Jesus walked a lot. The only record we have in the gospels where Christ made use of public transit was on His way to Bethlehem (in utero), and again at the end of His life when He rode into Jerusalem in similar equestratorial fashion*. Other than that, He walked. Everywhere. From Nazareth to Jerusalem, then to Capernaum, and back to Jerusalem, then again to Galilee, and back again to Jerusalem; back & forth and round & round He went. Some have calculated that Jesus walked over 3,000 miles in His short 3-year ministerial stint. That’s a lot of walking!
There are probably some valid reasons for His making such physical exertions. Maybe Jesus didn’t have access to a donkey strong enough to handle that kind of mileage. Perhaps He was a fitness junkie, and liked His exercise. Or maybe (just maybe) He walked everywhere because it was advantageous to the purposes of God. You and I might not assign any ministerial worth to the bothersome chore of getting from point ‘A’ to point ‘B’, but in God’s economy, “All things work for good”. And for Jesus, that included walking.
Simply put, maybe Jesus walked because He wanted to meet people on their level, walk alongside them, and invite folks to come with. Not sure if I’m right, but that’s exactly what ended up happening…“Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him (Mt.4:25)”; “Large crowds followed Him (Mt.8:1); many people followed Him (Mt.12:15); the crowds followed Him on foot (Mt.14:13); large crowds followed Him (Mt.19:12); a great crowd followed Him (Mt.20:29)”.
Why Walk At All?
Etymologists might call it “footslogging”. Footslogging means “to walk or march for a long distance, typically wearily or with effort”. It’s what happens in the space between destinations. It’s the boring part between two more exciting activities. It’s that aspect of ministry that seems to tire us out the most. People find it hard to see any spiritual value in footslogging. Yet Jesus did lots of it. No less than one thousand hours of it! Six full-time months of it! And He wasn’t at all wasting His time. If He wanted to save time He could’ve ridden a race-horse around Palestine, but He didn’t. He walked. Deliberately. Because that’s how Jesus met people. And that’s when ministry happened.
We might learn a thing or two by looking at the journeys of Christ as “outreach” instead of Him just trying to get somewhere else to do something more important. In truth, His walking made a huge contribution to the overall success of His ministry. After all, Jesus could only be followed insofar as He made Himself available to follow. And by walking all over the place, Jesus did exactly that. And, according to the gospels, it worked.
Where Have We Been?
The last 4 weeks have seen a lot of activity around the church. Outreach in particular. On Sunday June 9th, we positioned ourselves at the bottom of the North & South bound I-35 exits to offer morning coffee and an invitation to church. The following Friday our Community Group was on the other side of town, partnering with the One Life ministry from Menomonie, for two full days of outreach at a local event. On Sunday, June 30th and Monday, July 1st, our same group was back in West Duluth for two evenings of work at a local coffeehouse, helping them paint & make renovations for their 20-year anniversary. On July 7th we were back to the East end of Duluth giving away ice cream cones to everybody at the park. But really, is this nothing more than a waste of our time?
Where Are We Going?
In many ways, the outreach activities at our church can be as underestimated in ministerial value as Jesus’ walking. It feels like a lot of effort, with no tangible results to be seen. Has anyone gotten ‘saved’ with our ice cream? Nope. Has anyone even come to church because of our outreach? (Please, don’t ask). Sometimes it seems like we’re spending hours upon hours doing what seems to produce very little fruit. We have a hard time seeing the value in it because we aren’t experiencing great spiritual ‘breakthroughs’ or conversions. From West Duluth to Lester Park, then to a project on the West end, and back to Lester Park, then again to Park Point, and back again to Lester…back & forth and round & round we go. Why all the hassle if it doesn’t feel like we’re accomplishing any “real” ministry?
Keep On Slogging…
We certainly don’t give away ice cream because we’ve got nothing better to do. And we don’t hand out coffee because we like standing next to exit 252. We do it because it’s advantageous to the purposes of God and the mission of this church. We want to meet people where they’re at, and invite them to come along with us. It might seem like a waste of time, but we can only be followed insofar as we make ourselves available to follow. We are not wasting our time. Coffee & ice cream is how we meet people, and meeting people is when ministry happens.
Walking wasn’t the ‘real’ ministry of Jesus, but real ministry wouldn’t have happened without it. Let’s walk alongside Him, and find out where genuine Christian ministry takes us. Let’s be excited to see who we’ll meet along the way. This is the only road I know of that’ll get us where we’re going…so let’s keep walking.
-Pastor Justin
* “Equestratorial fashion” is not a real term, because ‘equestratorial’ is not even a real word. The use of a fake word was utilized in this case because the author needed a term suitable for helping the reader to remember that Jesus was riding a donkey in both instances. “Equestratorial” seemed to satisfactorily** encapsulate the thought, even though the word itself doesn’t mean anything.
** The author isn’t entirely sure if ‘satisfactorily’ is a word either.
