This week at youth group we’re talking about selflessness. God created us to love him and love others. Unfortunately, because of sin, we are now selfish creatures. Instead of looking to the needs of others, we focus on our own needs and wants.
Jesus was the model of selflessness. According to Philippians 2 Jesus left heaven behind and came to earth because of us. He saw our need to be reconciled to the Father and placed our need above his own. He sought our good instead of his own.
We love when we see examples of selflessness. We love when people place the needs of others above their own, especially at great cost to themselves. Our greatest heroes are those who sacrifice their own lives for the lives of others. We’re moved when we see selfless acts because that’s how we all want to be, that’s who we were created to be.
We’re even moved by selfless acts in our favorite nerdclinations. Here are a few of my favorite nerdy selfless acts.
Darth Vader
Star Wars is my favorite nerdclination and its story culminates with Darth Vader’s selfless act. With his son dying at the hands of the Emperor, Vader sacrificed himself to save Luke. Whether he yelled “No” or not, we can still be moved by Vader’s act. When viewed as a whole, Episodes I-VI tell Anakin’s story: his rise, his fall and his eventual redemption. We want to see redemption especially when it comes through a selfless act.
Dobby
When reading the Harry Potter books I was most moved by Dobby’s death. I remember telling Alycia how much I hated Dobby when he made his first appearance. She assured me, though, that Dobby would grow on me. Alycia was right and Dobby became one of my favorite characters in the books. He died because he risked his own life to save Harry, Hermione and Ron from Bellatrix Lestrange. Harry gave Dobby his freedom and Dobby used that freedom to save Harry. Dobby’s death made me so sad because it was so senseless. He wasn’t a hero like Harry or Dumbledore; he was just a simple elf. In the end, though, he showed us how much of a hero he actually was.
Spock
Spock’s sacrifice in The Wrath of Khan is tremendous. It led to one of the most moving scenes in all of science fiction. Spock’s selfless act is different from the others I’ve mentioned. Vader and Dobby’s acts were full of emotion, filled with passion for those they loved. Spock’s selfless act wasn’t fueled by emotion; he simply acted logically. Whether we act selflessly out of fiery passion or cool logic, we’re still placing the needs of others above our own.
We love selfless acts because they reflect the heart and character of Jesus. We also love them because we want to emulate them. Hopefully we can learn how to be more selfless from selfless acts like those of Spock, Dobby and Jesus.
What are some of your favorite nerdy selfless acts?
My favorite was dobby’s. I am able to read through harry potter without crying now except when he dies. It is the most emotional part in the series for me
Seriously! I expected that Dumbledore would die so I was prepared for that. I didn’t see Dobby’s death coming, though; it was like a sucker punch to the stomach.
“When viewed as a whole, Episodes I-VI tell Anakin’s story” – Ah, I see you’ve drunk the Lucas Kool Aid. 🙂
In all seriousness, though, this is another fine post. And not just because you included Spock’s death in ST II . It reminds me that Kirk and company’s throwing away of their careers (so they thought) in ST III is equally as selfless. I’ve always loved that moment when, as he’s getting ready to take the Big E into warp, Kirk hears Captain Styles over on Excelsior saying, “Kirk, you do this, you’ll never sit in the captain’s chair again” — and then goes ahead and does it anyway. (Would’ve been interesting if the franchise had stuck with those consequences…)
Thanks for sharing your gifts of writing and reflecting with us, as always!
I love the Kool-Aid!
Kirk and crew’s selfless act is stunning. They not only sacrifice their careers but they also sacrifice their own standards. They loved Starfleet but they had to sacrifice that in order to save Spock.