Good morning! My name is Aristarchus! Don’t worry if you don’t know how to spell it; most people can’t even pronounce it. I am of Jewish descent, but I did not grow up in the streets of Jerusalem. I am from the Greco-Roman city of Thessalonica in the region of Macedonia. I was converted to Christianity under the ministry of the Apostle Paul when he came through my hometown on his second missionary journey, and I have been a part of his missionary team ever since.
I went with him to preach the gospel in Berea and Athens, and after the persecution and riot in Ephesus I accompanied him on his third missionary journey back to Jerusalem. I was with him when he was falsely accused by the Jewish leaders and was taken into custody by the Romans, and I helped to take care of his needs for two years while he was a prisoner in Caesarea under the reigns of Felix and Festus.
After waiting two long years, Paul finally realized he was not going to get a fair trial in Caesarea so he appealed to Caesar and hoped to be transferred to Rome. The governor granted him his wish and I was one of the members of the missionary team to accompany him on the long voyage across the Mediterranean Sea to Italy. And, wow, what a trip that was! Being with Paul was always adventurous and had more than its share of danger, but that sea voyage was enough to make any common sensible person never leave the security of soil again.
Despite the ever present peril and paralyzing panic, I learned a lot about God’s providence on that journey. I also learned a lot about what it takes to be a Christian leadership from watching Paul in action. I learned about the virtues of Christian leadership!
Well, that is why I am here today! I am here to tell you the story about our voyage and shipwreck and what I learned from it. Your pastor asked me to come here and share my story with you this morning. He mentioned something about a “stories of faith” series your church has been doing. He said that you haven’t had one for a while (which is his fault), so he asked me if I would fill in today. I told him that I would be delighted. So, here is my story!
The Voyage
Our ship’s captain, owner, and Julius, the Roman centurion who was in charge of all of the prisoners on board decided to sail on to Phoenix on the western tip of Crete instead of heeding Paul’s advice to board the ship in the harbor and wait out the winter in Fair Havens. We all knew that Fair Havens wasn’t an ideal location to stay the winter, but Paul thought it was wiser to stay rather than chance it on the treacherous autumn seas. He told us stories about how he had barely survived three other shipwrecks in the past, and he didn’t want to undertake it a fourth time. Regardless of Paul’s pleas, their stubborn determination led them to test the tides one more time.
So, as the sun dawned over the eastern horizon early in the morning, we set sail from Fair Havens. The air was cool but not cold and there was a gentle sea breeze to our backs, and I remember thinking to myself, “This may not be so dangerous after all” although I wouldn’t have told Paul that! And I sure am glad I didn’t, because when we entered the Gulf of Messara, just six miles east of out point of departure, the winds of change began to blow. The most terrible storm you could ever imagine, a dreaded Mediterranean nor’easter, swept down from the island of Crete and almost devoured us. The waves crashed against us with vehemence and the fury of the typhoon forced us off course. There was no way for us to sail against it and we were forced to trim the sails and let it waft us to wherever it pleased.
For many days the dark clouds closed us in and the pelting rains drenched our battered bodies. We barely secured the lifeboat and took a few emergency precautions before the day turned so black that we could no longer see the sun or stars. When we couldn’t tell where we were or which direction we were going, we really began to fear for our lives, wondering what would become of us. In our frantic desperation everyone was throwing cargo and equipment overboard, but nothing seemed to help. It seemed certain that it was just a matter of time before our ship would be dashed against the rocks and we would all sink into the great abyss. Now I had witnessed God delivering us from some pretty difficult situations in the past, but I have to admit that I had some serious doubts about this one!
At the pinnacle of our panic, most of the crew and passengers gathered under the deck as we awaited our doom. There was nothing else that could be done. Everyone huddled together on the floor in silent trepidation, reaching the point of utter hopelessness. Well, almost everyone! In the midst of the depths of despair, I’ll never forget how Paul stood up among the crowd and took charge. Looking at those who make this perilous mistake to sail on to Phoenix, he addressed everyone on board when he said, “Men, keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed.” Then he told us about how just the night before an angel of the Lord appeared to him and told him not to fear because God would graciously save the lives of every person on the ship and that he would make it to Rome to testify before Caesar.
I heard a few skeptical murmurs from the crew, but for the most part, the passengers believed Paul’s message. As they thought about how his predictions came true in the past, they pondered the possibility of his prediction coming to pass in the future. For the first time on this horrific journey, we heard a word of hope. Paul’s undaunted faith in the sovereignty and grace of the one true God breathed hope into the hopeless! Even I felt convicted when I thought about the many stories I had heard about the Lord Jesus chastising his disciples with the words “O, you, of little faith!” I am so glad that Paul had courage when no one else did!
The Shipwreck
Yes, we finally had some hope, but there was still this uncertain matter in his message of our ship running aground somewhere. There was still some apprehension about a possible shipwreck as we were driven across the Adriatic Sea. Even with this newfound hope, voices stayed soft while we waited for whatever would happen next.
It was on our fourteenth night at sea, somewhere around midnight, that some of the sailors who remained above the deck heard some breakers and sensed that we were approaching land. They threw attached a lead weight to a line and threw it overboard to test the depth. They discovered that the water was only 120 feet deep. A little while later they tried again and found that it was only 90 feet deep. Although the storm had weakened, the current was rapidly pushing us toward land. Fearing that we would be dashed against the rocks, the captain ordered everyone back on deck and we four anchors from the stern to slow our down as we prayed for daylight to come quickly so that we could see exactly what was ahead of us.
A few of the crewmen tried to sneak away in the life boat by pretending to let down some more anchors from the bow, but Paul somehow sensed that they were up to no good and alerted Julius and wisely warned him that unless these crewmen stayed with the ship they would not survive. By now Paul had won Julius’ respect and so he ordered his soldiers to cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it fall into the sea.
By the time the whole crew was assembled again, for the first time in two weeks the clouds began to break up. Even though it was still dark, we could see that dawn was on the horizon. As our confidence grew, Paul showed the wisdom of his leadership again by urging us all to eat. The whole time the storm raged our ship tossed and turned so much that our stomachs could hardly hold down any food. There had been so much suspense that we had almost completely forgot to eat anything. Paul knew that we would need all of our strength to endure whatever lied ahead of us, so he persuaded us to take some food.
He took a loaf of bread, gave thanks to God, broke it, and began to eat. When I saw Paul break that bread, I realized how hungry I was. All 276 of us on board must have been thinking the same thing, so we followed his lead. We all ate so much that by the time we were finished we could hardly look at another piece of bread—good thing too, because just then Paul commanded us to start dumping some of the grain into the sea. The ship needed to be lightened so that we could get closer to the shore. We worked hard until we could feel the warmth of the sun on the back of our necks. We turned around to see the orange glow of the sun emerge from the sea. We all yelled and cheered at the sight of the gleaming rays shimmering across the water.
Just then I heard one of the crewmen yell, “Land ahoy!” and we turned around again to a bay with a sandy beach. No one recognized the land but we didn’t really care—there was sand, plants, and trees! We were overjoyed at the sight of land! Then I heard someone yell, “Cut the anchors! Loosen the ropes! Set the foresail! Let’s steer this thing right onto the beach!
We though we would coast the whole way in, but all of the sudden we heard a loud crash and felt the ship come to an awkward halt. We all knew that the bow had run aground on a sandbar. The captain tried to steer us out of it, but it was stuck deep in the sand. We didn’t have much time to decide what to do next—the waves were beating against the stern and it was being dashed to pieces. The ship would not last long like this, so we knew we would have to swim for it.
Just then I looked over and saw some of the soldiers take hold of their weapons and start marching toward us. Right then it dawned on me that they were going to kill us because they could not want to be held liable if any of us escaped. I thought to myself, “You have got to be kidding! After all of this, we are going to be killed by the Romans!” As I was trying to decide whether to defend myself or make a run for it, Julius jumped in front of them and kept them from carrying out their plan. He declared that he wanted to spare Paul’s life and the lives of the other prisoners. He told them not to worry about the prisoners and that he would take full responsibility for any escapees. Then he ordered everyone who could swim to jump overboard and swim to shore first. Everyone else could float there on planks or other pieces of the crackling ship. And sure enough, everyone reached land safely!
Providence
Well, that’s my story! Like I said before, the whole voyage taught me a lot about God’s providence. The events certainly didn’t go the way I wanted them to, but now that I look back on them I know that God was in control the whole time. Even though it appeared to us that we were in great danger, we were never really in danger. He delivered us from this difficulty just as he always had before. He protected us during the storm and from the soldiers plot to kill us. It was his plan for us to go to Rome and nothing was going to stop it! No storm, soldier, or anything else can thwart God’s plan for our lives!
How about you? Has God’s providence ever protected you from some danger or delivered you from some difficulty? It is true for you just as it was true for me—you can be encouraged because nothing can thwart God’s plan for your life!
Christian Leadership
Likewise, this journey taught me a lot about Christian leadership. Watching how Paul handled himself on that ship was absolutely amazing. As I observed him over those two weeks, I saw how necessary the virtues of courage and wisdom are for Christian leadership.
Courage
Paul showed tremendous courage throughout the whole ordeal. When everyone else was panicking he maintained a calm and quiet courage that was rooted in his faith in the Lord. When everyone else lost hope, his hope was anchored in the Lord. When everyone else feared for their lives, he feared the Lord. Because of this, he was able to rise to the occasion and give us hope in a desperate situation. Because of his courage, he could urge everyone else to keep up their courage. Courage is a necessary virtue for Christian leadership.
Being courageous means remaining calm when everyone else panics. It means acting fearlessly when everyone else is too afraid to do anything. It means anchoring your hope in the Lord when you go through a hopeless situation. It means doing the right thing even when it is easier or more popular to do the wrong thing. This is the virtue of courage!
How about you? When everything around you falls apart and you don’t know what is going to happen, how do you react? Where is your trust? Do you have the virtue of courage?
Wisdom
Paul also showed remarkable wisdom on this voyage. It is revealed in everything from his warning not to leave Fair Havens to his alerting Julius about the crewmen escaping on the lifeboat to urging them to eat to keep up their strength. His wonderful blend of conventional and spiritual wisdom allowed him to be a good Christian leader in troubled times.
Conventional wisdom is the ability to see a situation clearly, understand the variables, calculate the possible outcomes, and make the best decision accordingly. Godly wisdom is knowing God’s character and ways well and acting according to them. Paul had both types of wisdom.
How about you? Do you have the virtue of wisdom? Do you make decisions based on God’s word and conventional system? Wisdom is essential for Christian leadership!
Do you see why these two virtues are necessary for Christian leadership? Wisdom is knowing what to do! Courage is having the guts to do it? If either one of these virtues are lacking, good leadership cannot happen! Do have the virtues of Christian leadership? If not, let me pray that God would give them to you!