The Force of History
What happens when I want to save the galaxy?
It happened and it’s over. Jesus rose from the dead. Straightforward history. No bones about it.
But sneaky Satan wants us to question that kind of religion as too simplistic. Too easy. Too out-of-date.
Take, for example, an e-mail campaign in Australia last year. The Australian Bureau of Statistics was conducting a survey and one of the questions was related to religious affiliation. The e-mail campaign asked people to list "Jedi" as their religion – you know, the force from Star Wars.
"We feel we are Jedi," said devotee Luke Housego in one e-mail message. "Star Wars gave us our spirituality. Obi Wan taught me mysticism, not St. John of the Cross."
If you want mysticism, you can easily get it from the force or any number of eastern religions and their practices. Why would someone want mysticism when we have the cold, hard, echoing truth of Jesus Christ’s empty tomb? Because an empty tomb is so stark. So bare. Mysticism requires my inner consciousness to be alert and my creative awareness to be sharp. Mysticism weaves a path of positive hope and freedom with the energy of my mind and soul.
Okay. But what happens when I need to save the galaxy – or at least unload my guilty regret so it doesn’t drag me down anymore – and the Hollywood script writers and special effects crew aren’t there to make things work out for a fairy tale ending? Get real. The force depends on your personal power. If you think you have enough of that, then you try dying, coming back to life, and escaping a sealed tomb in three days, and taking a side trip to hell to tell the devil he’s a piece of trash and returning to tell about it.
Give me bare and stark. Give me simple. Give me the historical, the complete, the finished. Death can no longer steal my soul because death has been killed. Sin can no longer corrupt my will because sin has been damned. Satan can no longer bully me because Satan has been bankrupted. All because Jesus rose from the dead. That’s true force.
PRAYER: Alleluia, Lord Jesus! You did it! Alleluia! Some naysayers thought you couldn’t and others didn’t even give your predictions a second thought, but shame on them! You did it! You rose from the dead! And shame on me, Jesus. Forgive me for thinking you can’t keep your promises still today. Forgive me for thinking I’m stronger and wiser than you are. Take me to your cross and your tomb once again, for there I find the death of my sin and the life I can live today – with your very force that strengthens and saves. Amen.