In the 16th century the Eurpoean naval powers began extending their reach to the west around the African coasts and beyond to Asia, and the the east around South America. Most pilots of sailing vessels were semi-literate, and the voyages in open sea were dangerous. The nations that learned the routes could guarantee the trade, influence and wealth of the new discoveries. Ships pilots kept hand written logs of the journey, closely guarded and hugely valuable, so they and those who followed after them could safely ply their trade. The logs were called rutters.
Alistair McGrath in his book 'The Journey', puts it that 'a reliable rutter was the key to a safe voyage to the secret lands beyond the horizons'. He compares the value of the geographical rutter with the importance of spiritual 'rutters' - those who go ahead and show a way for those that follow.
'A physical rutter pointed out rocks and other such dangers; it also identified safe harbours and sources of food and water. Spiritual rutters allow us to identify some of the main difficulties we may encounter along the road of faith, so that we may make good use of the strategies that others have devised before us. They offer us a vision of our final arrival at our destination.'
I love this for lots of reasons; it speaks of the global south, the developing world, in our case not for profit, but for prophet, and not for financial wealth but for investment in the poor. It speaks of pioneering and having the courage to take dangerous journeys, with others, but where few have gone before. It speaks of being committed to those who follow after us, of giving all we have learned good and bad that others might follow better than we have. And ultimately of course it speaks of destination and setting our sights on a different kingdom.
We are desperately hungry to follow Jesus. To be the Rutters that He's inviting us to be. Psalm 77 verse 19 says this - 'your path led through the sea, your way through the mighty waters, though your footsteps were not seen'.
Lead us Jesus.
