The Pilgrim’s Way

The Pilgrim’s Way

Genesis 12: 1-5

Acts 20: 22-24

Hebrews 11: 8-16

What does it mean to be a Pilgrim? I remember in elementary school, every Thanksgiving we heard about the Pilgrims and the Native Americans having their first meal together. There is probably a great deal of factual data that can be disputed regarding how all this has historically been presented in our educational institutions, and what actually transpired. I do not in any wise claim to be an expert in these matters, and only have a cursory understanding of the finer points of this history. I am merely using this introduction to seque into the point of my writing. Mostly what I remember about how the Pilgrims were presented, is that they wore weird hats and black and white clothes. The official “Pilgrims” in American history are the people who came to this continent from England to institute religious and political freedom, and, admittedly, that is an enormous over-simplification.

But just what does it really mean to be a pilgrim? The Bible has much to say about what it means to be a pilgrim:

1 Peter 2:11

“Dearly beloved, as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.”

Hebrews 11:13

“These (meaning the previously mentioned people of faith in the Bible) all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.”

The New Century Dictionary defines pilgrim as “a traveler, or wanderer, specifically one who journeys, especially a long distance, to some sacred place, as an act of devotion.”

In the Islamic religion, every adult Muslim is encouraged to go on a pilgrimage to Mecca, the city where their prophet, Mohammed began his life and ministry. A visit to Mecca has religious significance for Muslims at any time of the year, but with the twelfth month of the calendar year, the season of the Great Pilgrimage arrives. At any other time, it is designated as a “little” pilgrimage. During the season of the Great Pilgrimage Muslims flock to Mecca wearing the simple pilgrimage garb of white cloth donating the state of ritual purification.

In India, the Hindus make a pilgrimage to the sacred River Ganges. To the Hindu, the River Ganges is the symbol for life without end. Hundreds of thousands flock to its banks daily to perform their ritual bathing in its waters and sip from its life-giving stream. Once every twelve years as many as ten million people share in ritual bathing at the great KUMBH MELA festival at ALLAHABAB, where the waters of the Ganges and the Jumna combine.

Many of the world’s religions stress the importance of pilgrimages to places regarded as sacred. In Jesus’ day, and until the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70, the Passover was a pilgrim festival for the Jews. They also made pilgrimages to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Booths. It has been suggested that as many as 100,000 pilgrims may have come to Jerusalem annually for the feast.

To the Christian, life itself must be regarded as a pilgrimage; “A journey of long duration, to a sacred place, as an act of devotion.”

In John Bunyan’s book Pilgrim’s Progress, a man by the name of Christian is set out on a pilgrimage, after reading “THE BOOK” and finding out his city is going to be destroyed. When a man named Evangelist pointed the way of escape to Christian, he ran with his fingers in his ears, ignoring the cries of him family to return, and shouted to himself “Life! Life! Eternal Life!”

Too many times in our Christian lives, we lose sight of the fact that life here on this earth is a pilgrimage, ending in an eternal destiny. We must always remember that this current life on this earth is temporary. Because we lose sight of this, we tend to make one of two mistakes. We either see this life as a chance to grow comfortable and lazy, or we think that we must try to create a sort of heaven here on earth. Remembering the temporariness of life is freeing. That does not mean that we should become lazy and quit doing good, but it helps us realize that we must learn to depend on God. It keeps things in their proper perspective.

Too many times we become like the foolish rich man in Jesus’ parable, who, after building bigger and bigger barns to store all of his goodies, said to himself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many hears. Take life easy, eat, drink, and be merry.” But the Scripture says that God said to him, “You fool! Tonight your life will be required of you.” If we spend all our lives living as if this life is the only life, instead of seeing this life as a pilgrimage, we waste all our time trying to accumulate this world’s goods to acquire a measure of security, then this life ends, and we are left with nothing.

Abraham, who the Scripture refers to as our father in the faith, lived as a Pilgrim. His life was not easy. A pilgrim’s life is never easy. I like this poem that I found several years ago. I do not know who wrote it:

“God has not promised skies always blue,

Flower strewn pathways all our lives through.

God has not promised sun without rain,

Joy without sorrow,

Peace without pain.

But God has promised strength for the day,

Rest for the labor,

Light for the way,

Grace for the trials,

Help from above,

Unfailing sympathy,

Undying love.”

Abraham’s life as a pilgrim had its trials. He gave up a lot that the world would consider important to obey God’s call. Look for a moment at the account of Abraham’s life:

Abraham was comfortable in Haran. His family had settled there. He had buried his brother and his father there. Abraham was a wealthy man. He was comfortable. Abraham had no earthly reason to leave. But he had a heavenly reason. God told him to leave.

“Leave your country, your people, and your father’s household, and go to the land I will show you.”

Now according to Hebrews 11:8 God hadn’t even told Abraham where he was going until after he left. Abraham could have argued with God: “Wait a minute, God! You tell me to leave, and I don’t even know where I am going. I can’t do it! It is unreasonable!”

Sometimes our human reason falls short. Sometimes God may call us to do something that, to our human reason, just does not seem to make sense. That does not mean that God is unreasonable, it means that our understanding is faulty, and in knowing this, we should be humbled. God never calls us to do anything arbitrarily. There is always a greater purpose at stake, even if we do not see all the pieces to the puzzle at the time.

We should learn that when we get to the point in our lives that we feel comfortable and secure in our own efforts, abilities, and resources, this is precisely the point that God cannot use us. We must be emptied of ourselves before He can fill us with His grace, strength, and power. This only comes by walking by faith. This only comes by living life as a pilgrimage.

Abraham could have argued with God, but he chose to obey. Do you sometimes argue with God when He calls you to do something, or go somewhere, because, in the natural, it is something that you really do not want to do? Or perhaps you want to have all the questions answered ahead of time so you can make sense out of the whole thing. Well, guess what? It doesn’t work that way. If it did, no faith would be required. I have heard faith compared to driving a car at night. You depend on your headlights to illuminate the way before you. I drive a lot in the dark back and forth to work. . Guess what? My headlights do not shine all the way from RTP to Mebane! They only shine about 15 or twenty feet in front of the car. But I have faith that, as my car moves forward, the lights will illuminate my way as I go. That is the way our walk of faith works. God gives us illumination as we move forward on what He has already revealed.

I was on my way home from work one night. I had stopped to get some gas. A man approached me, who obviously had been drinking heavily. He asked me if I was going to the next town down the road. I did not have to go that far, because by then I was only a few blocks from home. God impressed upon me that He wanted me to take the man home. At that point, I began to have a mental argument with God.

“I am not going to Burlington, God. I am tired and ready to go home. He won’t remember anything I tell him.” “Take him home”, the Lord continued. “Okay”, I finally consented.

On the way, we made small talk part of the way, then I began to tell him how much Jesus loves him. He began to cry. He told me about how he had given his heart to the Lord earlier in his life. He had an accident and injured his back and couldn’t work for a long time. He got behind on his bills and wound up losing his house. He became discouraged and began to drink. When we got to where he was staying, I prayed with him before he got out of the car. God showed me that night that He was allowing me to be His messenger to one of His children that was hurting. If I had not quit arguing with God over what I did and did not want to do, He would have never been able to use me for that purpose.

God can use all of us in powerful ways to minister His love and grace to those around us if we will just make ourselves available.

Abraham did not consider what he was giving up.He was giving up a lot materially. He was old also. The Bible states that Abraham was 75 years old when God called him to leave Haran. He could have argued, “God, I am too old to be of any use to you. I retired ten years ago, and I am ready to take it easy. Make some young whipper snapper go instead!”

We never get too old to follow the Lord, and share Jesus’ love! And we never “retire” from our pilgrimage on this side of the grave!

At this time, Abraham did not have any children either. God had not yet promised Abraham and Sarah a son. That did not come until they got to Canaan. Abraham could have argued, “God, who is going to take care of us in Haran? All of our family is here in Haran.” But Abraham did not question, he went!

Later, Abraham did not question God when He tested him by telling him to sacrifice his son, Isaac. He obeyed. But he went with a stack of promises;

“I will make you a great nation. I will bless you. I will make your name great. You will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you. I will curse those who curse you. All the peoples on the earth will be blessed through you.”

Abraham set out from Haran on his pilgrimage, seeking the land God had promised. And the Bible says, “They set our from the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.” He did what God told him to do, and he made it! If we follow God and do what He says, we will make it to the promised land as well!

God also raised up Moses to be a pilgrim. Moses, like Abraham, had no earthly reason to leave his place of ease when God called him. Moses had it made, if you measure success by the world’s standards. Moses was raised as the Pharaoh’s son. He could have chosen to enjoy an easy life of indulgence. He could have written off the concern that he felt for the Israelites as unnecessary guilt. But he didn’t. He obeyed God, and in the face of insurmountable odds, Moses led God’s pilgrimage out of the slavery of Egypt, back into the same land that God had given to Abraham.

Moses, Like Abraham, did not have an easy task laid out for him. As I read the account of Moses confronting Pharaoh, Pharaoh constantly promising one thing, then changing his mind, along with the Israelites constantly complaining and disobeying along the way, I don’t know if I would have been able to put up with all of that. But Moses did!

A pilgrim’s way is never easy. However, a pilgrim knows that the place he is going to is far better than the one he is leaving. Jesus said, “Any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot by my disciple. Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

What is Jesus saying to us? Is he telling us to give everything away and go sleep under a bridge? Is he telling us to neglect our families and treat our loved ones as if they do not matter? No! God never tells us to give up things just for the sake of not having them. He tells us to give them up when they are interfering with our having the one thing that really matters… Life with Himself! When our stuff gets in the way of our relationship with God, we need to get rid of it! What Jesus is telling us is that we need to get our priorities in order. He is telling us to develop the mindset of a pilgrim, and stop clinging to people and things for security. This world, and this present age, is not our home.

As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 7:13, “Those who use the things of this world as if not engrossed in them. For this world and its present form is passing away.”

I have known a few pilgrims in my day. I know one lady who had a successful career as a registered nurse. Then God called her to become a missionary in New Guinea. From what I understand, this is one of the most primitive places left in the world. About that time in her life, this lady lost her husband and her daughter. Despite every reason a person could have for being bitter and hurt, this lady chose to obey God,

I could site many examples, but there is one pilgrim that I want you to know about. This pilgrim is a king, who sat on His throne in glory, ruling the entire universe. He, unlike Abraham, had no heavenly reason to leave, but he had an earthly reason! For on this earth He created, He saw people, trapped in the bondage of sin, dying without hope. So, He left His throne, His place of glory and comfort, and He came for us. This, my friends, was the ultimate pilgrimage. Jesus Christ, God the Son, emptied Himself of His pre-incarnate glory, and came, born of a woman, in a poor inn keepers barn. As Philippians 2:7 says, “He made HImself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.”

The Son of God lived as a pilgrim on this earth for 33 years, pointing the way to the kingdom of God. And then He gave His life as a sacrifice, an atonement for the sins of man, so we could find forgiveness, and the way back to our Creator. And after being dead for three days, He rose from the grave, and ascended back to His throne in glory. “When He ascended on high, he led captives in His train, and gave gifts to men.”

Now, let me ask you this: Have the things of this world got you weighed down? Are your things so important to you that they are your security, and not God? Are you so afraid of change that God will never be able to send you anywhere? Then it is time for you to join the pilgrims! You see, our citizenship is not of the United States. We live as aliens. As a matter of fact, our citizenship is not even of this world. “Our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus, who by the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they are like His glorious body.”

Examine yourself today. Is there anything, or anyone, that stands between you and Jesus? If there is, get rid of it. Bring it to God’s altar and leave it. Walk away from it. You see, our King is coming back for a people, but He is only coming back for the pilgrims.