A Night to

Remember…or

Forget?

Not a TitanicSermon

I heard about someone

planning to preach on the

Titanic today. This is the

100th anniversary of the

sinking, April 15, 1912.

My first reaction was to

blanche in disgust at the

thought of falling into

such a faddish pop-

culture topical temptation

For one thing, I’m enough

of an old fogey that the

1997 movie has not left

my memory as fad pop

culture 15 years later.

…and I have not even seen

that movie except for clips

and commercials. I refuse

to watch it.

For another thing, I

believe it is important to

let scripture and events in

the congregation decide

what to preach about.

Then I read a couple of

articles on the Titanic that

made me think of God’s

promise for our salvation,

and I’ll preach on that.

The Titanic, the ship, it’s

sinking, and the place it

has taken in our society

needs a little explanation

to use it as an illustration.

Some people have said

that the 20th Century

began with the sinking of

the Titanic, that it ended

an era and began another.

For the first time all

segments of society

seemed to be together

with a disaster striking all

almost equally.

Astor, Strauss, and

Guggenheim were names

of the dead, along with

hundreds of unknown

immigrants.

The legend of Titanic

being cursed because of

the arrogant claim that it

was unsinkable was false,

but not completely off.

There was a lot of pride,

arrogance, and

superficiality involved in

the design and use of the

ship, and…

Proverbs 11: 2

When pride comes, then comes

disgrace, but with humility

comes wisdom.

Proverbs 16: 18

Pride goes before destruction, a

haughty spirit before a fall.

Isaiah 2: 11

The eyes of the arrogant man

will be humbled and the pride

of men brought low; the Lord

alone will be exalted in that

day.

…and just in case you

didn’t catch that last one,

7 verses later…

Isaiah 2: 18

The arrogance of man will be

brought low and the pride of

men humbled; the Lord alone

will be exalted in that day

The reason the ship struck

an iceberg was prideful

disregard of warnings in

order to break a speed

record.

The reason the ship sank

was prideful disregard of

physics in an effort to

please the rich and give

them more luxury.

The builders bragged

about the compartments

that divided the ship in

case of a hull breach – the

origin of “unsinkability.”

They didn’t build those

compartments all the way

to the top of the ship,

though, so when one filled

it made the others fill too.

They didn’t equip the ship

with enough lifeboats, just

more than the law required,

Pridefully, they pretended

they would not need them.

It was a trade magazine

that called the ship

“unsinkable,” but talk was

that the lifeboats would be

for rescuing other ships.

The stories about the

arrogance surrounding

the Titanic could take us

hours to cover, but there’s

no need for more.

Someone preached the

next Sunday that “The

Titanic…will stand for a

monument and warning

to human presumption.”

That’s the line that set me

off to decide to preach on

this today, because I read

recently that the wreck is

actually disappearing.

Rust, bacteria, and sea life

are destroying the wreck.

Scientists say that in a few

decades, nothing will be

left of it at all.

There was a neat article

about the Titanic I read.

It told of a priest who

went down with the ship.

Survivors spoke of him.

They heard him refuse an

invitation to a lifeboat

three times to hear the

confessions of people who

knew they would die.

So let me ask you: what is

the permanent

monument? Is it the

wreck at the bottom of the

Atlantic? or men like him?

Much is made of the men

who ensured women

survived, and of the wives

who stayed with their

husbands.

Much more is made of the

societal impact, like that

we see multiple movies

being made decades later.

For nearly 40 years the

definitive movie was

entitled A Night To

Remember, and society

wants to remember it.

Within our frame of

reference people want to

make fame in the future

be the greatest thing a

person can achieve.

Lots of people remember

those rich people whose

claim to fame is that Mrs.

So-and-So stayed with

Mr. So-and-So to die.

The idea was that they

were rich, and the thought

was that they should be

immune to tragedy like

that, but they weren’t.

That priest who went

down with the ship was

remembered, but not by

name, except for his

family who knew him.

His great-nephew wrote

about him, not to keep his

fame alive, but to enrich

our lives with the story of

his life and his choice.

He wasn’t like the older

famous rich people who to

some degree said that they

had lived their lives and

didn’t want to separate.

He was on the Titanic to

officiate his brother’s

wedding. Like the

immigrants in steerage he

had something to live for.

Instead of heeding the

advice of the crew to get in

the lifeboat, though, he

stayed on board to help

the people who were left.

The last people off the

ship recalled hearing him

leading others in reciting

The Lord’s Prayer.

During the voyage he

preached to people using

the setting of the huge

ship as part of his sermon

illustration.

Survivors say he told

people to “prepare a

spiritual lifeboat for times

of trouble.”

Since there were not

enough spots in the life

boats on the ship for

everyone, think about the

meaning in his words.

Talk about a time of

trouble, and a needed

lifeboat!

You never know how soon

good advice the Holy

Spirit lays on your heart

will come in handy, do

you?

He died helping other

people to find peace with

God as the horror of the

approaching inevitability

came upon them.

There is some certainty

that this man knew the

Lord and lives today in

His presence, among the

others he led to Him.

Long after the last bits of

the Titanic have decayed

and vanished, there will

still be people telling the

story.

Those stories will last a

long time, but they too

will fade away as other

events overtake them in

legend.

The monument to human

pride, the warning against

the folly people engage in,

the memory of tragedy

and sorrow will disappear.

That priest is in Heaven,

and there may be people

there who wouldn’t be

there if he had gotten into

that lifeboat.

That isn’t a memorial, but

it’s permanent, a different

way of looking at things

than the earthly one, I

think – God’s perspective.

The Titanic is a shame on

its crew and builders, but

also on the society that

looked on it with pride,

but God says this:

Isaiah 43: 25

I, even I, am he who blots out

your transgressions, for my

own sake, and remembers your

sins no more.

Jeremiah 31: 34

“…I will forgive their

wickedness and will remember

their sins no more.”

Psalm 103: 11-12

…as high as the heavens are

above the earth, so great is his

love for those who fear him; …

Psalm 103: 11-12

…as far as the east is from the

west, so far has he removed our

transgressions from us.

Romans 8: 1

Therefore, there is now no

condemnation for those who

are in Christ Jesus.

Think about the incredible

weight of the Titanic,

plunging through the

water, taking a thousand

people to the bottom.

There were people who

were responsible for that

terrible calamity. Think

about the weight of that

on their consciences.

Which is heavier, the

84,000 tons of steel,

water, and flesh heading

down through the water…

…or the guilt and shame

born by the people whose

mistakes of pride and

carelessness made it

happen?

Whatever weight you are

carrying as a burden, I’m

sure, is less than that, but

that doesn’t make it

bearable, does it?

…but just as all of the

Titanic and its passengers

and cargo will be gone

soon, so will the shame

and guilt of those people,

…and it is just as easy for

your burdens to go away

as well. Your sins have

been atoned for, and the

effects will fade away.

The only question is

whether you will get in the

lifeboat Father Thomas

Roussel Byles spoke about

and rode in himself once.