St. Paul's United Methodist Church
“Our Anchor in the Storm”
Rev. Richard W. Gray
September 4, 2005
Acts 27:1-2, 13-25
Every opportunity I have had I have used to click on the news on TV to see what is happening in the hurricane ravaged areas. I am sure that many of you have also done the same.
I must say right up front that God did not cause that hurricane. It is not fair to blame Him for it. How can God be responsible for people building cities and towns in the path of hurricanes, knowing that devastation could come? The people knew that by building their homes in harm's way they could one day suffer the consequences. For over thirty years I never lived more than a mile from the ocean. I have been through some terrible hurricanes in the 1950s. I know what they can do.
It is by the grace of God that such a catastrophe did not occur before this. There were certainly warnings from other storms that had come their way in the past. Senator Trent Lott stated that his home was one hundred fifty years old, and had survived all of the storms until this latest one. The people knew such a tragedy could one day happen. God cannot be blamed for people building their homes in harm's way and not heeding the warnings that the levees could not withstand anything beyond a category three hurricane.
That may sound harsh, but that is reality. Having said this, what more can be said? God will still help.
We turn to the 27th chapter of the book of Acts and find the Apostle Paul going through a hurricane. He had been arrested for the crime of being a Christian and causing a riot in the Temple
Temple area among the people. Being a Roman citizen, he was to be sent 2,000 miles to Rome to appeal his case to the Emperor..
He was to go by ship. He was taken under guard to one ship, and was transferred from that one to a ship sailing from Alexandria to Rome with a cargo of grain. There were two hundred seventy-six people on board that ship, including Paul.
This was not going to be a pleasure cruise on the Mediterranean. They set sail with a gentle breeze, but this was going to be a difficult journey. Life's journey often includes a change in plans. Things happen contrary to what we hope for. Terrible events can strike our lives with the force of a hurricane. Often things that overwhelm us come suddenly. Katrina changed the plans of millions of people, and ruined many of them.
This was probably a large ship. They were often 140 feet long and 36 feet wide. They were steered by two oars at the back of the boat. There was a single mast with a large square sail. They did not have a lot of control over the vessel, especially in a storm.
A storm did arise. It was so severe that the crew took measures to save the ship. They tied the ship together with ropes to keep it from coming apart.
Then they threw everything overboard that was not nailed down. They even threw the cargo overboard. This is what they were all about. They were merchant seamen. Their cargo was very valuable to them. One thing storms do is they teach us what things are really valuable. The ship's crew realized their lives were more valuable than things.
Many times I heard victims of the hurricane say, after realizing they had lost their home and all of their possessions, that they still had their lives. They were thankful they had their lives. That
That was what was really important. They had right priorities.
God does not always send the storms into our lives, but He does use the storms of life to show us what is really important, what really matters. The most important things in life are not things.
The Bible tells us that the sailors threw four anchors overboard to stabilize the ship. Their anchors went down. Paul cast a different anchor and his went up, not down. He anchored himself to Jesus. Many people in life are anchored to the wrong things. They are anchored to their jobs, their bank accounts, their possessions, their own abilities. Paul anchored himself to Jesus, who never fails. If we are not anchored to Jesus, we are anchored to the wrong thing.
Some city workers in Hamilton, Canada, were trimming trees along a certain street. In one tree they found a nest with baby robins in it. They decided not to trim that tree until the nest was empty.
The workers returned when the nest was empty. In the nest they found dried twigs and a piece of paper from which the robins made their nest. On the paper were printed the words, “We trust in the Lord our God.”
When the storms hit, we are to trust in the Lord our God. It was interesting to hear many Katrina victims say they were trusting God with their future. Peace in the midst of storms does not come from understanding everything, why the storm hit and why it was so devastating. Peace comes from trusting the Lord. He is the anchor who stabilizes our lives.
God allows storms to come into our lives in order for us to see what is really important in life. He allows storms to come so we may see that He is our true anchor who brings stability to our lives. When the sailors had done all they could humanly do, Paul pointed them to the Lord. Storms show us that when we have done all
all we can do, the Lord can do more.
God allows storms to come to unbelievers to get them to look to Him. He allows storms to come to believers to draw us closer to the Lord and more. He allows storms to come to us so that we may show the world how Christians respond to storms. I heard many Katrina victims tell how they did not know what was going to happen to them, but they trusted the Lord to work it all out.
Joe McKeever is director of missions for the Greater New Orleans Baptist Association. He wrote in an e-mail to friends and family, “Everything I see and hear tells me life in New Orleans has been changed forever by Katrina. That's not all bad. Pray for the Lord to rule and reign in every change.”
David Crosby is the pastor of the First Baptist Church in New Orleans. His congregation is now scattered throughout the south, seeking refuge in five different states.
Crosby wrote this on his church's web site, “When Jesus began His ministry, He read to the people Isaiah 61:1-3. Verse 4 says: 'They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.' God has always been in the business of restoration and renewal. He calls His people to be involved in this just as His Son was involved when He came to our planet. God sent His Son to seek and to save the lost. Let's count on God's intervention through these days. Let's pray like we've never prayed before. Let's move beyond anger and confusion to trust and confidence in God's appointed future.”
Following the storms of life, God is in the business of renewal and restoration.
Paul stood on the deck of the ship and told the passengers and crew that God had sent an angel to him who told him they all would be spared
spared. Paul gave them a word from the Lord to give them courage and hope.
We may never receive a message from God from the mouth of an angel, but we have God's word of hope in the Bible. Paul had a word from God to help him through the storm, so do we.
You may remember the two young Christian women who were held captive in Afghanistan by the Taliban for sharing the message of Christ with the people. While they were there, they spent a lot of time reading the Bible, especially the Psalms. One of the women said she could not believe how relevant the Psalms were for their situation. The Bible gave them hope in a time when it would have been easy to lose hope.
When the storms come, and in preparation for the storms, God gives us His word, the Bible to encourage us and give us hope.
There is one more thing to see this morning from the Katrina devastation. God uses storms to show the world His love when His people respond with love and help for the victims. We are expressions of God's love when we help others in their storms.
The 27th chapter of Acts begins with the word “we” in the first verse. Paul was not alone in this storm. He had Luke with him. Paul was allowed to visit with other Christians on the way to Rome in Sidon and they took care of his needs. Other people helped Paul.
The hurricane devastation is terrible. We have never seen anything like it in this nation until now. This is an open door for us to show people the love of God.
We can trust God when storms come into our lives, and they will. God will use them to show us what is really important in life, the priorities. He will use our storms to show us that we can put our trust in Him. He is our true anchor in the storm.
God says in Isaiah 41:10, “Do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, because I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you.”
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