This weekend is Memorial Day weekend, a time to remember those who died in war. Meanwhile several wars are raging around the world, including some that involve our country. War is a difficult subject for Christians. While we honor those who gave their lives for something bigger than themselves and acknowledge that war and military imagery are common in Scripture, we also affirm Jesus' teaching on nonviolence and the Bible's vision of a peaceful kingdom by looking at war from a Christian perspective. Key Scriptures: Joshua 4:1-9; Isaiah 2:1-4; 11:1-9; Matthew 5:38-48. You don’t have to speak Klingon, be able to tell an Andorian apart from a Tellarite, or know how many tribbles it takes to fill a space station storage compartment to enjoy the blockbuster version of Star Trek on the big screen this summer. The new film "reboots” the 43-year-old franchise and tells a story that assumes no prior Star Trek knowledge on the part of the moviegoer. But die-hard Trekkies will notice that 2009’s Star Trek shares with previous incarnations of the franchise a bright and optimistic vision of the future. Christians also look with hope toward a bright future, even during times of struggle and uncertainty. Our hope, however, rests not in social progress or technology but in God. Next week we’ll talk about how our bright future can energize us to live in new ways today.
