I blame my sister for turning my interest to the original series of Star Trek®. I was in high school and she came to visit and she saw that the reruns of the original series aired at around 4:00 p.m. She loved it so I watched a couple of episode with her and I was hooked.
“Let That Be Your Last Battlefield” stands out from the rest as a favorite Star Trek® episode. En route to the planet Ariannus to fight a bacterial invasion, the Starship Enterprise encounters a stolen Starfleet shuttle piloted by a man from the planet Cheron named Lokai. Shortly thereafter, another vessel crashes into the shields of the Enterprise, with Commissioner Bele who is the chief officer on the Commission of Political Traitors on Cheron aboard, claiming that Lokai was charged with treason but escaped. Kirk refuses, for no treaty exists allowing him to take Lokai, so Kirk will turn Lokai over to be tried at Starbase 4 — the place from where the shuttle was stolen.
To make a long story short, it turns out that these two were enemies from different races — even though they both were black on one side and white on the other. When they both were in the lounge on the Enterprise, Bele noted that his race was the master race on Cheron. Mr. Spock responded to the effect of, “You mean you both are not of the same race?” Bele was astonished! “Mr. Spock, you can’t tell? I am white on the left side, Lokai is white on the outside.” What must be noted about this episode is that when they finally arrived to Cheron, the civil war that had taken place for those thousand years had ultimately wiped all the inhabitants of Cheron out. No one survived. What was Bele’s and Lokai’s response? Did they reconcile, noting the result of their hatred? Not at all. In fact, they transported themselves down back to Cheron and continued their rivalry stemmed in hatred.
Although this episode is science fiction, one cannot help but notice how true to life these problems can be. Whether it was the white and the blacks for most of U.S. history or the Muslims versus the West; whether it is Democrats versus Republicans or Northern Ireland versus Ireland, or Communists versus Capitalists — social, political, and cultural barriers exists between peoples all over the world and throughout all of history. Even with all of these conflicts, R. Kent Hughes tells us though that:
A study of the history of the ancient world tells us that none of today’s social distinctions — none of our racial barriers, our narrow nationalisms, our iron curtains — are more exclusive or unrelenting than the separation between Jews and Gentiles of Biblical times.[1]
When approaching Ephesians 2:11-22, the Apostle Paul conveys how God has reconciled the Gentiles and the Jews through the work of His Son, Jesus Christ. Can there be peace in our time? Through Christ, yes, there certainly can be peace. This peace cannot be found through negotiation, military action, interventions, or legislations. Peace only comes through Christ, for if Christ can reconcile these bitter enemies in the Gentiles and Jews, he is certainly able to reconcile enemies on earth as well as reconcile a sinful humanity to a holy God.
(To listen to the rest of this sermon, click here — you will need Real Audio capabilities. Log on to http://www.real.com for a free copy. This was preached on Sunday, October 1, 2006 at Boone’s Creek Baptist Church. This sermon will be up until Sunday, October 29, 2006.)
[1] R. Kent Hughes. Ephesians: The Mystery of the Body of Christ from Preaching The Word Series (Crossway Books: Wheaton, IL, 1990). 89.
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Scotty gives the best line EVER: “Were going nowhere, mighty fast!”