A New Hope… or the story behind ‘The Empire Strikes Back.’

I read this story in a book I have been reading [in the bath] recently:

A young and relatively unknown actor called Mark Hamill had been delighted to land the part of Luke Skywalker in the first Star Wars movie. Of course, the film went on to exceed every possible expectation of success, and Hamill enthusiastically accepted the invitation to return as Skywalker in The Empire Strikes Back, despite a prior commitment to play a part in a low-grade TV series, due to be filmed around the same time. The producers of the TV show refused to release Hamill from the contract, confident that his presence would boost their ratings – especially if the Star Wars sequel should happen to do as well as the original.

Legend has it that, just days before filming was due to begin, Mark was involved in a car crash which left him with broken nose and a scar on his face. The TV company – having no use for a disfigured star – quickly released Hamill from his contract. But George Lucas’ response was very different: Seeing his baby-faced hero was now scarred and bruised, he re-wrote the opening scenes of the film. And that is why The Empire Strikes Back begins with Luke Skywalker not in the jungle as originally scripted, but trudging through snow – his face covered because of the cold – until he encounters a terrible snow-monster. The hideous beast strikes him across the face, leaving Luke scarred for the rest of the film. George Lucas had taken a disaster and used it to make the film better.

So many of us are disfigured by life, and we assume God will respond to us like the fast-buck TV company, by rejecting us for our imperfections – cutting us out of its plans. But in fact, like George Lucas carefully creating his masterpiece around Hamill’s scars, the Creator takes the wounds of our lives and uses them to make even better stories. The Bible calls this redemption. God does not reject us for our scars, and he does more than merely rescue us from our pain. God redeems our lives. He turns weakness into strength, ugliness into beauty, and weaves the scars of sin and pain into an even better story. Through David’s adultery, god gave us the beauty and comfort of Psalm 51. through the treachery of Judas, we are saved. Through a broken body on a cross, grace makes us whole.