Bread of His Presence #238 “Paul’s Christian Work Ethic” (Acts 28:1-3) Pastor Cameron Ury

Hello and welcome to the show today! It is such a pleasure to have you with us again today as we study the Word of God together. 

The Voyage For Rome— You will remember in our study of the book of Acts that Paul has recently stood trial before Governor Festus in Caesarea. And (not getting justice) Paul has been forced to appeal to Caesar. And so he’s going to be transferred to Rome to be tried in Caesar’s court. And so he’s put on board a ship along with Luke and Aristarchus (two men who supported him in ministry); and the ship (which is carrying a bunch of prisoners) sets sail for Rome. And they make a number of stops and change ships at a place called Myra. And from there they continue on their way; but are met with adverse winds that eventually drive them to a port called Fair Havens. From their they wanted to reach Phoenix, which would be a better place to winter in. But Paul warns the captain and Julius (the Roman centurion) not to continue, predicting disaster if they do. However, they don’t listen to him and choose to proceed anyways. And in so doing they get caught in a violent, tempestuous storm known as Euroclydon. And for two harrowing weeks they battle this storm. Now most of the men think they are going to die. And dying at sea was something sailors were terrified of because it was believed that if you died at sea, your soul would never find its way to rest in the realm of the dead; and would wander aimlessly over the surface of the waters in which you had perished. Not a great quality of afterlife to look forward to (at least in their minds), which is why before sailors would set out to sea, they would always offer sacrifices to the gods for special protection. And so we see here that they are absolutely terrified. But there is a person among them who is not afraid: Paul. Paul is calm and courageous in the midst of that storm. And, that is one of the marks of true Christians, by the way.

Moravians Unafraid— You know, it’s interesting. [When John Wesley was on his voyage to North America as a missionary from England, his ship encountered a terrible storm, so bad that they feared for their lives. The English immigrants on the ship were shrieking with fear. Wesley examined himself, as he usually did in all circumstances, “and found to his horror that he was afraid, mortally afraid of dying.” But a group of Moravian Christians from Germany were singing hymns amidst the storm. After the storm had subsided, Wesley went to one of them and asked, “Were you not afraid?” The man replied, “I thank God, no!” Wesley persisted, “But were not your women and children afraid?” “No,” came the reply, “our women and children are not afraid to die.” This experience had a profound influence on Wesley, and these and other Moravians had a big part to play in his subsequent experience of evangelical conversion that sparked off the eighteenth-century revival in England.] The reason many of us are Christians today is because a handful of Christians chose (in the midst of a storm) to live by faith and not by fear.

Faith In God’s Promise— And so Paul was not afraid to die. But he was also courageous for another reason; and that was that he knew that he (and every person on board that ship) were going to live. Paul (after telling them “I told you so!”) encourages them by telling them that an angel came to him and was going to preserve him and enable him to complete his mission. And the angel told him that He had granted to him the lives of those who were with him. And from here on out, Paul directs them until (as he predicts) they run aground, are wrecked on an island, and make their way onto the beach. And that is where our story today picks up. It says in…

Acts 28:1 (NKJV)— 1 Now when they had escaped, they then found out that the island was called Malta. 

Malta— Now [Malta was {an island that was} part of the Roman province of Sicily and was located about 60 miles south of that island near the toe of Italy.] It [was known as Melita by the Greeks and Romans.] But the name Malta literally means “refuge”. And that is fitting, because it really was a refuge for them in this time of crisis. It says in…

Acts 28:2 (NKJV)— 2 And the natives showed us unusual kindness; for they kindled a fire and made us all welcome, because of the rain that was falling and because of the cold. 

Barbarians— Now the word “natives” or “islanders” (as your translation may say) is literally “barbarians”. Now before images of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Conan the Barbarian come to mind, the word “barbarian” was a term used by Greeks for all non-Greek speaking people. So I think most of you (no offense) are just a bunch of barbarians. You don’t speak Greek. And neither did these natives of Malta. But that doesn’t mean they were uncivilized tribesmen or anything like that. They just didn’t speak Greek. They were actually [Phoenician in their ancestry and used a Phoenician dialect, although they were otherwise thoroughly Romanized.] But we see that these “barbarians” show them kindness. [It was raining and cold at the end of October or the beginning of November.] And so these natives make a fire for these shipwrecked men, who had probably been cold for some time (even before the shipwreck). And it says in…

Acts 28:3a (NKJV)— 3 But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, {In other words, Paul gets busy, seeking to help with the task at hand.}

Unhelpful People— Now let me ask you. Have you ever been part of a work group where there was that one person who (for some reason or other) would simply not do anything? Maybe they were a part of your project group at school and didn’t pull their weight but still got a good grade because of everybody else’s work? They weren’t really very helpful. I don’t know if you’ve been in a situation like that before, but it can be very frustrating.

Media’s Portrayal of Christians— Well, that’s how the media often portrays Christians. Christians are sometimes nice, but are almost always close-minded, uneducated, and often so heavenly minded that they are of no earthly good, if you know what I mean. They aren’t wise; and are often absolutely useless in real emergencies. Now those media producers would have a hard time reporting on or making a film about Paul because [Paul did not fit into this stereotype, nor did Joseph, Moses, Joshua, David, Solomon, Daniel, Mordecai, Nehemiah, or a host of others known for both their wisdom and their godliness.] And what we see about Paul is that he dives right into the manual labor of doing what needs to be done. Now he didn’t have to. He could have sat this one out. He had so much respect from the men at this point, he probably could have asked for a throne and they would have made him one. But he doesn’t do that. 

Too Little Work— I read recently of how [A personnel manager rejected a job applicant because the firm was overstaffed. But the would-be employee persisted, "The little bit of work I'd do won't even be noticed!”] Now sadly, that is how a lot of people live. But true followers of Christ are not that way. And Paul certainly wasn’t. He dives right in to help with the manual labor, despite everything he had already done.

Moody’s Servanthood— You know, [One rainy day, a man accompanied by two women arrived at Northfield, hoping to enroll his daughter in D. L. Moody’s school for young women. The three needed help in getting their luggage from the railway depot to the hotel, so the visitor “drafted” a rather common-looking man with a horse and wagon, assuming he was a local cabby. The “cabby” said he was waiting for students, but the visitor ordered him to take them to the hotel. The visitor was shocked when the “cabby” did not charge him, and was even more shocked to discover that the “cabby” was D. L. Moody himself! Moody was a leader because he knew how to be a servant.] Well, that’s Paul.

A Strong Work Ethic— And you know. That ought to be you and me as well. When people look at us, they ought to see people who are willing to be servants to others and who are not strangers to hard work; people who are always seeking for the next right thing to do and then doing whatever that is faithfully, to the best of our ability and for the glory of God. 

“…no earthly good”— Now there have been Christians who were (as they say) “so heavenly minded that they were of no earthly good.” But that is really antithetical to the kind of godliness we find in scripture. Even Jesus (God in the flesh) new what hard labor was and set Himself to it diligently. And we see that with Paul, who supported himself for much of his ministry with his tent-making. He didn’t want to be a burden on anybody. He didn’t have that laid back mentality. 

Not Just The Spiritual Stuff— I had a young man recently communicated to me that he felt limited in his spiritual walk. He couldn’t devote all his time to prayer and Bible study and ministry and that kind of thing because he has a fulltime job and a wife and kids. And so he doesn’t have a lot of time for the super spiritual stuff. And God led me immediately to correct him (in love of course) because his perspective was wrong. I told him that we are often tempted to think that God cares only about the spiritual stuff. But that is not true. God can be just as glorified in the daily grind as He is during those moments when you are doing Bible study, prayer, or ministry. Now it’s important to find those times two focus on the spiritual things, but how you carry yourself at work and how you devote yourself to the tasks you are given bears great testimony of your faith in the Lord. And God is just as present and can be just as actively working through you while you were at work as He is when you are by yourself doing the “spiritual stuff.” 

And so I want to encourage you today to devote yourself to your work. Whatever God has given to you to do, do it faithfully so that when people will look at you they will have respect and admiration and will see in your life the very reflection of Jesus. Let’s do so. Amen.