David Bahn – Reflections

Acts 28:1-10

After we were brought safely through, we then learned that the island was called Malta. 2 The native people showed us unusual kindness, for they kindled a fire and welcomed us all, because it had begun to rain and was cold. 3 When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand. 4 When the native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.” 5 He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. 6 They were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw no misfortune come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.

7 Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island, named Publius, who received us and entertained us hospitably for three days. 8 It happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery. And Paul visited him and prayed, and putting his hands on him healed him. 9 And when this had taken place, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured. 10 They also honored us greatly, and when we were about to sail, they put on board whatever we needed.

The woman driving the black Jaguar or the man in the $3,000 suit: vixen or soccer mom? Businessman or drug lord? And when the Jaguar is sideswiped by a semi-truck or the suit is stained with a glass of red wine, what conclusions do you draw? Are you sad or smug? Do you worry about the unfortunate person or secretly delight that somehow justice has been served?

Paul is seen, in these few verses, as murderer, god, and hero. It’s not absolutely clear that those whom he healed thought of him as a missionary, or to what extent they remained faithful, or even were converted to faith in Christ. But it is clear that the prisoner is in charge of the whole expedition. He visits a sick man and heals him. He is the focus of peoples’ speculations. He is the one now responsible for the resupply of their ship. He will go to Rome to see Caesar; but he is on a mission from God.

Such a clear sense of purpose changes things – no matter what outward circumstances we may face along the way. If we have a clear sense of God’s calling, of his purposes, of his kingdom’s end, and the part we play in that, our lives become large. Great and mighty powers bow to the work of God in and through us.

It takes the eyes of faith to see this: God’s work in the face of upheaval and the world’s tumult. When headlines are all about gay marriage, potential drafts, and anti-religious fervor at home and abroad, it may seem as though God isn’t in control at all. But shipwrecks, snake bites, and travails along the way to prison do not stop the spread of the Word of the Lord.

God is good, gracious, true, and mighty. He established his kingdom from a cross and reigns from on high after triumphing over death three days later. That Good News compels us to faith in Christ and us to his mission. The kingdom is at hand whenever God’s people keep Christ on the throne of their hearts. That’s what Paul was doing even on this trip to prison in Rome. That is our calling as well: letting Christ reign in our hearts by faith.