11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. – 1 Peter 2:11
Sojourners and Exiles
Do you have a difficult time thinking of yourself as a sojourner or exile? I take great pride (although rapidly diminishing) in being a citizen of the United States. After fifty plus years of living in the same town and traveling the same roads, I have become pretty attached. It is often said that familiarity breeds contempt, but I have found that it fosters comfort. I think if we are honest with ourselves it is the prospect of change and the unknown that we often struggle with. I’m not talking about changing the color schemes of our living rooms; I’m talking about real changes. Changes that are often beyond our control. What does the prospect of a job loss do to your heart rate? Does a divorce in the family help your blood pressure? Not to be morbid, but what causes greater anxiety than the fact that you are terminal? We all are. Death is imminent for us all. But we can take courage and hope from Peter’s words. We are sojourners and exiles on the earth. This life we love and cling to is just a seed or shadow. The best is yet to come.
Holiday Shadows
Christmas season is a good time to reminisce. As we listen to our favorite Christmas music our minds wander back in time. Often different songs trigger different memories. Perhaps it’s Bing Crosby singing White Christmas or Nat King Cole’s version of The Christmas Song. For my wife, it is Evie singing Come on Ring Those Bells. My siblings and I grew up with the Christmas music of Mitch Miller. His Christmas songs will always be dear to me. But it’s not just Christmas we enjoy, we love the Holidays in general. Whether it’s decorating the Christmas tree, trimming the Thanksgiving turkey or donning the new Easter outfit, these events are special. We look forward to celebrating them with family and loved ones. Without the relationships, what would the Holidays be? But as attached as we are to them, they are but shadows.
Terminal Limits
Speaking of shadows, who doesn’t like a pretty sunset? Or for that matter a pretty sunrise. How often have you looked at either and marveled at the colors? And then there are the colors of a rainbow. Beauty that reminds us of God’s mercy and faithfulness. I haven’t seen the splendor of the Rocky Mountains, the Grand Canyon, or the Niagara Falls, but the sights I have experienced have whetted my appetite. God’s wonders are all around us. There is no way possible to experience all of them. Better make that bucket list. Speaking of which, if anybody is going to Ireland or New Zealand and has room in their suitcase let me know. Seeing the green hills of Ireland and stag hunting in New Zealand are on my list. Not sure what your bucket list looks like, but I’ll bet I can confidently say, for most of us the items on the list will never all be crossed off due to limited resources, including time. Tough being terminal isn’t it?
Favorite Things
In the classic musical The Sound of Music, Julie Andrews sings the song My Favorite Things. When she is feeling down, she thinks of things such as “raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens”. We all have our “favorite things”. Things that bring us solace. Things that bring us joy. Things that help us keep a proper perspective. Blossoms in the spring. Time on the lake in the summer. Changing leaves in the fall. And a cozy fireplace when the winter snows are falling. Time out of doors is certainly a favorite, but when indoors, I love to read a good book. Dickens, Lewis, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and Tolkien are just some of my favorites (sorry Shakespeare). As much as I enjoy and appreciate these things, I realize they are temporary. They will be consumed. These things merely accompany me on my journey as an exile. I won’t be taking them home with me.
Passing Seasons
For my wife and I, spring and summer have passed. I thank God we could experience those seasons together as exiles on earth, and hope we can share fall and winter together as well, but we know there are no guarantees in that regard. As we progress through the seasons of life, our appreciation for God’s blessings increase. As much as I enjoy reading the Classics, they can’t compare to the Bible, God’s living Word. As much as I enjoy the beauty of nature, no sunset has ever compared to holding a grandchild. But as precious as earthly bonds are, they can’t compare to our relationship with our Savior. I suppose that with age we learn (hopefully) to wean ourselves from the temporal and devote more of our lives to the eternal. But that doesn’t mean there is no value in the shadows.
Homeward Bound
The seasons were God’s idea. The mountains and oceans and rolling hills of Ireland are His creation. He blesses mankind with creativity. He made us relational beings. He gave us the ability to enjoy our “favorite things”. He blesses us with so much on earth not to satisfy us, but to whet our appetite. He enables us to enjoy the temporary to give us a glimpse of how great the eternal will be. Don’t hold onto that bucket list too tightly. Enjoy your time under the sun with the recognition that every good and perfect gift is from God. He wants you to not only enjoy His blessings, but more importantly to anticipate an eternity with the Blesser. Don’t think of the afterlife as an unknown to fear, think of it as going home to experience earth’s seeds coming to fruition. The appetizer will be over and the main course will be served. You will enjoy more beauty and deeper relationships than you ever could on earth. And there will be no limit in resources, including time, to check off everything on your list, if there is such a thing in Heaven. Knowing we are going home to such a loving Father helps us to keep the titles sojourner and exile in perspective. Until we are home, enjoy the road signs. Just don’t cling to them too hard. God has so much more in store for us!
14 For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. – Hebrews 13:14