Walking Apostle
Over a year ago, Ginger planted an Iris in the backyard by the house, and the other day it finally bloomed. I’ve never seen a flower quite like it. As she rushed outside to get some photos, she told me it’s a called a Walking Iris or otherwise known as an Apostle Plant. It was dubbed the former because as its stems mature, they bend to the ground and take root, appearing to "walk" across the land. Even more interesting to me was the origin of the second name, which it acquired because of the belief that the plant wouldn’t flower until it had 12 or more leaves – corresponding to the 12 apostles.
Put these names together and we have the Walking Apostle. I kind of like that because it’s an appropriate descriptor of those who followed Christ. During his three-year ministry, Jesus and his disciples are estimated to have walked 3,125 miles! Now that’s a lot of steps. In fact, it’s roughly the distance from Orlando to Vancouver, British Columbia.
When reading the Gospels, it’s easy to miss the long distances that Jesus and company covered. For the most part, the Gospel writers don’t tell us the time it took because they assumed their readers understood what travel was like in the area. For instance, the narration of Jesus’ final journey to Jerusalem from Capernaum doesn't explicitly state that this was a 125 mile trek over winding paths through Samaria, Jericho, and Bethany.
We're also left to assume (if we know anything about long distance hikes) that a journey like this would inevitably include sore and blistered feet, hot dusty days, chilly nights sleeping on the hard ground among many other challenges.
But what it also meant for the disciples was fellowship – long stretches of uninterrupted fellowship with each other and, of course, with Jesus. Yes, they had the opportunity to hear Jesus’ teaching and witness his miracles, but during these long journeys together, they also got to know him and each other very well. Fellowship, you see, was key when it came to following Jesus – it still is.
John, the beloved disciple - one of the 12 who walked the roads with Jesus, said: “That which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ."
To put it another way, fellowship with Jesus also entails fellowship with the Father and with each other.
The book of Hebrews exhorts us toward this when it says: “Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
Friends, as we get closer to Jerusalem on our journey with Jesus toward the cross in this last week of Lent, may our fellowship draw us closer to him and to one another.
Blessings
Fr. Darin+