Saintly sinners? (2)

28 Once safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta. ² The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold. ³ Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand. ⁴ When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, “This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, the goddess Justice has not allowed him to live.” ⁵ But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects. ⁶ The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead; but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.

⁷ There was an estate nearby that belonged to Publius, the chief official of the island. He welcomed us to his home and showed us generous hospitality for three days. ⁸ His father was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him and, after prayer, placed his hands on him and healed him. ⁹ When this had happened, the rest of the sick on the island came and were cured. ¹⁰ They honoured us in many ways; and when we were ready to sail, they furnished us with the supplies we needed. Acts 28:1-10

Jesus said, For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:20

… what are human beings, that you think of them, mere mortals, that you care for them? Psalm 8:4

“What are human beings…?” is the question we reflected on last time, and I suggested that the people of Malta, who showed “unusual kindness” to the victims of the shipwreck described in Acts 27-28, can give us some important clues. The first point was that we are God-like creatures, as stated in Genesis1.

The people of Malta had no reason to show kindness to these foolish voyagers washed up on their shore, beyond the fact that something of the compassion and kindness of God still glimmered in their hearts. They were fallen people, like all of us, but still capable of good deeds. I suggested that the pagan sailors who tried hard to rescue the runaway prophet Jonah from death by drowning (Jonah 1), and Jesus’ story of the good Samaritan (Luke 10), convey the same lesson. I suggested too that this truth is confirmed by our own experience – haven’t we all been on the receiving end of kind and even sacrificial deeds by people who have no belief in God?

But this truth is far from the whole truth. So if we go back to the original question…

Second, we are also prone to superstition…

In Acts 28:3-6 Luke tells us a story which I find it difficult not to smile at. While the islanders and the ship’s company were busying themselves building a bonfire, a viper “driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his [Paul’s] hand”. Whereupon the people jumped to a conclusion: that Paul must be a murderer, and that even though the sea hadn’t got him, “the goddess Justice has not allowed him to live”; ie, it was only a matter of time before he dropped dead. So that’s that then: sorted. Just one problem with it, though: it didn’t happen. Paul “shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects”.

So much for their theory! But they didn’t give up easily: “after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him” (can you see them eyeing him suspiciously for the next half-hour, waiting for him to “swell up or suddenly fall dead”?), “they changed their minds and said he was a god”.

You see what I mean about finding a comical element to the story? From “this man must be a murderer” to “this man must be a god” in no time at all!

But of course it’s not really funny – because it demonstrates how deeply embedded superstition was in their minds. And we wonder to ourselves, how could they be so foolish?

What is superstition? One dictionary defines it as “an irrational belief or practice, not based on reason or scientific knowledge, that connects unrelated actions or objects to luck, fate or magical outcomes”. Well, that will do, I suppose! But terms like gullibility, hocus-pocus or plain naivety might do just as well.

Of course we moderns, living in our high-tech scientific world, are free of such nonsense, aren’t we? I’m not so sure. I don’t know if anyone has done a scientific study of the statistics, but I’m told that many thoroughly modern, educated people change the number of their new home from 13 when they move in, regarding it as unlucky. People wear lucky charms or crosses, hoping for some kind of supernatural protection. They read their horoscopes (“just a bit of fun, of course”). They regularly buy lottery tickets, knowing that their chances of winning are infinitesimally small. Top footballers don’t like to run onto the pitch without crossing themselves so many times.

And let’s not kid ourselves that we Christians never fall for it. I remember as a new Christian in my teenage years that there was something called your “qt”. QT stood for “quiet time”, a period in every day to be set aside for prayer and Bible-reading – and the longer and more intense it was the better. You might even be asked by a well-meaning friend “Have you had your qt today?” – a question which tended to breed fear and drain confidence… Have I prayed long enough…? Have I prayed hard enough? Have I used the right words? Oh dear, could God be cross with me, that I haven’t measured up? I’ll have to do my best to make up for it tomorrow…

 

Of course it’s good to have a strong discipline when it comes to personal prayer and Bible reading – but not good if that turns God into a distant school-teacher figure always frowning at our failings.

 

It’s been said that, if people stop believing in the truth, they don’t end up believing in nothing but start believing in anything, however absurd. I think that’s true. No blame can be attached to the people of Malta, of course, because they had never heard the truth in the first place. But they can still stand as a warning to us. Is my faith – your faith – tainted with superstition? How do I relate to God – as a stern and disapproving critic or as my loving heavenly Father?

 

I’ve run out of space. But the most important thing we need to learn from the people of Malta remains to be highlighted. So again I must encourage you to join me next time…

 

Father, thank you for loving me and sending Jesus to die for me. Help me to see you by faith as you truly are - a gracious Father to be trusted, loved and obeyed. Amen.