On today's date, April 10th, the RMS Titanic started her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City. The year was 1912. Because she was equipped with sixteen watertight compartments, which could be closed if water entered them, the ship was deemed "unsinkable."
The Titanic was the largest moving man-made object in the world! Longer than four city blocks, more than 90 feet high. The most luxurious cruise liner at the time. It's reputed a deckhand said to an embarking passenger, "God himself could not sink this ship."
We all know the story, we've seen the movie. Captain Edward Smith receives over a dozen ice warnings from other vessels as the Titanic crosses the North Atlantic Ocean. His ship carries 2,224 souls on board, but he doesn't slow down for the possibility of any bergs. On the 14th of April, four days into the crossing, at 11:40 p.m., the lookouts realize the ship is on a collision course with a massive chunk of ice. Two hours and forty minutes later, the 'unsinkable" Titanic plunges to the bottom of the ocean. Some 1,500 people perish in the freezing water, while over 700 souls survive. It is the worst, and the most infamous cruise ship disaster in history.
Edward S. Talbot, the Anglican bishop of Winchester, preaching the following Sunday in Southampton said, "Titanic, name and thing, will stand as a monument and warning to human presumption." The bishop was correct, for to this day, the Titanic is still a powerful reminder that God always has the last word. I sense we're all relearning this truth today. We may do a lot of talking and planning and even bragging, but the LORD has the final word. Human presumption is an offense to the Lord. It's overstepping due bounds, or taking liberties. It's behavior or an attitude that's arrogant and disrespectful. And it's displayed in the comment: "God himself could not sink this ship."
King David prayed, "Keep back your servant from presumptuous sins. Let them not have dominion over me. Then I will be upright. I will be blameless and innocent of great transgression. (Psalm 19:13). It is a "great transgression" when we know what God commands us to do, and then boldly go against His instruction and therefore sin, all the while presuming or taking for granted God's grace and mercy. Read James 4:8-17 to see how JAH feels about human presumption.
Allow me to share a couple of tidbits I picked up while researching the Titanic. The first is several survivors of the disaster had the same last name as mine. Mrs. Jane Quick and her two daughters were returning from a visit in England. The Quick family emigrated to Detroit in 1910 to start a new life. On their return trip, Mrs. Quick and her daughters boarded the Titanic at Southampton as second class passengers. They were rescued in lifeboat 11. Today, many of my family members live in Detroit. Quite a coincidence. Maybe I'm related to this same Jane Quick? I reckon we're all kin in some way. We all share the same frail, fragile humanity even if we don't share the same last name.
The second tidbit is another coincidence of sorts. Several ships warned the Titanic of ice on April 14th, 1912. The first warning of the day came in around 9 a.m. This would've been the time many of the passengers were preparing for the Sunday worship service. The message over the wireless warned of "bergs, growlers and field ice." Here's the interesting part. Do you know the name of the ship that sent the Titanic her very first warning on that fateful Sunday? It was the RMS Caronia. Can you believe that? The first warning came from Caronia!
Grace, Peace and Jahspeed.
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