So I suppose I can admit publicly that I am a Battlestar Galactica fan. The show seems to have cleaned up its act a bit this season, and if Dave Sliker can use losing at Risk as an illustration of Psalm 2, I think I'm justified in using Battlestar Galactica as an illustration…

In a recent episode, Colonel Tigh commented that the Galactica had been so beat up in its last battle that it would take 6 months in dry dock just to get out the dents (let alone the more serious damage).

Those not familiar with the series could easily miss the pathos in this comment. There is no dry dock for Galactica. There never will be. The only dry docks that existed for the Colonial Fleet were destroyed in the Cylon invasion of the Colonies, and the home that the Colonials left behind is now an uninhabited radioactive wasteland thousands of light-years away. Galactica may be crippled and limping along, but there is no hope for repair. There's no home to go back to.

The only hope that the Galactica has is that the rumors and vague hints of a new home (a place called "Earth"), may possibly be true.

The Bible tells us that the world is "fallen." What we see around us is the crippled and limping wreck of a planet which was all but destroyed in its last battle – the one in which the appointed governors of the world willingly and treacherously handed over the keys to the arch-enemy of all creation. The fact that the world exists at all after that disaster is only a testimony to the mercy of its rightful King.

The image of Galactica heavily damaged and in need of extensive repairs which can never come is only the faintest shadow of the reality in which we live every day. Everything is broken, everything is wrong, and there is no hope for repair or restoration in this world.

But we too have rumors and hints of a hope. The rumor is that the King who made the world – that He entered His creation, became one of us, brought all the brokenness and decay of fallenness into Himself, and then conquered it all. He did away with the brokenness of sickness and death and the much more serious problem of the treacherous rebellion of the human heart by His death on the cross.

There is life for the world; there is a hope and a future; there will be a restoration and a setting-right of all things. The King will come again and He will set up His Kingdom literally and physically on planet Earth, and "of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end." (Isaiah 9:1-7)

But here we come to the part that is strange. We live in the midst of total disaster; everything is wrong, and in our heart of hearts, we all know it. We all know that we don't have what we need to make life work; that our lives are fundamentally lacking. There is a great emptiness and hopelessness at the heart of creation and the human heart…

And yet, we deny it continually. Democratic nations are built on hopeful promises for a future where things really get fixed once and for all and everything works right; Undemocratic nations are built on the imaginations of men who believe that somehow the increase of their own government and power will know no end. Individually, we all pretend that with a bit more organization, a bit better planning, a bit more effort, or just a bit more luck, we will somehow break through the problems and everything will be fixed.

It is not surprising that nonChristians believe this. After all, for them, there is no hope any other way. Why admit defeat when there's no possibility that anything will be different? As I heard someone say recently, "Why stop running when you believe that no one will have mercy on you, even if you're severely injured?"

What is surprising is that Christians believe this. We act like, somehow, we will pull things together. Sure, my life is full of sin and depression and confusion. Sure, my church is full of pride and anger and strife and worldly ambition. But if we just try a little harder… if we just get a little better theory for how to make life work…

Most frightening of all is that when we define the problem in those terms, and seek the solution by those means, we will define success in the same terms. We will actually think that we are making a difference when we plug three holes in a sinking ship. Look, last year there were 27 holes in the ship. This year, there are only 24. We are clearly making progress! What we fail to realize is that last year the water was up to our shins. Now it is up to our waists. The ship is going down and "a bit more" of the same is never going to save us.

Jesus addressed this issue when He spoke to the church in Laodicea:

Revelation 3:17-19

Because you say, 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing'—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.

The reality for every one of our lives and every one of our churches is exactly what Jesus says: Poor. Blind. Naked. The only way that any of those conditions changes is when we live in active relationship with the Lord. He does not give us gifts so that we do not need Him anymore. The only Gift He gives us is Himself. To the extent that we are connected with Him, we are rich, we can see, and we are clothed in white garments. To the extent that we live without Him, we will always be poor, blind, and naked.

The amazing promise here is that the currency by which Jesus allows us to purchase "gold refined in the fire" that we may be rich and "white garments" that we may not be naked and "eye salve" that we may see, is precisely what we have: our hunger. Poverty buys gold. Nakedness buys garments. Blindness buys eye salve.

Matthew 5:3

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.

The folly of our lives is trying to pretend that we have the resources to make life work without Jesus.

The practical application of this is simply this: We must ask. It is only the poor who ask for help. The Kingdom of God is fundamentally driven by request. The way that God has set up life is that those who ask receive. Those who seek find. To those who knock, the door will be opened. Asking, seeking, and knocking must be non-negotiable activities of the people of God. This means that we must pray. We must fast. And we must be persistent (more on that later perhaps).

For a much better explanation of these issues, as well as a great context for understanding what being connected to Jesus really means, I highly recommend Corey Russell's book Pursuit of the Holy. He doesn't include any references to Battlestar Galactica, though…