There’s no escaping Star Wars, not even in church. According to NBC, at least one congregation this Sunday will be treated to a multimedia sermon inspired by the film Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which opened in theaters around the world today, Dec. 17.
The sermon at Zions Church in Berlin will involve clips from the film shown on a screen behind the pulpit. It is designed to explore “the juxtaposition of good and bad, light and dark,” minister Eva-Maria Menard told NBC.
“The ‘Star Wars’ movies create an anticipation of whether the good will prevail,” said Menard. “And the Advent season is also a period of anticipation before Christmas.”
Menard is hardly the first to draw a connection between the Star Wars series and Christianity. Tension between the series’ Light Side and the Dark Side is often interpreted as a symbol of the battle between good and evil in the Christian faith.
In his 2005 book Christian Wisdom of the Jedi Masters, Christian radio host Dick Staub filled 300 pages with parallels between Jedi teachings and biblical teachings. Luke Skywalker, Staub posits, represents Jesus Christ in Star Wars—born to restore order to the intergalactic universe.
Several other enduring series, including C.S. Lewis’s Narnia novels and J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series also center on a power struggle between good and bad. The creative way these tales impart lessons of morality have endeared them to children and parents alike for years, although not without some controversy.