Passion Sunday 2002 | Mark 10:32-49

This week I went to see The Lord of the Rings for the third time. A fan of J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy trilogy from the time I first read them in sixth grade, I was naturally trepidatious about the film version. I needn't have been. It was as nearly perfect an adaptation as any fan could have hoped for, and better than most of us expected. But what struck me this time around, though, probably because I was ruminating on today's readings, is how incredibly infused with the Gospel Tolkien's story actually is.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the plot, I'll give you a thumbnail. In ages past, the evil Dark Lord, Sauron fashioned several gold rings which were infused with magic so as to give whoever wore the rings great power. He gave some of them to the elves, some of them to the dwarves, and some of them to human beings. But one of them he kept for himself, the master ring, the One Ring that granted power over all those who wore the other rings.

In a great war, the One Ring was cut from Sauron's hand in battle, and was lost. Robbed of his chief weapon, Sauron's armies were defeated and peace returned to the earth for a time. All this is antecedent information, for when the film actually starts, Sauron has regained much of his power, and is looking for the ring, hoping once again to take over the world. But the ring has been found by an unlikely sort of beast, a Hobbit. Now hobbits are diminutive creatures that stand about waist high, have large, hairy feet, and eat six meals a day.

The One Ring is bequeathed to Frodo, a hobbit with few ambitions, who finds that the Dark Lord's henchmen are searching for him hoping to kill him and retrieve the ring for their master. So Frodo and his friends flee their home. After many narrow escapes, they meet with representatives of the other races, dwarves, elves, and men, to determine what to do with the ring and how best to meet their common foe.

Some want to use the power of the Ring against its master. "It is the most powerful weapon on earth, why not use it?" is the position of the humans. But Gandalf the wizard is more cautious. The ring is evil, and its power will corrupt all who use it. Even with the best intentions, Sauron would eventually control the wearer of the ring and the outcome.

Finally it is decided that the only way to deal with the ring is to do the one thing that its master would never suspect: destroy it. Unfortunately, not just any fire will do. It is a magic ring, so the only fire that can undo it is the same fire that made it. It must be taken to the very lair of the Dark Lord. It must be snuck in under his nose, and cast into the fire when no one is looking.

The quest of Frodo and his trusty servant Sam to take the ring to the Dark Lord's lair makes up the bulk of the three books, and as you might expect, after many trials and tribulations, the hobbits are successful in their quest: the ring is destroyed, the Dark Lord is defeated, and the world is safe-for now.

That this speaks powerfully of the way of Christ is not a surprise. Tolkien was, after all, a very pious Roman Catholic, and so would have been quite familiar with our Gospel reading today when Jesus subverts and denounces the power structure of the world, saying, "you know that those who are regarded as rulers among the Gentiles lord it over them and their notables wield authority over them. But with you it must be otherwise. Rather if anyone wants to be of note among you, let them be your servant and if anyone wants to be number one among you let them be everyone's slave."

Just as it is incredible to the human beings in Tolkien's story that anyone would toss away the great power of the ring, so it has always seemed incredible to the world that Jesus insists that we likewise eschew power. It is so incredible, in fact, that the Christian world has, for most of its life, chosen to simply ignore Jesus' teaching, and time and time again, it has been to our great shame.

It is, however, the way it should be with all those who profess to follow Christ. And yet, ironically, not only do Christians not follow Christ's teaching in this regard, but those whose responsibility it is to teach the Gospel, namely the clergy, have been the worst of offenders. In the name of Christ, we clergy have seized power wherever we could, rivaling at times the secular powers, holding in our hands life and death, setting up little fiefdoms and dominions-we call them "diocese"-and even taking up the sword to force the Gospel on others for their own "good."

We have much to do penance for. One would think that after all this time we would have learned, but no. Bishops and boards and presbyteries still exercise power over others, still try to prop up a throne for themselves at Jesus' right hand, still view power as a thing to be grasped and used for good.

We do a good job of avoiding this here at Grace North Church, in my opinion. Fr. Richard and I have voice in this community, but no vote. We speak our vision, which is our job, but when it comes time to make decisions, we fade to the background, and you, the people, do it yourselves. This is true leadership. This is the eschewing of power. This is the casting of the Ring into the fire that made it. This is the way of Jesus.

If only the rest of the church could learn the hard-won lessons we have put into practice in this community. For if they could learn it, then we could finally, after two thousand years of chasing our tails, teach it with authority to the nations. It is certainly something our nation needs to hear.

I don't know about you, but our current administration's latest militant rhetoric scares the bejeezus out of me. The stepped up military spending, increased manufacturing of weapons of mass destruction, and conscious alienation of other nations who do not share our political ideology is something that should give us all pause. It should make us think hard about who we are, the messages we are giving to the world, and exactly what sort of world it is we want to live in, especially for those of us who call ourselves Christians.

For this new militant stance is not the way of the Gospel. Don't get me wrong: it may be the right thing to do, it may be prudent, it may be logical. But it is NOT the way of Jesus, and we should not fool ourselves that it is, simply because we enjoy some fantasy that we are a Christian nation. This country was never run on Christain principles. Our founding fathers were deists and occultists, with an occasional Episcopalian thrown in. Nobody was really interested in founding a Christian nation. That is why we have a separation of church and state. It is the president's job to be president first, and to be a person of faith second. And maybe that's for the best; Jesus would have made a terrible politician.

The old evangelical hymn tells us that when Jesus was nailed to that cross, "He could have called ten thousand angels to destroy the world and set him free." But he did not, for the way of might is NOT the way of Jesus. According to classic Catholic doctrine, Jesus allowed himself to be crucified, and thereby tricked Satan into believing that he was defeated. Even trickier still, once he was dead, Jesus gained access to Satan's realm, the land of the dead. It was not a world that Jesus could have conquered from without. No might would have shaken Satan's hold on his dominion. Yet Jesus allowed himself to be beaten, and walked the same path to the land of the dead as all human beings do.

As all of us know, locks are meant to keep people out, but are easily opened from within. Once inside Satan's realm, Jesus threw wide the doors, and led all the faithful people held captive there to freedom.

So, you might be saying, might is not the way of Jesus, but trickery is? Well, let's just consider what might have happened if during our long cold war against the communists we had embraced this ideal. Instead of pumping all our money into weapons, what if we had lowered our trade sanctions and poured all that money intoHollywood. Now, hang in there with me a moment. Don't you think that if we had flooded Communist Russia and China with The Sound of Music and Leave it to Beaver throughout the fifties, sixties, and seventies-if we had, by hook or by crook, flooded their culture with images of the prosperity that they were NOT enjoying; don't you that the iron curtain might have fallen a LOT sooner than it did?

Our greatest weapon is not a weapon, but the very freedom that we espouse. The most effective counter to communism and fascism we possess is the free speech that is the foundation of our culture. If that speech had only been allowed to BE free, if we had been permitted to export, smuggle, and broadcast our entertainment to the communist world, that would have made for a very different world indeed. Perhaps it is not to late to embrace the way of Coyote, whom the native Americans name Fr. Craft. But is the way of Coyote the way of Jesus? Our Lord did say, "Be as crafty as serpents and innocent as doves."

Guile is far better in my book than violence is. But that is not scriptural. It is, however, congruent with the morality of the Lord of the Rings, in which thieves, spies, and guile are often employed by the good guys. It may not be right, but it is better than the sword. And in a world beset by evil, the lesser is often necessary to discern.

I wish everyone in America, including our leaders could see The Lord of the Rings. If it wins big at the Oscars, perhaps more people will. But win or no, I think the best thing that could happen would be to make sure everyone in Iran, Iraq, Syria, North Korea, China, Russia and every other place that we find so threatening sees this film, and many others. You see, we do have a secret weapon, and unlike the Ring, it is not an evil one. Our weapon is freedom of speech. A hundred years ago, Abraham Lincoln said that "The pen is mightier than the sword." Perhaps now we will learn that the videotape is mightier than atom bomb. Perhaps we had better, before it is too late. The fundamentalists would have a cow to hear me suggest that perhaps Hollywood is the way of Jesus. But Jesus is a trickster, after all, and has used trickier means than this in the past. Let us pray.

Jesus, you commanded your followers to do many things that make no sense to us. You tell us to love our enemies, to return good for ill, you tell us to pray for those who curse us, and forbid us to hold power over others. We don't do any of this very well. But every morning we rise we get another chance to do it right. Help us to see the small ways we are unfaithful to your commands in our own lives, give us the will and strength to change, and give us the courage to stand up to our leaders and demand that we use our heads instead of our fists. For you are the prince of peace, even as you are a trickster. Help us to be as crafty as serpents, and innocent as doves, even as you bid us. Amen.