Mothers and fathers maintain a lonely and rain-soaked vigil from the Island of
Chin-do off the southern coast of the Republic of Korea. Hope grows forlorn as
each passing hour renders the likelihood of finding more survivors in the
sunken ship less probable. The ship was travelling from the port of Inchon
(harbor of General Douglas MacArthur’s brilliant landing during the Korean War)
to a resort Island out to sea from the southern tip of South Korea when he
suddenly sank last Wednesday of Holy Week. The journey usually takes thirteen
hours by sea, but for the majority of the 338 high school students, the journey
took them into Eternity. There are still 279 missing as the ship listed and
sank beneath the icy waters of the Yellow Sea. The water is frigid and the risk
of hypothermia under such conditions is measured in minutes and not hours. The
parents will be the last to abandon hope for their children, but the dark
shadow of death is gradually sinking over the pitiful sight of hundreds of
rescue workers and sea vessels doing all in their power to salvage the last
possible soul.
I could not help but consider that these young people could have been the
members of my church that are predominantly Korean. They are of the first order
in character, discipline and respect. In fact, many of the youth that perished
on the Sewol did so because of their discipline and respect for
elders. The captain of the vessel, who was first to abandon ship, had directed
the youth to remain in place until directed otherwise. So they crouched in
remote corners of the compartments until it was too late to disembark. My soul
is in anguish for these fine young students, and for their heart-broken
parents.
It must be admitted that there was more than souls and cargo that went
down on the Sewol - there was a rich treasure of love and
affection. Korean youth highly respect their elders and their parents; and the
Korean parent will typically dress in rags if it will help their sons and
daughters to achieve a good education. But now, their eyes search,
despondingly, the murky and billowing, rains-swept waves of the Yellow Sea in
search of a tiny spark of hope. The vice-principal of the high school that
escorted his students to the ship on Wednesday morning traveled to the Island
of Chindo, near the tragedy, and committed suicide by hanging – such was his
presumed guilt in sending the students on such a tragic journey.
The most moving of hymns I know for this occasion is the great Navy Hymn, Eternal
Father, Strong to Save, written by William Whiting in 1860 to the tune
Melita. In contemplating this hymn, we must remember that the same Lord Jesus
Christ who walked upon the waters of stormy Galilee is also Master of the Seas of
the ship-wrecked vessel. The hymn is based upon the beauty expressed in Psalms
107: “They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great
waters; These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep. For he
commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is
melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken
man, and are at their wits' end. Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble,
and he bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so
that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because they be quiet; so
he bringeth them unto their desired haven.” (Psalms
107:23-30)
Eternal Father, Strong to Save
Eternal Father, strong to
save,
Whose arm hath bound the
restless wave,
Who biddest the mighty
ocean deep
Its own appointed limits
keep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to
Thee,
For those in peril on the
sea!
O Christ! Whose voice the
waters heard
And hushed their raging
at Thy Word,
Who walked on the foaming
deep,
And calm amidst its rage
didst sleep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to
Thee,
For those in peril on the
sea!
Most Holy Spirit! Who
didst brood
Upon the chaos dark and
rude,
And bid its angry tumult
cease,
And give, for wild
confusion, peace;
Oh, hear us when we cry
to Thee,
For those in peril on the
sea!
O Trinity of love and
power!
Our family shield in
danger’s hour;
From rock and tempest,
fire and foe,
Protect us wheresoever we
go;
Thus evermore shall rise
to Thee
Glad hymns of praise from
land and sea.
Let us remember Good Friday is good to us because we were purchased from our
sins on this day by the Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary, but on this day, God the
Father paid a heavy price for our sins. The Goodness of the day is measured by
the goodness of one who, though without sin, went to the cross in our stead.
|
O
|
ETERNAL
Lord God, who alone spreadest out the heavens, and rulest the raging of the
sea; Vouchsafe to take into thy almighty and most gracious protection those
Korean students who sank in the Yellow Sea on the south Korean Liner, Sewol.
Preserve them from the dangers of the sea, and from the violence of the
elements; that they may be restored some happy day to their loved ones, and we
ask of thee to provide a security for them in the arms of your dearly Beloved
Son who bled and died for them, and for us. We pray that this tragedy
will serve to awaken many lost souls to the necessity of salvation both now,
and at the end of life’s journey, to the glory of thy Name; through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.
