CONNECTING WITH THE FORCE
July 22, 2001
TEXT: Colossians:1:15-28
At the beginning of Star Wars:
The Empire Strikes Back, Luke Skywalker is near death when he sees
a vision of Obi-Wan Kenobi who tells him, "Luke,
you must return to Dagobah and learn the ways of the Force."
Luke is rescued, and follows Obi Wan's advice, seeking out the Jedi
master, Yoda, to learn the ways of the Force. Eventually, Luke uses
his new found power to save the universe (including his wayward father,
Darth Vader) from the clutches of the evil empire.
Star Wars is the great American myth for our era: Homer's
Odyssey for the space age. In place of gods and monsters who provide
divine wisdom and thwart
the hero's journey, George Lucas has described a new unseen power
from the fourth dimension known as the "Force." "The
Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It's an energy field created
by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds
the galaxy together."
Typical of the Seventies, the age
in which Star Wars was written, it reflects an increasing surge
of spirituality in America. Author Arianna Huffington writes: "In
the whole of human history there have never been so many avenues
to inner consciousness being explored nor anything remotely approaching
the proportion of people seeking such avenues."
Spiritual enlightenment sections in bookstores
mushroomed. Bestsellers included books by New Age writers Shirley
MacLaine, M. Scott Peck, Elizabeth Clare Prophet, Deepak Chopra,
and more recently, Marianne Williamson. And the entertainment
industry has kept up the pace. Following close on the heels
of Star Wars was the resurrection of Star Trek, with a decidedly
spiritual flavor. More recent TV hits like The X-files, all
contain overt references to an unnamed spiritual force somewhere
"out there" somewhere which affects the lives of ordinary
people like you and me. Even the medical field has been affected.
Many doctors have integrated "holistic" therapy, which
addresses not only the physical dimensions of an ailment, but the
spiritual.
According to author Robert Brooks, many
of these alternative therapies are based on the concept of a "universal
energy" or "universal life force" that can be controlled
by one who has expanded
consciousness. Everyone seems to be looking for the cosmic glue that
holds and connects all things together, that binds all people in
a common consciousness or spirit. Kansas City, which not only hosted
the General Synod of the United Church of Christ and the General
Assembly of the Disciples of Christ, is also the site the Gaia Community
and the Heartland Spiritual Alliance, whose leader
Rhiannon Bennett says, "We recognize the sacred in all
things ...
spirituality lies in celebrating the interconnectedness and sacredness
of all life."
Kansas City is also home to one of the largest pagan communities
and holds an annual witchcraft festival. I don't think the organizers
of the General Synod were aware of this. Before we dismiss all of
this so-called "New
Age"thinking about an unknown and mysterious Force that resides
in the natural world and holds all things together, we need to be
sure that we aren't using different languages in speaking about the
same thing. When Paul wrote to the Christians at Colossae, he reminded
them of the nature of Jesus of Nazareth:
"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation;
for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and
invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things
have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things,
and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church;
he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to
have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased
to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things,
whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross." (Colossians
1:15-20)
In Christ is the essence of the
Spirit of God, and in that Spirit all things are reconciled to
God—all persons
are reconciled to God. In Jesus Christ we are connected with God
and with all other persons in whom that same Spirit dwells. We need
to recognize our relationship with all who share the Spirit of Christ.
The theme of the General Synod was "Gather at the Welcome
Table."
The obvious reference was to the growing partnership between the
United Church of
Christ and the Christian Church—Disciples of Christ. But during
the course of the meeting, it also became evident that there were
others who wanted to sit at the Lord's Table, and that there were
some who didn't want them there.
he question turned on the issue as to
whether the church should be inclusive or exclusive, whether Christians
should pay more attention to the teachings of Christ or to the teachings
of Paul. Those who follow Paul emphasized homosexuality as a sin
that prevents one from being a part of the community of Christ, though
Paul only mentions incest and adultery as specific examples of sexual
immorality. It is interesting that those who would exclude homosexuals
from the church do not also exclude divorced persons, a sin that
Paul condemns.
It is becoming increasingly evident that
the gay-bashers in the church are homophobic, who have named homosexuality
as a sin that warrants rejection from the Lord's Table. The curious
thing is that while Paul doesn't mention homosexuality specifically,
he does mention malice, envy, and greed. Should the church also withdraw
its welcome to all who are guilty of the seven deadly sins of envy,
greed, lust, pride, gluttony, sloth, and wrath? Just how many would
we have at worship if we excluded those who are envious or proud
or angry? Of course, we don't have to worry about the slothful; they
would be too lazy to come anyway.
Jesus, on the other hand, welcomed
all to his table, even though he was highly criticized by the Pharisees
who said, "This
fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them." The church's acceptance
of gay-lesbian Christians is a difficult issue with many ramifications,
including new studies that show that the propensity toward homosexuality
may be a matter of genetics, not of choice. If that is the case,
then should gays then be condemned for something they have no control
over? Or is that like asking in the nineteenth century if black people
should be enslaved because they are born black? Or if Hitler was
right in putting to death persons who were born mentally defective,
or Jewish, or Romanian or anything else that doesn't fit the mold
of what we think is normal? A hundred years from now who will we
pick on to exclude from Christ's Table?
"But the Lord answered her, 'Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted
by many things; there is need of only one thing.'"
Martha had her priorities mixed up. She spent her time worrying about
the details, while her sister, Mary, sat at the feet of Jesus and
learned from him. Mary knew what was important in her life and was
not distracted by matters of lesser importance. For Christians, the
most important thing in life is Christ, for it is in Christ that
the Spirit of God is most visible. We see in Jesus a God who cares
for Creation and all the creatures that God has brought into being;
a God who is inviting and welcoming; a God of love who seeks to reconcile
all things and all persons.
Persons who are concerned about the wrath
and judgment of God ought to leave the wrath and judgment to God,
and not try to use it in God's name. We love because God is love.
We should not project our own prejudices and hatred onto God in order
to justify our own behavior. Instead, we must look to Jesus as
the example of the way God intends for us to live.
The universe is much larger than our little corner of existence.
Our prejudices and animosities and obsessions with the private behavior
of other people are a blip on the screen of much larger issues that
face our planet and our future. We ought to share in the concerns
of our world leaders gathered in Genoa as they deal with such problems
as global-warming and its threat to human life, the crisis in the
Middle East, how to stop the rising AIDS epidemic, and the plight
of the poor and disenfranchised.
Like Martha, we sometimes have our priorities all wrong.
There is a disturbance in the Force when we seek to fragment God's
creation by alienating those whom God loves. A ripple at the other
end of the
universe can become a wave that inundates us all. We are connected
to each other, whether we like it or not. The same breath of the
Creator is in each of God's creatures, and we do have a responsibility
to each other to bring healing to our planet and to the lives of
those in whom that Spirit lives.
Let us seek to live in relationship, not in alienation. Let God's
love be the force that connects us all.
-Harry Serio
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