Star Wars: The Original Version

When Michel Gorbechev was President of the former Soviet Union in the late 1980s, a good friend of his became an astronaut and was sent into space for a short, routine mission. The trip was supposed to last for only a few days, but while he was away from planet earth, the government of his country began to fall apart. Gorbechev was relieved of his national duties. Because of all the incidents, it was decided that the astronaut should stay in orbit for several months. By the time he returned home his world was very different. He had a new country, a new president, and a new system of law. His world completely changed in a very short time.

We too are living in a rapidly changing world. The world we have known in the past is not going to be the world of the future. Overnight, time and distance have collapsed and we are living in a high technology, sophisticated society. If we are to be invincible, we have to see the invisible. If we are going to be practical and powerful, we have to understand the principles behind the dark side.

Nearly forty years ago, executive producer George Lucas, using his imaginative mind, created the Star Wars films. And yet, throughout the decades since its first edition, people have been impacted and influenced.

When Theodore Roosevelt was the president of the United States, he had a confidant with whom he shared the pressures, problems and perplexities of the day. After such discussions, they would often take a walk at night. Each night as they walked, they cast their eyes on the stars above in a race to find the galaxy Andromeda. The one who found it first would utter the words, “That speck of light is the galaxy Andromeda. It is bigger than our Milky Way. It contains more than 100 billion suns, each bigger than our own sun. It is only one galaxy of more than a hundred million such galaxies.” After that statement was uttered, they would look at each other and say in unison, “Now, since we have gained a better and broader perspective of life, let us retire to bed for the evening.”

One can get a bigger perspective by simply looking at the stars at night. Did you know that some of the greatest promises are never seen until after sunset? God put the stars in the heavens to paint pictures and give us promises for our lives? Every one of us today, without exception, are either in league with the stars or will stumble over the stars. Every one of us is in the battle of our lives, the battle of Star Wars.

I am not talking about a fictional battle played out on a silver screen between the Seth lords and the Jedi knights or between Obione Kanobi and Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader and his master. Not a battle conjured up in the imagination of an executive producer named George Lucas more than twenty years ago, but the battle of our lives--the battle of Star Wars--the original version.

In our text, Israel was in a deplorable condition. Their political system was corrupt. Immorality and idolatry were rampant. The people had rebelled against God, and God had allowed them to be taken into captivity. Underneath the authority of an unkind commander named Sisera, they were oppressed for twenty years in slavery. Their cities had become their prisons.

We are going to stumble over the stars if we stay on the same course. We’re either in league with the stars or we are going to stumble over them. For a little while, I want to speak on the subject of “Star Wars, the Original Version.” There are several episodes from the Word of God that I want to share with you. Episode number one is the source of faith.

FIRST, THE SOURCE OF FAITH

The Bible says Deborah had gotten a word from God--a fresh word for her nation and culture. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” (Romans 10:10) I am not talking today about faith in faith--that is positive thinking. Faith in God, however, is salvation—and there is a world of difference. I am not talking about mind power, about motivational power, about muscle power--but the mighty power of the King of kings and the Lord of lords. There are a lot of people who want to put their faith in faith. I challenge you to put your faith in God. Deborah knew how to get in contact with God.

God then inspired her to give that word to a young man named Barak. Deborah knew how to pass her faith on to someone else. A lot of us like to hear the Word of God, but we don’t like to act on what we hear. Faith is belief with legs on it. Deborah had faith. Barak had feet; he had an army. Now Deborah couldn’t lead the army, but Barak could. So what did they do? They took their faith and their feet and they put them together to win the battle of Star Wars. If we as God’s people will put our faith and our feet together, there is no telling what we will accomplish for the glory of God. Faith is belief with legs on it. Often we come to the house of God, hear His Word, and then go back home without applying it to our lives. We’ve got to take the faith God has put into our heart, stand upon His Word, and then do the work of God.