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OPEN BOOK – HINTS FROM THE SPIRIT OF HOLINESS: THE TRIP EAST

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BRUCE C WEARNE, in his look at the Book of Acts, looks at why Luke spends so much time on Paul’s travel itinerary…

And so, we set sail, having said our goodbyes, and by a direct route we came to Cos, and then the next day to Rhodes, and then onto to Patara. Then, after locating a ship crossing to Phoenicia, we boarded it and set sail. When we were in sight of Cyprus, we passed it on our left as we sailed on to Syria, and disembarked at Tyre; that was because that was where the ship unloaded its cargo. We sought out the local disciples and remained with them for seven days. Their advice to Paul, through the Spirit, was that he should not be embarking for Jerusalem. And when our time was up we left there and continued on our journey; and all of them, with wives and children, sent us on our way from outside the city. We knelt on the beach together as we prayed and bade one another farewell. Then together we went on board ship, while they returned to their homes. – Acts 21:1-6/transliteration by Bruce C Wearne

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WHERE TO NEXT? Bruce C Wearne says Luke’s inclusion of travel details is not merely incidental. PICTURE: Jean-Frederic Fortier/Unsplash.

IN A NUTSHELL
Paul’s party makes the trip east.

What’s Luke getting at? Why does he bother with all this stuff? Isn’t it more important to get on with the main story? Why fill up pages and waste ink on what seems to be only a copy of the itinerary, a mere diary entry?

Hang on. Even if it were merely a diary entry we still have to think about the diary’s purpose. Yes, the passage is in the first person and Luke tells us what “we” did. I hazard the guess that this was a very important time for him; by putting it in this way he reminds us of important things easily forgotten.

Why do we forget? The answer is simple: we forget those things we too readily assume to be unimportant or too obvious to need reiteration. When we live through important events we often forget aspects of how we experienced them at the time. And the Holy Spirit is well aware of our tendency to miss what is right there in front of our eyes. He knows that we can hurt ourselves by our impatience.

So what is important here? What is it that the Holy Spirit prompted Luke to tell us? I think Luke was reminding himself, and therefore he was happy to tell Theophilus and us, that that journey not only had deep spiritual significance for him, but also life-long impact for the children who knelt in prayer as they were sent on their way.

The path we take in life is so very important. Our walk along it is not to be devalued in any of its moments. Our journey has its own purpose and meaning. Any trip will have a destination but the journey itself is to be enjoyed. It is part of God’s revelation of Himself to us. We do not discover the meaning of a journey simply by grinning and bearing it. We do not discover our purpose in travel by grizzling that we haven’t arrived. The incessant question: “Are we there yet? Are we there? Are we there?” has an answer: “No, we are here!” We are always “here”, and we do well to remember that this is the day the Lord has made and so we rejoice and are glad. Jesus has made our life journey possible. On it we enjoy God’s bounty.

Luke has formulated an aide memoire of a journey full of meaning.

The Holy Spirit travelled with them. He prompted Tyre’s disciples to persuade Paul from going on to Jerusalem. Luke tells us that those Tyre Christians knew the dangers they had to live with, reminding us again that the breeze of the Holy Spirit “blows where He wills”. He doesn’t work on a “one size fits all” basis. The prophetic duty of these Christians was to tell Paul what the Spirit revealed. Perhaps, Luke writes as one who, in retrospect, was deeply impressed. No doubt it describes his learning curve. And he was penning this from a knowledge gained later of what was to happen in Jerusalem. 

 

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