Good Worth Fighting For: The Lord of the Rings - Rev. Dr. Rodger Nishioka

Sam: "By rights we shouldn’t even be here. But we are. It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something."

Frodo: "What are we holding onto, Sam?"

Sam: "That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo…and it’s worth fighting for."

-- Sam's speech in "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers," by J.R.R. Tolkien

Many people draw a clear distinction between the “sacred” and the “secular.” In their worldview, sacred things have to do with God and secular things have nothing to do with God. This view places limits on God’s activity in the world. The psalmist reminds us that “the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.” This means that God is present in all times and places. In this sermon series, Rev. Dr. Rodger Nishioka will explore how God is revealed in three films. Today, we look at "The Lord of the Rings." Our scripture reading is Luke 6:43-45.