What does the Lord of the Rings movies and today’s readings have in common?

I am not much of a movie go-er. I enjoy movies immensely when I do go, I just don’t go out much. I have, however, seen all three of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy movies in the theatres, having read all of the books numerous times. If you’ve seen the movies, you know that it is an epic story that revolves around the struggle of good against evil. Frodo Baggins, a hobbit, volunteers to take the one Ring of Power to the place where it was forged, Mount Doom, so it can be destroyed. As the movies unfold, we see treachery and loyalty, death and life, hope and despair woven like a tapestry through out the quest. Frodo knows that he has been chosen for this task. He also knows that he chose this task as well. And though at times he wonders and struggles with that destiny, he remains faithful to what has been given him to do – to destroy the ring and restore the world to it’s proper balance. “I mean to see the journey through to the end” he tells his companion, Samwise Gamgee.

What is nice and safe about watching an epic like that, is we see it from a safe vantage point. It’s Frodo’s mission, Frodo’s journey, Frodo’s struggle against good and evil written large upon the screen, not ours. And from the safety of our movie seat, we are passive spectators in that great epic drama. Yet, what J.R.R. Tolkien would have us know in his work, is that all of us, great and small, have a part in that great struggle of good versus evil. All of us have been called, as we journey upon this earth, to take a stand with all that we are, with all our Lordly nobility, to either create a world of light or darkness. And as much as we would like to opt out of the story, it is not possible. For to stop acting for the good, creates the world of evil. Do you believe that you are chosen, like Frodo, like Jesus, like so many who have gone before us, for that journey?

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,” we hear Jesus say. And like Jesus, like Frodo in the trilogy, the Spirit is also upon us. We, too, have been chosen for a mission. And whether we relish that task, or have it thrust upon us, it is nonetheless there. We have been given, not a ring of power to carry to Mount Doom, but an anointing with the Spirit to carry to the poor, and the captives and the blind and the oppressed. We have been given a mission. And it is nothing less than the creation of the kingdom of God.

Perhaps, like Frodo, it seems too much for your Spirit. You’re not good enough, you tell yourself. You’re not smart enough or gifted enough or holy enough. (Tough!) It doesn’t matter. Because you don’t carry the burden alone. Nor do you have to, nor are you supposed to. Paul says it so eloquently. You are all TOGETHER the body of Christ. Each fulfilling a different part. I could never do the sign language that my associate Fr. Vic does in the priesthood. I don’t have to. Nor could I keep the boilers and Air Conditioner running like Conrad Philips does. I don’t have to. Nor do I have to do the Habitat for Humanity stuff that Mike Rogan does, or work at the Child Center of Our Lady like Mo Dunn does. TOGETHER, we make this thing called the church. And without you, God has to work harder, the church has to work harder, because we don’t have all the gifts the church needs because we don’t have you.

Do you know how important you are? Have you any idea, how much we need you, in the church, in the world. Without Frodo and Sam and Legolas and all the members of the Fellowship, the quest fails and the world of the Rings would be left in darkness. You see that as the film jumps from scene to scene, with each person playing their seemingly unconnected roles, yet in the end, how each contributes to the victory. Without your commitment, the poor don’t hear good news, prisoners remain locked up, the blind don’t see, and a year of favor goes unnoticed.

In a few minutes, you will be given the choice of Frodo, the choice of every disciple. Will you say yes to what God has anointed YOU to do? Will you let the Spirit of God be upon you? Will you carry this anointing of power to all the Mount Doom’s of our world, so that a year of favor from the Lord will be known? We wait your answer. We await to hear from you whether the final line of the gospel is as true of today as it was 2,000 years ago. “Today, this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”