Coming to the End of Our Own Resources

In my own lifetime, I believe the clearest cultural expression of the meaning of Christianity is George Lucas' Starwars.  I don't know if that movie was based on a previously-written book, but if it was not,  I would love to interview Lucas to find out where the entire concept came from.

First of all, there is the "Evil Empire," "roaming the world seeking whom to control and destroy."  Then we see the ordinary Luke Skywalker, "chosen," as it were to combat the Evil Empire and to free those under its dominion.  Luke is given a Guide to The Force, someone who already possesses from of old the powers to stand against evil.  And he is given a Teacher in the person of Yoda, to help him enter into the powers of The Force. 

First, though, Luke has to learn how to let go of his own methods of control and of power.  He cannot rely on his own eyes (his senses); he has to learn to be directed from within, from Another Source.  And it takes time away from the "world" to learn this -- one might call his practice "prayer" time, directed by the Holy Spirit/ Yoda.  What is needs to learn is to walk as Obi Ben Kenobi walks, not as the 'world' walks. 

In the end, Luke has to push aside the instrumentation given to him by the world and rely entirely on The Force to guide his actions against Darth Vader and his minions.  And his walk of trust impacts an entire civilization; many will walk in freedom as a result of Lean not on your own understanding, but in all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths (Prov. 3:6).

In a subsequent movie, we discover that Luke is actually the son of Darth Vader himself.  The Evil Empire is defeated by one of its own, one who chose to reject the evil and choose the good.  That is why Jesus, the Son of God, had to become also 'the Son of man.'  But first, the Son of man had to go into the desert to come to the end of His own strength, His own control, His own power -- and rely, as did Luke, entirely on the Spirit of God to guide His actions against "the evil empire."  He could not resort to human means, even to feed himself: Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.

 "Not by might, not by power," says the Lord of Hosts, "but by My Spirit" (Zach. 4).
His power, strength, goodness, joy -- whatever he would pass on to us ---- had to be Spirit-given, not derived from the flesh. Jesus would not pass on His power through natural generation, but by the Spirit which is given to all who receive Him.   John 1:13 tells us that those who believed in Him and received Him would become "children of God---children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision, or a husband's will, but born of God."

It does not matter who our natural father is if we are 'born of God," for if we are (born-again) children of God, the 'old has gone, and the new has come; everyone who is in Christ Jesus is a new creation."  If we have a Guide to the spiritual life and a Teacher, everything that belongs to Jesus is given to us as we learn to use it under the direction of the Holy Spirit.  This is our only source of hope, especially if our natural inheritance has derived from the Evil Empire, if our mothers and fathers were under the influence of drugs, anger, hostility, coldness, for example.  Maybe this explains why prison ministry is so fruitful -- those who have experienced Satan as a father come more easily to the Light.  They are waiting to be born again and to experience The Force operating within themselves.

Three cheers, George Lucas!