Preaching in the wandering
A modern day vision of Jesus' incarnational ministry
If you read the Gospels, you’ll notice that Jesus’ ministry was rarely set inside a building, and the few times it was, it was temporary. Jesus was a man on the move, always traveling and walking through new areas. Talking to strangers was a key part of his job description.
You’ll find stories of Jesus in fields and on mountains, on the water and at the shore.
You’ll find stories of him meeting people at wells in the middle of the day, finding people in trees, and hanging out with the regular crew at the market.
The Gospels didn’t take place in temples or sanctuaries. They were set “out there,” in the real world. Jesus’ ministry happened wherever the people were.
This is why the more time I spend with street ministries, the more I see Jesus’ ministry reflected back to me.
This is especially true when I join street churches on their walks, an integral part of most of these ministries. A street pastor will head out along with another clergy member or volunteer, walking for a couple hours around the common areas where people gather.
When I walked with The Outdoor Church, Pastor Lisa and Levy led me through Harvard and Porter Squares in Cambridge with a cart full of bottled water. Ambrose joined us later in Harvard to pass out the bag of snacks. They walk this route three times a week.
With common cathedral, we journeyed over to Copley Square, around and inside the Boston Public Library, and ended at the train station. We offered people socks, ponchos, and occasionally a Dunkin’ Donuts gift card because a storm was headed our way overnight. They try to walk this route every Monday and Friday.
Capuchin Mobile Ministries has a little more infrastructure, with a van that drives around to five different stops every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday. They set up their mobile café, and hand out coffee, sandwiches, and cold weather gear if people need it. (You can see their set-up in the photo up top.)
My night walk with the San Francisco Night Ministry began at 10pm and led us through the Tenderloin district of San Francisco. We stepped into a couple bars to make our pastoral presence known to the bartenders and their clientele and hugged a few street friends along the way. Volunteer clergy walk the streets of San Francisco every single night, 365 days a year, from 10pm-4am.
What is striking about these walks is that they have no expected outcome. The pastors aren’t seeking data or new members or even wanting to pray for x number of people. The only “attendance” that’s taken is Brother Paul writing down names of the people who stop by the Capuchin Ministry van so they can be prayed for at the Friary services.
The purpose of these walks is to wander, to look down the alleyways and in the hidden corners of a city to seek out their community and be in relationship with them.
To remind them where they can find a chaplain or when worship is, even though there’s no expectation that they come.
To listen to the stories of peoples’ lives with open ears and an open heart. Sometimes a prayer is offered, other times not.
To offer a small gift—water, socks, poncho, a gift card that allows them to get out of the weather—as a token of healing and love.
When we walked into the Boston Public Library one Friday afternoon, we had one person we were hoping to find. Pastor Atem led us through the entire first floor, weaving through the computer lab and coffee shop to the very back corner to find Kevin, a man who they hadn’t seen in a while. All of his possessions were neatly organized on his cart, but he had a leg injury so was struggling to get around. We chatted with him for 5-10 minutes, offered him socks and a poncho that he didn’t take, and then left.
Even though I never saw Kevin at a worship on Sunday, he was no less an integral part of the community and the Body of Christ.
To someone on the street—who is often ignored and judged and misunderstood—this simple encounter with a friend who calls you by name and loves you as you are is Good News.
To any of us—in the middle of a bad day or struggling with the weight of the world on our shoulders—this simple encounter of someone who cares is Good News.
This is the very ministry Jesus did—a ministry of showing up and being present. This is what the incarnation is all about—God being with us, not just on Sunday mornings but every moment of our lives.
Yet this is something that’s been lost amidst our traditions and established churches and beautiful buildings—waiting for people to come to us.
But Jesus didn’t wait for people to come to him. He went to them. He hung out in their spaces. His eyes were turned toward the periphery and beyond.
And when he showed up or when people encountered him during his wandering, they wanted more. They told their friends. The crowds grew. All because they experienced the incarnation of God in their midst.
Thousands of people never walked into a temple in Jesus’ day. Many never prayed to the God of Israel. If Jesus would have stayed in Galilee or only met with people who made their way to his inner circle, the Gospels would have been a lot shorter and less interesting. If Jesus would have tried to relocate the meal in the field to a fellowship hall, 5,000+ people wouldn’t have shown up.
Jesus knew that many of people in need of Good News—a healing touch, a loving friend, the presence of God in our own flesh and bones—were those who weren’t already in the room.
Street churches offer us a church modeled after Jesus’ ministry, a vision for how to embody the incarnation in our communities.
And I can tell you, it’s not about the numbers. It’s not about membership or how active someone is or giving levels or conversion.
It’s about relationship.
It’s about Jesus in the flesh among us when we encounter our neighbor.
It’s about meeting God’s people in their day to day lives and proclaiming that God and a pastor and a community is with them in it.
It’s about the Body of Christ who cannot be contained to our sanctuaries.
It’s about proclaiming a story of love and compassion and worthiness to a world desperate to hear it.
My friends, this is proclamation of the Good News of Jesus Christ.
This is preaching. The Word made flesh.
And it doesn’t always have to happen in the pulpit.
As Jesus shows us, a lot of the time it happens in the wandering.
🤝🏼
These reflections, experiences, and dedicated time for writing is thanks to the generosity of The Reverend Janet Karvonen-Montgomery Preaching Fellowship from Luther Seminary. You can learn more about Rev Janet and the Fellowship here.
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Hurrah! Not only is this beautiful, I now have the basis for my sermon for good shepherd Sunday. I was thinking of preaching on accompaniment and what that looks like. Being a shepherd, going out and being in. Hugs to you!