This clip from Tolkien's LOTR Fellowship of the Ring has long been a favorite of mine. If you are familiar with Tolkien's stories you will probably understand. But those who have not read The Hobbit or the LOTR trilogy (or seen the movie versions) may wonder what I am about to be driving at.
This scene, and the opening scenes of LOTR The Return of the King (Smeagol's transformation) show the depths of the effect that the "ring of power" has on the people it touches. Jackson hints at this from the very opening scene of The Fellowship movie when we hear Galadriel give a brief narration of the forging of the ring. For whatever reason, everyone who comes into contact with the ring is ill effected (we assume because it a source of evil power and corruption). The longer the contact...the greater the effect of the ring (the very essence of understanding Frodo's character progression in the 3 books/movies...remember the phrase when speaking of Gollum.. "I have to, because I have to believe that I can come back" from the effect of the ring).
The scene above shows that even Biblo, docile, not given to fighting or dissension, Bilbo is not immune from the effect of the ring...he moves from docile to volatile at the mere sight of it!!
Power is like that in our lives. It almost always has an adverse affect. Regardless of whether the power is real or perceived...it changes the way we approach life. Nowhere is this more true than in the pew of the average church. Power, whether perceived or real can be a dangerous thing. When power is in balance there will be little problems...when it shifts things are going to change (remember...some people only PERCEIVE to have the power...but for them the actions are real all the same). I recently heard a "leadership expert" (fill in your own definition of that term here_________) use a phrase the at first caught me off guard but then rang true with my experience... "the sheep bite!" Having grown up in farming country I've been, at one time or another, around nearly every farm animal that you can mention...and some have NASTY dispositions..and they bite. Perhaps the only farm animal who has a decent reputation are sheep. The tend to be docile, they herd well, and they are not difficult to keep because they don't appear to be the sharpest animal in the barnyard. Perhaps that is why the Bible pictures Jesus as a shepherd and those who follow him as sheep? (hey wait a minute..I resemble that remark!!) I think, like most animals, if they are treated well they will treat us well...but there are exceptions...when they are ill treated they become ill tempered...even docile animals can be driven to violence when there is a perceived power shift in their lives. So it is in the church...too often "the sheep bite!" People can move from docile to volatile in a very short period of time if they perceive a shift in their existence that they don't like. Unlike Bilbo in the clip above...they won't apologize for lashing out (because they think that they are right and justified in doing so)...but the CAUSE is the same, and that is what I'd like to leave you with. What causes sheep to bite or Bilblo to lash out...the lingering effect of sin and evil in our fallen world. When good has been diminished it changes people (to the core) and that is why God used such strong measures to deal with it by sending Jesus to the cross. Only the cross can change people at the core--we cannot do that ourselves...it is NOT in our nature! And once we have accepted God's gift it is a long and arduous process to becoming something other than what we were...so there are probably reasons why sheep bite! I'm not excusing it...heaven knows I've been bitten more than a few times...but I've also bitten people. I rather think that I like blessing people better than biting people. The hard part is blessing the people who bite you...but it is what we must do to be like Jesus. I believe help me in my unbelief.
The older I get the more difficulty I have staying on task. I am easily distracted and my mind is prone to wander from project to project. Perhaps I worry more? Heaven knows that there is a LOT to worry about these days. I know lots of parents worry about their kids when they are small but I really didn't...however, now that my kids are at a critical point in life--I worry about them more than ever. I worry about our church...which in a way is worry about my own situation. When I sit at my desk or computer to study or plan my mind goes in a million different directions because there are SO MANY things that need attention. I watch the news...I worry about our world...Russia, Muslim extremism, Human rights, gender, race, the economy, what it means to be "an American," poverty, evangelism, education, the zombie apocalypse (which now...fundamentalist will say is a certainty because they are adding an openly gay character to "The Walking Dead")..the list is never ending. I would NEVER want to go back in time to try and redo what has been done. It is over. Unlike many Arminianist who are really closet Calvinist, I do not believe that God has a plan for everything AND in the notion of free-will. If we have free will we play a part in directing the course of our lives and of human history. If we do not...then we are simply puppets dancing at the end of God's strings....as much as people want their "cake and to eat it to"--you cannot have it both ways. But I must confess that life was simpler back then...there was MUCH less to worry about (not in the world just in my life..naivete is a WONDERFUL thing). Not that am I old enough (I guess) to think of those times as the "good ole days." Every day is what we make of it...get over the past and yourself. The "good ole days"---without electricity, indoor plumbing, air conditioning, hot showers, and pop tarts (without those things NOTHING could be called "good")---instead what we mean is "days where we felt more comfortable" with ourselves and our surroundings. The older we get the less "native" (to borrow a phrase from Len Sweet) we are because as the world quickly changes we become slower to adapt to the change--when it overwhelms us we begin to yearn for "the good ole days" when life was _______________________ (fill in the blank). Truth be told they were no better or worse...just different. My church says...we want to sing the "old" songs...so I plan hymns from the 18th century--strangely...they don't know them...so I ask...what do you mean by "old?" I come to understand it means songs that they grew up with...songs that they are "comfortable" with.
But I don't want to be too hard on them...or me. We were not the first to make comfort a priority. In Mark 10 Jesus teaches the "rich young ruler" that he cannot enter the Kingdom of God unless he sells all that he has and gives it to the poor. The rule cannot accept Jesus' teaching because he is overly reliant on his material possessions for security. Likewise, Jesus then teaches his own disciples how difficult it is for the wealthy to enter into the Kingdom. The clearly understand his teaching...being of good Jewish stock they realized that being wealthy and socially prominent were signs of God's blessings...however if the rich and well connected could not enter the Kingdom, Peter asks on behalf of the twelve, "then who CAN be saved?" Jesus' reply is quite simple...salvation is the work of God (for us through the blood of Jesus) and He doesn't need any help...rather, he needs only one thing...a commitment. It is at this point in the narrative that the disciples become all too human (and comfortable). "We have left everything to follow you!" (a.k.a. "what's in it for us?")--Jesus was making them uncomfortable! The threefold promise that Jesus makes SHOULD have helped, at least encouraged, but as far as we know it did neither...I believe it leaves the disciples DUMBFOUNDED (because that is the way that it leaves me). (1) to receive back in their life a hundredfold of what they have lost. [Some will attempt to twist this to make it sound like material gain. But how could that be when Jesus just taught them not to be reliant on material things? It is a promise...but not for material wealth on earth...but for something better.] (2) to be the object of suffering and persecution (now I am even MORE uncomfortable--suffering is the gift that no one wants!) and (3) to have eternal life in the age to come. FINALLY...some good news...but wait, the "age to come" sounds distant and not really relevant to the "here-and-now" (how will I pay my bills THIS MONTH???).
At another point, in the not too distant past (cf Mark 8:34-35) Jesus had given his disciples the requirements for being a follower of Jesus, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever want to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and the gospel will save it." (I guess it didn't sink in too well??).
Discipleship (following Jesus) is about staying on a single task and not wandering (or wondering!) from it. Discipleship, by design, entails service and suffering (NOT comfort). We must enter into discipleship based on one thing...a radical commitment to love God and others through Jesus Christ...we cannot follow Jesus because of some hope that we will be rewarded (either in this life or in the next)--if we do---we will be disappointed EVERY time--it is the WRONG motivation to chose to follow Jesus simply to avoid hell or to get to heaven. What makes hell...hell is that God is not present there; and what makes heaven...heavenly is that we will dwell with God in perfection (all the things that make life here difficult [sin, death, tears, pain, temptation, suffering, etc...] will be done away with--the things that were "cursed" by the Fall [cf Gen 3] will be reversed and humanity will be restored to perfect fellowship with God and his Son--MUCH like life in Genesis chapters 1-2). These are the wrong things to motivate our relationship with Jesus. We must enter into the relationship with our eyes open knowing the demands that will be put upon us (it was never intended to be easy!)...but we also enter with two VERY important promises. We will NEVER be alone, and we will be given the power of the Holy Spirit to allow us to overcome. "Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well" (Jesus in Matt 6:33). I believe...help me in my unbelief.
