Deliverance, hope and salvation in small, unnoticed corners and unlikely places.
You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. (1 John 4:4)
From Tolkien’s fellowship, if you had the choice, whom would you have chosen to bear the ring? That a child- like Hobbit is the hero in this story is perhaps the most fantastical facet of the novel. Knowing that another Child would be born for our salvation, Tolkien may have drawn his confidence from this scripture, among so many others: “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4)
Jim Ware writes, “This idea—that God uses small hands to accomplish great deeds—could almost be called the heart and soul of Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. It’s Moses and Pharaoh, David and Goliath, Gideon and the Midianites all over again. But the mission of Frodo and Sam isn’t just your typical ‘underdog’ story. It’s something much more. In a way, it’s a desperately needed reminder that God’s ways are not our ways—that when the power of evil confronts us with overwhelming odds on its side, the answer is not to fight fire with fire, but to look for deliverance in unexpected places.”
In the outlying villages and small towns of Vermont, (perhaps not unlike the shires for their idyllic beauty), Reverend Christian Huebner has faithfully pastored for many years. In this season of virus, fear and quarantine, the modest local store is the only place in town to buy food and necessities without traveling a distance and risking exposure to infection in a more densely populated town. Christian, therefore, formed a discreet alliance, a fellowship if you like, with the local district nurse, his congregation and the owners of the food store. This fellowship is working together to quietly come alongside families and folks in the town who need assistance with groceries. Someone living in the community, who is unconnected to the church, commented that they were now beginning to realize that the little white church in the center of town actually does things in the community. Deliverance in unexpected places
In the same small, quiet way, Christian has been engaging the community through live-stream services. He reports, “People in our local community who would not come through the doors of the church because “if they did the roof might fall in,” are connecting online and reaching out with questions about God and for prayer. The Sunday after Easter (which has the dubious reputation of the lowest attendance of the year), ironically during this time when we are not meeting in person, had the highest number of views of all our services at around 3000.”
This is encouraging, but this particular Sunday after Easter, held an even more powerful witness to Jesus’ victory over darkness. Christian made space for a young man who had recently came to faith in Jesus Christ to share his testimony in word and song. He was a local boy by the name of Ben Fuller. Ben grew up on a dairy farm in town and had been on a fast track to success in the music industry in Nashville. While in Nashville, trying to make the right connections and build his career, he was connected to Jesus Christ. Ben gave testimony that he had been saved, delivered from suicide, and from addictions to cocaine, alcohol, and pornography. Christian described him as, “Beautifully on fire in his new faith in Jesus.” Following the on-line sharing of Ben’s testimony, Christian was made aware of two people in the community who were planning to take their own lives that very morning. By the grace of God, they had tuned in to the live-stream and the strength and hope set out in Ben’s testimony became their strength and hope. Two lives were saved. God’s ways are not our ways. When the power of evil confronts us with overwhelming odds on its side, we so often find the deliverance of Jesus in unexpected places. Hope and salvation very often arise in small, unnoticed corners – like a hobbit-hole in the Shire or a manger in a Palestinian stable.
In contrast to the Narnia Chronicles and other writings of C.S Lewis, Tolkien does not point us to a clear Christ figure; but Lewis himself understood that Tolkien was working at a level beyond the simply allegorical. Of Tolkien’s work, Lewis wrote, “Here are beauties which pierce like swords or burn like cold iron. Here is a book which will break your heart.”
In the depths of Middle Earth, we are invited to have our hearts broken, to recognize ourselves, the battles we face, the weaknesses that besiege us and the frailty of isolation—even as we are empowered to rejoice in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and a foretaste of His Heavenly Kingdom. For it is in the fellowship of the Spirit that we find the strength, security and courage to both make our way home, and to play our full part in the transformation of this world through the power of His love and mercy.
In His great love,
Bishop Andrew