Ever since I was a ten-year-old who went with his Dad to the cinema to see a new film called ‘Star Wars (a new hope)’ I have been a fan of that film franchise. There’s something about the galactic struggle between the forces of good and evil (or the light and dark side of ‘the Force’ to be more accurate) played out in the lives of individual heroes and villains that captured my imagination all those years ago and has stayed with me for almost half a century (ahem).
One of the most endearing characters in the franchise for me is Yoda. He’s a mysterious green figure who appears first in the sequel: The Empire Strikes Back and trains our hero, Luke Skywalker, in the ways of the Jedi. Unusual word order in sentences he uses. Recognisable quality of Yoda it is. He appears in other films – sequels and prequels and more of his back story is filled in, but we really don’t know a lot about him…
Fast forward a long way and we arrive at a spin-off series of this franchise: The Mandalorian. In it we find a baby version of Yoda who is initially known as ‘the kid’ and later we learn is called Grogu but is also known by fans as ‘baby Yoda’. He has some ability to use the force, an almost insatiable appetite to eat gross things, and the cutest smile and character.
The interesting thing is that we still known nothing about his background. There are so many unanswered questions: we don’t know what his species is, what planet he’s from, whether he’s any relation to Yoda… And it’s partly the prospect of some of these questions being answered that keeps fans coming back for more. Yet we can happily live with them being unanswered questions.
It works for a sci-fi film franchise, but it seems to me that Christians can’t cope with unanswered questions about faith. But Jesus was full of them. Sometimes he answered questions with questions, sometimes he answered questions with stories (parables) and sometimes he refused to answer at all. The way he spoke about concepts like the Kingdom of God were full of mystery (‘The Kingdom of God is like…’). At times he was even enigmatic about who he really was and where he had come from!
I don’t think that Jesus intended Christianity to be a systematic set of dogmas – he calls people to a relationship, to a lifelong journey of discovery, to boldly following where no person has gone before (if I may riskily cross franchises and adapt an iconic phrase).
At our church I am offering a ‘Have you got questions?’ evening where people can come along with any questions they have about life, faith, church, the Bible, Jesus… I am not promising that I have got all the answers (even I am not that arrogant) but I believe it’s important that people know that questions are good even if they don’t have an answer because it shows that it matters.
be blessed, be a blessing
by the way, if you’re into the Star Wars franchise you may enjoy the Ongoing Adventures of Minillenium Falcon
nukelearfishing 
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