June 17, 2012 Jedis and Disciples – Week 3: Sacrifice and Redemption

June 17, 2012

Jedis and Disciples – Week 3: Sacrifice and Redemption

Anchor: Star Wars and Joseph Campbell

Frame: The Return of the Jedi; the redemption of Darth Vader

John 15:12-15

This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from Abba God.

                As the saga has progressed, Luke has learned that Darth Vader is indeed Anakin Skywalker, his father. Luke is stalwart in his belief that there is still good in his father. For all of the evil that he has committed, from the destruction of the Jedi knights to his complicity in the destruction of whole planets, Luke still maintains that there is something worth redeeming in Darth Vader. This is a challenging position to take, and maybe Luke is swayed by a romantic ideal of family connections. Still, are we ready or able to believe that evil can never completely expunge good? Was there some glimmer of good left buried in the hearts of Hitler or Stalin or Qaddafi or Bin Laden? What if we behaved like Luke and continued to work for their redemption, even being willing to offer our lives for them?

                Luke is determined not to give in to the Dark Side. Though tempted sorely, in the climactic scene, Luke refuses to commit patricide and throws his light saber away. In so doing he makes himself ultimately vulnerable to the evil power of the emperor. Yet it is this action (or refraining from action) that prompts Vader to save Luke’s life and thereby reclaiming his true identity of Anakin Skywalker. While much of this thinking is based on “The Power of Myth,” this line of thought is expressed very well in a Youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhaECqI19aM

                (One additional layer to remember  is that this Sunday is also Father’s Day. That is an interesting twist considering the complicated relationship Luke Skywalker has with his father!)

                Somewhere in my education I was told that in one way or another all the stories that we tell are attempts to tell redemption stories (I don’t believe that this was direct reference to Campbell, but I think he sees thing in a similar manner). Campbell does say that part of the function of myth is to discover that in the middle of a monstrous world that life can be rapturous. Maybe that is one definition of redemption: experiencing the joy of living triumphing (even momentarily) over the horrific pain of life.

                And maybe this is why Jesus’ commandment is to love one another: that by our love we can see each other through the pain and dehumanization of living. Love is what saves us from the Dark Side.  “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” That is a terrifying standard for Jesus to set. Yet that is the extent of love that Jesus is talking about. In another gospel Jesus says, “those who would save their life will lose it.” Ultimately, our lives are all that we really have to give for those we love.

                We have the privilege of celebrating a baptism this Sunday. In most of Christian tradition, baptisms are public events, not private ones. As a rule, we baptize in the context of a worship service, with the congregation gathered around. It is an occasion that happens in the midst of the extended family of Christ. This particular family coming to baptize their baby has a connection to Star Wars, and they have specifically asked to celebrate the sacrament as a part of this series. This has added some significance for me. Maybe one of the reasons we baptize infants is the confidence and the promise that somehow our love for each other will see us through all the awful stuff that life can bring. As a congregation we promise to love each other as Christ loves us, and to specifically love this infant and his family through all that may come in his life. We believe that there will always be good in his life.

                Love redeems life from all the pain, injustice, and despair we experience. This is not mushy Hallmark-card, My Pretty Pony kind of love. It is the determined, committed love that changes us. It is a choice to live this way and not that way, just as Luke finally chose to throw his weapon away. This story, and the Jesus story, challenges us to ask what kind of life we will choose.