Hold Fast

In the movie Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, Frodo nearly falls to his death when grappling with Gollum over the ring. Sam clutching Frodo’s wrist desperately says to Frodo, “Don’t you let go!” Frodo, is wavering between following the ring to his death, and allowing Sam to save him. The ring represents an addiction or a sin, a thing that has power over its victim. As long as the ring is whole, it has a hold on Frodo. Frodo is making a hard choice that he has no real control over. I believe that if the ring had not finally succumbed to the heat and melted, that Frodo would have let go, and followed the ring to his death. However, at the last possible moment, the ring sinks out of sight, destroyed, and Sam who never gives up on Frodo commands him, “REACH!” Frodo regains hope and reaches with all his might for Sam’s hand and relative safety.

What are the lessons for us here and now in Tolkien's writing? Sin and addiction lead to hopelessness and despair. The only way out is to destroy the hold of the addictive substance or sin over us. There is only one Power that can do this, the dunamis, the mighty resurrection power of God that resides in all who are called by His name. While the sinner is fighting the sin, his friends in Christ must remain firm and steadfast to the end, always offering support, love, and firmly grasping the hand of the one who would rather fall into despair than give up the thing that holds him captive.

Galadriel, the Elf queen told the Fellowship, “The quest stands on the edge of a knife. Stray but a little and it will fail to the ruin of all. Yet hope remains while all the Company is true." If we Christians are true to one another, the bondage of sin and addiction can be broken. Sam was willing to die rather than let go of the one he loved. Jesus did die, rather than let go of us. The Church must find the strength in Christ to love and befriend each other, so as to “stick closer than a brother” through times of sin, addiction, hopelessness and despair. This is the love that the apostle John spoke of in his epistle, “Beloved, let us love one another . . . he that doesn't love, doesn't know God.”

If the Church remains self-centered, isolated in their own little pew, more and more brothers and sisters will be lost, and the church will remain crippled, unable to save the world because of its inability to save itself. We MUST be there for each other, watching over, guiding, and protecting each other. We must all be willing to go the second and hundredth mile for our friends, and ultimately be willing to sacrifice everything for them. Without this open willingness to take up the cross of Jesus, the church will fail in its responsibility, and will be held responsible by God in its failure.

(c) 2009 Tracey Edwards Karcher

Hold Fast

Performed by Mercy Me

Composed by: Mike Scheuchzer, Jim Bryson, Barry Graul, Bart Millard - ©2006

To everyone who's hurting
To those who've had enough
To all the undeserving
That should cover all of us
Please do not let go
I promise there is hope

Hold fast
Help is on the way
Hold fast
He's come to save the day
What I've learned in my life
One thing greater than my strife
Is His grasp
So hold fast

Will this season ever pass?
Can we stop this ride?
Will we see the sun at last?
Or could this be our lot in life?
Please do not let go
I promise you there's hope

You may think you're all alone
And there's no way that anyone could know
What you're going through
But if you only hear one thing
Just understand that we are all the same
Searching for the truth
The truth of what we're soon to face
Unless someone comes to take our place
Is there anyone?
All we want is to be free
Free from our captivity, Lord
Here He comes

Hold Fast . . .