Acts 28:1-10 “Swell Outcome”
There was a large group of people. On one side of the group stood a man, Jesus. On the other side of the group stood Satan. Separating them, running through the group, was a fence.
The scene set, both Jesus and Satan began calling to the people in the group and, one by one - each having made up his or her own mind - each went to either Jesus or Satan.
This kept going. Soon enough, Jesus had gathered around him a group of people from the larger crowd, as did Satan.
But one man joined neither group. He climbed the fence that was there and sat on it. Then Jesus and his people left and disappeared. So too did Satan and his people. And the man on the fence sat alone.
As this man sat, Satan came back, looking for something which he appeared to have lost. The man said, "Have you lost something?" Satan looked straight at him and replied, "No, there you are. Come with me."
"But", said the man, "I sat on the fence. I chose neither you nor him."
"That's okay," said Satan. "I own the fence."
As we consider today’s scripture, I want us to think about God’s old adversary: the one whom we call Satan. Although our text does not state that Satan showed up in that very moment when Paul and the others were on the beach in Malta, we have to understand that this viper coming up and biting Paul’s hand fits the biblical depictions of Satan. Also, I want you to consider that there are no poisonous snakes on the island of Malta. Where did the viper come from then?
Some people believe that when Saint Paul was bitten by the viper and survived that he was able to miraculously remove the venom of all snakes on the island. That would be a great miracle indeed. However, there is no evidence that there were ever any poisonous snakes on Malta at any time in the past. How did a venomous snake happen to find Paul’s hand then?
There is another reason from the history of the island itself. Before Paul came to Malta, the people of the island worshipped Astarte, a female snake goddess. The priestesses of the cult even wrapped their skulls to elongate them like snakeheads. These snake-women skulls can be seen in museums today. The venomous snake therefore may represent the pagan cult of the island, a shortcut to Satan himself.
I believe that when Paul gets to the shore after the shipwreck, he is tempted by Satan. Think about it. This would have been Paul’s last chance to escape from his Roman captors. He could have run away and never be heard from again. He could have just gone back to making tents and leading a normal life. This was his final chance to just live a life like everybody else. He chose to stay. He chose to fight back that temptation to run. He knows that the angel of the Lord is calling him to go to Rome to face the Emperor, and he accepts this as his calling. Amen to that!
We had much discussion in Bible Study about the meaning of the snake in this part of the Bible. I think that for many there is a natural reaction to snakes that is one of repulsion. We are for the most part happy not to have any snakes on Kauai. I did mention that when we were missionaries in Thailand, we had a python that lived under our house and would help to keep the rodent population down. We felt very fortunate to have the snake. It never bothered us. Sometimes it would stick its head out from under the front steps, but for the most part nobody ever knew it was there.
The people on Malta, apparently loved snakes and revered them. Specifically they believed that the snake had healing power. Even in Christian understanding, the snake is associated with healing. On every ambulance we see the symbol called the caduceus, a staff with a snake on it. This comes from a story out of the Book of Numbers, Chapter 21:5-9. In this story, the people have sinned against God, and God has sent poisonous snakes down to bite the people. The people go to Moses to pray for them to live. Moses prayed for the people, and God answered him by telling him to fashion a serpent out of bronze and to place it on a pole. Everyone who looked at the serpent on the pole would be healed.
In the Gospel of John, Chapter 3:14-15 we read Jesus telling of the same: “And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”
When we think of the snake, therefore, we cannot just associate it with Satan, but also with the healing power of God overcoming Satan. Even though the serpent in the Garden of Eden brought about the Fall, Jesus lifted up is our salvation!
I will share with you something that happened to me during my very first visit here to Kauai. That was when I had come out to visit the church prior to being called to serve here. You may recall that I was staying at the guesthouse belonging to the Kennett’s. On the very last day before I flew back, I went in to take a shower in the bathroom. I pulled back the shower curtain. There in the drain of the shower was a rather healthy-sized scorpion. Its tail was already up ready to strike.
I remember saying aloud to myself, “Oh, hello devil. I was wondering when you were going to show up.” I thought about that reaction later, wondering why I had said such aloud, and thinking, “Well, if the devil doesn’t want me here, this must be the right place for me.”
Now, I never shared this with anyone before, not even my wife. I thought nobody would understand this, but, yes, one of the reasons I decided to come to be a pastor in Waimea is because of a scorpion in the shower. However, in the context of Paul’s being bitten by a viper, it finally makes sense enough that I can share it out today. Satan did not want Paul to go to Rome—to fulfill Christ’s ministry there. Hence, Paul knew that he had to go!
This last week, I think that either by chance or the working of the Spirit I was led to look at this scripture a little differently than I had before. You see, on Tuesday I got a call on my cell from James, who works at the Boys and Girls Club, that he had noticed a man living under the White Church where the church offices are. There is a little door that leads under the church near the backside of the church. When I finally got to meet the fellow, I told him of the various services for homeless folks on the island and took him into our Westside Food Pantry for emergency food aid.
While I was getting him the food, it crossed my mind as I was thinking still about Paul on the island, that he was in fact a homeless guy living on the beach. As you all know, we have quite a few homeless folks living on the beach here in Kauai. And, I will say that for those who come to West Kauai ministers for homeless aid, there have been times when we have simply bought them a tent and have noted to them the bathrooms and showers at the beaches here on the island. We do not have the resources to do much else.
Paul and some 275 others are now homeless. They are in a rather hopeless situation without shelter, food, or a means to get off of that beach! What does Paul immediately do while it is still storming? He goes out to gather wood for a fire so that others might enjoy a little bit of warmth. This fire will allow the people to gather together in warmth and light. This is a wonderful picture of Paul in servant ministry to others.
The Bible tells us actually that the fire was kindled by the natives who had come to help those homeless and beleaguered survivors. From there, the natives learn of Paul’s ordeal with the viper and realize that he is able to heal in Jesus’ name. The people call for him to go out and heal others. The leader of the island, Publius by name, has a sick father. Paul heals him as well by prayer and laying on of hands. Then, everyone on the island is cured by Paul.
We see that they then bestowed honors on Paul. They found the survivors a new ship to carry them on towards Rome. They provisioned the ship for them. At this time, Paul has become the hero of the island—if I can say that.
If it had not been for Paul’s
gathering wood, bringing the people together, reaching out to the natives with
Christ’s healing power, the survivors of the shipwreck might have perished
indeed. We need to like Paul in always reaching out to help others even when we
ourselves are in need. We cannot just sit on the fence. We have to choose for
God, what God would have us do always. Remember? The fence belongs to Satan!
Amen.