IF THE TITANIC COULD TALK

Text: Matthew 6:25-34

The problem, as most of us now know, was that when the ship hit the iceberg, 5 of those 16 compartments got ruptured. Furthermore, the compartments were constructed in such a way that they were not watertight at the top. As each compartment flooded, water spilled over the top of the dividing barrier, inundating the next, and the next, until the end result was catastrophic.

Personal reflections on living with renewed awareness of the impact of stress and worry and the value of every day of life.
I As many of you know, this year marked the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. On the night of April 14, 1912, the largest, most luxurious cruise ship yet constructed struck a massive iceberg and sank to the bottom of the North Atlantic, taking with her 1,513 precious souls. The celebrated film account of that night made vivid to many the horror of that loss. How many of you saw it? What it touched on only obliquely, however, is: how the tragedy could have transpired at all, how might it have been avoided, and what that teaches you and me

I cant help but wonder if that problem isnt similar to one of the fundamental dangers of life to which one of the petitions from the famous prayer given to us by Jesus, helpfully speaks. When Jesus tells us to pray Give us this day our daily bread I believe he is urging us to pay close attention to the internal structure of our lives. Nearly a century ago, the legendary physician, Dr. William Osler, suggested that one of the great challenges of life is to learn to live in day-tight compartments -- sealed off from the deluge of the past at the one end, and from the flood of the future at the other. Why is that so important? II Some of us in this room could answer that question. Some of us, for example, know what it is to be water-logged by the past. Maybe you once suffered some painful rejection, some humiliating loss, some broken relationship or moral failure youd like to forget but cant.

Nearly 30 year ago, I spent a day as the guest of the head of the shipbuilders union at the shipyard in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where the Titanic was originally built. I learned there that the Titanic was the first major vessel to be built on the engineering principles now standard in the industry today. She given a double-hull. Her internal spaces were deliberately segmented into 16 separate compartments, any 4 of which could be completely flooded and the ship would still float.

Whatever it was it still pours like an icy torrent into the present, making it hard for you to really love or live with the joy and freedom youd like.

Or perhaps some others of us know what it is to be swamped by the inrushing worries of the future. Youre plagued by the kind of anxious questions that make it hard to sleep at night or work peacefully anymore: How will I ever cover those expenses? What am I going to do about this problem or that person? When will my desires ever be fulfilled?

In William Oslers terms, how do we shut an iron door in our soul upon the Past the dead yesterdays the petty annoyances, the real and fancied slights, the trivial mistakes, the disappointments, the sins and sorrows, even the joys whose memory drags us down. Or how do we maintain an iron bulkhead against the flood of the Future the unborn tomorrows the dreams, the delicious fantasies, even when we know that tomorrow has no certainty except through today? III One way is to allow the words of Jesus model prayer to help us restructure our inner world in at least three powerful ways. Take the phrase give us this day, for example. If ever there was a concept with the atmospheric pressure necessary to force the floodwaters back out from whence they came, that one is it. I have discovered this power anew for myself since my heart attack last summer. Every time I begin to feel overwhelmed with guilt over the tasks and people I failed to take care of last week, or all the stuff Im going to be asked to handle in this coming week, I now force myself to focus on the tasks I can do in this day. Thank you, Lord, that you give us this day. How might that be helpful for you to remember? Focus on the people you have the opportunity to love this day; Focus on the sweetness of life you can taste this day. 2

The great Scottish pastor, George MacDonald, once described the phenomenon this way: No one ever sank under the burden of today [alone]. It is when [yesterday or] tomorrows burden is added to the burden of today that the weight is more than [one] can bear. Never load yourself so. If you find yourself so loaded, at least remember this: it is your own doing, not Gods. He begs you to leave [the past] and the future to him, and mind the present. Which is why Jesus said: Who of you by worrying (over the past) can add a single hour to [your] life? And why do you worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Todays trouble is enough for today. At our clearest moments, most of us understand the truth of these words. The big question is how do we do as Jesus and these scholars suggest?

Then just watch how the floodwaters of the used to be and the might yet be start to recede, leaving you with the peace you need to celebrate the Christ-hallowed now. Someone wisely observed: Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is mystery. Today is a gift; thats why it is called the present.

Usually, he sends us just what we need: The strength to keep treading water till the lifeboat arrives; a sense of direction to swim in the dark; the gift of a brother or a sister who throws their arm around us and pulls us along when weve grown too tired to keep our head above water; or maybe as the Hollywood film depicted the privilege of sacrificing our selves for the sake of someone else.

And as someone in this church reminded me recently, the real present in the present moment is the Presence of One who is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore. So speak to that Presence when worry rushes in for you. Ask him to help you focus on this day hes given you. Thats the FIRST strategy that Ive found helpful in dealing with the rushing waters of pressure and anxiety in my life. But here is a SECOND strategy. When the weight of life is heavy upon you, try asking God for bread instead of for cake. I have struggled sometimes to remember that in this life God promises to give bread the stuff that meets my basic needs not the seven-layer cake that meets our desperate wants. We may want God to give us a berth in first-class rather than third, We may want him to zap the iceberg before it hits us, or to instantly heal the hull when it is torn open, But God generally chooses more modest means to save us.

The Bible is clear that there will be more than enough cake at the Banquet Table of the Kingdom of God. In the meantime says Jesus, ask your Father for bread for this day alone, and you shall receive. If you want to keep worry from sinking you Thank him for giving you this day Rejoice in the bread he gives

Finally, focus intentionally on the fact that it is not just you who are praying for your bread, but all of us praying for ours. It is easy when panic strikes to feel that youre all alone on this ship of life. But youre not. Were in this thing together. Were going to sail or sink together. One of the worst tragedies of that April night in 1912 was that so many people failed to perceive one another. Do you know that there were other vessels nearby that could have given aid to the sinking ship if someone had been at the radio listening? 3

Do you realize that most of the Titanics lifeboats still had plenty of room for others in them, if the people in them could have pushed past their fears and reached out? Yet only one boat went back.

We are to remember that just as Jesus fed the five thousand through the bread that one child brought, he has given all of us the capacity to strengthen one another for this days journey.

The good news is that God has promised that in the end he will repair with his grace the really gigantic gashes in human life. In the meantime, however He asks you and me to be people who are constantly tuned in and courageously responsive to the cries of those around us. He counts on us to seal up the cracks in each others confidence wherever we can. He calls upon us to lift each other up whenever one of us has begun to sink down, to move over and make room for someone else whenever we are able, and to do so daily.

I would be remiss if I did not point out a couple of final factors in the Titanics fate that help to illustrate one final and immensely important implication of this prayer of Jesus. For years, two great questions haunted experts trying to unravel the tragedy of the Titanic. The FIRST was, how did an iceberg happen to stray in the path of the great ship? What was such a massive hazard doing that far south? It was not until recently, however, when the ultimate resting place of the ships carcass was established, that the picture became clear. It was not simply that an iceberg had strayed farther south than usual; it was also that the Titanic had strayed too far north.

Who in this room might you find that encouragement from or give it too today and perhaps even after we have left our time together? IV If the Titanic could talk it would tell us that the airtightness of ones compartments counts. Jesus says the same about the daytightness of our lives. Its not that we must never reflect on the past, nor plan for the future; Jesus simply calls us to keep our primary focus on today. We are to ask God for the bread which we need to do what we must do now,

The SECOND question was how an iceberg, even a considerable sized one, could do that much damage to a ship with such multiple structural reinforcements? Here too, the answer wasnt pieced together until the testimony of surviving crew members finally yielded some light. Not only was the Titanic off-course, When she hit the iceberg, she was steaming along at 22 knots -- considerably faster than was safe for any ship of that day. 4

The captain of that ship was so sure of himself, so confident in his crafts unsinkable self-sufficiency that he felt no need to slow down or check his course.

Is that true of you and me? Maybe the final benefit of asking God to give us this day our daily bread, is simply to remind ourselves that we too are sinkable. Like the Israelites who discovered that the manna the bread from heaven had to be received afresh every new day, we also need Gods grace daily. Let today be the day you claim that reality again. Go out for a walk or do a bit of journaling. Ask God to show you whether you are moving too fast or too slow. Ask him to re-magnetize your tiny compass against the great direction-finder that is his revealed will in Scripture. Ask his help, and that of at least one other person, in sealing off the past and the future, that you might be faithful to embrace the opportunities of today. Then sail on, dear friend. With courage and hope, lets together sail on.

neglects to seek you daily. Enable us to receive each day and the gifts you give us to handle it -- with a spirit of hope and thankfulness. Then as we go forth from this place help us to use what we are and have to strengthen the courage of those who sail by our sides. In the name of Christ, we pray. Amen.

Let us pray

Oh God of Life, we give you thanks that in Jesus Christ we are offered the ultimate Lifeboat that through faith in Him, our final rescue is absolutely assured. In the meantime, however, keep us from that arrogance or complacency which
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