R2D2...

 

“R2D2”

 

Luke 19:1-10
19:1 He entered Jericho and was passing through it.

19:2 A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich.

19:3 He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature.

19:4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way.

19:5 When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today."

19:6 So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him.

19:7 All who saw it began to grumble and said, "He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner."

19:8 Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, "Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much."

19:9 Then Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham.

19:10 For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost."

 

 

Two big things happened in my life in 1977. In that year—which seems like long ago and far, far away—the movie “Star Wars,” by director George Lucas, debuted in theaters across America, and I got married to a woman I had idolized since childhood. Both were epic events: one turned the world upside down, and the other was just a movie…well, it turned MY world upside down! 

 

Just a couple of weeks after our wedding on May 28 of that year, beautiful Dara and I went to see “Star Wars” at the Drake Theater in Oil City (we were living in Rocky Grove at the time). A couple things to know here: one, Dara is not a “movie buff,” and takes serious convincing to go to any movie that costs money to see; and two, “Star Wars” was a big unknown, but sounding like science fiction, it was definitely out of Dara’s “wheelhouse.” I had only seen a couple of the early TV trailers for the film, and honestly, they made it look like a kids’ film. They certainly did not persuade me to want to see the film. However, the Monday night after the film debuted, I followed my normal evening ritual and tuned in the “Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson (most of America did, too, back then). In their typical “what did you do over the weekend” banter between host, Carson, and “co-pilot,” Ed McMahon, Carson stated that he had gone to see “that new George Lucas film, ‘Star Wars’.” McMahon responded, “Isn’t that a KIDS’ film?,” to which Carson enthusiastically answered, “OH NO! It’s incredible! It’s going to be big! BIG!” When Carson “puffed” something, back then, you could be assured it WAS “big,” and that it would be quality. So, I convinced the bride to go with me, as one of our early adventures.

 

Now, I know I’m writing to several generations that know full well that “Star Wars” became QUITE “BIG!” In fact, it is still in vogue to make FUN of anyone who confesses to having never SEEN the series of films under this banner, but most especially the first one, which is now dubbed “Episode IV,” as Lucas went on to make the three “prequels.” But I can tell you that seeing that first “Star Wars” film was like nothing any of us had seen before. One literally “floated” out of the theater into “our” reality, feeling like one had been actually transported to another time “a long time ago” and “a galaxy far, far away.” It was magical. I would not experience that kind of “willing suspension of disbelief” (the dictionary definition of drama) until years later, when my college student daughter whisked us off to see “The Sorcerer’s Stone,” the first of the legendary “Harry Potter” movies. 

 

The big surprise—and a welcome one, at that—was that the beautiful princess Dara loved it! She like the story, the rapid pace, the “spiritual” overtones, but absolutely fell in LOVE with the “Droids,” and especially the little trash-can-inspired R2D2, with his fweeps, bleeps, and flashing lights. The creative genius George Lucas, when asked where he came up with the name for the chubby, diminutive robot, said that he was in the midst of writing the script for “Star Wars,” when he wandered into the sound editing suite where his team was finishing his earlier film, “American Graffiti.”  As Lucas sat there pondering, the chief sound editor asked the tape guy to cue up “R2D2.” Lucas said, “Wait—what is that?” The editor said, “Reel 2, Dialogue 2—R2D2.” A robot name was born! 

 

Now that may be more than you wanted to know, both about “Star Wars” and my early marriage, but I DO have a point here! As I was studying the famous “Zacchaeus” passage from Luke—one of the lectionary selections for this weekend—all I could think of was R2D2, the little droid that stole my young wife’s affections. It seems that R2D2 and Zacchaeus may have a lot in common.

 

In the first “Star Wars” film, the droids, C3PO and R2D2 are introduced to the audience as a kind of “Laurel and Hardy” comic relief. But before the end of the movie, they are heroes, and especially the little silver and blue little guy, who bears the secret plans for the “Death Star,” that makes possible its demise by hero Luke Skywalker, who is a “Christ figure” in anybody’s book. (Why, just take the name of storyteller Lucas’s favorite Gospel writer from his Methodist roots, and stick it with a Native American euphemism for the Great Spirit, and there you have it!) Fact is, now that we have the benefit of all nine films, we know that the two droids are the only characters who appear in ALL of the films. They are the “narration tools” or talismans that carry forth the legend from movie to movie, and R2D2’s special alliance with the whole corpus of the Skywalker motif give him prominence in the “droid world.” Now, C3PO is important, too, as he is the “foil” for R2D2, but he is also his “mouthpiece,” able to communication with all of the machine world, including interpreting R2D2’s electronic signals. That makes him a kind of “Peter” figure in the story, for even with all of his fears and flaws, the story just wouldn’t have gone forward without him. But that is another sermon for another time…

 

Zacchaeus, we are told by Luke, is a “chief tax collector” and is “rich.” He is also short, which was probably just as big a social handicap in his day as it is today, spoken by the shortest Sterling male in my family lineage. He couldn’t even see Jesus, so he climbs a tree to overcome his “short-sightedness.” Of course, this may have also put him square in Jesus’ line-of-sight, hence his story joins the stuff of legend, but I’m not so sure Jesus wouldn’t have found him, anyway. You see, Jesus liked tax collectors, fishermen, and “sinners,” according to the Pharisees. Matthew was a tax collector, and Judas may have been one, too, given he is made treasurer by the disciples. Tax collectors knew how to handle money—it was their job. And here we have Jesus making an important connection with Zacchaeus, another tax collector. Even as fishermen would have known how to “communicate” with the blue-collar culture of First Century Palestine, so would tax collectors understand the “hoity-toity” world of the rich and “high society.” And since Jesus talked more about money than any other subject, probably because it holds so much sway over everyone, he needed followers who knew about it and had a history with it. Tax collectors were often seen as “unredeemable” by the culture of that time, and so in redeeming so many of them, Jesus offered hope for all, and built a “base” out of their knowledge and power. 

 

Even as we have turned Zacchaeus’s story into a “children’s yarn” and a cute little song, so we miss the power of how George Lucas uses R2D2 and the droids to carry his narrative and build an “empire” of story. Jesus was quite intentional about weaving the tax collectors and “C3POs” (fishermen) into his story, knowing they would carry the day. They understood the language of the target audience and how to connect with it. Just as with George Lucas’s droids, there is a universalism about the tax collectors and fishermen. And just as the “evil forces” of the Empire were empowered by technology, the two feisty droids countermand that technological advantage with their technology, woven together with the cleverness of the “good guys” and the power of story. In our gospel tale, Jesus, the “Jedi Master,” gathers a band of loyal commoners who bring passion, knowledge of the sitz im leben of the day, and a poignant “ignorance” that fed a desire to “learn from the master.” Luke Skywalker, meet Obi-Wan Kenobi (and later Yoda, HIS master); Darth Vader (Satan), meet your match, drawn from the common “dirt” of the creation! 

 

Look again at the story of our first century “R2D2” stand-in, Zacchaeus. He was living in the house of luxury and power before his chance meeting with Jesus, which changed his life forever. Being “short of stature” may have been about more than his height, but may also be seen as an assessment of how “short” he was of what he truly wanted to be. Wealth and power not only can corrupt, but they are ultimately very unfulfilling. Ask Darth Vader. From what he had heard about Jesus, Zacchaeus want so much more out of his existence, and believed Jesus may be the key. Sound familiar to YOUR story? He climbs a Sycamore tree to get a better view, possibly signaling the “view” Jesus would later get from the tree he “climbed” for us all. Oh, by the way, the Sycamore tree is the pretty agreed upon identity of what has come to be known as the “Tree of Life.” This imagery of the little tax collector hanging in the Tree of Life in order to get a good look at Jesus was certainly not lost on Jesus. Their meeting is akin to young Mr. Skywalker having his first meeting with R2D2, who plays a message that will change Luke’s life forever. In the Bible story, the message flows in the other direction, but the effect is quite the same. Salvation comes to the “house” of Zacchaeus, meaning his entire world—including the future of his family, for this is what “house” included—was about to be changed by it. 

 

Of course, being a good Wesleyan, Zacchaeus pledges to turn his new-found redemption into a life of generosity, a complete reordering of his priorities, and service to God and others. He pledges to make right the wrongs of his life. This commitment always seems to impress Jesus in the gospels. That little robot R2D2 could have kept that hidden message to himself, never stepped into that escape pod, and might never have gone looking for Obi-Wan Kenobi. He would have missed his destiny by never crossing paths with Luke Skywalker. And we would never had heard the saga of it all. Again, sound familiar? Curious tax collectors and disaffected fishermen are the stuff Kingdoms are made up of, at least for Jesus.

 

I don’t know which characters in the “Star Wars” series you may have identified with, but almost all of them have biblical origins, as do most memorable literary or cinematic persona. I suppose one could make a case for Han Solo being a composite of the Woman at the Well and the Apostle Paul, but that, too, is a sermon for another time. I locked on to R2D2 as I reviewed the story of Zacchaeus because the characteristic they first shared was that they were short. In both stories, they turn out to stand taller than almost anyone else in the narrative, and they are fulcrum characters, par excellence. Thanks to R2D2, the evil Empire is vanquished. Thanks to Zacchaeus, all of us who think we have it all together, and yet are somehow unsatisfied with life, have a hope for salvation. In Jesus Christ, both “trees” become the Tree of Life for us all. 

 

If you have found the Master, keep your lights flashing and your fweeps and boops signaling your continued hunger for following him and knowing him more deeply. If you are still in the pre-tree-climbing mode of Zacchaeus, keep seeking a better view, and the Lord of the Tree of Life will seek YOU out. These are the great signs of hope and love we get from this marvelous Bible story of a “wee little man.” And if you are a “Star Wars” fan, watch it again for the plethora of parallels between its protagonists and our Bible heroes. And never be like the religious leaders who missed the magic because they criticized Jesus for “going to the house” of tax collectors and “sinners,” instead of realizing they were the world that was his parish. And they would become the “rock” upon which he would build his church. Amen!