Listen to our message on your audio player.

“And the next day we touched at Sidon. And Julius courteously entreated Paul, and gave him liberty to go unto his friends to refresh himself” (Acts 27:3).

All through life we make friends, then we seek to maintain that friendship. Of course in our lifetime the internet has been a great asset in reconnecting and maintaining contact with all parts of the world, but every generation has had old friends. As a little kid I remember riding my bike in front of the old men talking together as they sat on a park bench near City Hall in Belton, MO. In my childhood being that old seemed incomprehensibly far off, but now I am probably older than some of those old men at the time!

Marvin, our next door neighbor who is several years older than us, has  met for breakfast seven days a week with his longtime friends going way back from his early school years so that's over 60 years now. He works construction and we see his truck pull out about 5:30 every morning to meet with his friends for breakfast before starting his work day.

Today we will examine two phrases from our rather obscure daily text. In reading this long narrative portion about Paul’s captivity and shipwreck it’s so easy to miss them.

Background: Paul is on his way to Rome as a prisoner. He’s appealed to Caesar and he’s surely discouraged and weary from traveling the stormy seas and being under surveillance the entire time. Uncertainty is his only glimpse into the near future.

1) "And Julius courteously entreated Paul." The ship stops at Sidon where Julius "courteously entreated" Paul.  These two words translate the only place in the New Testament where we see the Greek word "philanthropos", the root for our English word “philanthropy.” Julius, a hardened centurion, assigned to guard Paul at all times gave him freedom to see his friends and later spared his life when others wanted to do away with him (Acts 27:43). What a positive example and stimulus for us to forge a friendship even in the midst of hardship and being in the company of those we might not prefer. It reminds me of an acquaintance that chose to pray every day for his competitor/”enemy” instead of hurling insults or responding in kind to his combative tone.

There is no mention elsewhere in Scripture that Paul was ever in Sidon, but nevertheless he had some friends there. I wonder who they were and how he had met them. We’re not told about the circumstances but it’s easy to determine they’re the kind of friends you want to surround yourself with all throughout life’s journey. Their presence in our lives refresh us when difficulties and disappointments might otherwise drain us of energy and motivation. We sure need friends like that don't we?

2) "And gave him liberty to go unto his friends to refresh himself”. These friends had a part in Paul’s refreshing. The word "refresh" translated from the Greek is a word again found only in this passage throughout the entire New Testament. It has the sense of "kind attention". That’s what Paul needed and that’s what these unnamed friends did as they provided for his needs: physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally.

That’s what we’ve quite often needed and have experienced from so many good friends, including many of you reading this message. Thank you! There’s a lot of refreshing needed in our lives as we deal with daily challenges that can deplete us of a positive outlook! We all need caring and devoted friends to stand with us and in turn there are people who need us to be that kind of friend, like the Scripture says, "A man who has friends must show himself friendly" (Proverbs 18:24).  Today we encourage you to thank God for the blessing of friends and to show yourself friendly to one who may have relatively few or no friends!

Be encouraged today, Hebrews 3:13.

Stephen & Brooksyne Weber