Pilgrims Headed for the Heavenly City

Sermon for North Hill Adventist Fellowship, September 17, 2011 Imagining our lives as a journey through a hostile land to the blessed destination of heaven has been a common place in Christian preaching for centuries. Abraham's journey from Ur to Canaan, Jacob's flight from Canaan back to Mesopotamia and subsequent return, and Israel's exodus from Egypt have all served as models and inspiration for preachers making sense of the believer's journey through or from this present earthly realm to the glorious destination of the New Jerusalem. (Pilgrim's Progress is a classic of Christian devotional literature. It is the tale of the travels of the hero, “Pilgrim” from the City of Destruction (earth) to the Celestial City. According to Wikipedia, “It is regarded as one of the most significant works of religious English literature, has been translated into more than 200 languages, and has never been out of print.”) Great classic songs have incorporated the pilgrim image: “I Am a Poor, Wayfaring Stranger,” “I'm but a Stranger here, Heaven is my Home,” “I've Got a Mansion, Just over the Hilltop.” In these songs, the writers lament the pain and difficulties of this present world and affirm the promise of eventual arrival in the sweet homeland of heaven. Here and now is not all there it. The glory of the destination justifies the struggle of the journey. Hebrews 11 describes Abraham as the archetypal pilgrim:

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. . . . [Abraham, Sarah, Jacob and the other ancients] were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers (KJV: strangers and pilgrims) on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them (Hebrews 11:8-16).

What wisdom does this idea of the Christian life as the long trek of a pilgrim provide? What's Real? What Matters? Our notion of reality, especially our notion of what really matters, is shaped by something other than – and more than – our surroundings. We dream of a better country. When we face incurable disease or the apparently relentless degradation of the environment or the incurable oppression of depression or other mental illness – when it seems life is not worth living, we remember we are headed to a better place. Our difficult days here are connected to wonderful days there. The pain of the journey is justified by the fantastic beauty and delight of the destination. Some critics of religion blithely criticize this “destination-based hope” as dysfunctional, wishful thinking. Many of us who are on the journey know otherwise. The hope of that brighter, better world adds quality to our life here and now. The happiness of the future world actually seeps into this world and improves the quality of our lives here and now. This is not just the opinion of starry-eyed believers. Psychological and medical studies have measured real life benefits that flow from hope. We do better, we manage life better, when we are hopeful. Holy Dissatisfaction A second benefit of thinking of ourselves as pilgrims, as travelers headed to a better land: We deliberately cultivate a healthy dissatisfaction with the way things are, and we set about to improve them. In the 1700s and 1800s one of the driving forces behind the abolition of slavery was a vision of heaven. Will we have slaves in heaven? No, I don't think so. Then why do we have them here? Shouldn't people who are getting ready to live in the better land begin practicing here and now? Will we go to war in the new earth? No. Then why are Christians so eager for war here? Multiple studies have found that in the United States the people most eager to send American soldiers on aggressive missions overseas are people who describe themselves as “born-again Christians.” What's up with that? Our vision of the new earth should influence how we live here and now. Isaiah pictures our destination this way: The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox,. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child will put his hand into the vipers nest. They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea (Isa. 11:7-9). If that is our future, if that is what life is like at our destination, it makes sense to begin practicing here and now. Jesus taught us to pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” We are know this world is not our permanent home. We dream of the better land. Then we pray that God will act to make this world more like that better world. Then – and this is vital – we line up our lives with our prayers. We take action to make things better. We refuse to completely assimilate. We are not only earthlings. We do what we can to make this place more like that place. Jeremiah told the Jews who were living as pilgrims in Babylon: Settle down and take care of yourselves. Also take care of the towns and cities where you are living. Sure, keep alive your dream of returning to Jerusalem. God has plans for your future – plans that have you back in the Promised Land, plans that have you leaving Babylon behind. But between now and then, take care of Babylon. (See Jeremiah 29.) Similarly we are called to take care of our world. We have an extraordinary wisdom that comes from our lively awareness of how things are done in a better place. So we seek to bring those better practices, that better way of living and loving, into this world, here and now. Sometimes we may near collapse with fatigue. Sometimes the horrors of this world overwhelm us. Then we come to church and meet other pilgrims and remember this world is not all there is. Sometimes we may get so caught up in present realities, we may forget we are citizens elsewhere. We may become too settled. We may go with the flow the way a dead fish floats down stream. Then we come together and in music and preaching, in fellowship and shared work, we renew our vision of the Promised Land. We drag ourselves off the benches or sofas where we have collapsed and step again onto the path, headed home. We work to smooth the path so that those who are traveling behind us will find it a bit easier. And we learn to sing again, celebrating the hope and promise of the glorious destination. We're pilgrims headed home. Practical applications: 1. They speak a different language in the home country. It's valuable to keep alive our native language. Part of the benefit of church is meeting with other people who know the language of heaven. Reading authors who are fluent in the heavenly language is another way to keep alive our fluency. While we want to be able to communicate easily with the citizens of this world, we don't want to become so completely assimilated we lose our heavenly accent. If we are new to the journey toward the heavenly city, it makes a lot of sense to be very deliberate in mastering the language of our new homeland. Daily Bible or devotional reading is a wonderful habit that can help us move that direction. 2. Celebrate the privilege of citizenship. Create and enjoy Sabbath feasts. Create and invite others to festivals. Make music. Rejoice. Deliberately savor the delight that flows from being fully aware of the delight that is waiting at the end of the journey. 3. Know that we have a guide who will get us there. Jesus is the good shepherd. He never loses his sheep. Jesus is the friend. He would rather die than miss out on spending eternity with you. He promises he will never leave you or forsake you. So don't be afraid. Jesus is a warrior. He never loses a war. He is a physician. He never loses a patient. He is the captain of the ship. “No storm or wind can ever sink the ship where lies the master of earth and sea and skies.” You're in good hands. The Savior saves. Count on it. The leader will take us through. So, no worries. 4. Share the wealth. Be generous, magnanimous, benevolent, merciful, forgiving, courteous, gracious, compassionate. That's the way life is where we're going, so we might as well get in practice now.