Yoda and Jesus

“DO OR DO NOT, There is no TRY.”

These words of wisdom from Master Yoda have axiomatic authority, they don’t need proof, they are just so. So what’s wrong with trying? There is nothing wrong with the kind of trying that comes from commitment, only the kind that is used to avoid commitment.

When I, a Christian preacher, encounter something with that kind of authority, I find myself thinking, “that has to be somewhere in the Bible.” I looked for it, and I found it in Matthew 25:14-30.

14“For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; 15to one he gave five talents,£ to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. 17In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. 18But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. 20Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents.’ 21His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and fathful slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ 22And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents.’ 23His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ 24Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; 25so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ 26But his master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter? 27Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest. 28So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. 29For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. 30As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Jesus had been telling his disciples that his death and resurrection were coming. That his death and resurrection would begin the final movement of history toward the new heaven and new earth of full redemption that is the Kingdom of God. We who trust in Jesus are looking forward to that final victory now.

But while those who trust in Jesus, trust by faith that the Kingdom is coming, they do have to remain faithful through the “in between” time, with its conflict and suffering. At times God seems absent, like He too, is in a far country. But He is bringing the kingdom to completeness, even though we need eyes of faith to see it. Jesus taught us to trust and keep looking in the parables about the yeast, and about the wheat and weeds.

So Jesus tells this story.  There was a man, who was very wealthy, and was about to become king of a distant country. He had to go there and he would be gone for a long time. He gathered the three servants, who would be in charge while he was away, and allotted to each of them a part of his money. One of them was given 5 talents, one was given 2 talents, and the other 1.

A talent is 75 pounds of gold or Silver and  would be the equal of 20 years or more, of a laborer’s income at the time. The servant, who got one talent, was not cheated. He may have looked at what they received, and forgot how very much he was given, but even one talent is a fortune.

The owner is gone a long time, but he does come back and takes reports from all three.

Two of the servants used the money in business and earned a 100% profit, the other took no risk, prepared an excuse to use when he had to give an accounting of his stewardship. He also tried to blame the owner.

Now how does Yoda’s wise proverb apply to the story, and to me?

I realize that most often “I’ll try” is a way I have of anticipating and excusing failure. It is a way I pre excuse myself for giving less than a wholehearted effort, in short to be less than faithful.

I can hear this servant saying, “I’ll take the money and I’ll try to do something with it,” while planning to do nothing.

By-the-way who is he kidding, the owner or himself?

When the owner returned and had an accounting with the three servants, he was able to congratulate the two on their faithfulness, and richly reward them.

But the one, told of his suspicion that the owner was a hard case, who could not be trusted. He chose to take no chances and buried the talent all wrapped up and gave it back unused. The owner said if you thought that about me, why didn’t you just put it in a savings account? Small risk, and at least a little interest. Because the others were faithful and he wasn’t, his talent was turned over to the 5 talent man, and he was thrown out.

The owner was interested in faithfulness. I wonder what he would have said if the other two, or one of them, had gone broke? Because he congratulated them for their faithfulness, not their profits, I think he would still have honored the faithfulness if there had been no profits.

It is good news to me that Jesus is more concerned with faithfulness than with success. That gives me permission to take chances, to act on faith, even when success is hard to predict. If something is clearly right, and of God, we can go for it, knowing our Master has our back, and knowing that success is being faithful, not what most people call success.

Those who trust in Jesus know by faith that the Kingdom is coming, but they have to remain faithful through the “in between” time.

Now there is a question in this that won’t leave me alone. Faithful to what? The answer may seem obvious, not needing to be defined. Unfortunately there is confusion about what  faithful Christianity looks like. The differences in behavior we see among groups called Christians are great enough to leave us seriously disorientated.

So as the coach says to the team that is struggling, “Remember the basics.” With us it’s always about;

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and soul, and mind, and strength, and your neighbor as yourself.” The follow up question, “And who is my neighbor?” is answered with the Good Samaritan Story. This whole explanation is in Luke 10:25-37.

For the “investor” who is growing in faithfulness, there is also The Sermon on the Mountain, found in Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7. This is where we are led to go beyond “accepting Jesus as our savior”, to letting Him be the Lord of our whole life.

In Luke 10:25-37, and in Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7, Jesus is teaching us what being faithful to him looks like.

There is risk in taking Jesus seriously, especially when you see clearly that his teaching is counter intuitive, when measured by worldly wisdom. But we worship a crucified and risen savior, therefore, living dangerously is at the heart of following him, doing what he taught us to do.

God cares about faithfulness. Often He brings success from what we think are failures, like Jesus on the cross. Strangely, or maybe not so strangely, success comes more often when our goal is to be faithful, rather than just successful.

So in the interest of faithfulness, I have decided to eliminate “I’ll try” from my vocabulary and live the adventure of trustful risk taking. “Do or do not, there is no try.” I will take every opportunity to bring hope to hurting people. Some are hurting because of physical needs, some because of inner turmoil, but whatever it is and whoever it is, I will tell what Jesus can do, and do what Jesus enables me to do.   

The Kingdom of God is coming, and wherever people love their neighbor as themselves, it is here!

What I want you to do is commit yourself, “take the dare, be a faithful risk taker.” “Do or do not, there is no try.”