So here it is - - - the most blessed night of the entire year, Christmas Eve, the night that Christ -followers celebrate His birth. After a lovely Christmas Eve service at our church and a good dinner, I had the privilege of going with the Hubster and the First Son to see "The Force Awakens". Finally. All the fa-la-la-la-la of the season had prevented me from seeing it before now. A strange juxtaposition, you think? Not so much.
I remember back in the days of the first Star Wars movies (when I was a twenty-something) there was a twenty-something dude who went to church after seeing the first in the series. During the welcome, you know, where you are to shake people's hands, he turned around to the folks seated behind him and quipped, "May the Force be with you."
Why has the Star Wars series been such a huge mega-hit? Last I heard, in its opening weekend, this latest installment had taken in over $317 million! There are several reasons, but I believe that there are two main ones.
1. We identify with the characters who are trapped in the Dark Side. The Bible tells us, and in our souls we know this to be true: we are, from the moment of our human conception, "wired" for sin. It is part of our human DNA, since Adam's and Eve's escapades. Although there are times we seem to break free, we quickly find ourselves like the fly in the spider's web, caught once again.
And, we desperately want out. Oh...there are shenanigans, those strategies we are tricked into trying, in order to solve the problem ourselves. "I did it my way!" But, they are only temporary fixes. They never take care of the sin problem, because they can't.
2. We are fascinated by those who have "The Force" because we long to have it too. We desperately want "the light" to overcome "the darkness", both in the story and in our own stories, our own lives. In the movies, sometimes the dark wins; other times the light wins. Red saber vs. blue saber. This mimics our lives; the ongoing cosmic battle resonates with the ongoing spiritual battle within us. As I told a loved one the other day: those with the most potential for the light are always most severely opposed by the dark. There is in each of us, however, the image of God in which we were created, that spark of the divine, by which we choose - - - either the light or the dark.
Jesus said that if we want "The Force", we can have it. Well, sort of like that:
Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
John 8:12
Perhaps he was thinking of Isaiah 9:2, when He made this declaration.
The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them has the light shined.
When we hear the message of the gospel:
how God condescended to us,
how He from before Time began knew that He would put on flesh,
be conceived as a human inside a woman's womb,
go on to live the life of a Jewish man until He
allowed Himself to be crucified,
submitted to His own plan to redeem us by not only suffering the worst imaginable death, but
raised Himself from the dead...
All of earth's finest stories mimic His Story. His is truly "the greatest story ever told". Who but God could have spun a (true) tale like this one?
When we hear the gospel, we are faced with the choice: the light (Jesus) or the dark (the world, Satan). It is the divine spark the "image of God" which the Holy Spirit kindles inside those who submit to Him, those who choose Him.
Upon our "YES", He performs that irreversible, transformative change in our souls. He gives us a new birth. He puts His Spirit in us, Light unparalleled, incomparable.
Then, we bear it. We not only carry Him within us, we wield His light in the world, wherever we go. It is "the light of life", the one and only, from The One and Only Savior. There is none other. All the rest are pretenders, deceivers, cheap imitators.
There is no life like the abundant life. I was thinking about this precious gift of salvation earlier today - - - how it is the best of this earthly existence, how I would not trade it for anything. It is the Gift of God, everlasting life, everlasting light. He is the Gift, the Incomparable One.
So, stripping away all of the fancy paper, the carols, the celebrations, Santa, Christmas cookie swaps and deck-the-halls, it comes down to this: God came down for you at Christmas. Will you embrace and follow Him?
"Choose wisely, young padawan!" and "May the Force be with you!"
Heavenly Father, I am so grateful to be Yours. I did not deserve to receive the greatest gift a human can be given, but You gave it anyway. Thank you for reconciling me to Yourself and not only me but also anyone who will receive You. This is unfathomable love. This is Christmas. All my praise and worship are Yours, Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Amen.
Source:
http://www.italianrenaissance.org/wp-content/uploads/Michelangelo-creation-of-adam-index.png
Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens. Dir. J.J. Abrams, story by George Lucas. LucasFilm, December 18, 2015. Film.
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