- Hebrews 11:13 These 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. 14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.
In his sermon, The Christian Pilgrim, Jonathan Edwards delivers one of the most helpful analogies that I have ever read. As a matter of fact, it may be the most helpful that I’ve ever read outside of the Bible. One of the word-pictures he paints of the Christian pilgrim is as follows:
A traveler is not wont to rest in what he meets with, however comfortable and pleasing, on the road. If he passes through pleasant places, flowery meadows, or shady groves, he does not take up his content in these things, but only takes a transient view of them as he goes along. He is not enticed by fine appearances to put off the thought of proceeding. No, but his journey’s end is in his mind. If he meets with comfortable accommodations at an inn, he entertains no thoughts of settling there. He considers that these things are not his own, that he is but a stranger, and when he has refreshed himself, or tarried for a night, he is for going forward. And it is pleasant to him to think that so much of the way is gone.
So should we desire heaven more than the comforts and enjoyments of this life. The apostle mentions it as an encouraging, comfortable consideration to Christians, that they draw nearer their happiness. “Now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.” — Our hearts ought to be loose to these things, as that of a man on a journey, that we may as cheerfully part with them whenever God calls. “But this I say, brethren, the time is short, it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none; and they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not; and they that use this world, as not abusing it; for the fashion of this world passeth away.” (1 Cor. 7:29-31) These things are only lent to us for a little while, to serve a present turn, but we should set our hearts on heaven, as our inheritance forever (from Jonathan Edwards’ sermon, The Christian Pilgrim)
The beauty of this analogy of the Christian as a traveler is that it demonstrates how the Christian can be detached, in some sense, from the pleasures of this world, while at the same time enjoying those pleasures more than non-Christians. I could not help but connect this analogy with modern ideas of tourism and sight-seeing in some ways (not that those ideas are entirely modern). Edwards’ context didn’t involve the idea of tourism in its present form. Tourism for him was a ride through a flowery field, not a cruise to some island in the Caribbean.
Perhaps tourism per se is a bad term for the analogy, so let me flesh out what I mean. My example is this: When I travel to my original hometown I have to pass through Memphis, Tennessee. I have always had a certain fondness for Memphis. There is a romance about it in my mind. Strangely, most of the people I know who actually live in Memphis don’t share these romantic ideas. But that’s the whole point.
I stop there when I travel. I’ve spent the night there on several occasions. I eat the bbq. I stop at Tops BBQ every time I drive through town and I hit up Rendezvous every time I get the chance as well. I walk down Beale. I go to a sporting event. I think about Johnny Cash and Elvis and Jerry Lawler (I loved Memphis wrestling as kid). I appreciate the city far more than many people who live there – precisely because it’s only a place I pass through. I have no attachment. I don’t own anything there. There’s no sense of permanence to it for me. If I moved far away and never went back I would have fond memories and yet be perfectly fine and feel no deep sense of loss. It’s nice, but it’s not home (at least for me). It’s just a pleasant stop (with really good food) on the way home that serves as a mile-marker as much as anything else. I eat my full and then I’m ready to pack up and hit the road again without looking back.
And that, says Edwards, is an analogy of the Christian life as a pilgrimage. And it’s a good one.
Read his entire sermon HERE or listen to it online HERE.
Very helpful analogy. And I see that to pass through a city, means that one is not looking for ultimate fulfillment of one’s journey there, so we can enjoy it without the disappointment experienced by those who’s journey ends at that place.