Beowulf totally has applications to the Christian life. No, really. I’m serious.
Matthew 25:31-46; Ephesians 1:15-23; Psalm 95:1-7a; Ezekiel 34:11-16,20-24
In the past few weeks I’ve been reading a good deal of Old Norse mythology. It’s quite a lot of fun for me, and I re-read things like Beowulf and the Prose and Poetic Eddas around once a year. Norse mythology is quite a bit more interesting than the Greco-Roman stuff we’re used to, and it’s fun to read the intros to some of these works as they were usually written by a Christian looking back on their pagan past and wanting to preserve Norse heritage if not the actual belief system therein.
Let’s take Beowulf for example. After killing the monster Grendel, Beowulf returns home to great honor from his king. When the king’s sons die in battle, Beowulf is the logical choice to take the throne, as the greatest warrior with the greatest honor. After ruling for 50 years, a dragon threatens his kingdom and, as king, it is his job to deal with the threat. So Beowulf and his main group of warrior-lords set out to fight the dragon. Beowulf engages the beast in single combat, but when the battle begins to go the dragon’s way, all but one of Beowulf’s men, Wiglaf, turn and run away in fear for the lives. Together Beowulf and Wiglaf manage to finish off the dragon, but at the cost of Beowulf’s life.
Today is Christ the King Sunday. Today is when we celebrate Christ’s kingship over this world and His eternal reign in the new creation. So why am I talking about Beowulf? Well, first it helps us understand why Christ is king at all. Just like the Norse kings, Christ is not just king by virtue of his place as the son of God, but also because of his death and resurrection. Unlike earthly kings, however, Jesus’ kingship is solidified not because of some bold exercise in human valor, but because of his total submission to God on the Cross.
As it says in Ephesians, “[God] raised [Christ] from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power, and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.” Jesus is, as they say, kind of a big deal.
Now, there’s a thought that has been floating around the broader church for a while now: are we “fans” of Jesus or are we “followers”. Let’s look back at Beowulf’s story for a minute. When he set out to fight the dragon, he brought with him his “thanes.” Now, in this culture, a thane was a warrior in service to the king. For loyal service, the king would reward his thanes greatly, and oftentimes these thanes would be very rich.
Over the course of several years, Beowulf’s thanes and enjoyed relative peace, as none of the other kings would in their right mind ever attack Beowulf, so they grew quite rich and had little need to fight. So when the dragon came, while they rode out with Beowulf to the battle, when things started going wrong they ran, looking out for themselves rather than holding to the oaths they swore to their king. Only Wiglaf stayed behind to help Beowulf in the battle, and afterwards Wiglaf had strong words for those who deserted.
You could easily say that most of Beowulf’s thanes were “fans”. They enjoyed the benefits of hanging out with someone like Beowulf, but when the going got tough, the proved where their hearts really lied and ran. Wiglaf on the other hand was a “follower”. While enjoying the benefit of being one of Beowulf’s retainers, he also continued to follow his king even when his life was on the line.
In a way, this incident in Beowulf is not unlike our Gospel. The difference between the sheep and goats, the righteous and unrighteous, could also be mentioned in terms of follower and fan. Both groups wanted to hang out with Jesus. Both groups had an understanding of who Jesus is. But only one actually followed. Jesus’ answer to both group’s question (“When did we see you hungry or thirsty or a strange or needing clothes or sick or in prison?”) is identical expect for the addition of two “nots”. “I tell you the truth, whatever you did [or did not do] for one of the least of these, you did [or did not do] for me.”
We often like to enjoy the benefits of hanging around with Jesus — eternal life, forgiveness of sins, and the like — but we don’t like having to do anything for it. Now there’s a very fine line here. We’re not doing things to earn something from God, but the things we do and the actions we take are evidence of what we believe. When James writes, “Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead,” what he means is that if we truly believe who Jesus is, and treat what he says as the Truth, we will live in a way that models his life, because that’s what he said to do.
Jesus didn’t say, “Stand over here while I do stuff for you,” he said, “Follow me.” If our proclamation of Christ as King today is what we say we believe, and our lives don’t back up that belief, then good for us we’re all goats. But if we are truly following Christ, and looking to his example and leading for our lives, then in the end we will hear the words, “Come you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.”