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I think of him every Holy Week. The guy they follow. Jesus and his apostles are heading into
Jerusalem to share in their Maundy Thursday meal, and Jesus gives them
directions: “Follow the man carrying water.” For years, I read this as a
mundane act of prophecy or as a folkloric twist in the tale. Perhaps Jesus could’ve just as easily said “follow
the man in the red hat,” or “follow the woman carrying grapes.” But then I learned that for a man to carry
water, in the culture of Jesus’ first apostles, was a radically
gender-transgressive act: men simply did not carry water. It was women’s work, and rigidly assigned to
women in that culture. For Jesus to say “follow
the man carrying water” in those days would be like Jesus saying, “follow the
man in the dress” in my context.
So, what do we make of this?
For one, I think it’s a reminder that then as now, people on the edges
tend to look out for one another. Look
at Jesus band of outcasts, rebels, and weirdos- where could they be safe to eat
together, to share wine together, to tell stories and hear loving words and
wash feet? Where could they be safe
enough to do all of this given that the powers of the Roman Empire were even
then gathering to arrest and execute Jesus?
Well, maybe they could be safe wherever the man carrying water could be
safe. Then as now, people who are
outcast for sexuality or gender identity are at least more likely to shelter,
to spend time with, to be welcoming towards those who are outcast for other
reasons, political radicals not the least among them. The Stonewall Riots, which many point to as
the beginning of the contemporary LGBTQ rights movement were started not by
affluent white gay men, but by homeless youth, by drag queens of color, and by
other contemporary mirrors of the man carrying water. Jesus sends his friends looking for the man
carrying water, because wherever he goes, even they will be safe; wherever he
goes, even they will be welcome.
So, this is a nice little textual moment, but what does it
mean for us? As the current board chair
for the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists, I’m tempted to read
this as just another scriptural reminder of God’s call to a variety of sexual
orientations and gender identities, another place where God’s word bears room
and honor for those who would find new ways to be gendered in the world. But I think it’s more than that, and I think
it hits closer to home than that.
In Jesus command to his first followers is (as usual) an
invitation for us. “Follow the man carrying water.” What does it mean to follow the man carrying
water in our towns and churches? Perhaps
it means looking for whoever is left out, whoever is living on the margins of the
community, whoever is not quite fitting in, whoever is outside the bounds of “normal
folks”- and going to them. Wherever they
go, the church should show up. Wherever
they wander, we are called to come alongside them, to learn from them, to see
what maybe only they can thus far see.
But (again as usual) the call is not only to social
commitments in our churches and communities.
I think the invitation is also to our hearts. Because the man carrying water is not just
outside of me, is not just the stranger at my gate. Somewhere in my heart, there is a part of me
that is weird. There’s a part of me that’s
“outside the bounds”, there’s a part of me that I don’t want to acknowledge, or
even look at, let alone listen to. I don’t
know about you, but I reckon you maybe have that part of your heart to,
especially if you sit for a moment or three and listen for it.
“Follow the man carrying water,” Jesus tells his
friends. “Learn from whoever is
strangest among you,” Jesus tells my community.
“Listen to the part of yourself that you are so desperately trying to
ignore,” Jesus tells my heart.
And in the mist of it, wherever we follow that man carrying
water- the Risen Lord has already walked ahead of us. He is waiting to meet us there, at the
welcome table.
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Rev. David Weasley is an American Baptist pastor. He currently serves an ELCA congregation in
Tinley Park as their Director of Youth and Outreach. He also serves on the Board of the
Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists (www.awab.org.) He lives with his partner Rachael and a dozen
other housemates in a co-op in Hyde Park.
