Finding God in The Lord of the Rings by Bruner Kurt D. Tolkien J. R. R. Ware Jim

Author:Bruner, Kurt D.,Tolkien, J. R. R.,Ware, Jim.
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781414329864
Publisher: Tyndale House (eBook)
Published: 2012-04-25T00:00:00+00:00

Schoolyard bullies start by picking on the small, unpopular kids. Others watch from afar, glad that it’s someone else being victimized. What they fail to realize is that their cowardly reluctance to defend the weakest kids will eventually bring about their own jeopardy. Total playground intimidation is inevitable once the bully learns that he faces no opposition. Before you know it, every child will be terrorized.

The history of humankind demonstrates that complacency and appeasement by the decent encourage mischief by the sinister. Only the active, intentional influence of good can counter the progressive nature of bad. And when evil advances, there is no safe haven for the passive.

The world of hobbits was a peaceful, happy place. But Frodo and his companions could not remain comfortably idle, shutting their ears to tales of rising danger. “The wide world is all about you,” Gildor told them. “You can fence yourselves in, but you cannot for ever fence it out.”14 Nor could Treebeard and his kind continue hiding in the decreasing protection of Fangorn Forest. Evil was advancing, requiring the active opposition of good.

In the biblical story of Esther, a heinous plot was advancing, requiring heroic risk. Hearing about the impending murder of her people, Queen Esther faced the difficult choice between speaking up on behalf of the Jews or quietly preserving her own life. On penalty of death, she was not allowed to enter the king’s presence unless summoned. If she simply remained silent, she might have remained safe. But if she approached the king to plead for intervention, he could order her death along with the masses. Faced with her moment of truth, a frightened young girl received word from her cousin Mordecai.

Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this? (Esther 4:13-14)

Mordecai didn’t want Esther to intervene because he thought she was the only hope of rescue for her people. He said, If you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place. Mordecai knew that God had a great plan for the Jewish people, making complete annihilation impossible. But you and your father’s family will perish. He also knew that Esther’s own safety was linked to her present choice. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this? She had been called to play a part in the story, one she could not fulfill by remaining silent. Evil was advancing, making even the palace walls no fortress. And so, heeding her uncle’s admonition, Esther risked her own life to save others.

I will go to the king, even though it is against the law.

And if I perish, I perish. (Esther 4:16)

Like Esther, Frodo, and Treebeard, we have a choice.

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