A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous. When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labour on us,we cried to the LORD, the God of our ancestors; the LORD heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. The LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders; and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. (Deuteronomy 26:5-9 NRSV)
It was their story. It told them who they where and where they had come from. It reminded them that, as a people, they had come on a journey, a long journey far from their origins. It reminded them that the journey had been a difficult one. They had travelled a long way and endured much. It told a tale of going down and coming up; of being strangers in foreign lands; of suffering and promise; of affliction and hope. And of how, through it all, God had been with them. And here on the threshold of the promised land, they must prepare to honour God appropriately once the promises are fulfilled. They must prepare to give the first fruits of the first harvest in the promised land to God.
But this story was really being recalled by a people who were in a different predicament, a different foreign land, preparing for new entry into the land. They were in exile from the land that they believed that they had been promised. And this story was reminding them of what they owed God whether they were in the land or out it. They owed God the very best, the first fruits; because what they had received from God was far more. No matter how much suffering they had endured; no matter how long the journey had been, God had brought them through and they were still a great nation.
The Basis of Union tells a story too: one that we like to repeat often. It tells of another pilgrim people—the church; and of a different wanderer—not an Aramaen, but one whose journey also built a new people—the body of Christ. It reminds us that we are a people on a journey towards a different type of promised goal; and it reminds us that our journey is that of Christ.
A wanderer was our ancestor, our forebear, the firstborn of the new creation; and he went down from his home into a strange land where he was an alien. And he dwelt among us and lived as one of us. He lived our life and died and our death, and that we may might live no longer for ourselves, but for the one who came to us and for us, he showed that the power of death and all that is death-dealing could not hold him, and cannot hold us when we are enfolded in him.
This is our story. It tells us who we are and where we come from. It remind us that, as a people, we are on a journey; that we have been enfolded into the journey of the one who came to and for us. And it is into this journey that we have been enfolded in our baptism, when we went down under the waters and came up as the new people of God. But the land we live in is an ambiguous one—it is God’s good creation; yet it is marred by much human destruction—and we are called to be both resident aliens and native rebels in this land. It is a difficult journey to which we are called—the temptations are many; and the chances for losing our way are many. But we have been promised the gift of the Spirit in order that we may not lose our way. And our story reminds us of who we are and whose we are. We have been drawn up and together as the people of God. And here on the threshold of the promised realm of God, we must be prepared to honour God appropriately for the promises at once fulfilled and to which we are travelling. We must be prepared to offer our first fruits, our very selves, in thanksgiving for God’s providence, God’s care, God’s solidarity with us on our journey; and for being drawn into the journey of the Christ who wandered far, endured much and called the people of God home.
The wandering child of God is our ancestor… and Christ’s journey is the one we are called to follow and enfolded into as the people of God.
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