Acts 27
Acts 27 reads more like a travel log
than what we would normally expect of a biblical text. It names places, seasons, weather patterns, cargo,
dangers, and even the number of passengers.
It also details the route that Paul was taken on to go to Rome for his
appeal before Caesar. Luke, the author,
is grounding us once again in history and fact.
His details, names, and locations remind us that these were real people
who took a real journey which ended disastrously from a financial point of view,
and miraculously in regard to the preservation of life, although we’ll have to
get the first part of Acts 28 to get that full story.
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| Map of Paul's Journey to Rome |
When we think of the life of faith we
often think of holy moments in Church.
We might ponder events like baptisms, conversions, confirmations, funerals
or weddings. Contemplating the life of
faith might bring to mind activities like praying, receiving the Lord’s Supper,
fasting, or giving. These are all
wonderful parts of the Christian life. However,
much of the life of faith is lived outside of those events we recognize as
holy.
Consider Paul’s journey. Trusting in God’s promises he went with his
jailors, he contributed to decisions (like when to leave and where to winter),
he urged people to eat, and he protected the lives of the soldiers by informing
them to keep the sailors from trying to make a break for it. None of these things were what we would call
particularly spiritual, nor even perhaps profound. He was just living, going on the journey, and
walking by faith.
We are so drawn to the amazing, the
impressive, the glorious, and the arduous.
We say things like, “If I could just have faith like so-and-so I could
make great decisions and have be a powerful witness through my life.” The truth is that very few of us are presented
with monumental moments, but what we are given are little moments and choices
day by day to live by God’s grace through our baptism. Daily, by contrition and repentance, our
sinful nature is drowned and dies in baptism, and we live as new people, raised
in Christ, living before God in righteousness and purity forever. Perhaps that sounds mundane, but: God +
our mundane lives = redeemed holy moments.
Father, please use the normal mundane
moments of my life for Your holy purpose, and let me show what it is to be a
forgiven sinner. Amen.
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