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Welcome to the Daily Blade. The Word of God is described as the sword of the Spirit, the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil. Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson, and they stand ready to equip men for the fight. Let's sharpen up.

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This week we have been looking at real-life stories of courage and sacrifice from the tragic shipwreck and sinking of the RMS Titanic on April 15, 1912, and how they relate to passages from God's Word.

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Today we'll look at the story of Harold Lowe. So Harold Lowe was a 29-year-old Welsh seaman and the fifth officer of the Titanic or a fifth officer, rather so. As a junior officer aboard the ship, one of his duties was to help manage lifeboats in the event of an evacuation from the ship. So after it became apparent that the Titanic would sink after striking an iceberg just before midnight on April the 14th 1912, officer Lowe was placed in charge of lifeboat number 14, which was launched around 1.20 am on April the 15th 1912, carrying 63 people, though it had a capacity for 65. Around 2.20 am the RMS Titanic fully sank below the surface of the ocean. So up to this point, officer Lowe had done his duty right. He had accomplished his task. He had launched lightboat number 14. It was mainly full, and he helped coordinate the rescue of 63 lives. He had done what was minimally required of him up to that point. But he couldn't just leave it there. Something compelled him. Officer Lowe was one of only four officers that survived the shipwreck, and he was the only one that returned to the side of the sinking to look for survivors. Before going back, he gathered and tied five life boats together, which helped to safely redistribute the weight to the other boats after he emptied his boat of the survivors. Okay, so in order to avoid his lifeboat being swamped and potentially leading to the deaths of all the survivors now in his care, he waited about 20 to 30 minutes before returning to the site of the sinking. So he did his best here to balance the urgency of the situation with the safety required to preserve as much human life as possible. So Roe and his crew rode back to the site of the sinking. When they arrived, they were met with a field of frozen corpses and debris, but because of his leadership and decisive actions, they managed to save four men from the water.

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This reminded me of an interaction between Jesus and a lawyer that we see described in Luke 10, verses 25 through 36. I'll start in verse 25 here. And behold, a lawyer stood up and put him to the test, saying teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said to him what is written in the law? How do you read it? And he answered you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself. And he said to him you have answered correctly, do this and you will live. But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus and who is my neighbor?

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Jesus replied a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and he fell among robbers who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now, by chance, a priest was going down the road and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to that place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was and when he saw him he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him, and the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying Take care of him and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.

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Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers. He said the one who showed him mercy. And Jesus said to him you go and do likewise. So in this story, guys, a man is beaten, robbed and left for dead on the side of the road. A priest walked by nothing. A Levite walked by nothing. Right, they saw him and they just chose to keep on going. It was just too risky, too messy, too dangerous. They just didn't want to mess with it. Right? But a Samaritan and don't miss this a man from the hated outsider class, right, stopped, he got off of his animal, got his hands dirty, bandaged the man's wounds, carried him to safety and paid for his care.

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And at the end of the story, jesus asked which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers? The answer the one who showed him mercy. And then he gave a command you go and do likewise. And, guys, that's the connection here the good Samaritan went back, so did Harold Lowe. And here's a question for us Will we, will we? I mean, in a world drowning in pain and confusion and compromise and cowardice, will we row back into the chaos to rescue who we can or will we just float safely in our lifeboats, hoping someone else does something? Courage isn't always loud, guys. Sometimes it sounds like a man's oar slicing into ice-cold black water, rowing toward the desperate screams of those in need. Let's be that kind of man.

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