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J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings has captivated the imagination of millions since the first volume was published in 1954. It tells the enchanting tale of whimsical hobbits who embarked on a journey to save Middle-earth. Traveling with them on the perilous mission to Mordor were an elf, a dwarf, a wizard, and a man. Always working against the hobbits and their fellow travelers was the Dark Lord Sauron. To thwart their mission, the sorcerer commissioned vast orc armies and the shadowy Ringwraiths. Throughout their journey, the small band was often plagued with fear, exhaustion, and despondency. On occasion, they despaired of life itself. They wondered how they could carry on in the face of so many obstacles and setbacks. At timely junctures, however, doubts and fears were met by unexpected encounters of warm hospitality. Allies in the war against evil provided the weary travelers with much-needed provision. They never would have survived the burdensome journey without these safe havens of friendship. Sweet table fellowship quieted their fears, renewed their strength, and bolstered their resolve in the quest to destroy the One Ring.
The Christian life is also a journey. For most of us, it’s an arduous one. Perhaps that’s why stories like The Lord of the Rings are so compelling to Christians. They invite sober reflection on our own journey as pilgrims traveling through the hostile “Middle-earth” of this present evil age (Gal. 1:4; Eph. 6:12–13). As we make our way to the Celestial City, such stories elicit the same feelings of anguish and hope that we experience in our own lives. They powerfully remind us that we cannot survive the journey alone. Solo travel is not a viable option (Rom. 12:4–8). Pilgrims on the way need God’s spiritual provision and covenant people. God furnishes His people with what they need both in and through His Son. Indeed, Christ Jesus welcomes and strengthens His weary pilgrims through the ordinary means of grace in the local church—an outpost of heavenly provision (1 Tim. 3:15; 1 Peter 2:2–3).
The necessity of God’s gracious provision for the journey of faith is a precept taught long before the emergence of the New Testament church. During ancient Israel’s long trek through the wilderness, under Moses’ leadership, God supplied the people with promises of salvation, manna from heaven, and water from the rock (Ex. 15–17). For forty years, God spread a veritable “table in the wilderness” for His covenant people (Ex. 16:35; Ps. 78:19). His provision of bread and water, however, was much more than a means to gain physical strength. They were heavenly signs pointing to something, or rather Someone, infinitely greater.
Fifteen hundred years after Moses, Jesus declared to the crowds at Capernaum:
“Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. . . . I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” (John 6:49, 51)
In other words, the manna in the wilderness signifies our Lord Jesus Christ. It points to Him. Compelled by infinite love, the Father sent His only begotten Son, “the true bread from heaven,” down to earth to give life to the world (John 6:32). Christians receive and are nourished by this life-giving Bread through the exercise of saving faith (Eph. 2:8–9). Christ Himself is our strength for the journey. The Welsh hymn writer William Williams gives poetic expression to this truth:
Guide me, O thou great Jehovah, pilgrim through this barren land;
I am weak, but Thou art mighty; hold me with thy pow’rful hand;
Bread of heaven, Bread of heaven, feed me till I want no more,
Feed me till I want no more.
In addition to supplying Israel with manna from heaven, God miraculously provided fresh drinking water from the rock. This occurred when Israel “camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink” (Ex. 17:1–7). Therefore, God commanded Moses to strike the rock at Mount Horeb. As a result, the rock became a spring of water for parched Israel. It was a miracle. Like the manna, however, the rock pointed to something far greater than Israel’s physical sustenance in the wilderness. Concerning this Rock, the Apostle Paul states: “Our fathers . . . all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ” (1 Cor. 10:1–4). Jesus is the spiritual Rock that provides us with the water of life. Jesus announces that He is the “living water” and that whoever receives Him possesses a “spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:10, 14). Kim Riddlebarger explains:
The events which Paul recounts from Israel’s history prefigure the realities that have now dawned on the messianic age. God did these things during Israel’s journey through the wilderness to ensure that his purposes would ultimately be accomplished, and that redemptive history would reach its ultimate goal with the coming of the Messiah.
Furthermore, Israel’s journey through the wilderness prefigures our own. Jesus Christ, the greater Moses, delivered us from Satan’s captivity through His shed blood, smeared on the crossbeam of Calvary. Christ is our Passover Lamb (1 Cor. 5:7). Through the waters of Christian baptism, prefigured by the baptism of Moses and Israel through the Red Sea, we, by sovereign grace, embark on a lifetime journey of faith (1 Cor. 10:1–2). The demanding trek takes us through the thorny wilderness of this present evil age. It’s a hostile age in which faith is fiercely tested by Satan, sin, and suffering. But we do not travel alone. Christ is our faithful companion and loyal friend (Matt. 28:20; Heb. 13:5). Nor are we left to rely on our own spiritual resources. Christ Himself, through the ministry and fellowship of the church, provides all our spiritual needs. He renews, comforts, and strengthens our faith through the Word, sacraments, and prayer (Acts 2:42; 1 Cor. 1:18). Therefore, to neglect Christ’s means of grace and eschew fellow pilgrims is analogous to a hobbit’s facing the powerful Lord Sauron and the mighty orc army alone. It’s a quest that is doomed to fail and end in spiritual ruin.
A better way is to heartily embrace active membership in a biblical church. Through a faithful ministry, Jesus Himself provides leadership and provision for His redeemed pilgrims. He is life-giving Bread from heaven and a Rock who quenches spiritual thirst. A healthy local church, therefore, is a spiritual watering hole in the wilderness.
Through faithful preaching, Christ personally nourishes our souls with gospel promises. As the waters of baptism are poured out, Christ assures us that nothing, not even the vast armies of hell, can separate a believer from union with Him. As the elements of bread and wine are distributed during the Lord’s Supper, Christ, by His Spirit, personally fortifies our faith and comforts us. When the minister prays for weak and weary pilgrims during the pastoral prayer, the Great High Priest renews our affections and strengthens our resolve to continue our spiritual journey through the treacherous “Misty Mountains” of this life.
Understood in this light, Lord’s Day worship is, first and foremost, a top-down affair. The focus is not on our creative performance for God but on God’s work of salvation for us. A widespread misunderstanding on this point may account for the large number of spiritually malnourished believers in our day. Believers who live between the exodus and the promised land don’t need more sanctified entertainment and therapeutic advice. They need Christ through Word and sacrament. They need the soul-nourishing ministry of the local church. They need fellow pilgrims who, with love and solidarity, confess the faith once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3). Dear believer, this is what you and I need for the journey of faith more than anything else. It’s what we need to endure and to be useful to God along the way. Like the early Christians, let us “devote [ourselves] to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42).
The hobbits and their friends would have never made it through the rugged terrain of Middle-earth or the unspeakable dangers of Mordor without help and encouragement along the way. Moreover, their friendship, fellowship, and mutual support played a crucial role in reaching their destination and fulfilling their mission. Tolkien’s fanciful myth reminds us of essential biblical truth.
The Christian life is not designed to be an autonomous journey of self-reliant faith. A thousand times, no. As we traverse this dark wilderness to the lush hills of the new creation, Jesus promises to guide, instruct, feed, and nourish His redeemed pilgrims through the ordinary means of grace. Through the ministry of Word and sacrament, Christ gives us Himself and powerfully reminds us that we do not make our way to the “Undying Lands” alone. He is with us, along with our fellow pilgrims. Dear pilgrim believer, there’s no better way to travel.