Greetings brothers and sisters, I pray that this devotional finds you in good and blessed spirits.
Many of you may not know, but this past week marked an anniversary of tragic and historical meaning, the wreck of the Titanic. The RMS (Royal Mail Steamer) Titanic was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on the 15th of April, 1912. She sank after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers and crew aboard, more than 1,500 died, making it the deadliest sinking of a single ship up to that time.
The Titanic was thought to be unsinkable and her loss caused shockwaves across the modern world at that time. But my devotional today doesn’t have to do with the ship that was lost, my devotional is about the ship that responded to save.
The Titanic struck the iceberg at 11:40pm on April 14th. She began to send out wireless signals calling for aid. She sent out at 12:25am:
“Come at once. We have struck a berg. Sinking. ” One of the ships to respond was the RMS Carpathia, a Cunard Line transatlantic passenger steamship. The ship’s radio operator stormed into the Captain’s cabin to inform him of the tragedy. The Captain of the ship was Sir Arthur Henry Rostron, a man who had been at sea since 1884 on sailing ships. He was widely known for his skill at ship handling, that skill would be put to the test.
Rostron immediately ordered the ship to race towards Titanic’s reported position, posting extra lookouts to help spot and maneuver around the ice he knew to be in the area. He turned off heating to ensure maximum steam for Carpathia’s engines and had the ship prepared for survivors, including getting blankets, food, and drinks ready, and ordering his medical crew to stand by to receive the possibly injured.
Altogether, 23 orders from Rostron to his crew were successfully implemented before Carpathia had even arrived at the scene of the disaster.
I wish I could say that the Carpathia arrived before the Titanic had slipped beneath the waves, but that would not have been the case. The last message from the Titanic read: ““We are putting passengers off in small boats……Women and children in boats….. Cannot last much longer……..Losing power…….This is Titanic…SOS…Engine room flooded……Come quick. Engine room nearly full……”
The last radio message from the Titanic was received only minutes before she sank beneath the waves. The waters were near freezing and most of those in the water perished from hypothermia. This left just 706 survivors, huddled in lifeboats, to the mercy of the freezing North Atlantic Ocean. If help did not arrive soon (in a matter of hours) then they too would fall victim to the freezing waves.
The RMS Carpathia barrelled through the iceberg infested waters with little regard to her own safety. Captain Rostron himself guided the ship, all the while maintaining top speed to ensure they arrived as quickly as possible. The Carpathia arrived at the distress call’s position at 4:00am, approximately an hour and a half after the Titanic went down. For the next four and a half hours, the ship took on all of the 706 survivors of the disaster from Titanic’s lifeboats. Survivors were given blankets and coffee, and then escorted by stewards to the dining rooms. Others went on deck to survey the ocean for any sign of their loved ones. By 9:00am the last survivor had been picked up from the lifeboats, and Rostron gave the order to sail away from the area.
It must be acknowledged that Arthur Rostron took a huge risk in responding to the disaster, he had to guide his ship through fields of icebergs, placing himself, his crew and his passengers in danger. But the Captain responded immediately, he gave no hesitancy in setting out to render aid to the Titanic. One has to wonder where that sense of charity and action comes from?
John 15:13 states, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” The Bible is full of selfless acts done in the name of God’s love, most notably the sacrifice of Christ upon the cross. As Christians it is our solemn duty to render aid and support to others within this broken world, regardless of the cost to ourselves. Jesus ordered his disciples to, “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay.” This is a pretty clear calling to action. Is there risk? Absolutely! But part of being a Christian is taking those risks and trusting God is alongside us and supporting us.
Had Sir Arthur Rostron and the RMS Carpathia done nothing that night, who knows how many more would have perished in this disaster. Several ships in the area didn’t even respond to the sinking until the following morning. One, the SS Californian, was less than 10 miles away from the sinking! That ships’ Captain remained in bed during the disaster and his career was forever tarnished.
There is always risk in righteousness my friends, but righteousness always prevails in the end. I forgot to mention that Rostron was a devout Christian, when issuing orders he often raised a hand to his cap and closed his eyes in prayer. When asked by a board of inquiry about the risk taken by running through dense ice at speed at night, he is reported to have said, “I can only conclude another hand than mine was on the helm.”
When we act in a righteous way in service to others, may we also conclude that another hand than our own is guiding us.
Stay the course my friends and never grow weary of doing the good of Christ Jesus.
Pastor Mike McVey
First United Methodist Church, Fairfield TX
ASC Chaplain – United States Coast Guard
Chaplain – Texas Game Warden Service
(P.S. If you would like to contact or receive Pastor Mike’s weekly newsletter simply email him at pastormike@fumcfairfield.org)
