Ps 84
27 August 2000
"Pilgrims"
"As a pilgrim community grounded in the saving grace of God in Jesus Christ, our vision is to be committed to work for the appearance of God's kingdom in our midst and in the world." That's taken from the vision statement presented in this month's session meeting. We're looking for congregational input as we put the document into final shape.
I've pulled out this sentence because it contains a key word—pilgrim. We're described as a "pilgrim community," a group of nomads in search of something. Now even if we decide not to go with the word "pilgrim," we at least know that the Bible calls the people of God "pilgrims." For example, in 1 Peter 2:11, we have this plea: "Beloved, I urge you as aliens and exiles (or in some translations, "sojourners and pilgrims") to abstain from the desires of the flesh that wage war against the soul." We have ample precedent for seeing ourselves as people on the way.
For centuries, pilgrims have been understood to be travelers to sacred places. Not simply people taking a tour, pilgrims have had deeply spiritual reasons. Christians have set out for such destinations as Jerusalem or sites where healings have been reported. Muslims, if they are able, are to make the hajj—the pilgrimage—to Mecca. In earlier times, these voyages came at risk of life and limb. The dangers faced by pilgrims was considered to be part of their spiritual formation.
For many today, pilgrimage has a slightly different tone. It's become an industry. At the internet website Pilgrim Net, along with more traditional notions, we also encounter a more postmodern idea. "Pilgrimage does not have to be part of institutional religion. It does not even have to belong to what is traditionally called 'religion.' So-called secular pilgrimage is as real and important for those participating as pilgrimage proper. Visiting Elvis in Graceland [or] a passionate pilgrimage to Bali as a tourist going for the Real Thing all make deep sense to those involved."[1]
It really is a buyer's market. There are a large number of companies who arrange pilgrimages all over the world, suited to your taste. One will take you to the ancient land of Tibet, where you may enter the fabled city of Lhasa¼with accommodations at the Holiday Inn!
Our friends at Global Travel Bureau, Inc. tell us would-be pilgrims, “Amazing to think that before the Chinese annexed Tibet in 1951, the wheel was not used as a tool and that until it was opened to visitors in the early 1980’s, the amenities and mentality of the hotel management were as foreign to Tibet as fresh coconuts. So we cannot expect that green sign to guarantee crisp service or great food¼Nonetheless it is a good hotel and we will enjoy a quiet evening acclimating to Lhasa’s nearly 12,000 foot elevation.”[2] I guess we should thank God that the Chinese invaded Tibet and provided a semi-luxurious place for spiritual travelers to spend the night! (Please forgive my sarcasm!)
If it’s true that the idea of pilgrimage is somewhat the worse for wear, we can get a picture of it at its best in our psalm reading. The 84th psalm is often seen as a song sung by a pilgrim while making the way to Jerusalem, to worship in the temple. It not only pictures the journey, but it gives us a look at the pilgrim's emotional and mental state.
That does make a difference. It's sad to say, but it's true that throughout history such journeys have often been undertaken with mixed motives. People allegedly in search of an experience with God have decided to settle for an experience with gold. Those on a quest for healing have sometimes left the local inhabitants in need of healing.
The psalmist seems to have some pretty admirable motives. "My soul longs, indeed it faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God" (v. 2). Our writer has a single-minded commitment to seeking God, and not only that, but also to expressing the joy of the pilgrimage itself.
Verse 5 says, "Happy are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion." That's how the NRSV puts it; the New Jerusalem Bible reads, "Blessed those who find their strength in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage." The word translated as both "highways" and "pilgrimage" is t/Lsim] (mesilloth), which comes from a verb, ll's; (salal), meaning "to lift up" or "to raise." This is a powerful image. To have within one's heart, within one's very being, the road that is to be traveled speaks volumes.
I'm reminded of the story Banu has told about the disciple who approached the teacher and expressed the desire to seek God. The teacher, who was standing on the river bank, immediately threw the student into the water and held his head under. After some moments, he released him, and the student emerged, gasping for breath. The teacher asked the student what he wanted more than anything else while being held under water. "Air!" he answered back. "When you want God as much as the air," the teacher replied, "come back and see me."
The psalmist looks like a candidate for that teacher! In verse 10, our writer says that "a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than live in the tents of wickedness." This is someone who's given a lot of thought to setting priorities in order!
For Presbyterians, this talk of pilgrimage can seem rather foreign. It sounds too…Catholic! (That’s more of a problem in some places than others.) As a church of the Reformation, we've been strongly influenced by John Calvin, one of our "holy fathers." As he did with much that was Roman Catholic, Calvin had some choice words for pilgrimage.[3]
He called it "'fictitious worship,' 'supplication' to 'dead men’s bones' and the 'images of saints,' and [he denounced] alleged miracles used by religious authorities to generate income and worldly power…Pilgrimage, as a spiritual practice, is rejected because in his view it was bound up with numerous spiritual abuses that he wished to remove from society. Calvin also associated pilgrimages with 'human traditions' which, when 'made binding on conscience' tend 'to destroy Christian liberty.'
"Despite these criticisms of spiritual abuse found in many churches, Calvin appeals to the imagery of pilgrimage to understand Christian living. Consequently, he tells his readers that Christ taught his disciples…'to travel as pilgrims in this world.'" Calvin's complaint wasn't so much with pilgrimage as with the corruption that had tainted it.
So far, we've looked at some traditional and not-so-traditional ideas about pilgrimage. We've heard from our psalmist and a little bit from John Calvin. But I began with a statement about us. What, if anything, does pilgrimage mean to us? Do we see ourselves as pilgrims?
In Biblical thinking, the idea of "pilgrim" is closely related to that of "sojourner" or "exile" or "stranger." These are people far from home. They're in an unfamiliar place. They don't understand the workings of the land they're in. They speak a different language. God is sympathetic to such people. According to Psalm 146, "The Lord watches over the strangers" (v. 9).
But what about us? Are we comfortable with the workings of the land we're in? Do we see ourselves as moving toward something else, something better? To put it simply, are we at home?
Unfortunately, it's all too easy to dismiss the idea of pilgrimage as a ridiculous hassle. It isn't convenient. It doesn't make good use of time. It's too much bother; besides, what's wrong with where we are? I'm okay with the status quo; aren't you?
I used to have an Old Testament professor who told us that the prophets were sent "to afflict the comfortable and to comfort the afflicted." I get a little nervous when I think about which of those two categories I'm in most of the time. In fact, it scares me sometimes when I realize just how comfortable with the status quo I often am—how at home I am with the way we do things.
There can be a strong temptation to disregard what we know about the world around us. We can be aware of people being tortured, of lakes being poisoned, of someone who could really use a visit…of those who need the good news of Jesus Christ. We can know these things and still not act.
That’s not the way of pilgrimage, at least, not according to our psalm. It says that “the Lord God is a sun and shield; he bestows favor and honor. No good thing does the Lord withhold from those who walk uprightly” (v. 11). Pilgrimage is both a physical journey and a symbolic one, one that characterizes our entire life. And just as there’s a difference between going on a pilgrimage and merely sightseeing, so there’s a difference between a life of pilgrimage and a life spent sleepwalking.
Hebrews 11, talking about the heroes of faith in the Old Testament, says this of them: “They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland” (vv. 13-14). We as individuals and as a congregation behave as citizens of a homeland. So I ask again, are we at home?
[1] home6.inet.tele.dk/pilgrim/pilgrshare.htm
[2] www.infohub.com/TRAVEL/SIT/sit_pages/4285.html
[3] www.christian-pilgrim.com/pilgrim/calvin.html