No One Gets Left Behind

In The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, there is a moment on the slopes of Mount Doom that captures something profoundly true about community. Frodo Baggins has carried the Ring across Middle-earth, and now his body is giving out. He collapses on the volcanic rock, unable to take another step. The mission that will save everyone hangs by a thread.

That is when Samwise Gamgee kneels beside his friend and says, "I can't carry it for you, but I can carry you." And he lifts Frodo onto his back and climbs.

Sam could not remove the burden. He could not take away the weight that was destroying Frodo from the inside out. But he could put his own body underneath his friend and keep moving forward.

This is what the Apostle Paul meant when he wrote, "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ" (Galatians 6:2). Biblical community was never meant to be a gathering of people who have it all together. It was meant to be a fellowship where the strong carry the weak, where no one climbs alone, and where showing up matters more than having answers.

Some of you are Frodo today — exhausted, barely holding on. Look around. The Lord has placed a Sam beside you. And some of you are Sam. It is your turn to kneel down and say, "Get on. We are going together."