STRANGERS AND PILGRIMS

I have to confess that I struggle with the word “pilgrim” when I see it used in Hebrews 11:13.

“These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.”

As a boy I was a great fan of John Wayne movies (and still am). In his inimitable voice, the Duke would often call a bad guy or a hapless city slicker a “pilgrim.” The connotation lingers in my mind that a pilgrim was a guy with bad intentions or someone with no idea of what real life on the frontier was all about, a hopeless rube that attracted trouble like manure drew flies. I guess it’s fair to say that my mental image of a pilgrim was basically that of a loser with no hope of making his way successfully through life. Needless to say, this was not a healthy image to have.

When the writer of Hebrews uses this phrase, he is picking up on a stream of truth that began in the Old Testament. Jesus reemphasized it and then it flows throughout the entire New Testament. An old gospel song puts it this way:

This world is not my home, I'm just passing through.
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.
The angels beckon me from heaven's open door
And I can't feel at home in this world anymore.

Chorus

O, Lord, you know I have no friend like you
If heaven's not my home then, Lord, what will I do?
The angels beckon me from heaven's open door
And I can't feel at home in this world anymore.

Paul followed this thinking and in Colossians encouraged us not to get overly engaged by the “things of earth” but to set our heart on “things above.”
“If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth” (Colossians 3:1-2)

Peter uses the same phrase that is used in Hebrews: “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul” (1 Peter 2:11).

It seems to me that the truth being put forward is that heaven is really our home and believers are a nomadic type of people travelling through this life. All of this seems to start in Genesis 12:1 when God spoke to Abraham, “Get out of your country…to a land I will show you”—and the great trek began. God’s people have been nomadic, noncitizens ever since. I think it is important to acknowledge that while we currently live on earth and have work to do here, our real home is with Him in eternity. Pilgrims have made a choice because they understand they must, and their choice is to not overly fixate on this life but to keep “the long view” ever in front of them.

I don’t hear much preaching or teaching today about keeping eternal values forefront in our hearts and minds. In our overly materialistic world and church, the idea of focusing on eternity and what I call “the long view” is not in vogue. In today’s dumbing down of spiritual values in the church, it is not really considered cool to talk about heaven or hell and the transitory nature of our life here.

Signs abound that the church has lost “the long view.” Overemphasis on material things, success, money, and retirement are sure signs that for many, the view of the transitory nature of this life has all but gone dark. We are living in the age of the 60-minute rock and roll church service where the sermons primarily tend to deal with “how to be successful now.” Almost no thought or teaching is given to where we are going next.

In case you’ve forgotten, there are two eternal destinies and we get to choose one. For the procrastinators and the, “I just can’t make up my mind” crowd, the default choice is definitely one with an unusual and unpleasantly warm welcome—and it will not be a cool place to spend eternity.

Well, strangers and pilgrims, here we are! Living in the middle of this mess we call 2009. The more I think about it, the more I’m glad we’re just passing through because I wouldn’t want to think this is where I was going to have to spend my eternity. I think a new definition of hell could be the current Congress of the United States.

My apologies to John Wayne…I’m beginning to like being called a pilgrim. I think I’ll let the rest of you be called “strangers”…because some of my friends and a few of the relatives just are!