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We also hear, "May the Force be with you," a prayer or
benediction from the earlier Star Wars movies that quickly became
one of cinema history's most familiar quotations. It also
generated theological conversation among folks who speculated on
how much Christians could identify the Force with accepted
understandings of God. Most agreed that the Force left something
to be desired, but even George Lucas himself said in a recent
interview, "I put the Force into the movie in order to try 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."(1)
A commendable goal, Mr. Lucas. For our part, the Christian
Church on this Day of Pentecost will go a step farther: we will
identify the REAL Force. We encountered it in our lesson:
Is that what we want here? In this dignified sanctuary?
Among God's frozen chosen? Should we have the ushers shush
anybody who gets too caught up in the Spirit of God? "You can do
this sort of thing at a store-front mission, one with a flashing
neon sign that says 'Jesus Saves' -- but not here." Still,
wouldn't you like to be present one time where the Spirit did
take over that way? What a remarkable, unforgettable experience
it would be! Feeling the Spirit like the rushing of a mighty
wind through the sanctuary, making the flames of the candles on
the communion table leap up high, sucking air, and rustling the
antependia on the lectern and the pulpit, stirring the pages of
our hymnbooks and Bibles. Wow!(2)
Annie Dillard, one of our most eloquent writers, has asked,
"Does anyone have the foggiest idea what sort of power we so
blithely invoke? Or, as I suspect, does no one believe a word of
it? The churches are children playing on the floor with their
chemistry sets, mixing up a batch of TNT to kill a Sunday
morning. It is madness to wear ladies' straw hats and velvet
gloves to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets..."(3) The REAL Force be with you.
One of the things folks remember first about that Pentecost
story we read is the speaking in other languages. Not in some
celestial language, not "glossolalia" - language language...the
kind that people use to communicate. The message was not just
heard, it was HEARD...and all this despite the fact they were
speaking dozens, perhaps hundreds, of dialects and tongues.
That is a miracle in itself, isn't it! Not the part about
the languages, but the part about hearing. It does not happen
often in the world.
As some of you know, in recent months I have been involved
in an ad hoc effort to bridge the gap between our Guilford County
School Board and segments of our community who are upset at
current redistricting and student assignment plans. What has
been happening is that the two groups have been talking AT each
other, but no one on either side appears to be hearing anything.
One of our number offered a parable: Two children were in the
kitchen fighting over the one orange in the house. Each needed
the orange for a recipe. Mom came in, saw the problem, and with
great apparent wisdom, cut that orange in two and handed one half
to one, one half to the other. No one was satisfied. If only
someone had listened. You see, one recipe called for the meat of
the orange, the other called for the skin. BOTH could have had
what they wanted...if only anyone had bothered to listen.
It happened at Pentecost. Perhaps that is one more lesson
we can learn: in the church, beyond all other places in the
world, we are supposed to learn to listen to one another, to
value one another's feelings and opinions, as a foretaste of
heaven itself, where everyone will be heard perfectly. Would
that be something? We might not be rich. We might not have
great crowds. We might not sing very well. We might not look
very successful in the world's eyes. But if we could listen to
one another, and love one another with our hearing, that would be
something, wouldn't it!(4) The REAL Force is with you.
The result of all that? That little band of believers grew.
Big time. They had the biggest revival any church ever saw.
They exploded from being a few dozen members to adding 3,000 more
that day and a couple thousand more soon after. People saw this
divine "Force" in action and wanted to be a part of what was
happening. Their lives were changed. They began to share. They
were so caught up in the Spirit and so happy with one another
that they just pooled what they had to the glory of God and the
power of the kingdom. Each one had enough. Can you imagine
that?
Have you ever been in a church with money trouble? Or
should we say have you ever been in a church with NO money
trouble? Sad to say, more churches have trouble over money
problems than over anything else. People who cannot get along
over money in their own families come to church and get upset
about money at the church. They say that the most sensitive
nerve in a person's body is the one attached to the pocketbook.
If the Holy Spirit can touch that one, as was done at Pentecost,
then you know the experience is powerful. The REAL Force, for
sure.
"May the Force be with you." Words we will no doubt be
hearing more and more in days to come as folks see the new Star
Wars adventure. More than $400-million worth of "Force" on just
the domestic run if estimates are correct.(5) People enjoy the
cinematic escape. Wonderful! But outside those theaters is the
real world, the world of bombs over Kosovo, shootings in our
schools, disease, despair, and death. It is to that REAL world
the church announces a word of genuinely good news on this Day of
Pentecost: the Holy Spirit of the living God, the REAL Force, IS
with us and WILL BE with us...now and forever. Hallelujah!
Amen!
1. Time, April 26, 1999, Vol. 153 No. 16 2. John Killinger, "Jesus' Rules of Order," Preaching, May-June, 1995, p. 38 3. Annie Dillard, Teaching A Stone To Talk, p. 58 4. Killinger 5. Andrew Hindes, "New 'Star Wars' Movie Opens," Reuters News Service, via Internet,
5/19/99
Suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush
of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where
they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire,
appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of
them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and
began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave
them ability.
POWER! And it changed everything. Suddenly, a rag-tag band
of depressed disciples who had hidden themselves behind locked
doors in fear for their lives became powerful public proclaimers
of the resurrection. The REAL Force is with us, and that can
make all the difference in our lives.
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