Acts 27:9-26 “Only an Angel Can Save Us!”

In 1933 the Thomas Dorsey Orchestra recorded the song “Stormy Weather.” It became a favorite during World War II for entertaining the troops overseas. In 1943 Lena Horne sang the song in the movie entitled “Stormy Weather.” This was the time when my dear mother was growing up. In a way, it became a theme song for her life. I remember when at times my father would come home from work upset for having driven the Los Angeles freeways plus whatever frustrations from the job. My brother and sisters and I could tell by the way the door slammed on the Mercury station wagon and how my father’s ankles cracked when walking up the front sidewalk to the door. Then, my mother would sing softly under her breath “Don’t know why, there’s no sun up in the sky, stormy weather. . . “ And then, my father would storm in.

We have this moment in our scriptures when it says that the sailors on the ship carrying Paul and the others to Rome when the storm hits and they have thrown everything overboard already. The food is gone. The sailing tackle is gone. They are dragging their anchor but to no good effect. The bible says that they were afraid because for days they could not see the sun or stars.

How important it is for sailors to see the sky! We hardly bother anymore. If we want to know where we are or what the weather is going to be, we look to our phones. WE google maps. WE look at accu-weather. So, can you imagine a life that if you wanted to know what tomorrow would bring you would look up to the skies?! Open a window! Stick your head out!

This reminds me of a trip to Laramie, Wisconsin a few years ago to attend my nephew’s wedding. My brother-in-law Clay, sister Karen, and my daughter Carolyn and I rented a car in Denver, Colorado, and drove up for the day. My brother-in-law and I split the driving. It is about 150 miles to get from Denver to Laramie. Coming back my brother-in-law took the first leg out of Wyoming. He used google. Had his phone on it. He listened carefully to the voice telling him to turn right, then left, and so on. We ended up driving through cow pastures and people’s front yards. Everyone in the car was thinking we were driving in circles. So, it had gotten dark. The whole time I was looking at the stars, specifically Orion’s Belt and so I could at least affirm that we were somewhat headed in the direction of Denver.

My brother-in-law was so fatigued that we pulled over so that I could take the wheel and bring us back to the Denver airport hotel. I just told him to turn off the google. I could tell by the stars that we would eventually hit the main Interstate 25 that would lead us back. Within ten minutes we were headed straight back on the interstate. I do not know if they scramble the GPS because of NORAD being out there or what, but the stars are always true!

Now, there are times in our lives when the direction is not clear. Remember, Paul’s mission is to go to Rome to spread the gospel there. Now he is lost at sea with no food and he cannot even see the stars. He does not even know how far off course he is. You just hear your mother from your childhood singing “Stormy Weather.” But then, God sends an angel to Paul. When you cannot see the stars. When you cannot see the sun. God will send an angel to assure your life is on course. The angel says “Paul, you will stand before Caesar.”

I brought this up at Bible Study, and I have been thinking about this a lot lately: Why is it that we only really talk about God’s angels at Christmas and Easter. At Christmas we sing “Hark the Herald Angels Sing.” At Easter we talk about the two angels who were in the empty tomb at the time of the Resurrection and then at Christ’s Ascension.

This last week some folks on the internet were talking about the Rapture was to happen on Tuesday last. That would have been great–you know, it was a church Association meeting in Lihue we could have skipped! Yes, we talk about angels in the End of Days as well. So, outside of Christmas, Easter, and the Apocalypse; we never mention those messengers from God who are sent specifically to us to guide our lives.

Last month I watched a movie on Netflix entitled “Redeeming Love.” By about half way through the film I started noticing that the movie had kind of a Christian message throughout. How is this possible in this day and age? At the end as the credits were rolling I noticed that Roma Downey was the executive producer. She is the former “Touched by an Angel” star. Netflix just this last summer started replaying that entire television series. And, there are a lot of other projects that she has created in film since her starring role as an angel on television. Are angels going mainstream again? Wonderful!

In spite of all the hardship that Paul had to face with being on a ship that is always fighting against the wind, sailors that do not listen, and the eventual shipwreck, the whole time, the angel was there telling him that everything is going to be all right.

We have to believe in angels. We have to believe that God is actually present with us in times of trial. I think we as Christians tend to start looking around for God in every situation. We expect the angel to be there. Even in our worst moments, we sense God whispering to us what we need to do in order to make it through.

In verse 25 I want to point out a mis-translation in our pew bibles. It says “So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God. . . .” The Greek here is “πιστευω γαρ τω θεω.” It is not “I have faith IN God,” but rather “I believe God.” One statement is simply that you have faith. The other statement is that you have heard God’s Word directly and are heeding it. Some translations of the Bible get it right: so credit to Eugene Peterson’s “The Message” version! The Living Bible gets it right. Yes, even King Jame’s version is right on. For some reason the NRSV text in our pew racks messed up this very powerful statement by Paul. HE BELIEVES GOD! He has heard God’s voice directly and is going to act upon that word from God. You can argue that surely that means he has “faith in God.” Yes, but what is being said here is much more powerful.

This moment of believing the word of God came for the Apostle Peter in Matthew 14:22-33. Excuse me as I switch Apostles on you! The disciples are crossing the Sea of Galilee in a boat and a great storm comes up. Jesus was not with them in the boat, but then they see what they think is a ghost walking over the water towards them and they are afraid. As it turns out, the ghost is actually Jesus. Peter asks the Lord if he is really Jesus to have Peter himself walk out on the water. So, Peter gets out of the boat and starts walking across the sea to Jesus. Just then, Peter starts losing his faith once more and begins to sink. Jesus comes over and takes his hand and lifts him once more out of the boat. Do not just have faith in Jesus, BELIEVE Jesus! Do a miracle.

When we consider this story of Jesus, it makes us wonder if it had been Peter rather than Paul on the wrecked ship if he would have simply been able to walk on water over to the beach. That would have really shown the others on the ship the power of faith!

Likewise if Paul would have been swallowed by a big fish and then spat up on shore as Jonah had been, that would have really shown the others!

Or, maybe the sea would have parted for the survivors of the shipwreck and allowed them to walk on dry land to shore as was the case with Moses! That would have been a grand miracle.

Or maybe, as we read at the end of the Gospel of John, the resurrected Jesus could have been on shore with a nice breakfast waiting for them. That would have been a great miracle indeed.

And yet, out of all the people on the ship, not one had even a hair on his head damaged as the angel promised, that is a great miracle in and of itself. It does not need to be anymore spectacular to affirm the faith we have in Christ Jesus. It was not a spectacular miracle as we have seen in the past, but it was a miracle none-the-less. Just believe God! If God tells you life is going to work out, then it will.

Yes, even a shipwreck can be a miracle! That is what I want you to take home with you today—even a shipwreck can be a miracle! Being able to see that depends on your attitude in life. If you can see the miracle of shipwreck, then you are in the right mindset.

I am reminded of a story by Brian Cavanaugh entitled “The Optimist.” There are two twin boys who are very different from one another. One was an optimist and the other prescribed his life to Murphy’s Law—that is that everything can go wrong will. The worried parents took the twins to a psychologist.

He suggested a plan to balance the boys’ personalities. On their next birthday, put them in separate rooms to open their gifts. Give the pessimist the best toys you can afford, and give the optimist a box of manure.” The parents did just as the doctor suggested.

When they peeked in on the pessimist, he was in his room grumbling about the fact that he didn’t like the color of the computer he had gotten and that he did not like a game he had gotten.

They peeked into the other room where their optimist son was and saw him gleefully throwing the manure up in the air. He was laughing and giggling. “You can’t fool me! Where there is this much manure, there’s got to be a pony!”

The shipwreck from the optimists—not from the Christian point of view—was a great miracle that allowed Paul to speak of God in the presence of angels. Amen.