How long had it been since the little coastal vessel of Adramyttium sailed from Caesarea?
We have no way of knowing for sure, but I would say that perhaps four to six weeks had passed.
It had probably taken about two weeks to reach Myra where everyone boarded the Alexandrian ship.
Then perhaps it had taken a week or more to get from Myra to Cnidus and then to Crete.
The ship lay at anchor for a day or two in Fair Havens, but then pushed out into the Mediterranean Sea.
And now for two weeks they had been driven “up and down in Adria.”
Adria apparently was the term used for that part of the Mediterranean which was directly south of what we call the Adriatic Sea.
As we read the words of our scripture, doesn’t it appear that Paul had gained some respect from the other 275 people on board that ship?
There were a few who knew who he really was when he was taken from Herod’s Judgment Hall.
I would guess that even among the prisoners, Paul was considered nothing more than a criminal.
And yet during that month or so, this servant of God, earned the esteem of many of his fellow travelers.
And by the time the ship was anchored off the shores of Melita, people were actually listening to whatever Paul had to say.
This is as it should be in our lives.
No, we aren’t going to be given special revelation so that we’ll be able to make prophecies and watch their fulfillment.
And even if we were, to tell our neighbors that an angel of God spoke with us, would not raise the confidence level of most of those people.
And when the storms of life fall upon us, our faith and God’s peace should make us head and shoulders above the unbelievers around us.
When the temptations of life beset us, without ostentation we should demonstrate to the world that we will not betray the grace which has made us children of God.
There will be people in this world who would rather die than show us respect as Christians,
will keep them from acknowledging that there is something special, and better, about us.
They may have seen grown men – perhaps warriors and sailors – in tears and terror for their lives.
They may have seen people risking their lives to save the lives of others – even prisoners.
The storm probably had brought out the best in some of them and the worst in some of the others.
But finally, on the eve of their destruction or their salvation, Paul raised his voice once again & people listened.
He probably had to yell over the roar of the wind and the waves in order to be heard.
But he said, “You folk haven’t had a substantial meal in two weeks.
Tomorrow morning, we are going to have to leave this sinking vessel and swim for shore.
For the sake of health and strength, you need to eat as good a meal as you possibly can.
By tomorrow morning we are all going to be safe and sound on that island that lies before us.”
This is the Greek word “soteria.”
Eight out every nine times that this word is found in the Bible it is translated “salvation.”
Of course, on this occasion it is not speaking about the salvation of the soul.
He publically thanked God for the food, and then he began to eat.
This evening I’d like to talk to you for a few minutes about Paul’s prayer of thanksgiving.
It was a very Christian thing to do.
It was the act of a Christian witness.
Do I need to point out that this was not an observance of the Lord’s Supper?
There is a perfectly good word, which is very common among Protestants and Catholics that I never use because it raises the wrong impression in my muddled mind.
It is the Greek word which here is translated “give thanks” – “eucharisteo” ( yoo-khar-is-the’-o ).
Most of Christendom likes to call the Lord’s Supper the “Eucharist.”
And for this reason some commentaries have to raise the question of whether or not Paul was actually observing Christian Communion on board the rolling deck of that sinking ship.
Ridiculous.
This isn’t talking about the Lord’s Supper; it is talking about nothing more or less than “giving thanks.”
What does this scripture teach us about giving thanks?
Suffice it to say that, even in the storm of the century, a big hurricane, or a category seven tornado, there will always be things about which we can and should be thankful.
Perhaps the article in last week’s bulletin could be used for an example.
When it was reported that the majority, if not all of them, were found safe, the praise to God was exuberant.
But when it was learned that the report was backward and the majority of the miners were dead, those who were praising God one minute were cursing Him the next.
What some people forgot was that there was still one miner yet alive.
It appeared obvious that the grain ship of Alexandria was going to be lost.
If there was the slightest hope of saving that cargo of wheat, then you can be sure that it’s owner would not have permitted it to be tossed into the sea.
The ship was lost, and the grain was lost – a fortune was lost.
But not a single man, free man or prisoner, was washed into the sea and drowned.
Not a single person had been crushed by the shifting of the cargo, or the falling of a spar.
And even though most of the passengers had lost or jettisoned their personal belongings, there was still enough food on board for 300 half-way decent meals.
I would suspect that there hadn’t been a hot cooked meal during the entire two weeks.
But with four anchors stubbornly holding the ship as best they could, it might have been possible to light the cook stove and warm up a little tea or soup.
Even though it might not have been a New York Steak, a few pieces of bread was a tasty meal for men near starvation.
Just how good, or how fresh, do you suppose that bread was?
When was Tupperware invented?
My guess would be that bread was not hot off stove or fresh out of the oven.
It may have been moldy and it may have even been wet with salt water.
And yet, Paul lifted up his preaching voice – loud enough to be heard by all – and gave thanks to God for wet, moldy bread.
One of the things about which Paul could be thankful, and which would be difficult but not impossible for us, was the future.
Paul had been visited by an angel who reiterated the promise that God had already given:
And not only Paul, but all those who were with him on that ship were going to be saved.
at the very least you could be thankful for what God has promised you – the future.
“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
Paul may have been the only person on board, who had any hope of living through the next 24 hours.
And maybe they were hungry, but how happy were they about wet, moldy bread?
From time to time Judy will find hamburger buns on sale, and she will buy them.
But rather than using them right away, they are put into the freezer.
Sometimes it is weeks before they get pulled out.
And sometimes they get freezer-burned or hard and dry, but we microwave and eat them anyway.
and when they are freshened up in the microwave, they turn kind of mushy.
But the point is, I SHOULD be thankful even for mushy bread.
Doesn’t mushy bread beat no bread at all for a starving man?
Joy, should to be a part of our thanksgiving,
but even if we aren’t particularly happy, we ought to be thankful for the Lord’s continual blessings.
And as we see in this scripture, if we are thankful, sometimes the joy will follow in a few minutes.
Even though that may have been true, I guarantee that Paul wasn’t invited to hold any preaching services during that time.
There had not been much opportunity to sit down in the comfort of anyone’s stateroom to cooly and calmly talk about the gospel of the Lord Jesus.
They were bailing water so fast and furiously that they didn’t have time for food let alone evangelical conversation.
And despite the respect that Paul may have gained among some of them it was not very likely universal.
So when he said, “Let’s all hold hand, bow our heads and thank God for this moldy bread,” he was not surrounded by men in much agreement with him.
There may have been a few Jews and there were probably a number of pagan Romans.
Among the criminals there were probably lots of self-serving secular hedonists.
How ecumenical do you think that Paul’s prayer was?
It was probably addressed to “theos” – “God,” which would have offended no one but the atheist.
But was this prayer uttered in the name or authority of the Lord Jesus?
I would like to think that it was.
On those occasions, when Judy and I are in Arby’s or Wendy’s, and a couple sit down across from us and bow their heads in prayer I take notice, and I’m sure that the lost do as well.
Unfortunately, I also take notice when those same people later start arguing or cussing.
And the wicked probably notice when those same people start eating like pigs or behaving like dogs.
Christians need consistency.
Make sure that the rest of your meal matches the words of “grace” that you utter before the meal.
And he didn’t care what the people around him thought of what he was doing.
Mom had fixed a wonderful supper and everyone was sitting around the table munching away.
And then someone brought up an unpopular subject, and an argument ensued.
Not only was there a discussion, but a couple of people got really, really angry.
Maybe it wasn’t you, but nevertheless the meal was not a happy one.
Have you ever found that digesting a good meal was spoiled by the emotions displayed at that meal?
Or have you ever had your sleep ruined by an heated argument just before bed?
Have you ever experienced just the opposite?
I suppose that it is not always true, especially among unbelievers,
But generally speaking, to raise the spiritual level of the average conversation improves that conversation.
I can’t explain exactly what went on in those men’s hearts, but when Paul said that they would be delivered, and when he gave thanks to the Lord, the spirits of those men greatly improved.
They became inexplicably cheerful.
And it wasn’t the effect of fully bellies, because Luke seems to say that it occurred before they ate.
Then were they all of good cheer, and they also took some meat.”
Logically speaking, there wasn’t much reason for their emotional improvement.
So all that I really can say is that it is a good thing to do the right thing, and in this case the right thing was to give public thanks to God.
If nothing more it gave those men a more cheerful attitude.
I do not believe that when Paul expressed his thanksgiving to God that he was doing something out of his usual norm.
I think that he was in the practice of praying, praising and thanking God.
I think that he made every meal an eucharist.
It is always the right thing to do and in this case it appears to have been a good thing as well.
And I believe that it would be a good thing for all of us to be consistent in following Paul’s example.