Yoda Faith: Do Or Do Not, There Is No Try

Yoda lights the way for the Christian journey...

Adore the green little Jedi master named Yoda, I do.  Ashamed of that, I am not.  Covered with Yoda merchandise, my desk is.

As a child in the early 1980s, I loved Star Wars.  I had all three films on VHS TAPE.  Yes kids, many years ago before the glory of Netflix and Hulu, we actually had to purchase copies of movies on VHS tapes that we played in magical machines called VCRs.  You couldn't skip to a scene.  You had to fast forward or rewind.  The hours of your life spent rewinding and fast forwarding your favorite VHS tapes were hours that you never got back.

Anyway, I actually do remember seeing The Return of the Jedi in the theaters.  It was the only Star Wars film that I was old enough to see in the theaters.  As a worldly young man of the age of 7, I rather enjoyed the film.  My younger brother was scared of Jabba the Hutt and I laughed at him for it.  I found Jabba entertaining.  Eating some sort of frog thing.  Having some puppet creature sitting on his tail. The pig guards.  What's not to like?

So, I was enjoying the film.  Then it happened.  Luke Skywalker finally returned to Yoda to complete his training.  And Yoda died.  HE. DIED.  He coughed and mumbled something about another Skywalker and then coughed some more.  He rolled over saying that he must "rest, rest, must rest."  And then he died and disappeared from his bed.

Sure, he was over 900 years old, but I was devastated.  (Much like my previously described devastation at the death of Optimus Prime.)

Looking back over Yoda's storyline, however, I begin to sense a reason why I like him so much.  Yoda trained centuries worth of Jedi knights.  He was wise.  He was all-powerful.  He had his mind blown by a flashlight.  Wait, what?

Yes, okay, so the great Jedi master perhaps spent too much time in the swamp, as he fought R2D2 over a flashlight and giggled like a toddler over it's magnificence.

Don't mess with Yoda. You have been warned.

That aside, Yoda knew how to impart wisdom and faith to the next generation.  When Luke Skywalker spent a large portion of his training whining and sniveling about how unfair things were and how he would never get it, Yoda just shook his head and used inverted syntax to impart gems to Luke  Gems such as:

“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” (Yoda understood how destructive fear, anger and hatred are to faith.  He must have meditated on Jesus' teaching to love the Lord your God with all your heart, your soul and your strength and to love your neighbor as yourself.)

“Always pass on what you have learned.” (Yoda was very focused on discipleship.)

“[Luke:] I can’t believe it. [Yoda:] That is why you fail.”  (Yoda understood that without faith it is impossible to please God.)

“You must unlearn what you have learned.” (Yoda clearly understood that your mind will be renewed through the power of Christ.)

“Truly wonderful the mind of a child is.”  (Clearly Yoda understood that you have to come to Christ like a child!)

“Do or do not. There is no try.”  (Yoda understood that a faith without works was dead.)

“Luke: What’s in there? Yoda: Only what you take with you.” (Yoda understood laying your burdens down and not carrying them with you in your daily walk with Christ.)

"Size matters not. Look at me.  Judge me by my size, do you?  Hmm?  Hmm.  And well you should not."  (Yoda was a big fan of David and Goliath.)

Understood the path of faith in Christ, Yoda did.

Yoda's training of the Jedi knights parallels the active role that your faith in Christ should have in your life.  In today's consumer driven church, where believers come to be fed and then see no importance in serving, Yoda's teachings could help light the way.  As Yoda famously chided Luke, there isn't a "try" in following Christ.  You do.  Or you do not.  Hot.  Or cold. There is no lukewarm try.  That is not to say that you will always succeed in all that you do.  It is to say that you should actively seek after the Lord every day and seek first His kingdom.

Do yourself a favor and follow Yoda's faith advice.  If you don't, your father will turn into an evil cyborg and he will cut off your hand and try to kill you.

The choice is yours.

Very definitive, Yoda is.  Uncertain, he is not.

Optimus Prime & Sacrifice

"One shall stand, one shall fall," --Optimus Prime 

On Memorial Day, we stop to thank those who have paid the ultimate price for our freedom, those countless men and women over the generations who have willingly laid down their lives for others.

Sacrifice is a lost virtue in today's society and yet it is so central to the Gospel.  Social media, selfies, and an entire industry of reality shows centered around vapid self-centered people have conspired to baptize this generation in narcissism.

As a result, the Christian idea of sacrificing for others often falls on deaf ears.

As a child of the 1980s, I was one of many in that generation traumatized by the death of Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots.  Any child of the 1980s knows who the Transformers are--robots in disguise!  The evil Decepticons and the heroic Autobots were locked in a struggle for survival throughout the mid 1980s.  The cartoon show was part of my afternoon routine growing up.  If I didn't have a VHS tape ready to "time record" them, I needed to be there.  There were no such things as DVR, On Demand, or Netflix.  How did we survive?

Optimus Prime was my favorite.  I didn't own his toy until much later, however, as he was expensive. My Transformers were usually the cheaper ones.  So, the Autobots in my bedroom were often being led by lesser robots in hopes that Optimus Prime would one day arrive.  Then I had the great idea of pausing my VHS tapes and drawing the Transformers one by one.  I then cut them out and played with paper dolls of my heroes.  It was quite impressive.  I had a complete set of drawings.  And if one of them ripped or got faded, I just drew a new one!

Anyway, after several seasons, the cartoon series made the leap to the big screen in Transformers: The Movie. This seemed exciting.  Optimus Prime on the big screen!  That booming voice!  That awesome heroism!  The epic smackdown between Prime and Megatron!  That is until kids realized that the toy makers who inspired the show apparently needed to create a new line of toys and directed the storyline of the movie to kill off all that we held dear.

That included Optimus Prime.

As the Autobots on earth were nearly slaughtered, Optimus Prime showed up to save the day.  Graced with his own musical montage of the 1980s rock anthem called "The Touch," our dear Optimus Prime single-handedly defeated the entire Decepticon army.

Then he faced Megatron with the promise that "One shall stand, one shall fall."

Optimus was rocking it.  Then that annoying new toy Hot Rod interfered and Megatron got a massive shot in at Optimus Prime.  Although Megatron was also mortally wounded (so that they could introduce the new Galvatron toy!) Optimus Prime died and handed off the leadership of the Autobots to another new toy.  This was about 40 minutes into the movie.  Oh, and annoying Hot Rod ended up becoming the new leader by the end of the film.  What a kick to the gut!

There was weeping, gnashing of teeth and rending of garments. I would say that I went on a hunger strike, but as a chunky kid, I likely sought comfort in the house of TastyKake.

In fact, so scarred by Prime's death was I that when I saw the Michael Bay film Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, and witnessed Prime die on screen a second time, I turned to my friend and stated, "Optimus Prime better come back to life before this movie ends or I will burn this theater to the ground!"

Although I joined in the massive letter writing campaign that ultimately convinced Hasbro to bring Optimus Prime back from the dead, I learned a great lesson as a heart-broken 10 year old.

John 15:12-14 says:

"This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you."

Today's generation is so soaked in narcissism that it is missing out on what Optimus Prime understood: there is honor in laying down your life for others.  Jesus modeled this in His own sacrifice for our sins, but it was really the culmination of living an ENTIRE life putting Himself aside in favor of serving others.

Jesus laid down His life for our salvation, but He also continually laid down self in every action He took during her earthly life.

On Memorial Day, when we stop to remember those who gave their lives for our freedom,  it's probably a good idea to stop and think about our priorities in life and how we choose to live.

Do we put others first?  Do we serve others?  Do we understand the life-altering freedom-giving power of sacrifice?  When asked to sum up the greatest commandments, Jesus said to love God with all of your being and to love your neighbor as yourself.

In order to fully embrace the Christian life that Jesus has in mind for us, we need to embrace our inner Optimus Prime (complete with 1980s rock anthem of your choice) as we slay the Decepticon armies surrounding mankind.

Sacrifice.  Don't miss it.  When you "lose" your life as you narcissistically define it, you will gain a life beyond your comprehension just like Optimus Prime.

Protective Hulk Smash Dad: A Lesson In Trusting Our Heavenly Father

My Daddy Hulk-Smash was imperfect, but God is not...

Recently, our 8 year old son came to us and admitted that he was having a hard time at school because some kids were being mean to him.  These kids were doing their best Amish impressions and shunning him during recess.  His little heart was broken.  As he cried about how hurt he was about their rejection, our parent hearts broke.

This was especially difficult because of our 3 kids, young Jack is the friendliest and most adventure-prone of our kids.  His raw courage and complete lack of fear in virtually every aspect of life is remarkable to me.  As a kid who grew up in the grip of fear, it's been exciting watching Jackson embrace adventure!  While I often opted not to do things and embrace the safety of my couch as a child, Jackson is always ready to pounce on something new and adventurous.  On this night, however, he was a broken-hearted boy crying over his "terrible life" because of this rejection.  We hugged him, prayed with him and attempted to say the right things to him to make this better.

But somewhere deep inside me, a seething papa bear rage began to rise up.

A big of a HULK SMASH, if you will.

Suddenly, I fancied myself a massive green character in the Marvel Universe willing to smash and destroy anyone and anything that would dare hurt my boy.  I know what you are thinking, "this is a guy who works in children's ministry and he's blogging about attacking a bunch of 2nd graders?"

Yes.  Yes I am.  Of course, I wouldn't attack 2nd graders, but the desire to protect my son rose up within me with an unbridled passion.  I really didn't know what to do, but I felt such a protective urge to save my son at that moment.

Lately, God has been impressing on me the importance of trusting Him as a good Father.  We always talk about how God can protect us and God cares about us and how God is good.  We don't always walk that out.  Sometimes it is easier to believe that God is good from the sidelines, rather than in the excitement of the game.  Consider Jesus' teaching in Matthew 7:9-11:

"Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!"

We've all read or heard that passage a million times.  You're probably reading this right now quipping sarcastically, "okay, Bill, are you going to cite John 3:16 too?  I already know this."

As misguided as my HULK SMASH rage in defense of my son was, it was rooted in this same Fatherly passion to protect his own that dominates the scripture.  We are SONS AND DAUGHTERS of God, He constantly reminds us through the Bible that as our FATHER, in all things HE works things out for our good.  He promises to never leave us nor forsake us. His fatherly love for us is perfect.  It is the perfection of fatherhood that we will never see in earthly fathers.  When we well up with passion to protect our kids, sometimes we succeed and sometimes we fail.  When HE wells up with perfect passion to protect our kids, he conquers sin and death and opens a path to freedom.

As imperfect children here on earth, we will never fully understand the magnitude of His fatherly awesomeness.  And that's okay.  We can just rest in knowing that He is bigger than anything we will face and He is dying to provide for us in the way that only a perfect Father can.