The Rise of Hope, Angel Armies and Prayer

In a friend's video, his three-year-old son says, "I want to go somewhere where there's no corona virus."  Me, too.  That's my problem today.  I just want it all to go away.  God, make it all go away.  Make the confusion go away.  Make the virus go away. Make the division and hatred go away.  Make the hurting and sadness go away.  Make the loneliness go away.

I know it doesn't work that way, but I also know we can ask, and keep on asking (Matthew 7:7-8, Luke 18:1-8, James 4:2-3).  So I'm asking.

This encouragement to keep asking is why I love what happens in the last Star Wars movie, The Rise of Skywalker (2019). (**spoiler alert**)  In this movie and the previous one, there's been a running thread of waning hope because the resistance keeps sending out a call for help and no one comes.  Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) has had an idomitable spirit throughout all the seemingly insurmountable challenges, and he's even taken flack for his willingness to jump in a fighter and fly fearlessly into battle no matter how bad the odds.  In the last battle, one that most would have said was unwinnable because the resistance is so enormously outnumbered and outclassed by the First Order fleet, Poe has charged ahead anyway, certain that their distress call will be answered and help will come.  When it seems they've tried everything there is to try and still no allies have arrived, even Poe's spirit is crushed and he's on the verge of giving up. Defeat seems imminent.  And then suddenly the sky is filled with allies, so many that the ships from across the galaxies far outnumber the huge empire fleet.  The resistance fighters are not alone after all.  Hope rises again.

This Star Wars scene reminds me of a story in 2 Kings 6.  The prophet Elisha and his servant are in the city of Dothan.  The enemy king of Aram has sent "a great army with many chariots and horses to surround the city" (2 Kings 6:13).  When Elisha's servant sees them, he cries out in fear.  Elisha tells him, "Don't be afraid, for there are more on our side than on theirs" (v.16).  And then Elisha prays and asks God to open the servant's eyes.  God does, and the servant looks up and sees that the hills around them are filled with horses and chariots of fire.  God's angel army is surrounding Dothan, and the angels outnumber the Arameans.  Hope renewed.

It's interesting, however, that it isn't the angel army that solves the problem, though I'm sure their presence helped Elisha and his servant to have the courage to get through it.  Instead, Elisha prays.  I think I would have asked God to have the angel army scare off the Arameans, but Elisha asks God to blind the Arameans.  Then Elisha tells the Arameans that they're in the wrong place and leads them to Samaria.  Because of their blindness, they didn't see that the one who was leading them was the very person they'd been sent to kill. 

Also surprising, the king in Samaria follows Elisha's advice and doesn't kill the Arameans.  Instead, he feeds them and sends them home.  After that, the Arameans stayed away from Israel, probably afraid they'd be fooled again.

I love this story because it reminds me that God is greater than our fears, and that though we cannot see the angels who surround us, they are there.  I think we need to pray like Elisha more, asking God to open our eyes.  What would we ask to see?  What are we missing?

We don't always have enemies quite so clearly as they do in this story in 2 Kings, but is there ever a time to pray for confusion or blindness for someone?  Blindness is what stopped Paul in his rampage against Christians (Acts 9) and in his blindness he met Jesus and became a Christian. So maybe sometimes blindness is helpful.

God, I struggle with my own blindness.  Help me to see what you need me to see and to learn what you need me to learn, and to do what you need me to do.  (Is need the wrong word?  Do you need anything? Maybe want is better.)  Am I blind sometimes because you're slowing me down or pretecting me?  Or trying to help me focus on you instead of the problem, or on today instead of the future?

Thank you, God, for your presence with me right here, right now, and always, and for whatever you let me see.

McDonalds, Star Wars and Jesus (and not necessarily in that order)

"You deserve a break today, so get up and get away to McDonalds."

We've been hearing this jingle for so many years that I'll bet many of us could sing the whole song without Googling the lyrics, or at least know the melody well enough to have sung this line as we read it. This slogan is about as American as apple pie.  We deserve apple pie and we deserve a break today.  Advertisers are always telling us that we deserve to have what they're selling.  They use this word because we're quick to buy in.  Yes!  I deserve it!

That word "deserve" bothers me because it makes us take things for granted and it makes us do things that hurt other people.  And it's exactly the opposite of what the Apostle Paul says in his letter to the Philippians:

5 "You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

6 Though he was God, 
    he did not think of equality with God
    as something to cling to.
7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
    he took the humble position of a slave
    and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,
8     he humbled himself in obedience to God
    and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

9 Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor
    and gave him the name above all other names,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father."

Jesus didn't demand what he deserved.  Instead he willingly gave that up.  Paul says we should have that same attitude.  So it's especially disheartening to see churches demanding their right to defy medical advice by meeting together during a pandemic.  This isn't following Jesus, it's following McDonalds.

Star Wars, however, gets it right.  In The Last Jedi (2017) there's lots of selfless giving going on.  Three examples stand out.  (**spoiler alert**) 

--Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo (Laura Dern) stays behind on the transport ship while the rest of the resistance fighters leave on escape pods.  In true leader tradition she goes down with the ship, but not before ramming it into the First Order's flagship as she jumps into hyperspace, thereby destroying both ships and saving the remaining resistance fighters.  I also love that only Admiral Holdo and General Leia know what Holdo is going to do, not caring that some of the others think she's being stupid.  Doing the right thing often looks foolish to some.

--Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran) makes a similar move to Holdo's when she rams her plane into Finn's to stop him from flying into the First Order cannon.  Finn is convinced that his sacrifice will cripple the cannon and save the resistance.  Whether Rose thinks Finn's move won't work or she's simply unwilling to let him die isn't clear.  Both Finn and Rose are acting selflessly.  Sadly, though Finn survives, Rose apparently does not.  Sometimes doing the right thing is foolish but we do it anyway because it's the right thing to do.

--Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) stands up to Kylo Ren to draw Ren's focus while the resistance fighters escape.  When we discover that it's not the real Luke and just a projection, we think he's wisely found a way to help without sacrificing himself.  But it turns out that this projection required using up his last ounce of strength, and after it's all over, Luke dies in the way that all the Jedi died before him, he disappears.  Is it any less self sacrificing because he knows he will live on as a spirit?

Of course, life isn't always as black and white as it seems in the movies.  In the midst of our hard choices, so much can cloud our vision.  Sometimes there is more than one right answer.  And sometimes the right answer is saving yourself so that you can help others.  But if we're saving ourselves at the expense of others, it's probably the wrong choice.

I said "probably" because I don't know everything and I don't know your situation, so I'm not making an absolute statement, even thought I'd like to.  I get things wrong sometimes.  We all do.  I'm thankful that God gives us grace when we mess up.  But our mess ups can hurt more than just ourselves, so it's important to try to avoid them.

The Bible's wisdom book Proverbs tells us to, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take." (Prov. 3:5-6 NLT)  Don't make hard choices without talking to God first.  Though we didn't deserve it, God sent us Jesus because he loves us too much to lose us (John 3:16) and he longs to help us (Isaiah 30:18).

May God bless your seeking him, and in his Spirit may you overflow with love, joy and hope.

Love Wins

This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. --John 15:12-13

My husband and I have been Star Wars fans since the beginning.  One of our first dates was  seeing the first Star Wars movie at the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood, California.  We've seen all the Star Wars movies in the years since, and when our kids were old enough, we showed them the original trilogy, calling it their "cultural education." 

Lately there hasn't been much new TV to watch since the COVID-19 pandemic has shut down productions. Since we're staying home to stop the spread and needing entertainment, we've been watching the Star Wars series, this time in the order of the story. (I remember our surprise when Episode 1 came out in 1999 and we learned then that the 1977 movie was actually episode IV.)  Watching the later movies first, we've been impressed by the high level of continuity between the later movies and the first three.  We're enjoying the stories we remember, and we're seeing new things we'd missed before.

Yesterday we watched Episode VI - The Return of the Jedi (1983), and today the scripture above has me pondering the scene in which Luke fights Darth Vader on the Death Star as Emperor Palpatine watches with devilish glee. 

(**Spoiler Alert** . . . if that still matters.  Hasn't everyone already seen these movies by now?)

In the previous movie, Empire Strikes Back, we'd had a chuckle at discovering that we all slightly misquote the now famous line, "Luke, I am your father." (Vader actually says, "No, I am your father.")  At this point, Luke's hatred of Vader has been growing, and he foolishly rushes into a lightsaber duel with the villain.  The duel comes to a halt when Vader cuts off Luke's hand.  Then Vader's paternal revelation turns Luke's world upside down, and soon Luke finds himself literally upside down, hanging from some space station scaffolding.

By the time they meet again in Return of the Jedi, Luke has been fitted with a prosthetic hand, and become much more skillful in his use of the force and his lightsaber. Meanwhile, Darth Vader and his evil master Emperor Palpatine have been looking forward to an encounter with Luke so they can turn Luke to the dark side. Emperor Palpatine goads Luke, trying to bring out the hate that still remains from before he learned who Vader really is, and hate would have gained the upper hand if Luke did kill Vader. When they duel, Luke slices off Vader's saber-holding hand and this brings the duel to an end.  Luke could have easily killed Vader at this point, but the sight of Vader without his hand flashes us back to the scene in the previous movie in which Luke has his own hand sliced off by Vader and  learns who Vader really is. It seems in this moment that the flashback reminds Luke of his mission - to turn Vader back to the good side.

Sparing Vader's life does the job, as Luke has left himself vulnerable to attack by Palpatine and in essence laid down his life for Vader.  Love wins.

In the next scene, there's a tender moment as everyone is scrambling to get off the Death Star before it explodes:

Darth Vader:  Luke help me take this mask off.
Luke:             But you will die.
Darth Vader:  Nothing can stop that now. Just for once let me look at you with my own eyes.
                      [Luke takes mask off] Now go, my son, leave me.
Luke:             No, you're coming with me. I'll not leave you here. I've got to save you.
Darth Vader: You already have, Luke. You were right. You were right about me. Tell your sister, you were right.

Luke was right, there was still some good left in Darth Vader, and it was that good that drove Vader to turn on his master, the Emperor Palpatine, and stop Palpatine from killing Luke. Vader is redeemed. Love wins again. Luke lays down his life for Vader.  Vader lays down his life for Luke.

There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for another. Jesus did this for us all. 

Jesus is the prophesied Messiah and Savior of the world who died to conquer sin and death.  In Star Wars, Vader is the messiah of sorts, the one the Jedi prophets said would bring balance to the force. In watching the movies years ago, I had thought the balance came because Vader's children Luke and Leia lived, and Vader and Palpatine died.  And I had always wondered why some people like Darth Vader so much.  We have a friend whose young daughter often dresses up as Darth Vader and I had wondered at her wanting to emulate an evil character. 

But now I get it.  The balance does indeed happen in Vader himself. Vader is the one who shows us that no matter how much evil we have done, in the end, love still wins.  Vader is redeemed as he lays down his life for Luke. 

And we too display the redeeming power of love as we let go of our selfish ways and show concern for one another.  During this pandemic, we've seen this as people stay home to stop spreading the virus, as people help each other get through this time, and as doctors, nurses, and first responders expose themselves to the virus to help the sick.

Unfortunately, the voice of Emperor Palpatine also seems to be making a comeback, as people are being encouraged to stand up for themselves and defy the guidelines that have been designed to keep the virus from spreading.  Protestors are filling up the streets demanding freedom.

We have a long history in America of fighting for our liberty.  When our country was being founded, Patrick Henry declared, "Give me liberty or give me death!"  It's important to note, however, that Henry meant his own death.  Those who are crying out for liberty today are more likely choosing someone else's death, since those who are young and healthy enough to be out protesting are less likely to die from this virus.

The chaos and arguing that fills the news right now is discouraging and disheartening.  Tyranny and selfishness seem to be winning.  But we need to hold on to hope.

In the Star Wars movies, there an ongoing succession of hope.  At first, Obiwan thought Anakin Skywalker was their hope.  Years later, in A New Hope, Princess Leia's desparate video message recorded on the robot R2D2 says, "Obiwan, you're my only hope."  Obiwan tells Yoda that Luke is their last hope.  Yoda tells Obiwan that Leia is their last hope.  The problem with all of these is that their hope is in human beings.  In the end it's their first hope Anakin who destroys the most evil and powerful character in the story, but it's the power of love that wins, and it's love that brings us hope.

God is love.  Jesus, Emmanuel, God in the flesh, came to show us how to love, by being willing to sacrifice and serve each other.

Life isn't always so black and white as it is in the movies.  And though Star Wars is pretty clearly good versus evil, maybe one of the reasons we love these movies and keep rewatching them is that we see characters making tough choices in situations that aren't so clear. 

But in the end, love wins.  May we remember that this is also true in real life, and may that renew our hope.