Lord of the Seas -- FPC sermon excerpt
When I was in high school, my Latin teacher used to have a “word of the day.” Something designed to improve our vocabulary. Well, I’ve got a word of the day for you: Thalassophobia. Know what it means?
Thalassa means “sea” and phobos means “fear,” so thalassophobia is “fear of the sea.”
This is a legitimate phobia, when you think about it — the ocean can be a place of danger and even death. Take to the water, and you have to deal with waves, wind, tides, currents, and ever-changing weather. You know what lies at the bottom of the ocean and twitches, don’t you?
A nervous wreck.
Did you like that one? How about this: What did the Atlantic Ocean say to the Pacific Ocean?
Nothing. It just waved.
When you venture out onto the ocean, you want to be surrounded by as large a ship as possible. And fortunately, a monster of a ship has now been launched. Called Oasis of the Seas, it is the largest, tallest, widest, heaviest and costliest passenger ship ever built.
How big is it? According to The Atlantic magazine (June 2009), it dwarfs a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, stands taller than a 20-story building, and carries 8,000 people.
It’s not a boat. It’s a floating city.
Oasis of the Seas features 21 swimming pools including a kids’ water park and two wave pools. Broadway-style productions are offered in a playhouse that seats almost 1,400, while water ballerinas present shows in an outdoor AquaTheater. In the middle of the ship is a green space called Central Park, which is half the size of a football field and full of tropical plants and trees.
Walking in the park, passengers can easily forget that they are at sea.
Now if your thalassophobia kicks in while you are cruising on Oasis of the Seas, you can go inside and enjoy a restaurant, bar, theater or casino. The interior is “a celebration of excess,” writes Rory Nugent; the ship is packed with glitzy Las-Vegas-style amenities and attractions.
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you,” promises God in the book of Isaiah; “and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you” (43:2). This is a stirring and beautiful passage, but just what exactly is God saying here? Is he promising to give us safe passage through deep water, like Oasis of the Seas?
Or is there something very different about the one who is Lord of the Seas?
God can certainly carry more than 8,000 people through rough waters, but he is not a floating hotel with glitzy Las-Vegas-style amenities. When we look at the features of the Lord who has formed us, we discover not a celebration of excess, but a celebration of creation and redemption.
Thalassa means “sea” and phobos means “fear,” so thalassophobia is “fear of the sea.”
This is a legitimate phobia, when you think about it — the ocean can be a place of danger and even death. Take to the water, and you have to deal with waves, wind, tides, currents, and ever-changing weather. You know what lies at the bottom of the ocean and twitches, don’t you?
A nervous wreck.
Did you like that one? How about this: What did the Atlantic Ocean say to the Pacific Ocean?
Nothing. It just waved.
When you venture out onto the ocean, you want to be surrounded by as large a ship as possible. And fortunately, a monster of a ship has now been launched. Called Oasis of the Seas, it is the largest, tallest, widest, heaviest and costliest passenger ship ever built.
How big is it? According to The Atlantic magazine (June 2009), it dwarfs a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, stands taller than a 20-story building, and carries 8,000 people.
It’s not a boat. It’s a floating city.
Oasis of the Seas features 21 swimming pools including a kids’ water park and two wave pools. Broadway-style productions are offered in a playhouse that seats almost 1,400, while water ballerinas present shows in an outdoor AquaTheater. In the middle of the ship is a green space called Central Park, which is half the size of a football field and full of tropical plants and trees.
Walking in the park, passengers can easily forget that they are at sea.
Now if your thalassophobia kicks in while you are cruising on Oasis of the Seas, you can go inside and enjoy a restaurant, bar, theater or casino. The interior is “a celebration of excess,” writes Rory Nugent; the ship is packed with glitzy Las-Vegas-style amenities and attractions.
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you,” promises God in the book of Isaiah; “and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you” (43:2). This is a stirring and beautiful passage, but just what exactly is God saying here? Is he promising to give us safe passage through deep water, like Oasis of the Seas?
Or is there something very different about the one who is Lord of the Seas?
God can certainly carry more than 8,000 people through rough waters, but he is not a floating hotel with glitzy Las-Vegas-style amenities. When we look at the features of the Lord who has formed us, we discover not a celebration of excess, but a celebration of creation and redemption.
posted by Henry Brinton | 9:54 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home