends (Acts 20:25) and towards danger (Acts 20:23). This was not an act of self-loathing or self-righteousness; it was an act of self-sacrifice aimed at finishing the ministry Jesus gave him.
We are the fruit of Paul’s self-sacrificial investment in the Kingdom of God. God used Paul to spread the gospel from Jerusalem to Rome, and God used countless other faithful men and women to spread the gospel from Rome to Dallas, and from generation to generation. While the apostolic ministry Jesus gave Paul was unique, Jesus has given each of us a similar and significant ministry. We too have been giving the radical calling to testify to the gospel of the grace of God everywhere and every day, whether in our current homes, neighborhoods, and workplaces, or to new people and places as the Spirit sends us. And so may we, like Paul, be fueled by knowing the great worth and joy of our life in Christ and our life for His Kingdom.