Finn is
one of the pivotal characters in the film Star
Wars: The Force Awakens. He has been a storm trooper with the First Order.
They are the bad guys. Finn was kidnapped from his family and trained to be an
unquestioning soldier for the First Order. In his first battle, he refuses to
shoot his weapon at all, then he sees his friend die. Soon thereafter he
escapes from the First Order.
When we
pick up the story with the clip I just showed you he has met up with Rey, a
brave young woman who is trying to help the Resistance; those are the good
guys. Rey and Finn are joined by Han Solo. You know he’s a good guy. He’s been
around since the first Star Wars movie. Han Solo takes them to see his friend,
Maz Kanata, to ask for her help. In this scene we learn that Finn is not so
brave. He has been pretending to be a part of the Resistance. He is just a
scared AWOL storm trooper. He wants to get as far away from this fighting as
possible. But Rey needs his help. She sees something in him. She sees his
bravery. She sees the good inside of him.
But Finn
only wants to run away. He is scared. A little later in the day, after our clip
ends, Finn comes back. The fighting begins and he wants to help his friend Rey.
He begins to find his courage. Spoiler Alert: by the end of the movie he
becomes a hero for the Resistance.
Finn has
some similarities with Moses. Moses was also not raised by his own parents.
Though he lived in Pharaoh’s house with plenty of luxury, he was living with
the tyrant king who was making the lives of his people miserable. All the other
Hebrew boy babies had been killed by Pharaoh when Moses was born. Moses was
only saved because of his mother’s savvy. So both Finn and Moses lived in countries of
unrest.
Moses was
called upon to be a leader to do good for the suffering people, in much the
same way Finn was called, and Moses said “No,” just like Finn. Moses was
afraid. He used excuses about how he did not have the skills. He could not
speak eloquently. No one would listen to him. Moses said, “Why me? I’m nothing
special. Why would the people listen to me? I don’t even know your name.” (if
you want to hear the whole list of excuses, and are reading from afar, we read
Exodus 3: 1-17 in worship today).
But God would not hear any of it. God
responded to each one of Moses’ lame excuses. As you probably know
from your Old Testament history, Moses became a great leader of the people and
said to Pharaoh: “Let my people go.” And eventually Pharaoh did let them go; he
let the slaves be free. Of course then Pharaoh chased them with an army and God
had to set them free by parting the waters in the Red Sea. But God saved them.
Then they wandered in the Wilderness for 40 years but eventually God led them
into the Promised Land. Moses was the one who led them there. But at the
beginning Moses did not want to be a leader. He felt ill equipped.
Just like Finn, Moses was afraid. He
wanted to run in the opposite direction. But God would not hear of it. The
mission would not hear of it. They both had a job to do that only they could
do. It was the purpose for which they were created for.
What is your purpose? What is God
calling you to be and do? You see God uses unlikely people to achieve God’s
purposes. This past week at the Annual Conference of the United Methodist
Church we heard all sorts of stories of God using ordinary people to achieve
God’s purposes. We have been part of the Imagine No Malaria Campaign. Bill
Gates is partnering with the United Methodist Church to eradicate malaria from
Sub-Saharan African. When this campaign began a few years ago, 4 children died
every 2 minutes. Now only one child dies every 2 minutes. That may still seem
like too many children. But imagine that 3 children are living every two
minutes who would not have lived without this campaign. Our church contributed several
hundred dollars to the campaign thanks to our youth who had a car wash (saving
the lives of as many children as are in our youth group) and thanks to our
Christmas Offering one year. The West Ohio Conference contributed more than 3
million dollars over three years’ time. That was unlikely people coming
together to achieve God’s purpose.
You may not think God has a purpose for
you but God does. Your job is to discover that purpose. One way to discover
your purpose is to pray. Pray every day and listen to God. Don’t just talk.
Listen. Ask God what God has in mind for you and then wait and listen for God
to respond. It’s hard to wait. I know. I am an impatient person.
Another way to discover God’s purpose
for you is just to try things. Try something new. Get out of your comfort zone
and do something to make a difference in the world. Volunteer with an
organization that is doing something with people you care about. We talked
about this last week when we asked “When does your heart break?” If you know
when your heart breaks, there are probably other people whose hearts break over
the same thing. There is probably an organization that is doing something about
it. Find that organization and volunteer with them.
Now I can hear some of you are saying,
“I don’t have the gifts or the skills. I don’t know where to start.” Neither
did Finn or Moses. But they dove right in. Moses had no education, no formal
training for how to be the leader of a nation. He resisted God because he did
not think he had what it takes to do what God was asking him to do. But God
promised to help Moses. With every one of Moses’ objections, God had a
response. When Moses first said, “Who I am to save your people?” God said, “I
am with you.” That’s a big deal. Whatever we are called to do, we don’t have to
do it alone. God will be with us, giving us strength and wisdom.
Then Moses said he didn’t know what
name to give for God when the people asked him. God have that now famous answer:
“I Am who I am.” God is the great “I Am.”
Then Moses said, “Suppose they won’t
believe me or listen to me?” God then gave Moses three signs in order to show
them that he had special powers given by God. He had a staff he could turn into
a serpent; he could make his own hand leprous and then healed, and he could
turn water into blood.
Then Moses said, “I am not eloquent
enough a speaker to do this task.” And God said Moses would take his brother Aaron
with him. Aaron was an excellent speaker and would be part of Moses’ team for
this purpose.
Moses ran out of excuses and finally
accepted God’s call upon his life. You see, call is everything. If you are
called, God will give you what you need in order to live out that call. Or God
will show you the way to learn what you need to know. Or best yet, God will
send along other people to be a team to accomplish the task with you. You don’t
have to do everything. Moses had Aaron, and other leaders who assisted him.
God uses unlikely people to achieve
God’s purposes. So what does God have in mind for you? What is God calling you
to be and do? Whatever it is, it is your unique purpose. Only you can discern
it. Others can encourage you along the way, but your call is yours to claim.
Whatever it is, I urge you not to resist. Don’t be like Finn. Don’t be afraid
of your call. Lean into it. God created you with particular gifts and with a
unique purpose in mind. Trust God. Be the person God put you on this earth to
be.
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