"I Told You So. But Take Courage" - Acts 27:1-44

     When it was decided that we would sail for Italy, Paul and some other prisoners were handed over to a centurion named Julius, who belonged to the Imperial Regiment. We boarded a ship from Adramyttium about to sail for ports along the coast of the province of Asia, and we put out to sea. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was with us.

 

    The next day we landed at Sidon; and Julius, in kindness to Paul, allowed him to go to his friends so they might provide for his needs. From there we put out to sea again and passed to the lee of Cyprus because the winds were against us. When we had sailed across the open sea off the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we landed at Myra in Lycia. There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy and put us on board. We made slow headway for many days and had difficulty arriving off Cnidus. When the wind did not allow us to hold our course, we sailed to the lee of Crete, opposite Salmone. We moved along the coast with difficulty and came to a place called Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea.

 

    Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Fast. So Paul warned them, "Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also." But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship. Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided that we should sail on, hoping to reach Phoenix and winter there. This was a harbor in Crete, facing both southwest and northwest.

 

    When a gentle south wind began to blow, they thought they had obtained what they wanted; so they weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete. Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the "northeaster," swept down from the island. The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along. As we passed to the lee of a small island called Cauda, we were hardly able to make the lifeboat secure. When the men had hoisted it aboard, they passed ropes under the ship itself to hold it together. Fearing that they would run aground on the sandbars of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor and let the ship be driven along. We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard. On the third day, they threw the ship's tackle overboard with their own hands. When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.

 

    After the men had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: "Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me and said, `Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.' So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island."

 

    On the fourteenth night we were still being driven across the Adriatic Sea, when about midnight the sailors sensed they were approaching land. They took soundings and found that the water was a hundred and twenty feet deep. A short time later they took soundings again and found it was ninety feet deep. Fearing that we would be dashed against the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight. In an attempt to escape from the ship, the sailors let the lifeboat down into the sea, pretending they were going to lower some anchors from the bow. Then Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, "Unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved." So the soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it fall away.

 

    Just before dawn Paul urged them all to eat. "For the last fourteen days," he said, "you have been in constant suspense and have gone without food--you haven't eaten anything. Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head." After he said this, he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it and began to eat. They were all encouraged and ate some food themselves. Altogether there were 276 of us on board. When they had eaten as much as they wanted, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea.

 

    When daylight came, they did not recognize the land, but they saw a bay with a sandy beach, where they decided to run the ship aground if they could. Cutting loose the anchors, they left them in the sea and at the same time untied the ropes that held the rudders. Then they hoisted the foresail to the wind and made for the beach. But the ship struck a sandbar and ran aground. The bow stuck fast and would not move, and the stern was broken to pieces by the pounding of the surf.

 

    The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping. But the centurion wanted to spare Paul's life and kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land. The rest were to get there on planks or on pieces of the ship. In this way everyone reached land in safety.

 

We usually get annoyed by people who say, “I told you so.” And that’s essentially what Paul says here: “Men, you should have taken my advice not to set sail from Crete” (Acts 27:21).

 

But Paul’s “I told you so” was different from many of ours for two reasons. First, he wasn’t angry or bitter, but concerned and loving: “Then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss” (Acts 27:21). When he first warned them, in fact, Paul was concerned for the lives of all 276 people on board (Acts 27:10). So when Paul now said, “You should have taken my advice” (Acts 27:21), he wasn’t being obnoxious. He was gently chiding people he was truly concerned for. Paul was less like a school bully and more like a disappointed grandma here; he really had their best wishes at heart.

 

Second, Paul didn’t say “I told you so” until he could offer some encouragement, too. So often, when we tell people “I told you so,” we say it in anger. We look down our noses at people who are suffering from a mistake they could have avoided had they listened. And we challenge them to correct their own mistakes. We don’t lift a finger to help them. But Paul’s “I told you so” was quickly followed by, “But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost” (Acts 27:22). He spoke with authority and confidence because God had sent an angel to give him this message (Acts 27:23-25). And he kept being encouraging. He worked to keep those on board united (Acts 27:31-32). He showed them his confidence in God by eating and encouraging them to do the same (Acts 27:33-38). Once Paul had said “I told you so,” he did everything he could to put a spring back in the step of the men around him, whether they were believers or not.

 

Father, may I love people like Paul. May I not be eager to toot my own horn and prove how smart I am. Instead, may I love people. Let everything I say to those around me – believers or not – be spoken because I love them. Regardless of whether I have something happy to talk about or not, when I talk, may both my warnings and my encouragements be for other people’s good. If I’m speaking to serve myself and not others, teach me to keep quiet and to pray for the grace to love others.