I don’t know how much of a Star Wars fan you have to be to recognize A New Hope as the title of the first movie in the canon. In 1977 the movie was simply Star Wars. Since that time eight more episodes hit the screens. Now Star Wars, aka A New Hope, is the fourth episode.
I’m not going to delve into a discussion of the series. Even if you’re a nonfan, you have to recognize how much of an impact the movies have had on popular culture. It is significant.
I wonder why it made such an impact?
There have been college theses written on Star Wars, and dorm room philosophers have debated “what does it all mean, anyway?”
My sense is that it all is built on the concept of hope. You know I’m all about hope.
Without descending too far into geekdom, here’s the opening title crawl from the movie:
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…
“It is a period of civil war. Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire. During the battle, Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire’s ultimate weapon, the DeathStar, an armored space station with enough power to destroy an entire planet. Pursued by the Empire’s sinister agents, Princess Leia races home aboard her starship, custodian of the stolen plans that can save her people and restore freedom to the galaxy.”
The hope, then, is in the possibility that Leia’s people can be saved and freedom can be restored to the galaxy.
The substance of Episode Four, A New Hope, is something we can embrace. Because there is always hope.
At this writing, we are one day into 2020.
Carpe annum!
Because, although it’s simply another date on the calendar, we tend to look at January 1 as an opportunity to begin again. To revel in a new hope that what was doesn’t always have to be.
How does that hope become a reality in your own life?
It may be that we’re held hostage to our past. This is a theme you’ll find me returning to from time to time. Here’s my take on it today.
Ever wish anything bad you ever did could be wiped away? I don’t mean simply forgotten. I mean eradicated.
Then check this out. It’s from the ancient book of Isaiah, chapter 65, verse 17.
See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.
And in that same vein, Isaiah 43:18-19:
“Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.
Man, there’s some good stuff here. Stuff to give you a new hope.
We’ve all done things we regret, but we don’t have to live in that regret. There is this amazing promise of all things being made new. It’s not just fixing things that are broken. It’s a brand new, clean slate start.
I like that. But there’s more.
God doesn’t hold our past against us. Nor should we. He commands us to forget the former things and not dwell in the past.
God even spells out what He wants to do.
Isaiah 43:19 tells us that God is making a way in the wilderness, and is placing streams in the wasteland.
It may be that the imagery conjured up by the words “wilderness” and “wasteland” resonates with you. You may have felt like you’ve been in the wilderness, just wandering around aimlessly, trying to find your way home. And the wasteland? Desolation. Loneliness. Maybe even abandonment.
Let me give you a new hope that comes from God Himself.
It doesn’t have to be this way, because He is God.
God is not bound by the same things that bind us. He has the vantage point of eternity. We are locked into the right now, and that’s influenced by what was.
Because God isn’t limited as we are, He has the power to do, well, anything. All of creation is available to God to bless us with.
Can He make paths in the wilderness? You bet. Just as earth movers and bulldozers can make roadbeds, God can do the same thing for us. He clears life’s paths before us.
And streams in the wasteland, the desert? He’s got that too. He’s brought water from a rock. He’s fed people with manna. He placed a new star in the heavens to point toward Jesus.
In other words, He’s got the whole world in His hands. He can take all of the resources of the universe and deploy them to meet our needs.
So it doesn’t matter what our failures have been, or what our current shortcomings are. Those former things won’t even come to His mind. He has every intention of doing a new thing in all of our lives.
You want a new hope? There it is.
It’s 2020. What would your life look like if you let God make it new?
Be blessed, y’all.
(Note: Some of the thoughts expressed here were inspired by words from my boss, Dr. Jim Futral, earlier today in our building chapel service. He is retiring at the end of February, and I will miss him.)