Philippians 3:17-4:1
A Sermon Preached by the Reverend Dr. Howard W. Boswell, Jr.
Second Sunday in Lent, February 28, 2010
Kenmore Presbyterian Church
Kenmore, New York
Growing up, it would not be much of an exaggeration to say there were two types of music in our home, Country and Western. My father preferred the classic performers, like Hank Williams, Sr., Patsy Cline, Bill Monroe, Loretta Lynn, and, of course, Johnny Cash. Nearly every album had at least one gospel song on it, usually an old hymn, sung with deep reverence.
I read recently Johnny Cash made a vow to God, when he began his career. He would tithe every album: At least one song out of ten would be a gospel song. On American Recording III: Solitary Man, that song would be “Wayfaring Stranger,” which starts,
I’m just a poor wayfaring stranger,
A trav’ling through this world of woe;
But there’s no sickness, toil or danger,
In that fair land to which I go.
I’m going there to see my father,
I’m going there no more to roam;
I’m just a-going over Jordan,
I’m just a-going over home.
Like many folk songs, we have no idea who wrote “Wayfaring Stranger.” Like many folk songs, no one sings it the same way, and everyone uses different words. Yet, the song speaks of a nearly universal longing, reflected in many spirituals and gospel songs, like, “I Am a Pilgrim,” “I’m Bound for the Promised Land,” or “I’ll Fly Away.” This longing stretches back to Abraham, as he left his home, following God’s promise of a land, and continues down through the people of Israel, whether wandering in the wilderness or waiting in exile.
Paul echoes this longing, when he says, “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.” This longing resounds when he reminds his readers, “But there’s far more to life for us. We’re citizens of high heaven!” With full confidence and courage, “Wayfaring Stranger” speaks of living this life as a pilgrim journey, traveling through this world with purpose, toward a place that has expected our homecoming for years.
Of course, most people don’t speak this way, nowadays, not even many of us who claim Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. We don’t “begin with the end in mind,” as Stephen Covey suggested in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. We live in a culture that encourages us to experience life to the fullest, but the fullness it promises is hollow at best. It encourages us to focus on what we consume, rather than finding a passion worthy enough to fill us.
We don’t really know who Paul addresses as those who choose other ways, who take the easy paths to fulfillment, who hate the Cross, who worship their appetites. They are most likely Christians, who are so heavenly minded, they are of no earthly good! We may know such Christians today, who take the easy way out. They believe since they’re saved, what difference does it make what they do here and now? They claim Jesus Christ is their Savior, but they seem to forget that he’s also their Lord. They confess him with their lips on Sunday and live however they like the rest of the week. They worship at the altar of whatever works. They serve the god of whatever feels good. They wear that stupid bumper sticker I have not seen in years, thank God! “Christians aren’t perfect. They’re just forgiven.” Paul speaks about these types of people with tears in his eyes, because they don’t grasp or care how they affect the faith of others.
Yet, sooner or later, as Paul says, easy street turns into a dead end. Yes, we are forgiven; no, we don’t have to be perfect. Yet, we have to live our lives with the end in mind. Somehow, how we live must speak to where we’re headed. We aren’t fooling anybody, except maybe ourselves, when we say one thing and do another. We need to not only talk the talk, but walk the walk.
When I speak of life as a pilgrim journey, this is what I have in mind: We need to live our lives on earth, as if we’re headed towards heaven, as if what we do here and now somehow reflects our goal. I think of another passage of Scripture from Hebrews 11, the hall of fame of the faithful who went before us. Remembering Abraham and others, the author of Hebrews says in chapter eleven, verses thirteen through sixteen,
- All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted 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. If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.
When Paul reminds us “our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,” he calls us to live like those “wayfaring strangers,” who went before us, pioneers, following Jesus, who walked this lonesome valley, not settlers, who are content with the way things are. Paul calls us to live our lives with the end in mind, to see them as a pilgrim journey, where step by step, God leads us and we follow God all of our days.
It’s not an easy way, as the second verse of “Wayfaring Stranger” says, “I know dark clouds will gather ‘round me, I know my way is rough and steep.” “We tread in relay the way of the cross,” as one poet wrote, but we have this hope within us, “[Jesus will] make us beautiful and whole with the same powerful skill by which he is putting everything as it should be, under and around him.” Through the eyes of hope, we see “beauteous fields lie just before us, where God’s redeemed their vigils keep.”
“I’m just a poor wayfaring stranger,” and so are you. With Paul, I want what’s best for you and me. I believe what’s best for us begins by living in hope, every day, seeing every step we take as another step toward home, doing all we can to reflect where we are headed in how we live, here and now. So, with Paul, in all love, I charge you not to waver, stand firm, and stay on track. Live as those of whom God will not be ashamed to be called their God. Keep headed towards that fair land, which has long awaited our homecoming.
©2010 Howard W. Boswell, Jr.
