Bilbo and the Fishermen

Gandalf interrupts Bilbo's quiet morning

The new Hobbit movie is a beautiful work of film-making.  This morning I saw a parallel
with the work of Jesus -- probably intentional, because Tolkien wrote Christian themes into his extended allegory about good and evil in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.  This story involves Gandalf the Gray, whose character is the Christ figure in the trilogy, and Bilbo, a stay-at-home hobbit quite content with his life.  Gandalf shows up uninvited one day on Bilbo's doorstep, and turns his life upside down!

Gandalf's other guests -- a dozen dwarves -- show up soon, and while eating every bit of food in Bilbo's well-stocked pantry, debate the adventure they are beginning, to reclaim their lost homeland from a dragon.  Their lurid descriptions confirm Bilbo's determination not to be an adventurer.  Finally, though, his curiosity draws him into this crazy journey, where growing comradeship mixes equally with life-threatening surprises. (Disclaimer:  this is not an endorsement of the movie, nor your excuse to drag your unwilling friends or family members to see it "because the pastor said it was good."  It includes a lot of fantasy, fighting and conflict, and it's rated PG-13.  Just so you know.)

I've been reflecting recently on Luke 5:1-11, where Jesus invites some fishermen on an adventure that is just as different from their previous life as Bilbo's adventure was to his.  No nice, safe house to come home to at night, no certain meals or bed, await these travelers.  Rather, they are told they will "fish for people" -- whatever that is supposed to mean -- and to go on the adventure, they have to leave everything else behind.  And so, amazingly, they do!  Just like Bilbo. Their reward for helping Jesus reclaim their homeland -- the whole earth, terrorized by sin and the original dragon, Satan -- isn't gold and jewels, but eternal life beginning now, (1 John 2:24-25) and a "crown of righteousness" (2 Tim. 4:8) in the future. 

And, the same kind of adventure, discipleship with Jesus, exists for us as it did for the original 12, and for Bilbo and the dwarves, even though it might not mean going to a Roman prison, or fighting your way through a cave full of (I won't spoil the movie if you still want to go see it).  We still have to sacrifice, to learn as we go, and to have a great need for faith in our leader, as we journey.  There are times it won't be comfortable, and we won't know what's next; but Jesus is always with us, and HE knows what's next, so that will have to do.  Oh, and one more thing -- the same reward Jesus promised the 12 disciples is given to every single one of us, and is the destiny of all humanity!  Let's get started, together!