Genesis 1:1-5 and John 1: 1-5
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away . . .
There was a complex, multifaceted saga that spanned science fiction, space exploration, technology and most all types of mythology and religion. It was called Star Wars.
These movies essentially chronicle the story of the Skywalker family—the earlier movies detail the lives of the children Luke and Leia, as they meet, and later realize they are twins, and as they battle the evil Dark Lord Darth Vader, who in one of the greatest movie twists of all times, turns out to be their father. The prequels detail the story of Darth Vader before he became evil, when he was called Anakin Skywalker, fell in love with Queen Amidala, and fathered Luke and Leia.
George Lucas, the man behind the movies, interweaves mythological elements from many different cultures and religions: we find echoes of Greek myths, Arthurian legends, and various bits of theology. He covers near universal, archetypal themes of journey, faith, and redemption. We also find more themes of family and friendship, machines and technology, faith, hope—the exploration of humanity—what makes us choose evil or good, and our capacity to have faith in that which we can sense but not see.
In the Bible, both Genesis and John both speak of beginnings, and of the light that has existed since that beginning. In Genesis, the light is a literal light, one that God separates from the darkness to create day and night, sun and moon. In John, the light, is the light of Christ, of the logos who has been with God and is God from the very beginning. In Genesis, the light and the dark are rather equal, things to be separated and balanced so that we can have two good things: day and night. In John, it’s important for the light to have a more powerful and positive quality, so that it is the light of Christ. As John writes: “the light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it.”
In Star Wars there is a constant battle between good and evil, between The Force and the Dark Side of the Force. As Yoda explains: “Fear is the path to the Dark Side: fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.” (Episode 1). But both sides are encompassed in the Force. It is the Dark Side of the Force that seduces and destroys Anakin, it is not more powerful, but “quicker, easier, more seductive.” The Dark Side depends on greed, fear, anger, control, but patience, discipline, humility are traits of the Force.
Throughout these films. Lucas explores evil and the capacity that each of us has to be evil. In Christian theology, we refer to this as Free Will and Original Sin. We all make choices, just as Anakin and Luke Skywalker make different choices as to how they will handle the temptations to come over to The Dark Side. As Lucas says, “The film is ultimately about the dark side and the light side, and those sides are designed around compassion and greed. The issue of greed, of getting things and owning things and having things and not being able to let go of things, is the opposite of compassion--of not thinking of yourself all the time.”[1]
Not to spoil the ending, but the light wins. Ultimately, even the most evil, dark character is redeemed: In the end, Darth Vader and Luke battle and Luke says to his father: “I’ve accepted that you were once Anakin Skywalker . . . It is the name of your true self you’ve only forgotten. I know there is still good in you.” Luke finds the good in Vader he knew was always in there somewhere, to his dying father he says: “I can’t leave you I’ve got to save you” His father’s response is: “You already have.” This father is saved through the love and trust of his son, because as far as he had gone into the darkness, there was still good in him, there was still something holy and sacred that could be redeemed.
It’s not always easy to determine a director/producer’s goals when it comes to spiritual themes in a movie. Many times they are not wholly conscious of it either, but in a Time magazine interview with Bill Moyer, George Lucas spoke about his intentional decisions to make the Star Wars movie highly spiritual and theological, if not specifically religious.
Lucas has faced some criticism for supporting a New Age religious view, based on a nebulous divine substance and a faith system based on feelings. Lucas, however, did not set out to create a religion in his galaxy, but to address a basic level of truth found in all religions. He said that in the late 1970s, he was worried that young people were no longer curious about faith, that they were no longer asking if God existed or what God would look like or how God would feel or what God would do and he found that to be truly terrifying. It was his hope that his movies, with their emphasis on good and evil would reawaken that hunger for spirituality. That the Force would inspire kids and adults to wonder about God. He doesn’t pretend to be offering answers in the Star Wars movies, but providing a starting point—a place to ask questions.
Lucas created a cosmology to go along with his galaxy, an ancient belief system that permeated the lives of everyone. Lucas also wasn’t attempting to portray any particular religion, though he does find organized religion to be important: He believes that “Religion is basically a container for faith.” And that he hoped to “awaken a certain kind of spirituality in young people--more a belief in God than a belief in any particular religious system. I wanted to make it so that young people would begin to ask questions about the mystery.”
Even with Light sabers and wookies, ewoks, and death stars—These movies are about The Mystery. The mystery of the evil inside all of us, the mystery of the good inside all of us, the mystery of how we are able to (or not) hold the dichotomies together, and the mystery of the Force, the energy, the divine, the supernatural, the God, that holds it all together.
We may not have the opportunity to battle Sith lords, to fight to save an empire from total corruption, to be the one person who restores balance to the force. Our lives, though full of adventure and important moments, will probably not be such epic stories—and while we may not be able to save the world in a grand gesture, we can each work in small ways.
The choice is the same as Anakin’s, the same as Yoda’s, the same as Luke’s, the same as Obi Wan Kenobi’s, the same as Leia’s, the same as Padmes—we can work with the Force, we can use patience, peace, compassion or we can slide into the Dark Side and use fear, greed, coercion. As Christians, we can use our faith in God, our worship, our praise, our prayers, our good works, our fellowship for justice, compassion, righteousness, mercy, peace, and love. Or we can use it for control, oppression, injustice, fear and anger.
As citizens of the world and the
Will we fight against hatred, greed, oppression?
Our
For those of us who are not as familiar with our history,
We are certainly not the same church today, but our history serves as a powerful reminder of the Dark Side of faith.
As in our membership vows, may we continue . . . to accept the freedom and power God gives us to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves.
Amen.
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