Problems with the Messenger

“Don’t kill the messenger!”  That saying likely came from the account of David putting to death the messenger who assisted in King Saul’s demise, then brought the “good” news to David that he could now become King of Israel. While that messenger was not from God, the Lord used many Old Testament prophets to deliver important words of admonishment, correction, and judgment to kings who had gone astray.  These prophets realized they could face imprisonment or death at the whim of the king for bringing such messages.  But they feared God more than men and the Lord protected them.

After Jesus’ death and resurrection, the Apostles faced similar threats from those in authority who did not want to hear the Good News. Preaching the gospel cost Paul more than two years of imprisonment where he pled his case before the Roman governor, Israelite accusers, and finally King Agrippa. In the end, as a Roman citizen, Paul appealed his case to Caesar.  The governor ordered that he be transported to Rome under guard of a Centurion and Roman soldiers. The journey necessitated crossing the Mediterranean Sea, so Paul sailed to one port to pick up a different vessel going across.  Because of uncooperative winds and the approach of winter, sailing had become dangerous.  God gave Paul a word of warning for the sailors and passengers: “Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also.” (Acts 27:10)  But the Centurion chose to listen to the ship’s pilot instead of Paul and they set sail.

They had not been underway long before encountering a “nor’easter” that trapped the ship and aimlessly drove it along.  The storm was so violent that the crew passed ropes under the boat to try to hold it together.  On the second day, they started throwing cargo overboard followed by the ship’s tackle on the third day.  After two weeks, everyone gave up all hope of being saved.  It was almost like God intentionally waited until hope was gone before He sent a messenger angel proclaiming to Paul that he would stand trial before Caesar.  God said he would also save all the men onboard the ship, but there was a proviso.  Instead of trying to escape via the ship’s lifeboat, all were required to stay with the ship.  This time people listened; however, the rest of the prophesy still had to be fulfilled.  So, the ship ran aground on a sandbar and broke apart in the surf, forcing all to swim or paddle on wreckage to the shore.  It had been a disastrous voyage, but Paul’s obedience brought God’s grace to spare lives.

Many of us can identify with the Centurion who listened to an experienced seaman, rather than to Paul, the prisoner.  We do the same when consulting physicians on vaccines and procedures, realtors on the advisability of selling a property, brokers on making investments, spiritual leaders for understanding scriptures.  These are the experts in their fields – it seems like a wise course of action.  But what happens when God sends an ordinary person with a particular word of instruction?  Do we believe God really cares enough to send us direction through another person? Do we reject the message because we deem the messenger unqualified? Or do we scoff at the whole thing because God used someone we dislike to humble us with a word we don’t want to hear?

God often chooses the unlikely, the unqualified, the ignoble, the ordinary, even the strange (like John the Baptist who lived in the desert and ate locusts).  God’s test for us is recognizing His anointing on someone unexpected, and responding with the humility to receive the message as if it had come through an angel with golden wings.

But perhaps an even greater test is finding ourselves tapped as God’s messenger and wrestling with that directive from our Lord.  Will we be faithful to be used of God when we and the message may well be rejected?  The truth is that the recipients of these messages don’t have problems with the messenger as much as they actually have problems with God.  “For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” (Philippians 2:13)