Before I begin, I’d like us all to take a moment to meditate on two questions:
What is one situation where we acted or didn’t act because we were afraid?
What is one situation where we acted with courage? As you meditate on these two situations, you might consider how the Force worked all things out.
I bet Yoda on Dagobah could tell us a time or two of courage or cowardice. . We might see him facing off with Palpatine in the senatorial chamber as courage, but him choosing exile over quiet or loud rebellion as the Grandmaster of the Jedi Order, perhaps cowardice. I think it's so interesting that these two actions came from the same person.
I don’t pretend to know what Yoda was doing for all those years on Dagobah. Training? Regretting? Hoping? But, how often do we think of the time we acted or didn’t act because we were afraid with regret or with shame? How much different might we live if we knew that the Force worked all things out. The Force brought Luke to Dagobah. Yoda was able to pass on what he had learned.
We emulate what we understand of the Jedi path, but it’s important to remember that heroes are not without flaws. They don’t always take the courageous path. Sometimes they take the path of comfort. The fiction is full of examples, but, we see the resolution in the end. The Force works all things out. It’s not because the fiction has the job of giving us a “happily ever after”, but because the fiction gives us inspiration for life. It imbues us with faith.
Our statement of faith begins with “Jedi believe in the Force…”. There are many ways to interpret this, but for the purpose of this sermon, let us use the etymological definition “to have faith or confidence in”. I once heard a sermon say this about fear and faith: “Fear is believing something you can’t see will happen”. “Faith is believing something you can’t see will happen”. What’s the difference? Your faith or Your fear. What you let do the controlling. Your faith can be as simple as knowing that the Force works all things out. What will you do with faith built on that promise? I submit to you that you can be courageous. You can tackle a problem, mend a rift, set a boundary, take the first step on a long journey, be the first piece in a complicated puzzle.
We are instruments of peace (Meditation for Jedi), agents of the Force (Maxim 9) we understand the Force asks for our availability (Maxim 10) Sure, the Force works all thing out, but don’t you want to be there for the ride?
May the Force be with you
