Acts 28:1-10(2)

• Acts 28:1-10(2)

Acts 28:1-10 (2)

Sermon preached on February 18, 2007 by Laurence W. Veinott. © Copyright 2007. All rights reserved. Other sermons can be found at http://www.newlifeop.org/.

One of the things that I like to do on my vacation is go fishing. It's something that I only do then so it's very exciting—especially the first time I get to go. Last year I remember that as soon as I got to my favorite brook and put my fly into the water to get ready to cast—the line in my reel was all tangled. So spent a few minutes pulling the line out to get it straightened out. When I got it all untangled I started to reel it in for my first cast when I discovered that there was a fish on the end of the line. He was a keeper too. I could hardly believe it—all I had to do was put my line in the water and this fish swallowed the fly and was hooked. As I took the fish off the hook I remembered thinking to myself,

"This is going to be a really good day for fishing."

And it was. It was the best day fishing I ever had. The fish were really hungry. All you had to do was put the fly in the water and you'd soon have a good bite. It was almost too easy—like an inevitable cause and effect. You put the fly in the water and you'd have a bite.

Sometimes God rewards us like that. We see that with His dealings with the people of Malta. The people of the island welcomed the shipwrecked people with open arms. In verse 2 Luke tells us that the people of Malta showed them,

"unusual kindness."

They really took care of Paul and the other people from the wrecked ship. After everyone got ashore the first thing the islanders did to welcome them was build a fire to warm them because it was cold and rainy. Soon after that they made arrangements to house the people in their homes. I'm sure that it was no small feat to find accommodations for 276 people. One example that is mentioned is that of Publius. He was the chief Roman official on the island. Luke says that he welcomed them to his home. This included Paul, Aristarchus and probably the centurion Julius and the other chief officers. Luke tells us that they spent three days at Publius' estate and that he,

"entertained us hospitably."

The people of Malta showed great kindness and hospitality to the shipwrecked people. What was the result? God greatly blessed them almost immediately.

Luke tells us that Publius' father was sick in bed with fever and dysentery. Some have suggested that he was sick with what later became known as 'Malta fever'. The micro-organism which causes it was first identified in 1887 and was traced to the milk of Maltese goats. It caused a fever that normally lasted four months, but sometimes persisted for two or three years. But he was healed soon after Paul arrived. We are told that Paul prayed, placed his hands on him and healed him. When this miracle became known all the other sick people on the island came to Paul and were cured. God quickly rewarded the people of Malta for their kindness and hospitality to these strangers.

The great truth that is shown to us here is that

God blesses hospitality.

One of the ways to blessing is through hospitality. Here near the end of the book of Acts God uses the pagan people of the island of Malta to show Christians how much He blesses hospitality. It is a lesson that we Christians should take to heart. Acts is about the spread of the gospel, from Jerusalem to Judea, to Samaria, to the ends of the earth. It's about church growth. How does the church grow? One of the keys is for Christians to practice hospitality. Hospitality is a reflection of God's love. So here, near the end of his book, Luke again shows us that God blesses hospitality.

This is something that the Holy Spirit impresses upon us right from the beginning of the Bible. Consider Abraham. We read about his hospitality in Genesis 18:1f.

"The LORD appeared to Abraham
near the great trees of Mamre
while he was sitting at the entrance
to his tent in the heat of the day.
Abraham looked up and saw
three men standing nearby.
When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent
to meet them and bowed low to the ground.
He said, 'If I have found favor in your eyes,
my lord, do not pass your servant by.
Let a little water be brought,
and then you may all wash your feet
and rest under this tree.
Let me get you something to eat,
so you can be refreshed
and then go on your way—
now that you have come to your servant.
'Very well,' they answered, 'do as you say.'
So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah.
'Quick,' he said, 'get three seahs of fine flour
and knead it and bake some bread.'
Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice,
tender calf and gave it to a servant,
who hurried to prepare it.
He then brought some curds and milk
and the calf that had been prepared,
and set these before them.
While they ate, he stood near them under a tree."

Abraham showed great hospitality to those strangers. What was the result? God greatly blessed him—what a promise was given to him! They said to Abraham.

"Where is your wife Sarah?"

Abraham told them that she was in the tent. Then the Lord said,

"I will surely return to you
about this time next year,
and Sarah your wife will have a son."

Isaac, the one through whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed—was promised to him immediately after he showed hospitality to these strangers. I don't mean to suggest that Abraham's hospitality was the only thing that was responsible for the blessing that came, but it was a factor. God arranged things this way in order to teach us a great lesson.

Abraham's example is held up to us in Hebrews 13:2. We are told,

"Do not forget to entertain strangers,
for by so doing some people
have entertained angels without knowing it."

We are not merely encouraged, but commanded to follow his example. There's a clear connection between kindness and hospitality and blessing—and not merely an earthly blessings—but great spiritual ones. These blessings come not just to the ones who show hospitality—but sometimes to those close to them.

We see this in Paul's request for Onesiphorus and his household. In 2 Timothy 1:16-18 Paul prayed for God to reward Onesiphorus and his household because of Onesiphorus' hospitality to him. He prayed,

"May the Lord show mercy
to the household of Onesiphorus,
because he often refreshed me
and was not ashamed of my chains.
On the contrary, when he was in Rome,
he searched hard for me until he found me.
May the Lord grant
that he will find mercy
from the Lord on that day!
You know very well in how many ways
he helped me in Ephesus."

Paul wanted him to be blessed because of the kindness that he had showed to him.

Throughout the Bible we are commanded and encouraged to show hospitality. It is consistently pointed out to us as a way of blessing. We see this in Proverbs 11:25 which says,

"A generous man will prosper;
he who refreshes others
will himself be refreshed."

In 1 Kings 17:7-23 me are told of an incident in the life of the prophet Elijah. There was famine in the land and Elijah was told by God to hide in the Kerith Ravine and that the ravens would feed him. We read,

"Some time later the brook dried up
because there had been no rain in the land.
Then the word of the LORD came to him:
'Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there.
I have commanded a widow in that place
to supply you with food.'
So he went to Zarephath.
When he came to the town gate,
a widow was there gathering sticks.
He called to her and asked,
Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?'
As she was going to get it,
he called, 'And bring me, please, a piece of bread.'
'As surely as the LORD your God lives,' she replied,
'I don't have any bread—
only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug.
I am gathering a few sticks
to take home and make a meal
for myself and my son,
that we may eat it—and die.'
Elijah said to her, 'Don't be afraid.
Go home and do as you have said.
But first make a small cake of bread
for me from what you have and bring it to me,
and then make something for yourself and your son.
For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says:
'The jar of flour will not be used up
and the jug of oil will not run dry
until the day the LORD gives rain on the land.''
She went away and did as Elijah had told her.
So there was food every day for Elijah
and for the woman and her family.
For the jar of flour was not used up
and the jug of oil did not run dry,
in keeping with the word of the LORD spoken by Elijah."

What a miracle she witnessed. It was all because she was willing to show hospitality to the prophet.

Or consider an incident in the life of the prophet Elisha. In 2 Kings 4:8-16 we read,

"One day Elisha went to Shunem.
And a well-to-do woman was there,
who urged him to stay for a meal.
So whenever he came by,
he stopped there to eat.
She said to her husband,
'I know that this man
who often comes our way is a holy man of God.
Let's make a small room on the roof
and put in it a bed and a table,
a chair and a lamp for him.
Then he can stay there whenever he comes to us.'
One day when Elisha came,
he went up to his room and lay down there.
He said to his servant Gehazi,
'Call the Shunammite.'
So he called her, and she stood before him.
Elisha said to him,
'Tell her, 'You have gone
to all this trouble for us.
Now what can be done for you?
Can we speak on your behalf to the king
or the commander of the army?'
She replied, 'I have a home among my own people.'
What can be done for her?
Elisha asked. Gehazi said,
'Well, she has no son and her husband is old.'
Then Elisha said,
'Call her.' So he called her, and she stood in the doorway.
'About this time next year,' Elisha said,
'you will hold a son in your arms."

She had a son. God greatly blessed her hospitality.

Christians, show hospitality. Don't let anything stop you.

We have been called to be hospitable. Over and over again we are shown that it is the way to blessing. If someone says,

"I don't have the time or the resources to be hospitable."

That's like saying,

"I don't have the time or the resources to be blessed by God."

Consider the widow of Zarephath. All she had left when Elijah arrived was a little flour and a little oil. She was going to make a last little meal for her and her son—and then that would be it and they would die. That's all she had—not even enough to keep her son and her alive—and yet God called her to show hospitality to Elijah and feed him. She did so and she was greatly blessed.

To impress upon us the great importance of hospitality and the blessing that follows—God shows us that nothing can prevent the blessing—not even death, the great weapon of our enemy the devil.

What is interesting in the incidents of the widow of Zarephath and the Shunammite woman is that

both sons died quite suddenly.

At first glance this appears to call into question our fundamental principle—that God blesses hospitality. Both women experienced great anguish not long after their hospitality to the prophets. When her son died, the widow of Zarephath said to Elijah, (1 Kings 17:18)

"What do you have against me, man of God?
Did you come to remind me of my sin
and kill my son?"

Elijah himself was upset. He saw it as something that didn't fit, that it was the opposite of what should have taken place.

"O LORD my God,
have you brought tragedy also
upon this widow I am staying with,
by causing her son to die?"

M. B. Van't Veer writes, (My God is Yahweh, p. 117)

"Did it not appear as though Israel's God—and therefore also His prophet—had deceived her? Was there no reason for her to curse the day of Elijah's coming? What first appeared to her as a blessing turned out to be a judgment. That for which she gave thanks at every meal she now had to regard as a curse." "If only she had never enjoyed the pleasure of preparing a place in her home for Yahweh's messenger, she would never have had to bear the burden entailed by living in the nearness of a holy God. Hadn't the Lord deceived her? Hadn't all the certainties in her life crumbled? Was there any certainty left for her to cling to now that even Israel's God could not be trusted?" "Diametrically opposed were the promise she received and the reality of what had happened. She had been promised life, but she received death. She was promised reward for obedience, but she received the punishment given those who disobey. Thus the Lord took back all the words on which she had fixed her hopes, thereby pulling the rug out from under her. What the Lord did was the opposite of what He said."

I feel as well for the Shunammite woman who didn't even ask for a son. She didn't ask for anything when Elisha asked her what could be done for her. She was content. How bitter her son's death was to her. When her son died, she hurried to Elisha and said, (2 Kings 4:28)

"Did I ask you for a son, my lord?
Didn't I tell you, 'Don't raise my hopes'?"

Does God really bless hospitality? Is His blessing of it real and substantial, or fleeting and temporary such that some people who show hospitality are worse off at the end than at the beginning?

Such questions need to be answered because they go to the heart of the problem?

What is the answer to them?

Yes, God does bless hospitality and this blessing is real and substantial.

Remember what Jesus said about hospitality in Matthew 10:40-42? He said,

"He who receives you receives me,
and he who receives me
receives the one who sent me.
Anyone who receives a prophet
because he is a prophet
will receive a prophet's reward,
and anyone who receives a righteous man
because he is a righteous man
will receive a righteous man's reward.
And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water
to one of these little ones
because he is my disciple,
I tell you the truth,
he will certainly not lose his reward."

Jesus told us clearly that those who show hospitality will not lose their reward. We do see that in these women. Their sons were raised from the dead. God's grace in blessing hospitality can overcome even the great enemy of death. Even though these widows suffered, they were much better off in the end than the beginning. God gave them their heart's desire. Not even death could prevent God from blessing their hospitality.

But there are even more lessons we learn from these two incidents.

First, they make clear that

the rewards from hospitality are all of grace.

God was not being unjust when he took the lives of the boys. The deaths of the boys shows that both the widow and Zarephath and the Shunammite woman did not deserve that God do good to them. Their good works did not obligate God to bless them. God's blessing of them was all of grace. Remember what Jesus said to His disciples in Luke 17:10?

"So you also, when you
have done everything you were told to do,
should say,
'We are unworthy servants;
we have only done our duty.'"

God's grace to us in Jesus Christ is such that He richly rewards us far beyond what we deserve. Indeed, Ephesians 2:10 tells us that we are God's workmanship and that the good works that we do were prepared in advance by God. Yet He rewards us for such work. What grace. What love.

Christians, never allow your good works to make you proud. Rather, use them draw closer to your great Savior Jesus and praise His great name. Imitate the saints in glory who lay their crowns before the throne. (Revelation 4:10)

Thirdly, we are taught that

though God promises to bless hospitality—setbacks may come and we need to draw close to God and trust Him in all circumstances.

Satan is opposed to us, to our work, to Jesus and His work. Because of his work, instead of seeing immediate blessing for your work of hospitality, you may experience the opposite.

To help us endure, to help us stand, to help us persevere in showing hospitality—God teaches us two lessons from the widow of Zarephath and the Shunammite woman.

Note that the Shunammite woman clung to Elisha when her son died. She rushed to the prophet. When she came to him she took hold of his feet. Gehazi came over to push her out of the way, but Elisha stopped him. Elisha then sent Gehazi with his staff to the boy. But that didn't satisfy the woman. She said to Elisha, (2 Kings 4:30)

"As surely as the Lord lives and you live,
I will not leave you."

She did not give up hope. She did not lose her faith. She trusted in God's Word, in His power, in His prophet—in spite of the fact that the seemingly worst thing in the world had happened. She continued to trust in God and hope in Him. Nothing was going to take her from that hope.

The widow of Zarephath also has a great lesson to teach us. After her son was brought back from the dead, the widow of Zarephath said to Elijah, (1 Kings 17:24)

"Now I know that you are a man of God
and that the word of the Lord
from your mouth is the truth."

M. B. Van't Veer says of her statement, (My God is Yahweh, p. 134)

"From her mouth we hear that the Lord wishes to be recognized as reliable. In this regard her confession still speaks to us long after her death. She testifies to all ages about the truth of the Word of the Lord. With prophetic power she announces to all generations until the end of time: 'The Word of the Lord is greater than any sign, and the dispensation of that Word without miraculous signs is greater than the dispensation of the miraculous sings intended to lead us to that Word.'"

They both came to know the truth and reliability of God's Word.

Fourthly, these incidents show us that

we are not to look at the rewards for hospitality in mere earthly terms. Rather we are to raise our eyes and realize that spiritual blessings are the best and know that God Himself is our great reward.

Christians, it is Jesus that you serve. Your reward is with Him. He is preparing a place for you. (John 14) But even more than that, He is your reward. As God said to Abram, (Genesis 15:1)

"Do not be afraid, Abram.
I am your shield,
your very great reward."

God blesses hospitality—in ways that go beyond mere earthly blessings—and though you go through difficulties and dark times—in the end you will not be disappointed. God will overcome all the powers of darkness and death—and reward you richly, eternally. You will dwell with Him and enjoy His hospitality forever.

Finally, for those of you who are not Christians, this shows you that

you need God's hospitality.

Part of the reason God wants Christians to be hospitable to you is so that you'll see His love and your need of it in them. Any hospitality you see on this earth is to teach you that you need God to be hospitable to you. Without it you'll be lost in hell's fires. Go to Jesus today. Ask Him to save you.