The Sunday Sermonette – No Greater Love.

As the bow of the magnificent RMS Titanic sank deeper into the fridged, indigo-blue waters of the North Atlantic, the sound of screeching escaping steam from her boilers and the deep rumble of twisting, snapping steel from deep inside her filled the air.

Surrounded by a pushing crowd of frightened children, weeping women, and stalwart men, two dear friends stood on the ship’s slanting deck, Edith Evans and Caroline Brown. When it came time to load their lifeboat, it filled quickly.

After the sinking, Caroline related the following story, “Imagine our feelings when the officer in command said that there was room for only one more woman…. Miss Evans was by my side at the time. She pushed me towards the boat, saying, ‘Please take this lady. She has children.'”

Edith Evans was only one of four First Class women passengers to die. Her body was never recovered. But her loving sacrifice is remembered to this day.

As bullets whizzed by him, U.S. Private First Class Joesph E. Mann crept toward a Nazi-held artillery position in Holland during OPERATION MARKET GARDEN. Under heavy enemy fire, refusing to give up, he was shot four times but managed to pick off the enemy one by one; above all odds, he destroyed the Nazi stronghold. When night fell, he and his fellow wounded soldiers returned to the safety of a Dutch cattle barn.

The following morning other Nazis advanced toward the barn, throwing grenades as they approached. One of these landed near Mann. In the split seconds before it exploded, Mann yelled, “Grenade!” He lunged forward and fell onto the grenade. It exploded. Gritting his teeth in agony, he died moments later. His outstanding gallantry saved six fellow soldiers and is still reverently spoken of at military reunions.

As Al-Qaeda terrorists took control of Flight 93, pandemonium broke out. In the mists of the chaos, Todd Beamer and other men began fighting the hijackers, who had killed the pilots and then barricaded themselves in the cockpit. The passengers soon learned of the other 911 attacks via the plane’s air phones. They quickly realized the hijacker’s evil intentions—their flight would be another missile of destruction.

Todd placed an emergency call. He told the operator what was happening and what he and the other men planned. Todd’s last audible words were, “Are you ready? Okay. Let’s roll.” The crazed terrorists, realizing the cockpit was about to be breached, crashed the plane in a field in Pennsylvania, killing those on board.

The men’s heroic actions kept Flight 93 from reaching its intended target: the White House or the U.S. Capitol Building. And because it did, an unknown number of innocent lives were spared.

From the Titanic to 9/11, these sacrifices are shining examples of Jesus’ last commandment to His disciples: “That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” Jesus exemplified His own words by His death on the Cross and resurrection for all humanity.

Because He laid down His life for you, you must do the same for those around you. This means sacrificing yourself—your time, your wants, and your desires for the benefit of those around you. Just imagine what would happen in our churches, cities, or the world if, rather than fighting for what we desire, we loved and served sacrificially?

Ponder this and go forth.