“Don’t Give Up The Ship” |
Preacher: | Rev. Clarence James |
| Date: | February 14, 1999 | |
| Notes: | Rev. James visits us from Lincoln University |
And as the shipmen were about to flee out of the ship, when they had let down the boat into the sea, under colour as though they would have cast anchors out of the foreship, Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved.
This is not about the human-made vessel that sails the seas. I have come to talk about those spiritual vessels we use to travel the troubled seas of live. The ship of life itself. This is especially for the young people. Don't give up the ship.
The young people are full of life, so why ask them to not give up on life? One of the worst things is to get so old that we forget what it was like to be young. If that happens, we lose sympathy and identification with them as if we were born old. Don't look at the young people with eyes of envy. They don't realize that being a teenager is the most difficult time of life.
A teenager is too young to be grown, yet too old to be a child. Many young people live desparate lives. They have high suicide and homicide statistics. This is a radical change from how it used to be. This harsh life draws the young people off of the road our ancestors walked and causes them to do things such as commit suicide.
Young Black men don't show weakness. If we don't have a dime in our pocket, we act as if we have a diamond mine in our back yard. They show a brave front and say, "That didn't hurt."
When they fail High School, they say, "That didn't hurt."
When they get thrown out of the house, they say, "That didn't hurt."
When their girlfriend leaves them because they don't have any prospects, they say, "That didn't hurt."
When they don't get a job, they say, "That didn't hurt."
Then the police falsely accuse them and beat them and chase them, they say, "That didn't hurt."
However, deep on the inside, they feel it. They try to deal with it by sticking a needle in their arm. They smoke crack. They kill themselves.
Don't give up the ship of life.