Eastertide
May 22, 2014

Scripture Reading: Acts 27:1-12 

Since much time had been lost and sailing was now dangerous, because even the Fast had already gone by, Paul advised them, saying, ‘Sirs, I can see that the voyage will be with danger and much heavy loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.’ But the centurion paid more attention to the pilot and to the owner of the ship than to what Paul said. — Acts 27:9-11 

Is it that we just don’t listen or that we listen and do not hear? In our scripture today Paul, under arrest, is being transported to Rome for trial. The trip was ill advised from the start having been started too late in the fall when the weather and currents would be even more dangerous factors. The Fast referred to here is Yom Kipper, the Day of Atonement. Rather ironic, don’t you think? The centurion is responsible for the prisoners. The pilot and the owner of the ship are responsible for the transportation. No one could blame the centurion for taking the advice of the pilot and the owner over a prisoner.

It appears the owner of the ship and probably the pilot too were suffering from a bad case of greed. I fear we all suffer from a touch of greed at one time or another in our lives. The problem with greed is that is puts blinders on its sufferers to the reality that surrounds them. Horses when harnessed to pull a plow or anything else get skittish when distracted by something that catches their eyes. So the farmer, wanting to keep the horses targeted on the task at hand, places shields called blinders on either side of the horses head to block out external stimuli. When making money or accumulating wealth becomes our sole focus we put on self-imposed psychological blinders until we do not see the dangers of our actions and do not listen to those who could help us see more clearly the outcomes of our tunnel vision. We call this greed.

If we read on in Acts, we will see that the owner and pilot suffered the consequences of their greed: shipwreck.  The ship was a total loss but by the grace of God no one was killed.  If the Captain of the ship had listened to the man of God in the first place, the shipwreck would never have happened.  The paradox is that when our eyes are focused on Jesus Christ, our vision and understanding is expanded to recognize the perils of life.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace. —Helen H. Lemmel

Prayer: God who is stronger than all our sins and proved it to us with the resurrection of Christ, free us from the bondage of our greed. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.