400,000 Jedi Can’t Be Wrong

George Lucas, the creator of Star Wars, has created a kingdom of his own. A recent news story reported that some 400,000 people declared “Jedi” as their religion in Great Britain’s 2005 census. It’s laughable because Star Wars is just a fictional world, the fantasy of a very good story teller. Still, Lucas’ kingdom is real because it exists in the hearts and minds of his fans. Within the epic battle of good and evil, the light and dark sides of the “force” have captured the imagination of millions of fans.

Jesus’ kingdom is a little like Lucas’ in that it only lives in the hearts of his followers. When he said, “My kingdom is not of this world” he was telling us that his kingdom does not compete with or imitate the kingdoms of this world, but in fact turns the reality of those worldly kingdoms upside down. Every time Jesus opened his mouth with the phrase, “the Kingdom is like…” his listeners found the opposite of what they expected:

The first become last.
The exalted are humbled and the humble are exalted.
The poor are blessed and rich are condemned.
The lion lies down with the lamb.
The spears are beat into pruning hooks, and swords into plow shares.

The kingdom of Jesus is made real when the hungry are fed, the naked are clothed, and the widow and orphan receive care. The kingdom of Jesus is made real when the ignored are noticed, the neglected are loved, and the oppressed are released. The more people are willing to live in such counter-cultural ways, the more the kingdom of Jesus becomes the dominant reality.

You can see the kingdom of Jesus if you know where to look. The kingdom of Jesus appears in the most unexpected places, like hospital rooms, prayer rooms, and chat rooms. You’ll find it around the table, on the factory floor, and in the cubicle down the hall. Like Jedi knights, followers of Jesus come armed – not with light sabers – but with the hands and feet of service. Using spiritual gifts rather than Jedi mind tricks, these are the people who wage war on the dark side of the force, engaging the enemy with what Walter Brueggemann calls “little moves against destructiveness.”

I believe that if we allow the kingdom of Jesus to capture our imaginations and hearts as much as the kingdom of Lucas lives in the minds his prodigal “Jedi” we’d move the phrase “thy Kingdom come” from wishful thinking to prayer of commitment. This Sunday we take up another section of the Lord’s Prayer, the phrase “thy Kingdom come…” The sermon is called Thy Kingdom Come and its installment two in our series When You Pray. I hope you can join us for worship at either 9:15 or 11:45.

Replacing the batteries in my light saber,
Pastor Yoda