Ensign: The Force Awakens
All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye. Isaiah 18:3
AN ENSIGN ON THE
MOUNTAINS 18 December 2014
You who know me know I'd do something like this.
I found a post on my Facebook page this morning of paper snowflakes that ended in the heads of Star Wars characters. This came from someone who knows me.
As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness. Psalm 17:15
Love it, hate it, wonder what George Lucas (and now J. J. Abrams, under whose benevolent despotism the next movie, given the subtitle The Force Awakens, will be released in theatres nationwide -- worldwide takes a little longer -- exactly one year from today) was on when he created some of this, you'd have a hard time arguing that the long time ago in a galaxy far, far away of Han, Luke, Leia, Vader, Yoda, Artoo, and Threepio hasn't reached out to most of us in a way we recognize. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery -- that phrase is not Biblical but comes from a 19th century English cleric -- then Star Wars has set up and inspired ... a second generation now.
Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Thou not it that hath cut Rahab, wounded the dragon? (Isaiah 51:9)
What has this got to do with God loving the world so much that He sent Jesus His only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life? Well, right now unless we've been on set or we are one of the actors in the movie we know little about it. (The man who plays Threepio has said next year's release will be better than The Empire Strikes Back -- you know, the movie where Vader throws Luke off with a secret and we first meet Yoda. THAT I will have to see to believe, but I digress.) Other than a ninety-second preview trailer and some digital trading cards and a casting list and the time in which The Force Awakens takes place, we don't know much. Now.
And that, knowing the time, that now high time to awake out of sleep: for now our salvation nearer than when we believed. (Romans 13:11)
OR do we know more than we think we do? For you and I to awaken means we must have once been asleep. And in the Bible awake and asleep is often interchanged with alive and dead, physically as well as spiritually. Naturally, this is NOT easy to grasp -- in fact, Jesus Himself says that! You could almost exchange Jesus' midnight conversation with Nicodemus in John 3 (where "For God so loved the world ..." is, sixteenth verse) and Jesus' asking His disciples whom people are saying He is in Matthew 16; when Peter responds to Jesus' question "But whom say ye -- modern English, 'whom do you say' -- that I am?" by saying He is the Christ, the Son of the living God,
Jesus responds that He -- Simon who will become Simon Peter, or just Peter, not the rest of the gang -- had it revealed to him by God His Father (and by extension his Father as well, please review "The Lord's Prayer" in Mathew 6:9-13), not because someone -- "flesh and blood" -- told him who He was! As witnesses, yes, it is our duty to share Jesus within us with others, but we can't make the choice for them any more than Obi-Wan could have made Anakin choose to turn away from the dark side of the Force. Perhaps that's a poor analogy, but maybe it's an easier one -- everybody has to choose to believe AND act on their belief. We can play the background, but we can't be it. God knows.
Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. (Ephesians 5:14)
The Word of God comes from someone Who knows me too. And you.
I found a post on my Facebook page this morning of paper snowflakes that ended in the heads of Star Wars characters. This came from someone who knows me.
As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness. Psalm 17:15
Love it, hate it, wonder what George Lucas (and now J. J. Abrams, under whose benevolent despotism the next movie, given the subtitle The Force Awakens, will be released in theatres nationwide -- worldwide takes a little longer -- exactly one year from today) was on when he created some of this, you'd have a hard time arguing that the long time ago in a galaxy far, far away of Han, Luke, Leia, Vader, Yoda, Artoo, and Threepio hasn't reached out to most of us in a way we recognize. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery -- that phrase is not Biblical but comes from a 19th century English cleric -- then Star Wars has set up and inspired ... a second generation now.
Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Thou not it that hath cut Rahab, wounded the dragon? (Isaiah 51:9)
What has this got to do with God loving the world so much that He sent Jesus His only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life? Well, right now unless we've been on set or we are one of the actors in the movie we know little about it. (The man who plays Threepio has said next year's release will be better than The Empire Strikes Back -- you know, the movie where Vader throws Luke off with a secret and we first meet Yoda. THAT I will have to see to believe, but I digress.) Other than a ninety-second preview trailer and some digital trading cards and a casting list and the time in which The Force Awakens takes place, we don't know much. Now.
And that, knowing the time, that now high time to awake out of sleep: for now our salvation nearer than when we believed. (Romans 13:11)
OR do we know more than we think we do? For you and I to awaken means we must have once been asleep. And in the Bible awake and asleep is often interchanged with alive and dead, physically as well as spiritually. Naturally, this is NOT easy to grasp -- in fact, Jesus Himself says that! You could almost exchange Jesus' midnight conversation with Nicodemus in John 3 (where "For God so loved the world ..." is, sixteenth verse) and Jesus' asking His disciples whom people are saying He is in Matthew 16; when Peter responds to Jesus' question "But whom say ye -- modern English, 'whom do you say' -- that I am?" by saying He is the Christ, the Son of the living God,
Jesus responds that He -- Simon who will become Simon Peter, or just Peter, not the rest of the gang -- had it revealed to him by God His Father (and by extension his Father as well, please review "The Lord's Prayer" in Mathew 6:9-13), not because someone -- "flesh and blood" -- told him who He was! As witnesses, yes, it is our duty to share Jesus within us with others, but we can't make the choice for them any more than Obi-Wan could have made Anakin choose to turn away from the dark side of the Force. Perhaps that's a poor analogy, but maybe it's an easier one -- everybody has to choose to believe AND act on their belief. We can play the background, but we can't be it. God knows.
Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. (Ephesians 5:14)
The Word of God comes from someone Who knows me too. And you.
David
P.S. I write this
weekly devotional to keep in touch with all of you in my address
book, and I hope to be an encourager to action too! If you find that
I'm not or you want me to get lost, just let me know -- thank you!
Thank You, Lord,
that we can come to You in prayer and that You provide for all our
needs, even when we don't know what they are. We pray for the peace
of Jerusalem on both sides of the fence there and around the world.
Thank You, Lord, for
everyone in leadership and service, both here and abroad. Thank You
for the opportunities we have and the promise of new life! I pray
that we all seek and have a blessed week. Amen.
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