Post Sunday October 26 2008

Acts 27:20 & 24-26 “Now when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest beat on us, all hope that we would be saved was finally given up… saying, 'Do not be afraid, Paul; you must be brought before Caesar; and indeed God has granted you all those who sail with you.' Therefore take heart, men, for I believe God that it will be just as it was told me. However, we must run aground on a certain island."

READ ACTS CHAPTER 27

When we talked about going west and making an impact this account in Acts 27 certainly takes that literally! Paul the prisoner was taken west to Italy and his taxi ran aground! We find in the verses above that this trip was a God ordained trip for Paul was told that “he must be brought before Caesar…” Our trips west are not because we are “thrill seeking” or just desiring a change of scenery. Our going west is a God ordained mission for us to follow. There are certain “impacts and crashes” that God has chosen us for. Comforting to know isn’t it! I know it sounds sarcastic but it really is comforting for if it is a crash that God has chosen us to be part of we will come out of that crash no matter how much debris it kicks up. You and I will survive and those impacts will often include God saying exactly what He told Paul; “God has granted you all those who sail with you…”

Who are those that are sailing with you? Often times they are the family in your life, friends, co-workers, classmates, the person standing with you in the slow line at Market Basket or Shaws or the stranger walking their dog down the street as you rake the front yard.

There will be times when it truly does appear that the sun and the stars have flown to the deepest regions of space and can no longer be seen. It is during those times that one who has been filled with hope can extend an arm of light into the darkness and allow others to grab hold and share in your hope. The reality of that is that you have been willing to sail with them in those dark days. As we head west we are not one day in Haverhill, we close our eyes and then open them in Denver. Traveling takes time. There will be roadblocks, detours, traffic jams, encounters with construction crews, bathroom stops, unexpected breakdowns, being pulled over for stepping out of the confines of the rules of the road, mealtimes and sleeping away from the comfort of home. We will travel in and out of all these things and much more and in all these things has your hope in Christ been a constant, evident part of your journey west?

We can confidently make these journeys with the full belief that the power of God dwells with us. My wife and I as we prepared to travel back in 1998 (which happened to be west!) to Missouri for my seminary study and training began to pack and prepare for the journey. Part of our preparation for this journey was to properly close out the numerous relationships that we had built over the years of living in Methuen.

For me personally I had been blessed by having a job that I loved and people that I loved working with over the three years before we left for Missouri. It was a job that I actually enjoyed going in each and every day and it even made the commute from Methuen to Waltham bearable (please note I say bearable not enjoyable! I never was able to master frustration of the 93 and 128 commute!) The individuals that I worked with were very good friends and leaving them was difficult for me, but leaving them and not sharing the gospel of Christ with them was weighing even heavier on my soul. I prayed day after day that God would allow conversations to pop up that would allow the opportunity for me to share my faith with them. There were plenty of conversations over my final few months there, but they always centered around selling my house in Methuen, how we would handle the new environment in Missouri, what I’d be studying and of course how was I going to wrap up my work and pass it on properly before I left. My final day of work came and I really felt that I had not said all that I wanted to say, but with the amount of closure for my position that had to take place that day I really thought my opportunity had passed. I prayed one last time that morning before work and off I drove wondering what would happen. That day for lunch my boss took me out and because of the nature of my position and the amount of people it required me to interact with the lunch also included another 25 of my co-workers. My boss had rented out a private room at one of the Italian restaurants in Waltham for us.

I sat in the middle of the very large table and we began to joke and laugh and reminisce about all that had happened over the past three years and then slowly it began to happen. The woman that was sitting next to me began asking me random God questions. Questions like what is the difference between this church and that church and many other questions surrounding this type of thing. Because she slowly began asking these things I really didn’t realize what I was saying, but I do know that a majority of the table was listening to my answers. Later that afternoon as I cleaned out my cubicle and placed my possessions in my little cardboard box (yes, I had parting cardboard box!) it dawned on me that her questions allowed me to clearly present the gospel and share my faith in a non-obtrusive way and challenge all present at the table to consider faith in Jesus Christ. I couldn’t help but simply smile for I had nothing to do with it, I simply prayed, made myself available and God placed me in the right place and placed the right individuals along with me in my journey west.

Two months later the woman who asked me all those questions emailed me to let me know that she had accepted Christ and was not simply faithfully attending church, but told me about the small group at church that she was involved in. Amazing! I communicated with her again about 5 or so years ago and she was still growing in faith and impacting others.

I know many of you are struggling with loved ones that surround you that seem unwillingly to listen to anything you say about the hope of Christ and many of you struggle with sharing your faith in the first place. Do not lose hope in your journey west, the stars and sun may have left for a time, but that part of the journey is necessary for the great purposes of God so take heart. Each journey west will take differing paths. Remember we do not live in an age where people flock to church to learn about God so we have to flock to where they flock and live out that gospel in front of them and run aground on those certain islands that Paul had to run aground on. Think about it if someone you care about comes to faith at church or at the Red Sox game what does that matter? The aim is to bring others to Christ and He just so happens to be everywhere, including the deepest recesses of the west, including the darkest areas of the west, in its valleys and on its peaks, He is there so keep going west and keep growing closer to Christ so that you will better follow in His footsteps for He is leading the way.

Questions to Ask Yourself:

1. Who do you believe you are heading west for right now in order to impact them for Christ? Begin praying for them daily.

2. Lay your greatest fears and supposed travel restrictions before God and ask Him to begin to remove them.

pastor e