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Well, it turns out that Obi-Wan is a Jedi, a peacekeeper sworn to use the mysterious power of the Force for good in the Galaxy. The message R2 has for Obi-Wan is a call to arms from Princess Leia to help deliver plans for the evil Empire’s new weapon to the Rebel Alliance on Alderaan in hopes of restoring balance to the Galaxy.
After hearing the message, Obi-Wan says to Luke, “You must learn the ways of the Force, if you’re to come with me to Alderaan.”
We might expect Luke to jump at this opportunity. He’s wanted to leave his home for a while, plus he’s just learned that his father was once a Jedi with Obi-Wan. Instead he responds by saying: “I can’t get involved. I’ve got work to do. It’s not that I like the Empire, I hate it, but there’s nothing I can do about it right now.”
Obi-Wan responds “That’s your uncle talking.” He correctly perceives that these are not Luke’s true desires, but those of the world pulling him away from his proper path.
Luke agrees to take Obi-Wan part of the way before returning home. Obi-Wan says “You must do what you feel is right, of course.”
On the way, Luke and Obi-Wan find the ruins of a Sandcrawler, the same Sandcrawler that Luke got the droids in the first place. Obi-Wan points out that this is the work of the Empire’s Stormtroopers, leading Luke to realize they could have found their place to his aunt and uncle’s moisture farm. Luke speeds away, but arrives too late.
When he returns to Obi-Wan, Luke has changed his tune. He tells Obi-Wan, “I want to come with you to Alderaan. There’s nothing for me here now. I want to learn the ways of the Force and become a Jedi like my father.”
Doing so puts Luke on a much greater path where he will learn more about the Force and try to set things right within the Galaxy.
Luke starts off like many of those we see in our readings this morning: Saul, also known as Paul, as he watches and approves the stoning of Stephen, Thomas as he fails to see that Jesus is the way he is looking for, Philip as he fails to recognize the Father within Jesus, and those who have continued to reject the cornerstone that is Jesus. Luke should know better, just as all these men should. He should know that the right path laid before him is the one which means studying the Force, but he doesn’t see that right away. It takes Luke time to come to terms with what is true, just as it took Paul, Thomas, and Philip time to see the truth.
That truth is the same truth that we are called to see. It is the words which Jesus says to us this morning, that Jesus “is the way, the truth, and the life,” and that “no one comes to the Father except through” Him.
Our path is to learn the ways of God and to share those ways with others just as 1 Peter lays out for us and just as Stephen, one of the first deacons of the church, once did. Our path is to use what we learn from our Lord and present it to the world in order to try to bring back what is Good to it. Our hope is to help show the Father in our Lord Jesus Christ to others, to reveal God as our refuge and strong rock, as we hear in the Psalm, and to give the hope of salvation to all.
To do that, we must take that first step into seeing the truth, just as Luke had to, that there is no other way. We have to see that Jesus is the truth that we seek and that we need. Like Luke, we have to accept our destiny in doing God’s work in the world.
Like Luke, Paul, Thomas, Phillip, and countless others, we might not see the path that has been laid out before us, at least not at first. But if we can accept the truth that there is no other way, then it will be a freeing path for us, no matter what we may encounter on the way. If we can accept Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life, then we can fulfill our path, our destiny, in service to Him, and doing that will allow us to do Good in this world.