Difference between revisions of "Sermon for February 3rd, 2013"

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Jeremiah 29:11-14

11For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. 12Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. 13When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, 14I will let you find me, says the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

John 1:1-8

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.

1 Peter 2:9-11

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 11 Beloved, I urge you as aliens and exiles to abstain from the desires of the flesh that wage war against the soul. 12Conduct yourselves honourably among the Gentiles, so that, though they malign you as evildoers, they may see your honourable deeds and glorify God when he comes to judge.

The Hobbit

Three Minute Film Summary

Today's three minute movie summary is actually brought to you (at least in part) by the good folks at IMDB, the Internet Movie Database.

In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit. That's how J.R.R. Tolkien begins his classic novel, upon which the film is based. For those who are not familiar with Tolkien's fantasy world of Middle Earth, a Hobbit is about half the size of a normal person, and has large, hairy feet. Hobbits are clean, tidy, cautious creatures, who enjoy the comforts of home, and live quiet rustic lives in small corner of Middle Earth known as "The Shire." The central hobbit in this story is Bilbo Baggins, a respectable fellow who leads a very ordinary life until a Wizard Gandalf arrives at his house one day, asking Bilbo if he would like to go on an adventure. Bilbo, of course, says no. "Adventures," he says, "are nasty, uncomfortable things" that "make you late for dinner."

Eventually, however, Bilbo is swept into a quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome dragon Smaug. Bilbo finds himself joining Gandalf and a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior, Thorin Oakenshield. Their journey will take them into the Wild; through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins and Orcs, Giant wolves, Trolls and Sorcerers. Although their goal lies to the East and the wastelands of the Lonely Mountain first they must escape the goblin tunnels, where Bilbo meets a wretched, pitiful, but deadly creature that will change his life forever ... Gollum. Separated from the dwarves, alone with Gollum on the shores of an underground lake, the unassuming Bilbo Baggins not only discovers depths of guile and courage that surprise even him, he also gains possession of Gollum's "precious" ring--a simple, magical, gold ring that is tied to the fate of all Middle-earth in ways Bilbo cannot begin to know.

After defeating Gollum in a riddle contest, Bilbo escapes and rejoins his party, who are then ambushed by goblins and forced into a tall tree dangling over the edge of a cliff. Just as they can no longer hang on, they are rescued by giant eagles and flown to the safety of a large rock, where far off in the distance they catch their first glimpse of their final destination, the Lonely Mountain and their ancestral home of Erebor.

The Magic of J.R.R. Tolkien

Let me begin with a confession: The book "The Hobbit," which predates the movie by about 75 years (it was first published in 1937), is probably the only book which I have read more times, and am more familiar with, than even the Bible itself. That's because my father read the Hobbit to me when I was four or five years old. Then when my sister was born, he read it to her (and I listened in), and also to my two younger brothers each in their turn. I read it on my own a few times in high school and college, then again shortly after my father passed away. I read it to my oldest son, Grady when he was three, and after a few months when we finally got to the very end (330 pages), he said "read it again, Daddy." So we did. I'm now in the middle of reading to Abby (while Grady listens in), and someday will read it to Jonah, too. Needless to say, the book is very deeply and personally embedded in my life, and the life of my family. But truthfully, I'm probably only one of hundreds of thousands who could say the same--and now with the popularity of the films, perhaps just one of millions.

So what is it about this story? Like any blockbuster movie, some point to the high octane chase scenes, the amazing special effects, or the swashbuckling battles and swordplay. But most of that is absent from the book--there are swords and battles, of course, but not nearly as many, and everything unfolds at a much slower pace. I would point to the deeper themes and messages present in The Hobbit--ones which the film actually does a pretty good job of presenting--themes and messages that you might be surprised to know are thoroughly biblical in their inspiration and origins. The book's author, J.R.R. Tolkien, had a deep and abiding Christian faith which informed every aspect of his life. Many Christians are more familiar with Tolkien's good friend, C.S. Lewis, who wrote several works of Christian apologetics, as well as the Christian allegorical children series, The Chronicles of Narnia. What many don't know, however, is that C.S. Lewis was an atheist when he met Tolkien, and it was Tolkien who led him to Christ. Together, Tolkien and Lewis believed that they could use mythic-style storytelling to communicate the deepest truths of Christianity to secular readers. In the process, they created the whole genre known as fantasy literature.

The gospel message and Christian themes permeate The Hobbit--and it would probably take me several hours to even scratch the surface of a few of them. Today I'll focus briefly on two minor (but significant) ones, and one larger theme that is central to both The Hobbit and the Bible.

Light in the Darkness

In the first few verses of the Gospel of John, we hear that the "light shines in the darkness and the darkness could not overcome it." Light shining in the darkness appears in several other places in the gospel: Jesus says "I am the light of the world" and also "Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil."

This concept of light shining into the darkness and overcoming evil occurs throughout the Hobbit: When Bilbo and the dwarves are captured by evil trolls early in the film, it is in the darkest hours just before the dawn, and the wizard Gandalf cleaves in half a large rock, allowing the first rays of sunlight to illuminate the trolls...and turn them into stone. Bilbo is given an enchanted sword and told that it will shine with light when it is in the presence of enemies. When the company is trapped by goblins deep in the dark mountain caverns, Gandalf again, it is with a blinding light that Gandalf the wizard stuns their enemies, allowing them to escape. Incidentally,

Luck, Fate, and Providence

This is Not our Home (the Journey)