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Do you remember The Odyssey? You know, the ancient Greek epic poem written by the blind poet Homer sometime in the eighth century B.C. You know, the one some of you had to read for high school english class. That’s right, the one you were supposed to read but you never got around to it. O yeah, that one!
The Odyssey is the sequel to the Iliad, the other work traditionally ascribed to Homer. Throughout the ages these peoms have become foundational classics for all subsequent Western Literature. In the poem, Homer mainly centers on the Greek hero Odysseus (or Ulysses, as he was known in Roman myths) and his long journey home following the fall of Troy. It takes Odysseus ten years to reach Ithaca after the ten-year Trojan War. In his absence, it is assumed he has died, and his wife Penelope and son Telemachus must deal with a group of unruly suitors competing for Penelope’s hand in marriage.
The epic tale traces Odysseus’ travels from Calypso’s island to battling an evil cyclopse, encountering a witch-goddess named Circe, sailing by the tempuious singing Sirens, and many more episodes before he returns home to Ithaca. His fate was always disputed and manipulated by the gods on Mt. Olympus. It is an incredible tale of adventure and intrigue. In fact, the word “odyssey” which we use to refer to a long epic adventure, comes from the main character in the story.
The final two chapters of the book of Acts reads like The Odyssey. It is Luke’s epic tale of Paul’s journey to Rome. As we will discover, it is also filled with adventure and intrigue. The key difference though, is that Paul’s fate is not determines by the false gods Greek mythology, but Paul’s life is guided by the providence of the one true God who created the heavens and the earth. Let’s see what we can learn about God’s providence in our own lives, as we encounter the beginning of Paul’s Odyssey!
Providence & Provision (3, 5-6)
Paul’s odyssey would have begun early in the morning as he and his companions boarded the small coasting vessel from Adramyttium. The crew would have set the sails and they would have felt the sun warm the back of their necks as their boat drifted away from the dock and they headed northwest along the coast in search of a larger ship that could transport them across the vast blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea. Their current vessel wasn’t made for sailing long distances.
Everything went well that first day—the winds were calm and the surface of the water was placid and still. They made good time throughout the day and night and the next day they anchored in the double harbor at Sidon, an ancient Phoenician city. On voyages of this sort, it was every man’s responsibility to go into the city and secure their own supplies before venturing back to sea. This posed somewhat of a problem for Paul and his companions. Surely, Julius would not permit a prisoner or his friends to leave the cruiser for fear of escape, but here is where we start to see God’s providence at work. Surprisingly, Julius was a kindhearted man and he trusted Paul enough to allow them to enter the city to secure supplies.
Also, God’s providence is seen in the fact that Paul just happened to have a number of Christian friends in that city. The Christian community in Sidon welcomed Paul and his companions with open arms and abundantly supplied their needs for the rest of their odyssey. In their situation, they were most likely worried (or at least concerned) about how they were going to be able to get what they needed, but God had it all under control. It wasn’t an accident that they landed in Sidon or that Paul had Christian friends there—nor was it a coincidence that Julius allowed Paul to enter the city. God’s providence was guiding all of these events.
Likewise, God’s providence eventually led them to an Alexandrian grain ship bound for Italy when they reached the port of Myra in the region of Lycia. This ship was large and was designed to carry cargo across the open seas, and it was heading to the very place they wanted to go. Sometimes God providentially works through his people to provide our needs and sometimes he providentially works through non-believers and sometimes his providence doesn’t work through any people at all!
Jennifer and I had a similar experience about 8 years ago. No, we weren’t sailing across the Mediterranean, but we were driving a U-Haul truck from Chicago to Boston with all of our earthly possessions. We had just graduated college, had gotten married, and were moving to our new home at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. We didn’t stop in any ports, but we were out of money and were concerned about how we were going to eat that first week until my final paycheck from Chicago arrived in the mail. After I filled the gas tank of the rental truck and returned it, we were literally out of money and we didn’t know what we ere going to do. We didn’t have any credit cards and we couldn’t even scrounge for some change under the couch cushions—we didn’t own a couch!
We were really worried! I couldn’t understand why God would want us to move the whole way across the country, to a theological seminary of all places, if we were just going to starve to death. O we of little faith, God had it all under control. It was our turn to see God provide through his providence. Later that same day the resident directors of our apartment building stopped by to let us know that it was their policy to buy pizza for couples on the day they moved in. For most couples this was a provision of convenience; for us it was a provision of life and death!
The next morning I started my first day as youth pastor at People’s Evangelical Congregational Church. After worship that Sunday morning, the church put on a potluck dinner to welcome us into the family. We were happy to meet everyone at the church; we were even happier that there was food! Later on, the church presented us with three large boxes of mismatched groceries. They said, “We figured you could use some things in your cupboards!” Wow, what a coincidence? Just kidding! God’s providence provided for us through his people!
How about you? Has God ever providentially provided for you? Has he ever used other Christians to meet your needs? Has he ever used non-believers to take care of your needs? How has God’s providence worked in your life?
I wonder if there is anyone here this morning that is concerned or worried about something. Maybe you have a pressing need and you have no idea what you are going to do about it. Remember that God provides for his people through his providence. Trust him! He is in control! He knows what he is doing! Look for his providence!
Providence & Peril (4, 7-9)
So far, so good! Paul’s odyssey had been relatively uneventful thus far. Their small vessel ran into a little difficulty on their way from Sidon to Myra. They winds became quite strong and became tricky to navigate the vessel, but as long as they stayed to the lee of Cyprus, they were protected from the worst of it and were able to maintain their course.
Later, once they were on the Alexandrian grain ship, they ran into problems with the wind again. The gale forces slowed their progress considerably. A ship this large and loaded down with heavy grain could have slowed to a pace of one mile and hour. What should have taken a few days was quickly turning into a few weeks. By the time they passed by Cnidus the winds beast against them so fiercely and the currents became so dangerous that they could not come to port and they were forced to veer off their course and make their way south toward the southern end of Crete, hoping that the island would offer them protection.
The question this text raises is: If Paul and his friends were really in the center of God’s will, why would God allow them to experience such peril? Isn’t that the question that we always ask God? Many people believe that if you are in the center of God’s will, we will never experience difficulty or danger. Also, they believe that if someone is experiencing difficulty or danger, they must not be in God’s will. Neither of these beliefs is true. There are many times when God providentially uses peril in people’s lives to teach them something he wants them to know or to motivate them to do something he wants them to do. God’s providence uses difficulty and danger all the time!
For instance, John Wesley’s father, Samuel, was a dedicated pastor, but there were those in his parish who did not like him. On February 9, 1709, a fire broke out in the rectory at Epworth, possibly set by one of the rector’s enemies. Young John, not yet six years old, was stranded on an upper floor of the building. Two neighbors rescued the lad just seconds before the roof crashed in. One neighbor stood on the other’s shoulders and pulled young John through the window.
Samuel Wesley said, “Come, neighbors, let us kneel down. Let us give thanks to God. He has given me all my eight children. Let the house go. I am rich enough.” John Wesley often referred to himself as a “brand plucked out of the fire” (Zech 3:2; Amos 4:11). In later years he often noted February 9 in his journal and gave thanks to God for His mercy. Samuel Wesley labored for 40 years at Epworth and saw very little fruit; but consider what his family accomplished!
Has God ever used some peril to change the course of your life? Has he ever allowed you to experience a difficulty to alter the route of one of your relationships? Has he ever brought danger into your life to motivate you to follow a different path?
Now we should not go looking for difficulty or danger, nor should we purposely put ourselves in harms way, but when some kind of peril comes, I hope we will realize that it is part of God’s providence for our lives. He knows exactly what he is doing, even when it doesn’t seem like it. Even in the midst of peril, trust in God’s providence!
Providence & Perception (10-12)
The winds never went away but at least they died down enough so that we could make port at the city of Fair Havens (which the locals called Good Harbor) on the south central coast of Crete. By the time they anchored, it was already mid-October and the fast for the Day of Atonement had passed. Sea travel was normally not undertaken after mid-September and only a fool would dare to sail from November to March. Paul wasn’t a sailor by trade, but was a seasoned enough traveler (he had already survived three shipwrecks and didn’t want it to happen again) and had enough common sense to perceive even greater danger. He tried to council the captain and the centurion to spend the winter in Fair Havens, even though this was not an ideal location to winter. He warned them that it wasn’t worth risking the ship, cargo, and especially their lives; this decision would surely be disastrous.
After considerable dispute, Julius sided with the captain, the owner of the ship, and the majority of the crew to sail another fifty miles to Phoenix, on the west side of the island. In spite of the great danger and Paul’s perception, they raised the anchor and set the sails again. There wasn’t anything Paul could do about it. The centurion made the decision for everyone in their company, so they complied by reboarding the ship.
This is like many situations we face in our own lives. Sometimes we are forced to go along with other people’s poor decisions. In spite of our own perception and wisdom, sometimes we are backed into circumstances and we can’t do anything about it. When this happens, we simply have to trust God’s providence.
The citizens of Feldkirch, Austria, didn’t know what to do. Napoleon’s massive army was preparing to attack. Soldiers had been spotted on the heights above the little town, which was situated on the Austrian border. A council of citizens was hastily summoned to decide whether they should try to defend themselves or display the white flag of surrender. It happened to be Easter Sunday, and the people had gathered in the local church.
The pastor rose and said, “Friends, we have been counting on our own strength, and apparently that has failed. As this is the day of our Lord’s resurrection, let us just ring the bells, have our services as usual, and leave the matter in His hands. We know only our weakness, and not the power of God to defend us.” The council accepted his plan and the church bells rang. The enemy, hearing the sudden peal, concluded that the Austrian army had arrived during the night to defend the town. Before the service ended, the enemy broke camp and left.
These folks were in a potentially disastrous situation. It wasn’t their fault they were in it and there wasn’t much they could do to get out of it, but they trusted in God’s providence. They had no idea how Napoleon’s army would react to the church bells, but God did. When we have some control over a situation, God wants us to act wisely, but when we have no control over a situation, he wants us to trust in his providence!
Well, as we watch the beginning of Paul’s odyssey to Rome, I hope you have been able to see God’s providence. Moreover, I hope that as you continue your odyssey through life, you will be more aware of God’s providence and you will trust him more!