What's A Pilgrim People All About?

Somewhere in the second half of 2009 I read something that triggered a thought about a theme for 2010 — A Pilgrim People.

The People of God

Our understanding of being A Pilgrim People begins in the Old Testament with the people of God.  In the Old Testament the people of God consisted of the nation of Israel, and the Old Testament is a record of God’s dealings with that particular community.  They were called to be God’s treasured possession among all the peoples [Exodus 19:5].  They were to obey God’s will and to declare his praise [Isaiah 43:21].  They were to be a light to the nations so that God’s salvation would reach to the ends of the earth [Isaiah 49:6].  In the New Testament the cross of Jesus and his resurrection opened the way for all people to become part of the people of God through faith in him.  The church now continues as the people of God [1 Peter 2:9-10].

The people of God is not a concept, but it is a living community that stands within the great stream of what God has done and is doing within the world.  As it was for the people of God in the Old Testament, so it is for the church: we exist to serve God and to live for him within this world.  It is still through us as the continuing people of God that all the nations of the world will be blessed.

A Pilgrim People

The people of God are a pilgrim people.  Pilgrims are people on the move, moving from one place to another, with a particular focus and goal in view.

Basic to the understanding of the church as being a pilgrim people is that we are moving towards a goal, but we have not yet reached it and will not reach it on this side of eternity.  We are still on the way, still in process.  We are continually on the way without any sense of being settled.  We have not yet reached our destination; there’s more to come and more to be done.  We fix our eyes of Jesus and run the race set before us without growing weary or losing heart [Hebrews 12:1-3].   We travel together as a community, supporting and encouraging one another on the journey and stopping to pick up other people on the way.  The path for the pilgrim church is the path of persevering in faithful obedience to Jesus Christ.

A Pilgrim Journey

A good metaphor to use when speaking of ourselves as a pilgrim people is that of journey.  The Bible is fundamentally the story of the journey of the people of God with their God.  It is a journey of faith [Luke 10:2-4] and, by definition, we don’t know where it will end and what we’ll encounter on the road.   Leonard Sweet in his book So Beautiful speaks of the pilgrim journey as living with one foot raised.  One foot raised means that we’re leaning forward in anticipation, ready to take the next step.   We don’t know what it might mean, but we’re right there, ready.   Further, because the life for a believer is that of a pilgrim journey, it’s as though we’re in a permanent state of being sent.

A Risky Journey

There’s nothing too much about the journey and path of the pilgrim that’s comfortable because disciples of Jesus operate within the world of high risk.   Again according to Sweet, pilgrims are people who are blazing new trails and who aren’t afraid of what the next step might entail or what might be around the next corner.  They are not afraid of being lost because lost is where the action is, where the Spirit is found and where the muscles of faith are exercised and strengthened.   The ultimate risk is not to risk anything because it’s generally true that anything good in life entails risk.

Throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbour, catch the trade winds in your sails. (Quoted from Leonard Sweet, So Beautiful)

Jeff