It's been almost 80 years - but there's something about the sinking of the Titanic that fascinates us. Latest evidence - the incredible success of the blockbuster movie, "Titanic." I've always found the story of the last hours of this supposedly unsinkable ship to be a haunting story. People representing just about all the kind of people that there are, knowing many of them will probably die,facing the reality that, at best, half of them will get into a lifeboat. The ways people handled those terrifying hours on a sinking ship tell us so much about what we are really like. Yes, it's tragic that only about 700 of the Titanic's 2,200 passengers survived. What's more tragic is that many of the 1,500 who died didn't have to die. Many of the lifeboats were only half full. And those who made it aboard could hear hundreds of people in the water, crying for help.
But almost all those people died - not from drowning - they were floating in their lifejackets.
They died from hypothermia. Here's the awful truth - there were 20 lifeboats, from the Titanic, most partially empty. Only one went back - too late for most of the people in the water. Only six of them were saved. A lot could have been - if those who had already been rescued had gone after those who hadn't.
Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You about "A Titanic Tragedy."
Our Word for today from the Word of God comes from Ezekiel 33:6. It's about the watchman on the walls of an ancient city who sees a hostile army approaching. "If the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes the life of one of them, that man will be taken away because of his sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for his blood."
God says, "If you know someone is going to die - if you're in a position to do something about it, and you don't, that person's blood will be on your hands." We're appalled to think that those who had been saved from the Titanic would just row off into the night, safe themselves, but doing nothing about those who were dying around them. But isn't that exactly the picture of what so many of us who know Christ have done?
We've been rescued from sin's sinking ship - from an eternity without God and without hope. But so often we're just rowing on, enjoying our cozy lifeboat with others who have been saved already. And often unmoved or oblivious to our co-workers, our neighbors, our loved ones, our friends who will die if we don't tell them about Jesus. Or maybe not oblivious - maybe we're just afraid to go after them, to reach out to them. Whatever the reason, the result is the same - we're saved, but they're going to die. And their blood will be on our hands.
God's clear word in Proverbs 24:11-12 - "Rescue those being led away to death...if you say, 'But we knew nothing about this,' does not He who weighs the heart perceive it?...Will He not repay each person according to what he has done?" God is accepting no excuses.
God has wonderfully pulled you into His lifeboat and rescued you an awful eternity. And now He has put you in the middle of some people who need to know that Jesus died for them, that He is the relationship they've been looking for their whole life. People who will die eternally without Jesus. You're in a position to rescue them. There's still room in the lifeboat for the people around you. Please, please, don't leave them where they are.