This talk was delivered at a Youth Club in Sunderland in Feb 08

Lessons from Jack Sparrow!

Watch 'Pirates of the Caribbean III - at worlds end' - 38:15-41:48. 

Will Turner, Elizabth Swann, Captain Barbosa and crew have gone to Davy Jones' locker to rescue Captain Jack Sparrow who has been stranded in a world of delerium and delusion.  But he is unaware of his predicament and has to be persuaded of his need for rescue

Captain Jack is back, but he is in a state of severe confusion, delusion and ... well, death!  Davy Jones' locker is long sandy beach - but no holiday destination and certainly not with those crabs nipping at your toes!

Jacks problems are three fold.  He doesn't understand where he is.  He doesn't understand what is reality.  And he doesn't understand that he is in need of rescue.  And he takes some persuading to believe the realtity of the situation we are in.  Comical..but not a bad description of the state we are all in!

Because the truth for Jack is that he is dead - trapped in Davy Jones' locker and unable to rescue himself.  When people tell him this, describe to him what sort of a predicament he is in, he is both convinced that they are a delusion and that his delusion is deluded in what it is trying to tell him!  In other words, the people are not real and his supposed predicament is not real.  He doesn't know what is real and true.

And as a result he doesn't understand that he is in need of rescue - he believes he can get out himself, even when he is, in reality dead.

Obviously, it's fictional and fantastical but is paints us a helpful picture becasue we are in a similar position.

In the Bible, Paul tells us

'Once you were dead, doomed for ever becasue of your many sins.  You used to live just like the rest of the world, full of sin, obeying Satan, the mighty prince of the power of the air.  He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God.  All of us used to live that way, following the passions and desires of our evil nature.  We were born with an evil nature, and we were under God's anger just like everyone else.'  Ephesians 2:1-3 (NLT)

Looking back in the lives of those he is writing to he says they were 'doomed', 'dead', they refused to obey God.  And he says we are all like that - following the things that we want to do.  It comes naturally to us to love like thus but it is something we decide to do too.  And to top it off, there is a devil - Satan, who likes it that ways and works hard to keep it like that (the 'spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God'

In short we are dead but don't know it, we don't know the truth and reality of our predicament and we therefore don't know that we are desperately in need of rescue.  All of us!

But, if you read on,

'But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so very much, that even while we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead.  (It is only by God's special favour that you have been saved!)'  Ephesians 2:4-5 (NLT)

God offers us rescue because he loves us so much.  And if offers it to all of us, no matter who we are because he doesn't offer it to those who ask him, or those who try to earn his attention - he offers it to us 'even while we were dead', unable to do anything!

He gave us life - a free gift, rescue and escape from all that has come before through sending his Son to take on himself the punishment of the cross, that we deserve so that we might have life!  We are set free.

What about that - free rescue for people who are dead to God and don't know it and believe that anyone telling them they need rescuing are barking up the wrong tree.  Amazing!

Which leaves us with 3 questions.

• Will we recognise who we are - spiritually dead before God - with no relationship with him and therefore doomed?
• Will we recognise that we need rescuing?
• Will we believe that God offers us free rescue if only we will climb on board, slip and anchor and follow the Captain?

It really is that easy me-harties!