My son and I are preparing to go to Star Wars Celebration in Chicago starting Thursday April 11th. It is traditional to bring something to give away at Star Wars conventions, called swag. Swag comes in many shapes and sizes, from small buttons someone makes, to custom action figures.
In the weeks leading up to the convention, I was trying to think of any idea my son and I might be able to do for swag, and pull it off well. We got into 3D printing in the past year and have two Prusa 3D printers. So I thought perhaps we could 3D print something. We had recently been printing Easter Eggs with toys inside, and I ran across a great design on Thingiverse by skylerboy347 that had a R2D2 droid inside an Easter Egg.
It seemed a great fit with Easter being not long after the Star Wars convention. But we couldn’t stop there, so my son designed a cross that we could insert into the surface of the Easter Egg. Then I decided I should put a verse on as well. Also, why only use one side, when I could put a cross and verse on both?
I decided to go with John 3:16 and 1 Peter 1:3.
John 3:16 - For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
1 Peter 1:3 - Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
I thought they encapsulated our hope in the Easter season very well.
Upon further reflection, I thought it would be good to modify the R2D2 droid to insert a cross on one side, and another verse on the other.
I went with 1 Cor 2:9:
“Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard,
And which have not entered the heart of man,
All that God has prepared for those who love Him.”
So we have spent weeks printing Eggs and Droids to hand out. We will have 38 to hand out at the convention.
I posted about what we had come up with to my favorite Star Wars forum (Rebelscum), and someone immediately complemented me on the message and said how he hoped they would all make it to the right people. This dovetailed into what I had been thinking as well.
While they might be Easter Eggs, they also look a bit like seeds, and I keep thinking to Luke 8:4-15:
When a large crowd was coming together, and those from the various cities were journeying to Him, He spoke by way of a parable: “The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell beside the road, and it was trampled under foot and the birds of the air ate it up. Other seed fell on rocky soil, and as soon as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. Other seed fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew up with it and choked it out. Other seed fell into the good soil, and grew up, and produced a crop a hundred times as great.” As He said these things, He would call out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
His disciples began questioning Him as to what this parable meant. And He said, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables, so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.
“Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God. Those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved. Those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away. The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity. But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance.
We will sow these seeds at a Star Wars Convention. Will they fall on good soil or bad? That is something I will probably never know, but I will be praying for them to get to where they might plant a seed that can grow in someone that will need it. Perhaps some will set on a shelf or in a toybox for years and then germinate when the time is right. I remember in grade school hearing that a seed can stay on a shelf for hundreds of years without an issue and still grow when planted. Amazing stuff, a seed — so much potential in such a little package. The same for the small scripture references I am putting on these egg-seeds.
This Easter season, have you ever considered some ways you can share the good news with others, either in traditional ways, or something a bit more unique?