Cutting Loose the Lifeboats
May 8, 2005
Dear Friends:
Imagine yourself on a boat in the middle of sea. There is a fierce storm raging about you and it is questionable if you will survive. Everyone is worried, including the “cargo.” Your “cargo” is a load of prisoners of all sorts — murderers, thieves, anarchists, you name it. One of these prisoners comes to you with a suggestion to get rid of the lifeboats. Cut them loose and go on in the storm without them.
Sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? What man in their right mind would so such a thing? What man would cut loose lifeboats in the middle of a severe storm — the very time when you would need lifeboats?
Well, as you may have guessed, it did happen. It is recorded in Acts 27. The prisoner was Paul. The man who had the difficult decision to make was a Roman centurion. Acts 27 states “And as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship, and had lowered the boat into the sea, under pretense of laying out anchors from the bow, Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, ‘Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.’ Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the boat, and let it go.” (27:30-32 RSV)
One of the great enigmas of the Scriptures is the consistent favorable portrayal of Roman centurions. Natural enemies of Israel, they are consistently portrayed as having amazing faith. In Matthew 8, we have the centurion whose servant was sick. He was so convinced that Jesus could heal his servant from afar that he told Jesus not to even bother coming. Of this centurion, Jesus says “Truly, I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” There is also the account of the centurion at the crucifixion. After the earthquake, the Scriptures record him as concluding “Truly this was the Son of God!” (Matt. 27:54) Finally, perhaps the most famous of all, is Cornelius, the first Gentile convert. He was so faithful that God sent Peter on a mission to share with him the Gospel.
Perhaps this centurion who was guarding Paul is not quite as well know as the others, but his demonstration of faith is no less impressive. To cut loose a lifeboat on the word of a prisoner in your charge in the middle of a life-threatening storm is an amazing demonstration of faith.
This centurion teaches us an powerful lesson as well. How many “lifeboats” are we clinging to despite our assurance from God that everything is going to be OK? We are caught in life’s storms and yet we tenaciously cling to the hope that something other than God is going to save us. We are scared as the waves crash around us. Perhaps our lifeboat is our savings account or our insurance policy or our friends or our careers. The exhortation is not to cut them loose literally, but to cut them loose spiritually. Put your faith in God and Christ and not in the things of this world. God’s message is to us the same as it was to the men on that ship — “Do not be afraid.” (27:24)
We are reminded of another stormy sea in which disciples of the Lord where panicking. Jesus told them, and through them tells us, “Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?” (Mk 4:40 RSV) Everything is going to be OK if we have faith in God and do the right thing. We have the following promise which should calm us even in the most severe of life’s storms. “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.” (Heb. 13:5,6)
Have a great week!
Comments»
No comments yet.