Unsuited to the Task? (a Steve Orr Bible reflection)

JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy is about a group chosen to go on a great quest.

 

As is common in such quests, the fellowship—charged with shepherding the Ring of Power to its destruction in the volcanic fires of Mount Doom—is packed with persons of great stature. There are great warriors—current royals, future royals, the brave, the bold—and some Hobbits. 

 

Those hairy-footed little Hobbits—not the royal, the brave, or the bold—are the focus of the story. They are from a pleasant backwater of Middle Earth called The Shire. These little beings live generally low-key, unsophisticated lives, taking joy from eating and drinking and other homely activities. They lead the kinds of lives where Second Breakfast may well be the high point of the day.

 

And yet, Tolkien chose Hobbits to actually bear the powerful and corrupting Ring of Power to its intended unmaking. Much debated: Why were the Hobbits entrusted with such a crucial task?

 

It reminds me of the crowd’s reaction at Pentecost to those Jesus chose as the bearers of His Good News. In this week’s Acts passage, they are empowered to speak in many languages by the Holy Spirit, which appears like “tongues of fire” above their heads. Quickly connecting the flames to when God issued the Ten Commandments, the crowd members were “utterly amazed” that those speaking were “Galileans.” 

I know it’s not a movie script, but I think the Bible translators may have really undersold the crowd's reaction. Shouldn't there be an exclamation point in there somewhere?

 

Umm, Galileans? Really?!

 

That pretty much sums up the general response of ... well, almost everyone who encountered this band of Jesus-followers. They were considered unsophisticated and ill-suited to the tasks they had been assigned. Nathanael was likely not the first (nor the last, I’m sure) to ask: Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?

 

And yet, these rough people are the ones Jesus chose.

 

In The Lord of the Rings, Gandalf chose the Hobbits to take the ring to its doom because they could bear it. Every other member of the fellowship—the royal, the brave, the bold—would likely succumb to the corruption that comes from possessing such great power.  

 

I don't think we know why Jesus chose the Galileans for the core of His group. But maybe it was for a similar reason. None of the seemingly obvious choices, as it turned out, were really appropriate.

 

The person judged least likely to succeed is often the one needed for the most difficult task. Never forget: God chooses whom God chooses—and God often chooses “the least of these.”

 

 

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PHOTO: “One ring to rule them all” —Adobe Express filtered through Photoshop Express 

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Be with us Friday morning as we prepare for Pentecost Sunday. DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast begins at 8:00 and finishes in about an hour (or sooner if you need to leave…but you'll find it's more fun to stay). We're on Zoom* and at Our Breakfast Place. Come and enjoy good food, friendly people, laughter, and time in the scriptures.

We're not expecting any tongues of fire, but Cholula Hot Sauce is available upon request.

Blessings,

Steve

 

*Zoom link (Zoom allows you to mute the camera and the microphone if you don’t wish to be seen or heard.)

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89947678414

 

SCRIPTURES FOR SUNDAY AND THE COMING WEEK

 

Find them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts/?y=17134&z=s&d=51

 

Print them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/Ax_DayofPentecost.pdf

 

Acts 2:1-21 or Numbers 11:24-30

Psalm 104:24-34, 35b

1 Corinthians 12:3b-13 or Acts 2:1-21

John 20:19-23 or John 7:37-39

Day of Pentecost (May 24, 2026)

 

To the Ends of the Earth (a Steve Orr Bible reflection)

In Isaac Asimov's Foundation series, a science fiction classic, humankind has spread out among the stars. We’ve become a galactic empire. Scientist Hari Seldon has invented a branch of mathematics that allows him to predict the fall and rise of future galactic empires. He believes he can use this to smooth out the process, so to speak. 

Seldon sets up a “foundation” to (secretly) guide mankind toward the best-case scenario. Over the centuries, many attempt to find and destroy that foundation. In time, they discover Seldon set up a second foundation to keep matters moving along if the first foundation were to be destroyed or corrupted. The location of this Second Foundation is also secret. The only clue: It can be found at "Star’s End."

 

It’s a big galaxy. There would be millions and millions of planets and moons to consider. "Star’s End" could be, well…almost anywhere.

 

There’s a location puzzle in this week's Acts passages, too. Jesus tells his followers: "You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” The first part of it is pretty clear. But where are the “ends of the earth?” Our planet is a big round-ish ball of a place. The “ends” could be every point on that ball—truly…anywhere. 

 

Perhaps like those first followers of Jesus, you too are wondering just where "the ends of the earth" might be. Where do we go to do the good God desires of us?

 

Something that can be said to be anywhere, can in truth be everywhere. Look about. You are already at the ends of the Earth. Be the living message of Jesus right where you are.*

 

 

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*How far do we have to travel to find the ends of the Earth? To those who wanted to serve the needy with her in Calcutta, Mother Teresa said: “Stay where you are. Find your own Calcutta. Find the sick, the suffering, and the lonely right there where you are—in your own homes and in your own families, in your workplaces and in your schools. You can find Calcutta all over the world, if you have the eyes to see. Everywhere, wherever you go, you find people who are unwanted, unloved, uncared for, just rejected by society—completely forgotten, completely left alone.”

GOODREADS page for Foundation by Isaac Asimov:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29579.Foundation

 

PHOTO (Earthrise from behind the Moon, NASA’s Artemis 2 mission 2026):

https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/earthset/

 

 

Interesting Facts: Ushuaia, Argentina is the southernmost city in the entire world. It’s the closest city to Antarctica. On the opposite end of the planet—well north of the Arctic Circle—the northernmost city is Longyearbyen. It’s a town of about 2,400 souls on Svalbard, a Norwegian Archipelago. If you need actual map points, these two are definitely in the running for “the ends of the Earth.”

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We'll be together again this week on Zoom* and at Our Breakfast Place. Join us for DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast at 8:00 on Friday morning. We're going to eat some delicious food and we're going to discuss some creation-spanning ideas from this week's scriptures.

 

All of the food is from Earth.

Blessings,

Steve 

  

*Zoom link (Zoom allows you to mute the camera and the microphone if you don’t wish to be seen or heard.)

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89947678414

 

SCRIPTURES FOR SUNDAY AND THE COMING WEEK

 

Ascension of the Lord (May 14, 2026)

Acts 1:1-11

Psalm 47 or Psalm 93

Ephesians 1:15-23

Luke 24:44-53

 

Find them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts/?y=17134&z=s&d=49

 

Print them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/Ax_AscensionoftheLord.pdf

 

 

Seventh Sunday of Easter (May 17, 2026)

Acts 1:6-14

Psalm 68:1-10, 32-35

1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11

John 17:1-11

 

Find them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts/?y=17134&z=s&d=50

 

Print them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/Ax_SeventhSundayofEaster.pdf

 

 

Fear: Turning Retreat Into Advance (a Steve Orr Bible reflection)

What are you afraid of?

Everybody fears. Even if we don’t admit it to others, there’s something we fear. It’s a thing we humans do. 

The list of our most common fears is relatively short: failure, success, dying, commitment or intimacy, spiders, flying, public speaking, heights, the dark, rejection. The full list is, of course, endless. And our reactions tend to be the same: fight or flight—or freeze. 

 

In 1933, at the worst point in the Great Depression, U. S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt (“FDR”) told the people: "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance." 

The Great Depression was a long time ago. But we still fear. And we still need to find a way to convert retreat into advance. I’m not offering a direct cure for fear, but I do know how we should regard our fears: We need to recognize that the more we focus on our fears the greater their power over us. 

 

That recognition is the first step away from “retreat.”

 

In this week's 1 Peter selection, he tells believers how to deal with the distresses in their lives. Quoting the prophet Isaiah, Peter exhorts us to “not fear what they fear." He means we should not fear the same things, in the same way, as nonbelievers. But how?

 

The answer lies in our focus.

 

Isaiah told his readers to focus on God rather than fear what "they" fear. Peter applies that same focus to Jesus. These two are not saying we’re not going to fear. Rather, that we need to shift our focus, our attention, our concentration—to God.

 

Throughout scripture, we are told to place God first. It's the first of the Ten Commandments given to Moses. Jesus declared it the greatest commandment. Nothing and no one should be positioned ahead of God. It’s no surprise, then, that God must also be placed ahead of our fears. 

 

We need not pretend to be fearless. When faced with what we fear, we need to focus on God. 

 

That’s how we turn retreat into advance. 

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GRAPHIC: Adobe Express filtered through Photoshop Express 

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Can you join us Friday morning for DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast? We start at 8:00 and run for about an hour. The food is tasty and the company is relaxed. We enjoy reading and discussing the scripture, and finding how it applies to our real lives. Find us on Zoom* or in the back room at Our Breakfast Place. 

 

There is nothing to fear.

Blessings,

Steve

 

*Zoom link (Zoom allows you to mute the camera and the microphone if you don’t wish to be seen or heard.)

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89947678414

 

SCRIPTURES FOR SUNDAY AND THE COMING WEEK

Find them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts/?y=17134&z=s&d=48

Print them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/Ax_SixthSundayofEaster.pdf

Acts 17:22-31

Psalm 66:8-20

1 Peter 3:13-22

John 14:15-21

Sixth Sunday of Easter (May 10, 2026)