THE FINEST HOUR
The Finest Hour is a true story of an incredible rescue mission by the US coast guard in 1952. A terrible blizzard hits the coast at Cape Cod and an oil tanker the SS Penelton is literally split in two by the height seas. While one half of the tanker goes to the bottom of the ocean the second half is left floating with numbers if men on board with no one to call for help and little help to be rescued. Considered to be the greatest small boat rescue of all time, this movie reminds us that we are on the greatest rescue mission of all time! A mission to bring the hope and light of Jesus to others. 2 Cor 5:20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though we were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.
God’s heart is for each person to know Him, and He invites us to partner with Him.
In the movie, when a seaman hears of the rescue mission he says, ‘Someone has got to go out and save those guys, that’s why I signed up’ The courage for these men to step up is inspiring to watch. What was it that caused these guys to put up their hand and say I’m in? Especially when the odds were so stacked against them. Those same odds caused others to look away or sidestep the mission. But this seaman and the team were prepared to give it everything. Why was that? It’s because their conviction for a cause was greater than any cost they had to pay. Bernie’s courage was simply the by-product of knowing that he had a cause that was worth fighting for.
In the Bible, 1 Samuel 17, David is an incredible example of this. As just a young man of about 16 years of age, he had the courage to face the giant Goliath when no other Israelite man would. And when he was questioned about why he would fight, his words were ‘Is there not a cause?’
Those words still echo back to us generations later. Is there not a cause?! Is there not a cause that is worth our cost? Is there not a cause that we are called to carry with a deep conviction? Such a course does still exist, and it is the cause of following Jesus. A cause that matters for eternity.
That’s why it says in Matt 16:24 – 26 Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.’
There is a cost in following Jesus but when we are alive with his cause, the greatness of the cause far outweighs any cost.
DISCUSSION
Are we living in a way that we are living for a cause? Describe what your cause is?
Does the cause that we carry lead to the same conviction of carrying others?
In the book of Mark, chapter 2, Jesus forgives and heals a paralysed man after his friends have carried him on a mat… After a few days, Jesus returned to Capernaum, and word got around that he was back home. A crowd gathered, jamming the entrance so no one could get in or out. He was teaching the Word. They brought a paraplegic to him, carried by four men. When they weren’t able to get in because of the crowd, they removed part of the roof and lowered the paraplegic on his stretcher. Impressed by their bold belief, Jesus said to the paraplegic, “Son, I forgive your sins.”
Are we prepared for the inconvenience to carry the weight of others?
What are we willing to lay down for the sake of others?
Who are we prepared to carry today?