esus and the first apostles were always on the move. At the beginning of Mark’s Gospel, Jesus spends time at Peter’s house in Capernaum. The Gospel notes that “the whole city was gathered around the door. And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons” (Mark 1:33-34 NRSV). Jesus could have done quite a bit of good if he had remained in Capernaum. But, that night, “while it was still very dark” (1:35), Jesus snuck out of town. When his disciples finally found him, he said, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do” (1:38). Though Jesus attracts crowds from all over Israel and the surrounding regions (3:8), he tries in vain to avoid them. It seems insufficient to say Jesus is merely looking for new places in which to help people and spread his message—after all, people from far and wide are coming to him! So why, according to the gospel narratives, was Jesus constantly “coming” and going? A later passage in Mark may suggest an explanation: “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (10:45). For the early Jesus movement, itinerancy was an integral part of a servant-lifestyle. In first-century Palestine, debt and land reallocation had led many inhabitants to unemployment, homelessness, emigration, and wandering. In imitation of the victims of the socio-economic situation, Jesus and his followers crisscrossed Israel, performing what was, for them, the true meaning of messiahship. It was a lifestyle he encouraged others to follow, urging would-be disciples, “Take up your crosses and follow me” (8:34).
It was a lifestyle he encouraged others to follow,
urging would-be disciples, “Take up your crosses
and follow me” (Mark 8:34).
Similarly, Paul saw his journeys across the eastern Mediterranean as “carrying around the death of Jesus” (2 Cor 4:10). Paul, the Wandering Apostle, was susceptible to accusations of weakness, lying, and fraud due to his inscrutable lifestyle. How could a messenger of God be poor and homeless? Yet Paul performed what he saw as the meaning of the Cross in his travels: a willingness—even a mission—to embody weakness in the interest of serving those who are marginalized and offering them the promise of the Gospel. For Paul, itinerancy communicated a mission to serve.
At MTS, students and teachers contemplate the challenges facing Church leadership and organization in the twenty-first century. With the increasing realization that our communities cannot just “stay put,” future ministers are forced to go out and find alternative models for connecting people and healing our world. Going outside the walls of traditional churches, “the house of God,” can feel like wandering in the wilderness. But our foundational stories show that wandering is not simply a lack of destination, but a part of the message Christ brings to those who need him, finding us at the margins, embodying our weakness, and opening up a new path before us. |
 Amanda Griesser
"A Not-So-Historical Look at Turkey"
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 Lloyd Gooden
"Reflections on Suriname"
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 Tim Luckritz Marquis
"Wandering and the Cross"
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 Kyle Borowski
"Thriving in the Wilderness
of Adolescence"
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 Glen Stoudt
"Changing Seasons"
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 Susan Bennetch
"Reflections on Israel"
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 Shanti & Vani Pradhan
"From Nepal
to the US:
Being International Students at Moravian Seminary"
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 Glenn Asquith
"Life Story as Eulogy,
Ritual and Celebration"
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