Paul: What a Character!

Yesterday I taught our Sunday School class.  It was only the second time that we have had "normal" Sunday School classes since the spring of 2020.  I was filling in for the regular teacher Rhoda Y.  The lesson was a study of Acts 27:37-Acts 28:10.  As is often the case, we had to leave many interesting aspects of the lesson undiscussed because there simply wasn't enough time to cover them all.  Another possibility, of course, is that we spent too much time on discussing the wrong things.  If I hadn't committed the time to the Lord ahead of class time, and if I hadn't tried to allow the Lord to direct "in the moment" I would be plagued with lots of second-guessing about what happened or didn't happen in class. I will use this space to hold forth a little longer on the lesson.

The account in this passage is of a time when Paul was on a voyage from modern-day Turkey to Rome.  He was a prisoner being transferred for the purpose of appearing before the Roman emperor, Caesar, to whom Paul had appealed.  Others on board included the ship's crew, other prisoners besides Paul, soldiers and a Centurion over the soldiers and the prisoners, and at least one other passenger, Luke, who was a physician.  He was Paul's Christian companion and the recorder of events that eventually became the book in the Bible called The Acts of the Apostles.  There were either 76 or 276 people on board.  Some scholars believe that the 276 number is a copying or translation error, and the correct number is actually 76.  

The voyage was beset with difficulty and danger, mostly because of storms involving high winds, often in the wrong direction to keep a sailing vessel on course to its destination in Rome.  Part of the intrigue is Paul's role in the events on the sea.  He had no position of authority, and no apparent skills as a sailor.  He may, in fact, have been physically confined or in chains during the trip.  Nevertheless, he eventually became the de facto leader for everyone on board, guiding them to safety during a shipwreck.  How it happened is a fascinating study in leadership, and learning about it is a faith strengthening experience.  Paul had all he needed to serve others in a way that honored God, even though in a sense he had "nothing.," not even his freedom.  En route, everyone came to understand that Paul was hearing from a powerful God, and it was to everyone's advantage to take seriously what Paul told them.  Paul was accurately conveying to his shipmates what God said, and they came to understand that Paul's words were wise words that must be honored.  Everyone's safety was tied to Paul's safety, and Paul's safety was tied to his hearing from and believing God.

Earlier, Paul had advised that travel should be suspended for several months because the season for favorable sailing had almost passed.  Paul's advice was ignored, and very soon hurricane-force winds struck, and almost everything that could go wrong did go wrong.  Desperation drove the crew to literally try to hold the ship together with ropes passed under the hull, to toss overboard all the rigging associated with a sailing vessel, to jettison the cargo, to first take on board the lifeboat and then to set it adrift when some sailors tried to use it to escape (Paul warned that if this happened, the rest could not be saved).  For a time, they dragged some of the anchors, while being driven along by the wind and then they finally cut them away entirely, so the ship could be beached as close as possible to the shore.  At the very end they threw all the grain the ship was carrying overboard.  In a last flare of drama on the sea, if the centurion had not intervened, all the prisoners would have been killed by the soldiers just as the ship was about to run aground--because the soldiers knew that their lives would have been required if any prisoners had escaped.  

Paul's first recorded action after the storm began amuses me.  He tells everyone essentially that "if you had listened to me, we wouldn't all be in this mess."  How's that for diplomacy?   I don't remember anyone recommending that people should exercise leadership by beginning with "I told you so." I've personally been warned against doing such things.  Yet, this was obviously exactly what Paul needed to say and do.  If he had taken the friendly relationship-building route, I doubt that the need for listening to Paul would have sunk in as it did this way. Paul had said that there would be danger and loss if they sailed.  In the middle of experiencing the predicted danger and loss, no one could argue against Paul's wisdom.  I believe this prepared them to follow Paul's lead in the coming days as the storm raged on for weeks. 

Paul continued by telling everyone that a supernatural being had visited him the night before and reassured him that he would reach  Rome safely, and that no loss of life would occur for anyone on the ship.  Nevertheless,  the storm continued unabated.

Days later, Paul said that everyone should eat something to give them strength, and led them in thanking God before breaking bread himself and eating it.  Some commentators believe that this was in fact a ceremonial act of remembering the broken body of Jesus.  At any rate, there could be no doubt that Paul was mediating God's presence in a demonstration that God was real and that he was involved in the events on board the ship.  Everyone ate and prepared to try to run the ship aground on the shore of a nearby island.  Not all went as planned, since they ran aground on a sand bar that lurked out of sight between the ship and the shore, but either by swimming or by riding in on planks from the broken ship, everyone reached shore safely.  

The next possible crisis was averted when they found the islanders friendly and helpful instead of unwelcoming and even murderous.  I'm sure that the fire they built for the benefit of the wet and wind-lashed  voyagers was ever-so-welcome (the temperature may have been around 50 degrees).  The fireside was the scene of more drama.  A snakebite on Paul's hand, with the poison having no ill effect at all sent the islanders into a flurry of interpreting the event according to their animistic religious ideas.  At first they were sure that Paul must be a murderer who was being punished by the gods.  Then they decided that Paul must be a god himself because of his protection from the venom. 

I love the glimpse of Paul's servant heart that we see in his setting about to help gather fuel for the fire.  Unknown to him a snake was hiding in the brush he had gathered.  This incident and others that are recorded about their time on the ship and on the island reveal that Paul acted entirely spontaneously.  He was certainly not on a healing campaign, engaged in a prophecy ministry, or on a mission to work miracles.  He was a prisoner, after all, who had no agency except that which God Himself had bestowed on him by saving and empowering him.  Yet, healing, prophecy, and miracles all took place.  They were embedded in humble acts of service to others and obedience to God during terrifying and helpless circumstances.  No genius planning or organizing could have orchestrated more effective demonstrations of God's power than the ones that came out of this chaos and these disasters.

Publius, the chief on the island, welcomed the shipwrecked men to his estate and fed and housed them for three days.  Paul prayed for Publius' father, who apparently suffered from Malta Fever, a disease contracted from the goats on the island.  A vaccine for it was developed centuries later, in 1887.  Instant healing cut short the usual four-month duration of illness, and better yet, delivered the ill man from the prospect of up to four years of illness.  Many other healings followed during their three months on the island, although it's likely that they were not all instantaneous.  Remember that Luke was a doctor.  Perhaps he helped treat the sick.  The clue that the healings may not all have been the same is that a different Greek word is used to speak of Publius' father's healing than is used for the other islanders.  The takeaway for me here is that it is always God who heals--sometimes through miracles, and sometimes through the wisdom He gives people who are willing to cooperate with God in bringing about healing.  Paul and Luke and those who developed a vaccine in 1887 all had a role in addressing the needs of those who contracted Malta Fever.  

In the last few months I've spent a lot of time thinking about Paul's personality, character, and, most of all, his peerless stature as a missionary, teacher, preacher, and follower of Jesus.  He was obviously a flawed individual.  We get glimpses of some of this at several points in the book of Acts and in his writings. He was no stranger to struggle and sorrow and fractured relationships. I think it's likely that the 14 years he spent in obscurity between his conversion and his ministry were key to his later usefulness.  I suspect that a shortcut would have rendered Paul's ministry powerless and ineffective. Readying this flawed individual for the Lord's work took a long time.

Paul was extremely intense, both before and after conversion.  He was unnaturally fearless ("I know that bonds await me,"  but he kept right on going "there" to preach).  He suffered from an unnamed "thorn in the flesh" from which he longed for deliverance--deliverance which never came.  He was blunt to the point of committing social faux pas in the process.  Paul is described as being weak in bodily presence, but his eloquent and powerful words still move us. Paul apparently either never married or for some other reason had no wife during the years of his ministry. 

Not  everything that we know about Paul fits this idea, but is it unreasonable to suggest that Paul may have suffered from something like Asperger's Syndrome, in today's parlance?  Speculations like this probably have limited value, and I recognize that what I'm suggesting is just that--speculation.  I believe, however, that there's enough merit in the possibility that examining it could point us toward hope for others who have similar differences, challenges, and abilities and disabilities.    At the very least, it could help us persist through what might seem like a very long, lonely time of living in obscurity--for ourselves and for those we love.  God can use anyone for his glorious purposes, as long as the lessons of humble servanthood have been learned.  Fourteen years is a long time--except when considered in the light of eternity.  

Paul's ministry was cut short by martyrdom.  He worked long enough and faithfully enough, however, that when he faced impending death he could not only note that what he looked forward to was far better than what he was leaving behind, but also to  rejoice in having helped prepare many others for their eternal reward.  "I have finished my course.  I have kept the faith.  Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day.  And not to me only, but unto all them also who love his appearing."  (from memory--may have minor errors.)

Thank you God for preserving Paul's story and words for us.  This is a precious gift.