the other night mark and i got to see the movie
captain phillips.
we had both been dying (well literally aching with anticipation) to see this
movie. something about the way tom hanks can capture the rawest emotion
in his films makes you feel like you are with him on his island, sitting on a
park bench waiting for the bus, stuck inside an airport, about to crash a
space shuttle, or held hostage by somalian pirates. regardless of his
movie, tom hanks pulls at your heart and (if you're like me) you will find your
self wiping away a few rouge tears every once in a while.
i've been helping out with the youth group at church since the beginning of
the year, and though they might think i'm making a difference in their lives, i
can assure you that my life has been forever changed by their kids, instead,
let's call them my little brothers and sisters.
so my little brothers and sisters have taught me to look at the world
differently. how? well they play this "game" of
sorts.
find the spiritual truth in everything. they look
at a situation, a game, a movie, a passage, etc and relate the concept back to Christ.
for example: we played musical chairs and when the music stops, you have to
find a seat. well, you don't always know when the music is going to stop and if
you aren't paying attention, you will be left without a seat. translate:
Christ is going to return one day, and if you are not actively seeking Christ
and pursuing love of others, then you will be left without a seat in
heaven. now, i know that is maybe an elementary illustration, but it was
neat to hear the different responses of my little family.
so that moves me to the movie
captain phillips. what kind of
spiritual truths could i possibly find in a movie where 4 somalian pirates
hijack a cargo vessel with a crew of 20 then kidnap and hold the captain
hostage in a small life boat? well. keep reading because it's about to get
intense. (regardless of how historically accurate this movie may be, i am writing on behalf of the movie)
captain phillips went about his business as captain of the maerskk
alabamaa. he took precautionary measures and intensified safety drills
when he found out his cargo route passed around the horn of Africa, where
Somalia is located. he was well of the dangers in those waters,
even receiving conformational emails of heightened piracy in those
international waters. when he saw the pirate skives appear on
their doppler, the crew took action. preparing the vessel so attack would
be more difficult. however, the pirates made contact and hopped aboard
the massive ship. the lives of 20 crewmen were in the control of captain
phillips and the somalian "fisherman." captain
does everything trying to deter the somalis but remain unsuccessful.
captain calls on help but help seems far out of reach. captain
phillips tells the pirates they can have 30,000 USD and a lifeboat to get
them safely back to the somaliaa coastline, but it wasn't enough.
they kidnap phillips and are motoring to the border. meanwhile,
help has not forgotten them. the US navy seals prepare for
action. with one man's life now at stake, the navy gets their bells
and whistles ready to rescue phillips no matter the cost. the
somalis are a threat to the american captain, and the US navy wants their
captain returned safely, without harm. phillips is running low on morale,
energy, life. he does what i would imagine any one would do in that
situation, and he tries to escape while peeing. he jumps in the water and
attempts to swim away but the somalis shoot at him and jump in after him.
he almost drowns and gets dragged back onto the boat and beaten. he tried
to save himself, which is something i can relate to in many much less
threatening situations. in the end, america the beautiful wins and
somalian pirates are defeated.
so how does this relate to a spiritual truth? i never mentioned God, jesus,
the bible, satan, hell, heaven, repentance, and a long list of other words that
cause people to shrill back in fear or fall down in rejoice. so then what
is the spiritual truth? i'm getting there.
all too often we find ourselves aimlessly drifting in life.
we have a destination and we know that it isn’t
always going to be easy, yet we journey on and try to avoid conflict and
difficult times at all costs. we have the opportunity to be lead our friends,
family, coworkers, students, and strangers in a positive or sometimes negative
way.
in the end, we could be responsible
for more lives than just our own.
so we
are on a voyage throughout our lives.
like
captain phillips we make sure we protect ourselves from the dangers around us;
we double check our doors, go through safety routines, and prepare for the
worst.
however, things go awry and devastations
occur.
so how do we react?
do we run or do we fight? are we capable of
saving ourselves? where is our hope and can we expect trials to come?
we are aware that trials can come. someone suddenly dies, cancer pops up,
you miscarry, a tragic car accident happens, you get paralyzed, you go through
a divorce, you stub your toe and spout off colorful language, you find yourself
looking at inappropriate images, you are alone and drink your worries away. so
many things happen in our lives, and i’m not suggesting that life is rainbows
and butterflies for me – because it’s anything but that – but i can let you
know that i have real struggles and real problems in my life and i don’t plan
on fighting them alone.
so pirates come into your life and attempt to steal your happiness, family,
friends, joy, life.
what next?
you do the only thing you know how to do.
you do your best to protect those you love and give it a fighting
chance. but you can’t do it alone and you situation ends up kidnapping you and
stealing you away from all that you knew.
you find yourself in a new place, with new friends, with new images,
with new circumstances, with new lovers, with new experiences, with new struggles,
with a plethora of other “new’s” that you didn’t anticipate crossing your
path.
maybe it was intentional, maybe it
“just happened,” but regardless, here you are, stuck in a lifeboat meant to
preserve your life and instead your life is being sucked away from you.
the pirates have taken you and you’re not
sure if you will ever lead the same life again.
you’re tired of being held captive.
you
muster enough strength to try and make a get-away.
for a breathe of fresh air you try to escape
the binds of the enslavers.
you jump and
swim away as fast as your wounded body allows, but the pirates shoot.
your circumstance comes right back to you, in
your face, you cannot escape by your own power.
your circumstances follow and try to drown you. it holds you under and
you are forced to climb aboard the U.S.S. DEATH SENTENCE.
but a glimpse of hope, help comes. you see the Light and it has come to
rescue you.
before, you were unsure of
your future.
what was going to happen to
you?
though the lifeboat is glum, the
sheer appearance of help gave you something to hold on to.
you communicate with this Help in almost a
secret language, “tell my family i am in seat 15.”
a secret language you and the Help are only
aware of.
you’ve communicated your
situation and expressed your deepest concerns.
the Light has seen you in your most vulnerable and is willing to sacrifice
everything to redeem you from your pirates.
this is exactly what Christ has done for us.
he saw us at our worst, in our most helpless, wretched state but he
shined his Light upon us and sacrificed EVERYTHING just to rescue us, to redeem
us from the pirates, the darkness, the filth. to restore us to our position as
captain to His navy – something we were not (and never will be) capable of
doing on our own.
when our pirates’
power gets overthrown, we have to take off our blindfold and accept the
rescue.
we would be foolish to deny the
help of the united states navy, so why do we refuse the rescue of Jesus Christ
when we poured out his life, he traded his life for ours.
he willingly put himself on the lifeboat full
of pirates and became a hostage for us.
when we finally realize how close we were to death, we fall silent, in
shock, unable to speak.
the cost of the
rescue did not come cheap and nor was it easy, but it was the only option.
saving you was the only option. your life is
forever changed and even though you may go back out on the waters, you know
that help is on its way.
you are better
prepared, you have hope, you can journey through uncharted waters with a peace.
“for by grace you have been saved through faith.
and this is not your own doing, it is the
gift of God, not a result of works so that no one may boast.”
ephesians 2:8-9
“the true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the
world.
He was in the world, and the
world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.
He came to his own, and his own people did
not receive him. but to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he
gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood, nor of
the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”
john 1:9-13
"he is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the
sins of the whole world."
1 john 2:2
"the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it."
john 1:5
"but when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything
that becomes visible is light. therefore it says, awake of sleep and arise from
the dead, and Christ will shine on you."
ephesians 5: 13-14
