Rogue One: Fear Vs Faith

The excitement of the release of Rogue One has us in great anticipation. The story line of Rogue One seems to parallel our times in significant ways. This is the first in a series of four posts that will pick some key themes in Rogue One and discuss openly the threads entice us. We hope you will enjoy the movie and the discussions :)

In a time of conflict, a group of unlikely heroes band together on a mission to steal the plans to the Death Star, the Empire's ultimate weapon of destruction. This key event in the Star Wars timeline brings together ordinary people who choose to do extraordinary things, and in doing so, become part of something greater than themselves.

We live in days of great uncertainty and conflict. You can see it world wide as we all grapple with a growing population, competition for remaining resources and the economic extremes that exist. It seems we are living in a time of rumors of wars and conflict. It is pretty similar to the pressures we see on the rebels in Rogue One as the ultimate oppressor is preparing a weapon of awe in the Death Star. There are two ways to respond to these pressures. One is fear and the other is hope. We see the rebels ultimately opt for hope. We should do the same, but what do we put our hope into these days?

Fear:

Natural human tendencies are to let fear grip us and cause reactions that don't really work. We can run away and get as far away from the threat, but that hardly works. We can boldly lash out in the face of an overwhelming dark side of  "The Force:" and pay the consequences. We could make sure that others succumb first buying us time. we don't think this really works for the long term. Our suggestion is hope that the rebels chose.

Hope:

Hope is only as good as what the hope is placed into for resolution.  You can place hope in your family and friends. You can place your hope in community. You can place your hope in your investment portfolio. You can place your hope in your own efforts. The rebels put their hope in working together guided by the good side of  "The Force".

Bottom Line:

What or whom you put your hope into is a big bet for your life. It's a matter of life and death as it is in the movie. Where does your hope lie? Our lies in the proven and great God who sent his son "Jesus Christ". We are excited about celebrating Rogue One, but we are even more excited about celebrating Christmas as the birthday of the One we our hope in today and for eternity.