During today's service, I read the
Gospel of Matthew 5.29-30:
"If your
right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it
is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole
body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand
causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more
profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to
be cast into hell.
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Hands. What an iconic image within our favorite
franchise. Lots of people lose their
hands. Anakin and Luke - but also Mace
Windu in the magnificent showdown between the Jedi and Sith Orders. There are also the losses suffered by Count
Dooku, Panda Baba, Grievous and other beings.
Now that you have all of those images brought back to mind, let's move
on. They can lose power when a hand is cut off, or lose a bar fight, or lose an identity. In all times, this loss has the potential to lead to a deeper understanding of the universe.
Our
world was first confronted with the image of a lost hand at the end of the duel
at Cloud City. A pathetic and outmatched
Luke Skywalker is standing on a precipice, about to learn the dire truth, his
hand is severed and falls down the chute along with his weapon. His power is severely diminished at this
point. Then Darth Vader really lays it
on him. "I am your
father." Man, could you imagine how
much of your self-identity would be taken away at that point? Luke's ultimate response is an unprepared sky
dive. Some have said it was
suicidal. Maybe.
One
more image and then I will get to the faith part. When Mace Windu and the other masters enter
Palaptine's office, we are seeing the showdown between the Jedi and the Sith,
between good and evil. Evil has the
upper hand here and is going to win this fight.
When Mace is standing over Palpatine with the opportunity to bring peace
to the galaxy, he loses his hands to Anakin, who is rushing to be made a Sith
himself. Mace loses his hands. He loses both of them and cannot even fend
for himself with his left hand, since it's gone as well. Darkness, evil, has taken away all power from
the guardians of peace and replaced it with the Sith ideals.
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In
many ways, these images are a reflection of our spiritual lives. Quite often, when we sin or choose to do
something contrary to the will of God, the fruitfulness of our life is
diminished. We can do no good apart from
the Holy Spirit through whom all life is given.
Luke was not ready and suffered terrible consequences. Mace tried to confront the devil in front of
him, but even he was not strong enough.
In our lives, when we try to confront the terrible things we may have
done in our past or to realign our behavior to the good, there is a push
back. Yes, the evil of this world, the
prince of death (the devil, I'm being poetic), will claw and fight for what he
believes is rightly his. Our redemption,
in the real world, is that Christ is all powerful and will overcome the hellfire. It's true - the Bible already contains the
last chapter of the book. Check it
out.
Sometimes
powerlessness is OK. On my own, I am powerless over
my sins, I am powerless to achieve my own salvation. I am powerless in this world. But the good news is this: Christ has done all things for us. He was crucified, died and resurrected to
offer to us protection in our lives. We
are under his protection, and do not have power of our own. So the hand thing is not really a concern of
ours. Every time we go after power in itself,
we will make it into an idol eventually.
When we allow our Creator to take care of His creatures, than all is
right in the universe and we will live joy filled and blessed lives.
Here
is a final thought to take with you throughout the week. Every time a priest gets vested for a service
in the Orthodox tradition and puts on the cuffs, He says it with this prayer: "Your right
hand, O Lord, has been glorified in power, Your right hand, O Lord, has
shattered the enemies. In the greatness
of Your majesty You have overthrown Your adversaries."
His
hand is gentle and life-giving. His hand
guides us to a fullness, a completeness we cannot know without counting
ourselves as His children.
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