Rev. David Grousnick
First Christian Church
At the famous Lloyd’s of London insurance house, there is an historic bell that is sometimes referred to as the Bad News Bell.
In 1799, a large frigate ship, the HMS Lutine set sail from London to Hamburg, Germany. Hamburg was facing a financial crisis, and the HMS Lutine was loaded with gold and silver intended to help stave off a crash of the German stock market.
Unfortunately, a great storm caught the HMS Lutine, and she sank somewhere along the Dutch coastline. Of the 240 crew members on board, only one survived. All of the HMS Lutine’s cargo was lost at sea.
In 1858, divers found part of the wreckage of the Lutine, including the bell that had hung at the front of the ship. The bell was turned over to Lloyd’s of London, the insurance underwriters who had insured the HMS Lutine’s original trip.
The folks at Lloyd’s of London hung the bell in the underwriter’s office. They started a new tradition with it.
For many years, whenever a ship was late in arriving at its destination, a Lloyd’s employee rang the bell once to let all the brokers know the bad news. If the missing ship arrived safely, the bell was rung twice. The good news followed the bad.
In more recent years, the keepers of the bell have rung it to commemorate solemn occasions, such as the death of Princess Diana or 9/11.
In Luke 21:5-19, Jesus had to deliver some terrible news to his disciples. But he didn’t deliver it in the good news/bad news formula we’re accustomed to.
Jesus told them the bad news first, but then he told them the good news that God had already planned to help them persevere when events in the future became painful and chaotic.
Ever heard of Art Berg?
At the age of 20, Art Berg was a very happy man. Everything was going right. He was a gifted athlete and had started his own tennis court construction company. And he was engaged to a beautiful woman.
Leaving California one Christmas eve, he was headed to Utah with a friend. He was going to meet his fiancée and complete their wedding plans.
During the long drive, he fell asleep while at the wheel. His car hit an abutment and rolled down a hill. He was ejected from the car and found himself lying in the desert with a broken neck. He was paralyzed from the chest down.
He completely lost the use of his legs and arms. The doctors told him he would never work again. They concluded that he could never play sports again and would be dependent on others for the rest of his life.
One even suggested he forget getting married.
Art Berg was really afraid. It was the darkest moment in his life. The “end times” were upon him.
In the midst of his peril his mother came and whispered a few words in his ear. “Art, while the difficult takes time, the impossible takes a little longer.”
In other words, “don’t panic!” Suddenly, Art’s darkness was filled with a light of hope.
That was years ago. Art Berg became the president of his own company and was a professional speaker and author. He has back some of the use of his arms and legs and became able to drive. He traveled across the country sharing his message, “that the impossible just takes a little longer.” He even wrote a book by that name, a book about living with purpose and passion.
Art married his fiancée, and they had two children. He even returned to the world of sports, swimming and scuba diving and he became a world-class wheelchair athlete. In l993 Art was the first quadriplegic to race 32 miles in a marathon, all because he didn’t panic.
Don’t panic is the message of the day.
I pray you a blessed weekend. Come and see who we are at the First Christian Church, located at 11th and Bullock, across the street from Zia Intermediate school. Worship is at 10:30 and I bet you would fit right in!
