On the edge

An aerial photograph of the River Jordan taken in 1938 (wikimedia commons)

This week’s lectionary blog focuses on the lectionary Gospel reading Mark 1.1-8, and draws attention to one of the Bible studies offered at the recent Diocesan Racial Justice Conference.

Clare Amos, Director of Lay Discipleship

clare.amos@europe.anglican.org

One of the disturbing chants that has frequently been heard, both in the Middle East and in western cities, in the two months, since the events of October 7 is, ’From the river to the sea…’ How the sentence then ends depends on who is doing the chanting. If it is fairly radical pro-Palestinian voices it continues, ‘Palestine shall be free’. Increasingly though, ultra-right-wing Jewish voices are ‘echoing’ the chant with versions that speak of complete Israeli Jewish control of the land ‘between the river and the sea’.  In my view, if either side ever seriously decided to try and bring into reality their competing aspirations, the conflagration that would result, probably throughout the Middle East and beyond, could make the violence that we have seen to date feel mild by comparison.

‘The river’ being referred to of course is the River Jordan, from ancient times a ‘traditional’ boundary marker for the ‘land’. In the Book of Joshua (chapters 3-5) the crossing of the Jordan marks the end of the period in the wilderness and a new beginning. It is interesting how Joshua 4.21-24; 5.10-11 draws a parallel between the Exodus experience of crossing the Red Sea, and this experience of crossing the river. In one we are moving out into the wilderness, and in the other, a sort of ‘renewed Exodus’, we are moving in from it. The link between the two events is echoed in other parts of the Old Testament, most notably Psalm 114.  

The river Jordan also features in this week’s lectionary Gospel. It is no accident that the place where John the Baptist is exercising his ministry of change and repentance is at this boundary-marker. The choice of this location implicitly suggests that those who come to him for baptism in the waters of the Jordan are presenting themselves as willing to be part of a ‘New Exodus’ community.

Over the past couple of years as I have been working with colleagues on the diocesan lay learning course one thing that I have been fascinated to explore is the importance of the idea of a ‘new Exodus’ for the self understanding of Jesus and his earliest disciples. In particular as Anthony Bloom initially noted, and then Tom Wright picked up upon, one key way of looking at the Lord’s Prayer is to think of it as the ‘foundation prayer of the new Exodus community’.  There are links between each of the petitions in this prayer and the events described in the Book of Exodus: the link between ‘daily bread’ and the wilderness manna may be the most obvious, but it is not the only one.

One of the key markers of this ‘New Exodus’ community is the important place it gives to those ‘on the edge’ or in the wilderness – including of course John the Baptist himself. He is an ‘edgy’ person, as was Elijah – who he reflects in his clothing and location. His ministry at the Jordan river clearly located him as someone on the frontier.

At the recent diocesan Racial Justice conference held in Freiburg, Dr Sathianathan Clarke, the presenter of the Bible Studies, devoted his first study to John the Baptist, who he named as ‘the uncivilised outsider’ a person challenging ‘the system’. Sathi told a story against himself of a time when in Washington, USA, where he lives, he had been preaching on John the Baptist in a church many of whose members were themselves homeless. Afterwards one of the congregation came up to him and commented that he had not mentioned that John the Baptist is perhaps the biblical figure that himself can be most easily identified as ‘homeless’ – and that it was a pity that Dr Clarke had not referred to this as he was someone that Sathi’s homeless congregation could relate to. In your particular context who are the ‘outsiders’, the people who might find themselves identifying with John?  There is a powerful song of the hymn writer Brian Wren, ‘Welcome the wild one’, which focuses on John the Baptist. The words are available here Welcome the Wild One – Hope Publishing Company

Also worth drawing attention to is the illustration offered by the St John’s Bible for the beginning of the Gospel of Mark: note how, with the scene of Jesus’ baptism happening behind him, the brown clad figure of John is already striding out of the picture. Baptism of Jesus – The Saint John’s Bible: Virtual Tour – University Library at The University of Notre Dame Australia (nd.edu.au) 

Quite a few years ago now I designed a series of Sunday services around the theme ‘Is it far to Bethlehem?’. Over the weeks of Advent and running into Christmas Day and beyond, each week we focused on a particular ‘place’ which acted as a ‘station’ on the way to Bethlehem. Among the ‘stations’ were the River Jordan and the wilderness. We cannot arrive at Bethlehem too soon, if we are to be able to hear the message that the birth of Christ has to offer us,  it is vital that we ‘stop’ first in these ‘edgy’ places and discover what they have to say to us. Perhaps particularly this year above all years. This is brilliantly expressed in this prayer by Francis Brienen:

Wilderness is the place of Moses, 

a place no longer captive and not yet free, 

of letting go and learning new living. 

Wilderness is the place of Elijah, 

a place of silence and loneliness, 

of awaiting the voice of God and finding clarity. 

Wilderness is the place of John, 

a place of repenting, 

of taking first steps on the path of peace. 

Wilderness is the place of Jesus, 

a place of preparation, 

of getting ready for the reckless life of faith. 

We thank you, God, for the wilderness. 

Wilderness is our place. 

As we wait for the land of promise, 

teach us the ways of new living, 

lead us to where we hear your word most clearly, 

renew us and clear out the wastelands of our lives, 

prepare us for life in the awareness of Christ’s coming 

where the desert will sing 

and the wilderness will blossom as the rose. 

(© Francis Brienen, ‘A Restless Hope’, URC Prayer Handbook 1995)