One of the big questions that gets posed around all of the Star Wars films, as there are now 11 feature films, is in what order you should view them. Probably the most recommended is to see them in the order that they were released. So, start, as we did, with Star Wars, watch the rest of the original trilogy, then what the prequels, which are episodes 1-3, then go to episodes 7-9, which are sometimes called the sequels, and then onto Rogue One and Solo. Without putting a lot of thought into them, that would be the order I would recommend. But, another recommendation is to watch them in chronological order, which would be to start with episode 1, adding in Rogue One and Solo at the end of the prequels, then move into the original trilogy and the sequels to complete it. I can see some logic in that, except that doing it in that order removes the reveal in Empire, which was the last movie we covered, that Darth Vader is actually Luke’s father, as well as the reveal that Leia is his sister as we learn all of those things at the end of Revenge of the Sith, which is the film we cover today. Now maybe since those reveals happened 43 and 40 years ago, respectively they don’t matter, but I still think cinematically that they do, which is also the reason that I started with the first two films and then jumped backward to episode three which then, in my reasoning, and I will argue that my reasoning is correct here, for where we end up next week in moving on to Return of the Jedi, which is my particular favorite of the films for many reasons.
Now I do have to admit that Revenge of the Sith is the only Star Wars film that I never saw originally in the theater. In fact, I had never seen it on the big screen until we showed it there on Monday. And the reason I didn’t see it was because I was in the midst of seminary and I was so disappointed in Episode 2, Attack of the Clones, that I actually wasn’t interested in seeing Lucas make the franchise even worse. I will admit that I was mistaken, and while it is not what the originals were, it’s not as bad as I originally imagined, and it’s grown on me and is usually ranked as the best of the prequels, and is even as high as number four on some lists of the best, with the original trilogy occupying the top three. But that’s more nerdy filler. Two weeks ago, when we talked about The Empire Strikes back, we talked about the choices that Luke is presented with and has to make to follow the way of the Jedi or to follow the pull to turn to the dark side like Vader. And I said those choices are presented to all of us and that what Luke comes to discover is that what separates him from his father is not that he father was evil and he is good, but the choices that his father made that led him there. And we’ll save whether those choices are permanent or not for where we move to next week. But Revenge of the Sith sets up how and why Anakin Skywalker, who becomes Darth Vader, makes those choices. And in seeing them you can have some sympathy for him and understand his reasoning. He is trying to do the best that he can and trying to protect the people and the things that he loves, and in doing so he ends up destroying those same things. But he is not evil, it’s as they say that the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and Anakin ends up fighting Obi-Wan Kenobi at the end of the film in what might be seen as a metaphor for hell, but that’s jumping ahead of the story.
So very quick recap of where the story goes, the galaxy is
at war and Senator Palpatine, whom we find out is actually a Sith Lord, or a
follower of the dark side of the force, is given power and becomes emperor and
accuses all his foes of trying do the thing he wants to do, called projection,
what happens so often in politics. But to gain that power he battles against
the Jedi, the keepers of peace in the galaxy, as well as holders of power, and
so takes a young Anakin Skywalker under his wing because he senses the power that
he has and who strong he will become, although he wants to use this not for
Anakin’s sake, but for his own sake. Which becomes one of the key
differentiations in the Star Wars films, and in real life, of whether people
are a means to our own ends, things to use for our benefit, or whether we see
people as ends in and of themselves, and treat them as such, which is a means
of loving. But we also begin to see the struggle Anakin is going through, the
choices he is having to make, as we talked about two weeks ago with the cave of
evil and Luke, early in the film as Obi-Wan and Anakin go to rescue Chancellor
Palpatine from the grips of Count Dooku, who is a Sith Lord, or a follower of
the Darkside, although the whole thing has actually been set up by Palpatine,
although no one knows that yet, but took a look… (Video)
So, what does Dooku, and then Palpatine, want Anakin to make
more use of? His fear and anger and hate, and the arguments that Anakin has
about why he shouldn’t have killed Dooku, will be exactly the same as the ones
he makes that will save Palpatine’s life later in the film just before Anakin
turns to the dark side and becomes his apprentice. And, as I said before, it’s
not that Anakin, or even Darth Vader, are just evil, and therefore we can
explain everything away. What Revenge of the Sith shows so well is the
reasoning why he makes the decisions that he makes, and he thinks he’s doing it
for the right reasons, and yet we can also see the mistakes all along the way.
That, as Yoda says, “fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger,
anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.” And we so much hear that in
scripture as well. And while there are certainly other things we might have
pulled out of this movie, in some ways it was the easiest because these themes
of love and hate and anger are so prevalent.
And so, Jesus equates anger directly with murder. That just
as you are liable for murder, so you are also liable for anger. Why? Because
anger leads to that murder. And notice that Jesus makes no distinction here
between righteous anger, that is being angry about things that we maybe should
be angry about, like social justice issues, and unrighteous anger. No
distinction is made, because as they say “the road to hell is paved with good
intentions.” And so, I can say that there is room in scripture to be angry for
the right reasons, about the treatment of the poor as the prophets continually
highlight, but it’s what we do with that anger and how we use it against or
about other people.
Because one of the things that anger does, and we certainly
see this in Star Wars, is that it makes us feel righteous about what we are
doing, that our anger is justified and therefore whatever it leads us to do is
fine, right? And so Palpatine explains away Anakin’s anger as an act of revenge
that justifies what he did, even though Anakin knows it was wrong, but leads
him to understand things in a way to explain away his acting with aggression,
hate and anger. The ends were justified. But of course, they aren’t. That is
the very danger that Jesus is warning us about. That’s why he says that we are
to go and be reconciled with whomever we have an issue, in particular if they
have an issue with us, before we make any offerings at the altar. That is, we
need to put the fire out, we need to be healed in our relationships, we need to
be working on restoring brokenness there, as we also work, or celebrate, a
restored relationship with God. Hatred and anger in our relationships with
others impacts, or impairs, our ability to have a relationship with God. and
why? Because as we heard in the letter from John, because God is love. And we
are not called to love others because it gains us something, but because of the
love that God has already poured out for us. We love because God first loved
us. And so, notice that John uses pretty harsh language about hate, just as
Jesus does about anger. He says that anyone who says they love God but hate
their brother or sister are liars. Not that they are deceiving themselves, or
mistaken in their faith, but they are LIARS. In scripture this is also often
called bearing false witness, which is forbidden in scripture in those same
sets of laws that give punishment for murder, of being liable for judgment. If
you claim to be a Christian, if you claim to be in the light, or if you claim
to be following the force for our subject matter, and you hate another, then
you are lying. You are, in fact, living in darkness, you are in the dark side. And
ultimately, it’s wrapped up in the self-centeredness of this, rather than being
focused on others. That love ultimately takes us out of ourselves, and most of
you have heard this, but the love we’re talking about here is not the feeling,
but the doing for others. It is, as Augustine said, to will the good of
another.
And yet, as we see with Anakin, even the proclamation of
love can be self-serving and self-centered. Because what drives the decisions
that ultimately lead to Anakin’s destruction is his fear of losing Padme as he
has a vision that she will die in childbirth. But his fear is not really about
Padme, but about himself. Because nothing he does is to protect Padme, its to
protect himself from losing her and what that would do to him. it’s love of
self, and self-centeredness not love of the other. And to reiterate, as Yoda
says, fear is the path to the dark side, because fear leads to anger, anger
leads to hate and hate leads to suffering, which is not just for Anakin, but
for everyone around him. And so, after he decides to become Palpatine’s
apprentice, because he has been promised that he can make Padme immortal, the
first injunction given is that he must participate in killing all the Jedi,
because they are now enemies, and enemies must be destroyed, keep that
dichotomy in mind, and you can assume that anytime someone or a group works to
dehumanize someone else that violence will soon follow. So, Anakin goes to the
Jedi temple where he kills all of the younglings, or the child Jedi in
training, and then goes off to Mustafar, which is a Lucan vision of hell, where
he and Padme and Obi-Wan’s futures are decided, so take a look at this, which
has been heavily edited by me for time and also graphic images…. (Video)
And with that Anakin is now the Darth Vader he knows and in
doing so he can say, to quote Barbie “Now I become death, the destroyer of
worlds.” Or maybe that was Oppenheimer, with both films coming out together I
get confused, and either way they are quoting from the Bhagavad-Gita. But one
of the things that Star Wars also does well is to show the fact that hate will
eat you up. You can see it happen to Palpatine and you can also see it happen
to Anakin over the course of this film. We even see it in the lightsabers, as
those who follow the dark side have red lightsabers, and the reasoning given is
that all their anger, hatred and thirst for power are imparted into the kyber
crystal, turning it red. Hate will
destroy you, or as Dr. King said, “I have decided to stick with love because
hate is too great a burden to bear.” And he would certainly know something
about reasons, or desires, to hate someone else. So, did Mamie Mobley, the
mother of Emmitt Till, who said about her son’s murders when interviewed by Studs
Terkel, “It certainly would be unnatural not to (hate them), yet I’d have to
say I’m unnatural…The Lord gave me shield, I don’t know how to describe myself…
I did not wish them dead. I did not wish them in jail. If I had to, I could
take their four little children – they each had two – and I could raise those
children as if they were my own and I could have loved them…. I believe the
Lord meant what he said, and try to live according to the way I’ve been
taught.”
And so, while I could say that we have to choose which we are going to do, hate or love, in fact we don’t get that choice. Because if we choose to be disciples of Christ then we have to love. It’s not a choice at that point, because to be in the light, to be in God’s love, to have God abide in us then we have to abide in God and God is love, and love casts out fear, love casts out anger, love casts out hate, and discipleship calls for us to love. And so, Obi-Wan cry’s out I loved you and what does Anakin say, “I hate you.” Hate will destroy, hate will devastate, hate will ruin and hate will defeat. But we know that love will ultimately win. That love, in fact, is more powerful than anything else because God is love. There are plenty of people who call for us to be afraid, call for us to hate others, who say that you are either with me or against me, who want to make enemies of others, much of it done in the name of religion and much done simply for power, but what does Jesus say? Love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you and that we will be known by the love that we show to the world, because those who say they love God but hate their neighbors are liars. Jonathan Swift once said “We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another.” But I think he’s wrong. I think it is true for some, but we are called to commit our lives, our whole lives, to Christ, to follow the way of light, which means we must love. It’s not a choice, it’s a command, because we are to abide in God’s love, just as God abides in us, because God is love. I pray that it will be so my brothers and sisters. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment