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Strangers and Pilgrims – The Third Sunday after Easter


Rev. Andrew Brashier / May 12,k2025
Rev. Andrew Brashier / May 12,k2025

This entry is part 28 of 28 in the series A Walk in the Ancient Western Lectionary

Strangers and Pilgrims – The Third Sunday after Easter


I just a poor wayfaring stranger,

Trav’ling through this world of woe.

There’s no sickness, no toil, nor danger

In that bright land to which I go.

I’m going there to see my Father;

I’m going there no more to roam.

I’m just going over Jordan,

I’m just going over home.


How long are you staying in this world? How long shall you dwell in the society you find yourself within? If we are honest with ourselves, and in this day and age we are not, we should humble ourselves and realize “The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.” (Psalm 90:10, KJV). These evil days are long yet the years are short, “for what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away” (James 4:14, KJV).


Whether you recognize the Almighty God’s reign or deny it, life is short. You are a traveler, a pilgrim, a sojourner. The question is, are you a friend of this world who will lose it all when you die, or are you a wayfaring stranger with your hope and your journey’s end set on God’s celestial shore?


The “poorness” in the short masterpiece, Wayfaring Stranger, is not an impoverished man by society’s definition, though many of our Christians are impoverished monetarily, but instead is a reflection of the poverty the wayfarer has towards the ways of this world of woe. We are travelers – or at least we should be – for “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” (James 4:4, KJV). We ought to be poor in the sins of this world and the friendship with evil, for this world is guaranteed to provide sadness, woe, sickness, toil, and danger. The Christian is called to bear with these hardships and not seek escape from them, but to endure with godly conviction and witness that this world of woe shall be exposed for what it is and renewed in the coming judgement. If we lose our lives while we are alive, then we shall gain eternity at our deaths. For death has no hold over us, it is simply a journey to the bright land to be with the Father. It is a sojourning to the Promised Land. It is going over Jordan and venturing onward to our home away from home, until God renews the heavens and the earth and we arise from the old earth into the new earth with new bodies like our Lord Jesus Christ.


I know dark clouds will gather ’round me;

I know my way is rough and steep.

But golden fields lie just before me

Where weary eyes no more shall weep.

I’m going there to see my mother,

And all my loved ones who’ve gone on.

I’m just going over Jordan,

I’m just going over home.


When the joyful bells of Easter Day ring silent, where do your loyalties lie? Are you following the Good Shepherd along the steep embankments in the dark valley or are you wandering astray and seeking greener pastures on the far side of Babylon? Pause for a moment in your Eastertide journey and ask yourself this question: Do you visit Jordan’s banks on Sunday but return to the Wilderness on Monday? You are a pilgrim on a journey, and you either find yourself running the rat race or taking the long walk to where weary eyes no more shall weep. Perhaps your pilgrimage is one of interruption. You find yourself compelled each Sunday to tip your toes in the Jordan, but you’re pulled back on Monday towards the ways of the world, the way of death. Stop walking for a moment and reorient. Look up and see Christ on the cross and be drawn unto Him. Set your eyes on the One who left the tomb empty and our souls full.


Jesus told His disciples before His death that there would be a time when “a little while, and ye shall not see me.” (Gospel lesson, John 16:16, KJV). Yet the death of our Lord was only a temporary separation from His disciples as we read in the Gospels. Christ also foretold His disciples that not only would they be separated once, but “and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father” (John 16:16, KJV). This separation confused His disciples, they asked what our Lord could have possibly meant. Jesus answers by previewing His Ascension and the Pentecost, telling them, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy” (John 16:20, KJV).


Far too often, the sojourning Christian is sorrowful and forgets the joy of Christ’s resurrection. We turn and look around the path we trod and we think we are alone. We fear the Good Shepherd has even deserted us. Do not give into this deception of Satan, for Christ has not left us, but has returned to His Father, and our Father. He goes, so that He may send. This Third Easter after Sunday, we preview the coming descent of the Holy Ghost, Christ’s gracious gift of God Himself indwelling in His children.  We are not left alone, but are left with God Himself to comfort, care, and change us into the life-bearing image of His Son. Walking with Christ is to never walk alone. It may feel lonely, but the feeling is a deception, for in reality, the Lord God dwells within you.


This divine gift of faith and the indwelling of God – the Holy Ghost – is something not to be dismissed. The Holy Ghost should not be thought of as replacing the feeling of despair or depression with joy, peace, and love. The Holy Ghost is not a manipulation of one’s desires, but is the eternal Spirit who once hovered above creation’s waters, now renewing your soul with a new spirit through the waters of baptism. He is personal, so personal that He tabernacles within us wanderers so that we may follow Him like the children of Israel followed the pillar of fire across the river Jordan. The faith of trust in God’s love for wandering mankind is a transformative faith, because it is a gift in and of itself and this gift begets another gift: God within us.


The temporary sadness of the disciples in seeing Jesus ascend is replaced by emboldened and Spirit-filled Apostles in the Book of Acts. We do not see our Lord Jesus for now, but in the twinkling of an eye we shall see Him face to face. If we are born again in Spirit and in truth in this life, then we shall see Him with our own eyes in the resurrection. The new birth of the Holy Ghost shall bring us joy like the birth of a new child. And just as the birth of a child turns wails of pain into tears of joy, so too “ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you” (John 16:22, KJV).


I’ll soon be free from every trial,

My body sleep in the churchyard;

I’ll drop the cross of self denial

And enter on my great reward.

I’m going there to see my Savior,

Who shed for me His precious blood.

I’m just going over Jordan,

I’m just going over home.

The Christian life is one of walking. We talk about walking with God, following Christ, and being led by the Good Shepherd. Look at father Abraham, who left everything to follow God, like the disciples who followed the Lord Jesus. It takes leaving everything, a sort of living death in order to inherit eternal life. “And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life” (Matthew 19:29, KJV). This is not leaving everything so one may receive personal glory or reward, but is a willing throwing it all away to lay your sole trust upon God alone. How did Abraham leave his father, mother, his homeland, his livelihood? “By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went” (Hebrews 11:8, KJV).


Did he receive the fruits of his faith immediately? No, but “By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise” (Hebrews 11:9, KJV). Was Abraham looking for immediate gains and riches by trusting in God? No, “For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Hebrews 11:10, KJV). Abraham looked to the eternal God for the eternal city promised when the heavenly Jerusalem descends from on high, along with the Ascended Son of God descending upon the clouds.


Do you think I read too much into Genesis’ account of Abraham? Nay, the church fathers and more importantly, the Spirit-inspired Scriptures tell us what great trust this saint has, for “By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure” (Hebrews 11:17–19, KJV). Abraham saw the endgame far before many spiritually blind sons of Abraham ever did. God shall crush the serpent through the seed of Eve and Abraham knew it may even be Isaac. Yet Isaac was spared and the Angel of God, the pre-incarnate Christ told father Abraham that it would not be up to the sons of Abraham to atone for sin, but that God the Father would provide Himself the lamb required. Therefore, when Jesus was incarnate, He told the blind sons of Abraham, the scribes and Pharisees: “‘Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.’ Then said the Jews unto him, ‘Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?’ Jesus said unto them, ‘Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am'” (John 8:56, KJV).


Dear Christian, drop the baggage of your sins and this world and pick up your cross and follow Christ like Abraham and the Patriarchs. “For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” (Hebrews 11:13, KJV). Each Patriarch was a sojourner, and we are called to sojourn behind them with our eyes set on the same shepherd: Christ Jesus. When we become strangers and pilgrims on the earth, then like the Patriarchs, “now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.” (Hebrews 11:16, KJV).


However, following the Lord requires cutting the cords of our hearts because our desires are tainted, twisted, and torn between loving God and loving the world. This is precisely why Christ not only dies and rises from the dead for us but also indwells us with His Holy Ghost on Pentecost. We need help shaking the dust of Egypt off our feet and entering into the waters of the Jordan. We need to eschew the meat of Egypt and feast upon the bread of righteousness. Hence we pray this week, “Almighty God, who shewest to them that be in error the light of thy truth, to the intent that they may return into the way of righteousness: Grant unto all them that are admitted into the fellowship of Christ’s religion, that they may eschew those things that are contrary to their profession, and follow all such things as are agreeable to the same; through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.” (Collect of the Day).


Out of love for His wandering lost sheep, our Father shows us when we are in error. He shines the light of His truth upon us and gives us His living truth within us. The fire of the Holy Ghost dwells within believers and yet does not consume us – like the burning bush Moses encountered when He spoke to God and was called. The I AM WHO I AM not only shines His holy light and truth within us, but He dwells within us for one purpose: for us to return to His way of righteousness so that we may be strangers to this world and wayfaring on the right path. God has done everything for His lost sheep to find Him. He has saved us through Christ, gifted us with faith, and now lives within us so that we “may eschew those things that are contrary to their profession, and follow all things as are agreeable to the same” (Collect of the Day).


Therefore, you can see why the ancient Western lectionary pairs the epistle of 1 Peter with today’s Gospel. Peter talks to us out of kindness and with sympathy, calling us “Dearly beloved,” and speaking to us as fellow “strangers and pilgrims.” Speaking to us as wayfaring strangers, Peter calls us to live in the Holy Ghost and to rely upon Him above ourselves and the world. Peter implores the Church not merely to celebrate the victory of Easter but to live in it. We do so if we “abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation” (Epistle lesson, 1 Peter 2:11–12, KJV). Refraining from sin is not about “being good.” It is war against the fallen darkness present in the world and putting on the Lord Jesus Christ as the new world is breaking through every time we turn away from our Gentile flesh and towards the holy and godly works of charity we engage in through the Holy Ghost. Peter’s words are not words of encouragement to do better and be better but are words to pilgrims progressing through God’s Holy Word and Sacraments to becoming something new – being born into someone new. The charitable acts of daily living for others and not for ourselves are not only living testimonies about God’s love for His creation but are also convicting witnesses that will result in God being glorified on the day He visits His people to reward them eternally.


We were liberated not to sin further, but to be transformed and “that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.” (1 Peter 2:15, KJV). Therefore, as renewed image-bears and Spirit-dwellers, let us live “as free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God” (1 Peter 2:16, KJV). Let us like Moses, by faith refuse being a prince of Egypt, rather “Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season” (Hebrews 11:25, KJV). Obey God rather than men, for Moses, “By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible” (Hebrews 11:27, KJV).


In other words, as freedmen, do not wander back towards Egypt and slavery. Do not throw away your rich inheritance for a meal. (Genesis 25:34, KJV). Instead, seek ye first the reign of God, for His reign is truly on earth as it is in heaven and it is breaking through every moment you allow God to reign in your heart, your soul, your mind, your body, and your spirit through the Holy Ghost. The Lord Jesus Christ loves His disciples so, that He tells them there will come a time in which they are parted due to His death, but they shall see Him again. Further, He tells them He shall depart and ascend to the Father, but it is good that He returns to reign, because “When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men” (Ephesians 4:8 KJV).


Truth be told, we weary strangers like to travel the dust of this world in isolation. We walk the road of life alone in our souls. We are parched with thirst and we blame our sojourning and our misery on God Almighty, instead of the desert we wandered into. The Almighty Father gave us His Son so that we may have springs in the desert and water everlasting within us. Remember the Scriptures, “Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert” (Isaiah 43:19, KJV). Hear the Son when He tells us, “whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14, KJV). Do you confess Christ crucified and risen is the Lord God? Remember your baptism and the baptism of our Savior when the Holy Ghost descended in dove form to testify His Lordship. We are filled by the self-same Spirit and filled so that we may traverse, walk, stumble, climb, and wayfare as strangers in this strange land until we are home with the Lord.


Let us take up our pilgrimage and follow the saints of old, “(Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth” (Hebrews 11:38, KJV). This world was not worthy of the saints of old, because “They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;” yet endured by their faith in God and empowerment by the Holy Ghost. (Hebrews 11:37, KJV). “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.” (Hebrews 12:1, KJV).

May we bear our crosses and journey behind our Savior who leads, alongside our God who nourishes, and indwelt within by the Holy Ghost who strengthens us.


Enjoy this hauntingly beautiful version from the film 1917 and try not to weep.



 
 
 

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