Paul was shipwrecked on the island of Malta. He was accustomed to being rejected. He and Luke were quite surprised to be received with unusual kindness. The natives spoke a different language so Paul and his party could have been received as band of marauders. Instead, a fire was built to warm them from the rain and cold. What could have been better? The entire party was in need of comfort and companionship and the people gave them both.

It is unfortunate that people in our busy world seldom have time or show interest in helping others. It is our basic instinct to help others in need and we are refreshed when we hear about such efforts. Our world has become so skeptical and suspicious we actually have "Good Samaritan" laws to protect those people who will go out of their way to help someone else. Did you know that five states including Massachusetts, Minnesota and Vermont have "Duty to Assist" versions of the Good Samaritan law? Five other states including California and Nevada are considering legislation to "require" a reasonable effort to assist.

The natives of Malta took a chance that the strangers meant no harm. It was a risk in the interest of good will. Imagine how our relations throughout the world would improve if we could adopt a similar attitude. We preach that God is love and that we are here to help one another. We also preach the "Day of Judgment" and well we should. If we dilute the gospel to something soft and spineless, we are performing a disservice to those we are attempting to help. But, while we must be careful not to drive people to despair with a wrathful message; we must not lead them to believe that God will accept them on their own terms. We should not miss an opportunity to show the love of God and extend the hand of good will as we attempt to illustrate God’s love. We will have ample opportunity to teach God’s will after we get their attention.

Have you ever noticed that when something bad is about to happen, a snake appears? This one is described as a viper and vipers are poisonous. On the other hand, there are no poisonous snakes in Malta today and we have no history of them being there at an earlier date. The point of the story is the assumption on the part of the natives regarding Paul. When the snake bit Paul, they assumed that Paul was a murderer and the poisonous bite was fair punishment. He might have escaped the sea but he could not escape God’s judgment. It is not only primitive people who make such an assumption. We have all heard of people suffering physical misfortune and often heard someone say, "They got their just deserts." This is one example that it is absurd for us to assume God’s will in everything we see around us.

When Paul did not drop dead, the people were amazed and immediately changed their judgment and declared him a god. This is another example of why we should not infer God’s direct action in everything we observe. We have a great desire to see something miraculous and we look for God’s hand in anything that falls outside our expectations. That is not necessarily a bad thing. We should look for signs from God. His world is so far from ours, we need all the clues we can gather to increase our understanding. Still it is difficult to make assumptions with any degree of confidence.

There are other ways we look for the miraculous today. People prefer the shortcuts and desire something for nothing. They prefer to avoid the laws rather than obey them. They want to run a country without taxes, to fight a war without sending troops overseas, to stop inflation without controlling prices. Many officials are elected by these unrealistic expectations and promises. People are always disappointed when neither side of the promise is upheld. Our politicians realize we are fickle and have short memories. We should realize their limitations and adjust our expectations accordingly.

However, religion cannot be reduced to pure logic. If religion is completely free of reason, emotion and desire force it into the worst form of superstition. Religion goes beyond reason, but it cannot go against reason. The natives showed what happens when we operate without reason. They thought Paul was a murderer and then a god in a matter of minutes. Both were wrong because they ignored the obvious. The snake bite had nothing to do with Paul’s nature and provided no basis for conclusions.

Paul healed the governor’s father and we are told many others were cured as well. Apparently the natives were very grateful for their assistance and supplied what was needed for their trip when another ship sailed toward Rome. Paul, Luke and Aristarchus obviously left happiness and spiritual joy behind them. People would be telling stories about them for years. What more could we ask than to be remembered for the spiritual influence we left behind?

Most of the details of the rest of the trip to Rome were omitted as Luke wanted to point out the existence of brethren along the way. The King James Version tells about fetching a compass before they came to Rhegium. This does not mean they were without direction. In fact, the compass was not used for navigation until the 11^th century. This is an archaic expression meaning to follow a circular path. As we already read in Acts, there was already a church in Rome. In addition to the brethren in Puteoli, brethren from Rome came to the Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns to greet them.

Paul finally arrived in Rome, the capital of the known world. Christianity was beginning to outgrow the constraints of the Jewish religion. Nevertheless, Paul continued to give the Jews their opportunity to learn and accept Jesus as the Messiah. He told them we wanted to tell them the whole story. He wanted to tell them that "the hope of Israel" has been fulfilled in Jesus Christ. They admitted they had no letters from Judea charging Paul with misconduct. No evil was reported or spoken about Paul. They had no evidence against him and wanted to be fair and open-minded. But, they admitted hearing that this sect was spoken against everywhere. It was obvious that their minds were three-quarters closed before Paul began to speak.

The world is full of people who claim to be willing to give every man a hearing. Unfortunately, many attempt to do so while harboring the surety that the subject is nonsense. There is no open-mindedness in that. You can be assured that the listener is simply gathering ammunition to be used in later arguments against the speaker. Most of us are guilty of sometimes formulating our response instead of really listening to what is being said. It is partially a symptom of our over-hurried world. We live with sound bites and if a point cannot be made in less than thirty seconds, it is almost beyond clear expression today. How many times have you heard someone sound intelligent, erudite, worldly, confident and imminently logical in a thirty second sound bite? We hear it all the time. Unfortunately, we cannot process thoroughly every implication of each "packed phrase" in the time allotted before the next sound bite is received. Sometimes we need the time to compare the impression left with the full precise meaning of the statement. Sometimes, we are left with only good sounds and less than biting content.

Paul was able to convince a few that Jesus was the Messiah, but most of them would not believe. It was the Jews’ last chance according to Luke, and Paul’s last words were the words of the prophet Isaiah: "You will hear and hear but never understand." From henceforth the gospel was for the Gentiles. Luke ends his story at this point. Paul is still a prisoner in Rome, relatively free to go about his way unmolested. We are never told how and when he died because in one sense, he never died. Through his epistles, he has come to light again in Augustine, and Luther. If a man truly wants to see Jesus, he will see him more clearly through the eyes of Paul. Paul saw the deep, inexplicable mystery of the meaning of Jesus’ life. Jesus of Nazareth is drawn by the writers of the Gospels, but the Christ of the universe, though seen by them, shines through the strange and wonderful personality of Paul in a marvelous way.

The final outcome of Paul’s appeal to Caesar is not clear. Many depend on the Pastoral Epistles to Timothy and Titus to indicate he had more missionary travels. Luke only mentions that he lived and taught in Rome for two whole years.