100th Anniversary of Titanic message about permanence of salvation and impermanence of sin Delivered at Portland Friends Church April 15, 2012

1. A Night to
Remember…or
Forget?
Not a Titanic
Sermon

2. I heard about someone
planning to preach on the
Titanic today. This is the
100th anniversary of the
sinking, April 15, 1912.

4. My first reaction was to
blanche in disgust at the
thought of falling into
such a faddish pop-
culture topical temptation

5. 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.

6. …and I have not even seen
that movie except for clips
and commercials. I refuse
to watch it.

7. For another thing, I
believe it is important to
let scripture and events in
the congregation decide
what to preach about.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. Some people have said
that the 20th Century
began with the sinking of
the Titanic, that it ended
an era and began another.

12. For the first time all
segments of society
seemed to be together
with a disaster striking all
almost equally.

13. Astor, Strauss, and
Guggenheim were names
of the dead, along with
hundreds of unknown
immigrants.

14. The legend of Titanic
being cursed because of
the arrogant claim that it
was unsinkable was false,
but not completely off.

15. There was a lot of pride,
arrogance, and
superficiality involved in
the design and use of the
ship, and…

16. Proverbs 11: 2
When pride comes, then comes
disgrace, but with humility
comes wisdom.

17. Proverbs 16: 18
Pride goes before destruction, a
haughty spirit before a fall.

18. 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.

19. …and just in case you
didn’t catch that last one,
7 verses later…

20. 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

21. The reason the ship struck
an iceberg was prideful
disregard of warnings in
order to break a speed
record.

22. The reason the ship sank
was prideful disregard of
physics in an effort to
please the rich and give
them more luxury.

23. The builders bragged
about the compartments
that divided the ship in
case of a hull breach – the
origin of “unsinkability.”

24. 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.

25. They didn’t equip the ship
with enough lifeboats, just
more than the law required,
Pridefully, they pretended
they would not need them.

26. It was a trade magazine
that called the ship
“unsinkable,” but talk was
that the lifeboats would be
for rescuing other ships.

28. The stories about the
arrogance surrounding
the Titanic could take us
hours to cover, but there’s
no need for more.

29. Someone preached the
next Sunday that “The
Titanic…will stand for a
monument and warning
to human presumption.”

30. 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.

31. Rust, bacteria, and sea life
are destroying the wreck.
Scientists say that in a few
decades, nothing will be
left of it at all.

32. 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.

33. They heard him refuse an
invitation to a lifeboat
three times to hear the
confessions of people who
knew they would die.

34. So let me ask you: what is
the permanent
monument? Is it the
wreck at the bottom of the
Atlantic? or men like him?

35. Much is made of the men
who ensured women
survived, and of the wives
who stayed with their
husbands.

36. Much more is made of the
societal impact, like that
we see multiple movies
being made decades later.

37. For nearly 40 years the
definitive movie was
entitled A Night To
Remember, and society
wants to remember it.

38. Within our frame of
reference people want to
make fame in the future
be the greatest thing a
person can achieve.

39. 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.

40. The idea was that they
were rich, and the thought
was that they should be
immune to tragedy like
that, but they weren’t.

41. That priest who went
down with the ship was
remembered, but not by
name, except for his
family who knew him.

42. 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.

43. 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.

44. He was on the Titanic to
officiate his brother’s
wedding. Like the
immigrants in steerage he
had something to live for.

45. 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.

46. The last people off the
ship recalled hearing him
leading others in reciting
The Lord’s Prayer.

47. During the voyage he
preached to people using
the setting of the huge
ship as part of his sermon
illustration.

48. Survivors say he told
people to “prepare a
spiritual lifeboat for times
of trouble.”

49. Since there were not
enough spots in the life
boats on the ship for
everyone, think about the
meaning in his words.

50. Talk about a time of
trouble, and a needed
lifeboat!

51. You never know how soon
good advice the Holy
Spirit lays on your heart
will come in handy, do
you?

52. He died helping other
people to find peace with
God as the horror of the
approaching inevitability
came upon them.

53. There is some certainty
that this man knew the
Lord and lives today in
His presence, among the
others he led to Him.

54. Long after the last bits of
the Titanic have decayed
and vanished, there will
still be people telling the
story.

55. Those stories will last a
long time, but they too
will fade away as other
events overtake them in
legend.

56. The monument to human
pride, the warning against
the folly people engage in,
the memory of tragedy
and sorrow will disappear.

57. That priest is in Heaven,
and there may be people
there who wouldn’t be
there if he had gotten into
that lifeboat.

58. 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.

59. 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:

60. Isaiah 43: 25
I, even I, am he who blots out
your transgressions, for my
own sake, and remembers your
sins no more.

61. Jeremiah 31: 34
“…I will forgive their
wickedness and will remember
their sins no more.”

62. Psalm 103: 11-12
…as high as the heavens are
above the earth, so great is his
love for those who fear him; …

63. Psalm 103: 11-12
…as far as the east is from the
west, so far has he removed our
transgressions from us.

64. Romans 8: 1
Therefore, there is now no
condemnation for those who
are in Christ Jesus.

65. Think about the incredible
weight of the Titanic,
plunging through the
water, taking a thousand
people to the bottom.

66. There were people who
were responsible for that
terrible calamity. Think
about the weight of that
on their consciences.

67. Which is heavier, the
84,000 tons of steel,
water, and flesh heading
down through the water…

68. …or the guilt and shame
born by the people whose
mistakes of pride and
carelessness made it
happen?

69. Whatever weight you are
carrying as a burden, I’m
sure, is less than that, but
that doesn’t make it
bearable, does it?

70. …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,

71. …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.

72. The only question is
whether you will get in the
lifeboat Father Thomas
Roussel Byles spoke about
and rode in himself once.