Sermon for February 11th, 2018
Contents
2 corinthians 4:15-18
15 Yes, everything is for your sake, so that grace, as it extends to more and more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. 16 So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. 17 For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, 18 because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.
Faith & Film VI: The Last Jedi
- Film Clip #1 - Trailer
Three Minute Film Synopsis
Two years ago, I preached on the Star Wars film "The Force Awakens" and I told myself at the time that I probably wouldn't preach on another Star Wars film for a long time. So why did I change my mind? Quite simply, it's this: More people saw "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" than any other film in 2017. In just under three months, it has already become the 13th most watched film of all time, and that number will only continue to climb. If you haven't seen this movie, you are in the minority.
A big part of why I do this series every year is not because of any merit the films may have in themselves (although this one does have quite a bit of merit!) but because the films we pay money to go see in droves each year tell us a lot about ourselves--what we're interested in, what we're afraid of, what we hope and dream and think. And then when you throw in a popular film franchise like Star Wars, with a four decade long history, you really have a chance to see how we as a culture are changing, growing, evolving through the years.
On the surface, "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" is just another familiar Star Wars film with a very familiar plot line: It begins with some rebel fighters (the resistance) in space on the run from a militaristic empire (the First Order) with a tyrannical leader (Supreme Leader Snoke) and his evil henchman (Kylo Ren). One of the rebels (in this case, the young girl Rey) is dispatched to a distant part of the galaxy to find a reclusive Jedi (Luke Skywalker) who can save the day, or at least train her to become the next Jedi and the next great light of hope.
There are great battle scenes, great chase scenes, great plot twists, and just when everything seems on the verge of utter disaster and defeat is imminent for the heroes, they manage to pull out a few more surprises and escape from the bad guys to fight another day...more precisely on December 20, 2019 when the story continues with Star Wars Episode IX.
What I'm going to focus on for the rest of the sermon, though, is how if you look just below the surface, this Star Wars film was actually quite revolutionary, intentionally breaking with 40 years of tradition and sending a 20th century story in a very new direction--one that makes a lot more sense for a 21st century audience.
Up to this point, I haven't given away any spoilers, but I'm about to, so if you're one of the last three people in our country who hasn't seen this movie yet, consider yourself warned.
Where Can Hope Be Found?
But I'm actually going to start a long time ago in a different country far, far away: Ancient Israel, about halfway through the first century. Jesus of Nazareth, who inspired many Jews of his day with the hope that he was the long awaited Messiah, the one who would restore balance to the force--I mean, who would restore Israel to its former glory--had been crucified by Rome. His few remaining followers were scattered and on the run, persecuted by the Roman Empire. There were rumors that God had raised Jesus from the dead, and that he would soon come back to save his people, but it had been twenty years since his departure...and people were beginning to despair.
It was to these people that the Apostle Paul wrote the words of today's scripture passage: Do not lose heart in this momentary affliction. Don't look at what can be seen, but instead at what cannot be seen. Paul's words signaled a shift in early Christian thinking away from the tangible, the temporal (i.e. God as a physically present messiah with earthly power to change political realities) to the intangible, the spiritual, the personal (i.e. God as Holy Spirit living within each of us, transforming our hearts and minds).
Back to Star Wars. Throughout this film, the question of where the characters should place their hope is raised over and over again. There's a little phrase that is repeated, first applied to Luke Skywalker, the famous Jedi from the original films who is now in hiding on a remote island. He is called "the spark of hope that will light the fire that will burn down the First Order (the bad guys)."
Hope is not a new concept in Star Wars. The title of the very first Star Wars episode ever made (back in 1977) was "A New Hope." The most famous line from that film was a holographic recording of Princess Leia saying "Help us Obi-Wan, you're our only hope." That hope proves to be well founded--Obi Wan finds Luke Skywalker, trains him in the ways of the Jedi, and then Luke saves the day.
In the next round of Star Wars Films from the late 1990s and early 2000's, most of the characters (and the audience) place their hope in the young Jedi Anakin Skywalker. Their hopes are dashed when Anakin turns to the dark side and becomes the evil Lord Darth Vader. But either way--in success or failure--we're still putting our all our hopes in the hands of one talented person with a great family history.
Right up until this film, which signals a shift in an entirely different direction. It begins when Luke
