Peace be with you, my friends.
My favorite Novel is Lord of the Rings. In it, the hobbit Frodo is tasked with destroying the “One Ring,” which is a ring that has the ability to grant those who wield it an immense amount of power. Enough power to defeat armies and rule the world. The only way to destroy this ring is to take it to a Volcano, called Mt. Doom, and toss it into its lava pit. This journey is a very long one, fraught with peril. This journey is all the more dangerous considering that hobbits are described as the weakest of all races in Middle Earth. Often times, people critique the story asking why the “Eagles” could not have taken the ring to the volcano and destroy it. They ask this because the novel depicts gigantic Eagles capable of traveling long distances in short amounts of time. They are also quite powerful beings.
However, asking this question reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of the story. The novel tells us that the One Ring has the power to subdue, deceive, and seduce you into becoming a slave to the One Ring, so that you succumb to the will of its evil machinations. Furthermore, we are told that the more powerful you are as a person, the more easier it is for the One Ring to enslave its wearer. On the other hand, the weaker a person is, the less capable the One Ring is able to do this. Thus, the Eagles refuse to take the ring, understanding that they would inevitably be enslaved by the Rings power. Moreover, this is the exact reason Frodo is chosen to destroy the Ring. For he is the weakest of all the races.
Such a message challenges our human instincts and inclinations in doing things. If it were up to us, we most likely would have sought the most powerful and mightiest of warriors to destroy the One Ring. Indeed, we in fact would have picked the Eagles to do it! And every time we ask that question, “why can’t the Eagles do it,” it reveals that instinct within us. But Frodo challenges that instinct, reminding us that certain purposes are, often times, according to human standards, accomplished in the most foolish of ways.
That fundamental truth is nothing unique to the Novel. In fact, such a truth is grounded in the Biblical Narrative, where we learn that God’s purposes are accomplished through the means and agencies that, according to human standards, are often deemed “foolish” and “unqualified.”
And just like our questioning of Frodo as the chosen one, we, often times, question why God chooses some people to accomplish God’s purposes. People like Ehud.
You can prepare for Sunday morning Worship, August 20, 2023, by reading Judges 3: 12-20.
With compassion, love, and prayer,
