The Hard Task of Letting Go

I don’t know about you, but I have always been more of a Star Trek fan than I was a Star Wars fan. I found James T Kirk so much cooler than Luke Skywalker. But when thinking about the message this week, there’s a scene that came to mind in one of the Star Wars movies where Yoda (a Jedi Master) is counselling Anakin. And those over the age of 50 would know that Anakin would eventually become Darth Vader, who was the father of Luke Skywalker.

Anyways, Anakin is struggling with dark thoughts, of fear and of loss, and Yoda says, “the fear of loss is a path to the dark side,” so Anakin asks, “what must I do master Yoda,” and Yoda responds, “train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose.”

Now let me be clear, I’m not saying to take your theology from Star Wars, but there is something to what Yoda says here because there are times when the harder we try to hold onto something, the more it seems to slip through our fingers, our increased effort and struggle seem to make it worse? I wonder if it’s because of what we are trying to hold on to, maybe it’s because of why we are trying so hard. Maybe what we try to hold on to isn’t good for us, or maybe the motive behind our efforts is selfish and prideful which it often is. Maybe there’s something to Yoda’s idea of ‘letting go’ that might bring us freedom. 

For Christians, when it comes to our Salvation, we try to get in on the act, we think that we have a hand in it, that we can do enough good to deserve it, and so we do this deed and that deed, because we want to pat ourselves on the back. As we approach Easter, can we consider ‘letting go’ of the idea that the safety of our eternal souls might depend on us. If I ever thought that your eternal salvation depended on the quality of my speech, or the way that I present the gospel, I’d quit now, I know I wouldn’t ever be good enough, the pressure would be too much for me to bear.

Our Salvation depends on God, and God alone, it is God alone that saves. That’s the big takeaway from our exploration of our Reformed heritage this week, that God alone saves. This is a doctrine called Monergism, and this resonates beautifully with Jesus’ journey to cross and victory over it.  Our lectionary passage is one of so many in scripture that affirm this doctrine. Take a moment to read and meditate on Psalm 121.

May God bless you with the confidence of His Saving Grace.

Josh