Shake It Off (Journey To Rome pt 3)

Now when they had escaped, they then found out that the island on which they ran aground was called Malta. And the natives showed us unusual kindness; for they kindled a fire and made us all welcome, because of the rain that was falling and because of the cold. But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat, and fastened on his hand. So when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, "No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped the sea, yet justice does not allow to live." (Acts 28:1–4)

When the snake bites, will you shake it off and press on—or assume God has turned against you?

The Wrong Application of This Text

You may have seen the article from February 17, 2014: a snake-handling Pentecostal pastor in Middlesboro, Kentucky—Jamie Coots of the Full Gospel Tabernacle in Jesus Name—died after being bitten by a rattlesnake during a weekend service. When the ambulance arrived, Coots had gone home and refused treatment. His wife signed a form declining medical care, and he died about an hour later.

I bring this up because the story of Pastor Jamie Coots is the wrong application of the text we're looking at today. Even though we see a powerful miracle here—Paul bitten by a clearly poisonous snake—it does not present a pattern by which we should worship God through handling venomous snakes. There will be no venomous snakes in our worship. Even though there is a contested passage at the end of Mark's Gospel about handling snakes and not dying, and even though researchers tell us more than 120 churches in our nation practice this, that is not the application of this passage.

The Greater Miracle

There is a powerful miracle here that opens a door for the gospel, as powerful miracles often do—but it isn't the only miracle. Look back to Acts 27:41. The ship carrying Paul and 275 others struck a sandbar where two seas met. The bow stuck fast, the stern was breaking up, and the soldiers planned to kill the prisoners so none could escape. But the centurion, wanting to save Paul, kept them from it and commanded those who could swim to make for land, the rest on boards and pieces of the ship.

"And so it was that they all escaped safely to land." That is a phenomenal miracle. Two hundred seventy-six men, after fourteen days in a typhoon-like storm, all come out alive.

Days earlier, Paul had stood up in the midst of them: "Men, you should have listened to me." This boat had wintered too long at Fair Havens on Crete, and Paul—who had already experienced three shipwrecks—warned them not to sail. They overruled him. Now, in the storm, he said, "I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship." An angel of the God to whom he belonged had told him, "Do not be afraid, Paul; you must be brought before Caesar; and indeed God has granted you all those who sail with you." But, he added, "we must run aground on a certain island."

When you look at a map of the Mediterranean, between Crete and the west there are no islands except this little piece of land called Malta—only 17 miles long and 8 miles wide, just bigger than Catalina. Yet this massive grain ship, which historians say was hard to sail even in good conditions, in a typhoon, unable to navigate by sun or stars, was driven by God's providence right into Malta, exactly as Paul foretold, with no loss of life. That is a miracle.

Unusual Kindness to Strangers

And the natives showed us unusual kindness; for they kindled a fire and made us all welcome, because of the rain that was falling and because of the cold. (Acts 28:2)

Note the hospitality of these Maltese natives. Luke says they showed "unusual kindness"—not your normal kind. The King James translators wrote that they showed "no little kindness." These weary, tempest-tossed guests are dashed upon the shore, and the natives welcome them and kindle a fire.

I point this out because we too should be unusually kind to strangers, especially if you are a Christian. Jesus said in John 13, "They shall know that you are my followers by the love you have for one another." Love becomes real and tangible when we see acts of love demonstrated. God told us through Jeremiah, "I have loved you with an everlasting love," but in the New Testament Jesus demonstrates it: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son" (John 3:16); "while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8); "greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends" (John 15).

We who follow Jesus must display that kind of love—not only to those in the church but to those outside it, in tangible, demonstrable ways. Yet if you ask the average American who doesn't go to church for their immediate word association with "Christian," it's not typically love. If anything, the church of Jesus Christ should be known by our unusual loving kindness. These pagan people on Malta had never heard the gospel, yet they were unusually kind. Would to God it would be said of Cross Connection Church that we are unusually kind, especially to strangers.

Godly Leaders Serve

But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat, and fastened on his hand. (Acts 28:3)

Even though Paul is one of 276 weary, storm-beaten men, even though he is more than 60 years old, as soon as he is on the island he gets up and walks about in the storm gathering sticks for the fire to warm the others. There is this old disciple of Jesus, storm-beaten and cold, gathering sticks.

Which brings us to our first point: godly leaders serve. This is a cultural value of the Kingdom of Heaven, completely contrary to the world, because our world does not value servants. In Mark 10 Jesus told His disciples, "You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them." Many of you work in secular environments and see this hierarchical structure, where it is not normal for those in authority to be servants.

But the Kingdom of Heaven is different because its King is different. "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45). King Jesus exemplified servanthood. Therefore He said, "Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant." Subjects of the servant King are to be servants too.

Godly Leaders Get Bit by Snakes

Second point: godly leaders get bit by snakes. I'm not talking about actual snakes—though Paul's was a very real venomous viper. Those who serve and follow Jesus will suffer "snake bites," times of difficulty. This is proven by Scripture, by history, and by personal experience.

By Scripture: think of Joseph, the youngest of eleven, given God-inspired dreams of leadership. His ten older brothers hated it, beat him, threw him in a pit, and sold him into slavery in Egypt. There in Potiphar's house he served well and rose—until Potiphar's wife falsely accused him and he spent years in prison for something he didn't do. Godly leaders get bit by snakes.

Think of Job, of whom God said, "There is none like him in all the earth"—righteous, the standout. Yet the enemy stripped him of his children, wealth, and health, leaving only his wife, who said, "Curse God and die." Think of Jeremiah, called from birth to be God's prophet, yet beaten and thrown into a pit because people didn't like what he had to say. Joseph, Job, Jeremiah—and of course Jesus. And those are only the J names.

By history: read Foxe's Book of Martyrs, which charts believers killed for their faith over many centuries. And by personal experience: if you set out to serve and follow Jesus, the enemy—often described as the serpent—will bite, oppose, and come against you. We go in recognizing that bites will come, as they did for Paul.

Godly Leaders' Motives Are Questioned

So when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, "No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped the sea, yet justice does not allow to live." (Acts 28:4)

You could capitalize "Justice" here, because it may be the Greek goddess Dike, the goddess of justice. The natives, like almost everyone today, had a quid pro quo theology—a tit-for-tat idea of how the world works. Theologians call it the doctrine of retribution: if you are good, you receive blessing; if you are bad, you receive cursing; therefore if you're suffering, you must be a bad person.

This is one of the most universal and oldest worldviews of humanity. The Book of Job—considered by some the oldest book of the Bible—reveals it more than any other. Job's three friends sat with him seven days in silence, then insisted, "This would not have happened to you if you were not a bad guy." For thirty-some chapters they pressed him, certain there must be hidden sin—even though God Himself had declared Job righteous.

This doctrine so fills our hearts that we carry it into the Christian life. You stub your toe, get a flat tire, have a bad day, and immediately think, "I must have done something wrong—maybe because I didn't read my Bible this morning." But the Bible reveals that God is gracious even to those who don't deserve it. Every one of us has experienced grace we didn't deserve. Yet here, while Paul is doing something good—serving—he gets bit, and the conclusion of the watchers is: "No doubt this man is a murderer."

Third point: godly leaders' character is often questioned. The Maltese knew nothing about Paul except that he had escaped a storm and was now bitten by a deadly snake—the epitome of wandering justice: "You thought you escaped, but now it got you."

The Bible does reveal that a day of justice is coming—the day of the vengeance of our God, who sees and knows all things and will rightly judge. In Amos 5 the prophet says it will be inescapable: "as though a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him; or as though he went into the house, leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him." Every one of us deserves justice, but in Christ we have been given grace and mercy. Those who are not in Christ will receive His inescapable justice.

Godly Leaders Press On in the Face of Opposition

But he shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. (Acts 28:5)

Fourth point: godly leaders press on in the face of opposition. If there was one thing Paul knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, it was that he was going to Rome. Two-plus years earlier in Jerusalem, when a group of men bound themselves with an oath not to eat until he was dead, God appeared to him by night: "As you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome." And in the storm of Acts 27, the angel reminded him again, "You must be brought before Caesar."

So now, on Malta, having been delivered from those who sought his life and brought through the shipwreck so he could reach Rome, Paul gets bit by a snake, looks at it, and shakes it off into the fire like it's nothing. Why? Because he had God's vision and knew Malta was not the final destination.

This encourages us, because we have the testimony of God that He will bring His followers through whatever trial we face. Romans 8 says we are "more than conquerors through Him who loved us," and nothing shall separate us from the love of God. So when a storm comes, or someone comes against you, or the snake bites, we can be certain God will bring us through—and that gives us faith to press on.

A God, Not a Murderer

However, they were expecting that he would swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had looked for a long time and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god. (Acts 28:6)

They had seen it before: a man bitten swells up and falls dead. They watched closely—almost with a sick glee, the way we sometimes get a twisted sensation watching someone get hurt. But Paul didn't swell up and didn't fall over. So they changed their conclusion entirely: he must be divine. This is the second time Paul was mistaken for a god; it also happened in Acts 14 on his missionary journey with Barnabas. How quickly they swung from "murderer" to "god."

Godly Leaders Experience God's Empowering

In that region there was an estate of the leading citizen of the island, whose name was Publius, who received us and entertained us courteously for three days. And it happened that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and dysentery. Paul went in to him and prayed, and he laid his hands on him and healed him. So when this was done, the rest of those on the island who had diseases also came and were healed. (Acts 28:7–9)

Fifth point: godly leaders experience God's empowering—not only when Paul survived the bite, but when he prayed and God healed Publius's father and then a multitude of the island's sick.

Sixth point: godly leaders go through open doors. Here was an open door of opportunity. Paul served, got bitten, was healed, and then Publius—the leading man, a "man of peace" and bridge to the island—opened his home. Paul walked through that door and found another opportunity: a sick father to pray for, and then many more.

This encourages us, because every Christian is called by God to go through open doors He gives. The problem is, when those doors open, we say, "I don't think I could do that." Yet God not only calls His people—1 Corinthians 12, 13, and 14 show He gifts them—He empowers them to do what they could not otherwise do. Just before His ascension Jesus said, "Wait in Jerusalem, and you will be filled with power from on high... and you shall be witnesses of Me." There's not a single person God calls who doesn't sense their overwhelming inability—but it's not your ability, it's His.

Godly Leaders Are Ultimately Vindicated by God

They also honored us in many ways; and when we departed, they provided such things as were necessary. (Acts 28:10)

Last point: godly leaders are ultimately vindicated by God. When opposition comes, when the snake bites, when questions are leveled against your character and your motives in ministry, our instant temptation is to defend ourselves—to make it right, to let people know who's boss. But the godly leader is the one who says, "God, You defend my case; I answer ultimately only to You." If we will by faith say that, we will see Him do it.

Look at the people of Malta. Their first reaction to this prisoner gathering sticks and getting bitten was, "He's a murderer." Yet in the end they honored him greatly and provided for his needs as he and the others left the island—because godly leaders are ultimately vindicated by Him.

Closing Prayer

Father God, I thank You for these ten verses, which, though written nearly two thousand years ago, have application for us in the 21st century. If someone had told Luke that people he would never see, in a place he'd never know, would be reading and being challenged and encouraged by these words, he would have thought them crazy. And yet here we are, by Your providence, being instructed by You.

Help us this week to walk in a way that is pleasing to You. Help us to put these things to practice by faith, to trust that even though snakes come and people question our character and our motives, even though opposition and hardship come before us, we would serve and press on, look for Your empowering, go through the open doors You give, and know that ultimately we are vindicated by You. Lord, help our trust to be in nothing else but You. Even though we are tempted to do it on our own, help us not to lean on our own understanding, but to acknowledge You in all our ways and see You directing our path. We pray this in Jesus' name.