The Heart of a Pilgrim

Well, good morning. It's good to be with you.

So I've thought about this morning, I've been thinking a lot about longing

and how these have been days of longing in many different ways.

My kids are longing for the end of school and for summer vacation

and hopefully for a vacation where they actually will get to travel

and see their family this summer.

I am longing to see my fiancee again in person.

Many of you have other things that you are longing for.

As a group, many of us in this church are longing to gather together again

in person, safely, and to have the blessing of being together.

And as we've looked over in the last two weeks, we've seen a country longing

for justice to roll down and righteousness to reign in our society.

Longing is something that is common to the human heart.

But it makes us ask a question, why?

Why do we long?

Why do we long for things that are not?

Well, the Bible says, in part, we long because we were made for a kingdom

that is not yet here.

We are designed to have a life that we only get foretastes of in this life

and that we live now in a world that is not yet all that God designed it to be.

The Bible tells us that humanity began in perfect fellowship with God.

But in rebellion and independence forsook the goodness of Eden and the presence of God.

And since then, we have lived in a fallen world, broken, tear-stained, and ugly.

And yet still, with the rays of creation and the inbreaking of redemption,

tantalizing us, reminding us, reminding us of what we were made for and what we long for.

Friends, this is the plight of humanity,

that we live in exile from God and from our true home,

and that this life is a journey in this world.

We are sojourners in a world that will not last forever,

and we are pilgrims longing for a heavenly city that we can,

a heavenly city whose glory we can only begin to imagine.

This is the true source of our longing,

and it brings us to our passage today.

We are taking a break from the book of James,

and we are looking at Psalm 84.

If you want to turn there in your Bibles,

Psalm 84 we will read.

And as we read this, we come to see that

this is a psalm written by a pilgrim.

One on their way.

One who similarly lives with longings and desires.

And we will see in this passage the heart of a pilgrim.

So let's read Psalm 84 together.

How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts!

My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord.

My heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.

Even the sparrow finds a home,

and the swallow a nest for herself,

where she may lay her young at your altars.

O Lord of hosts, my God and my King,

blessed are those who dwell in your house,

ever singing your praise.

And blessed are those whose strength is in you,

in whose heart are the highways to Zion.

As they go through the valley of Bacca,

they make it a place of springs.

The early rain also covers it with pools.

They go from strength to strength.

Each one appears before God in Zion.

O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer.

Give ear, O God of Jacob.

Behold our shield, O God.

Look on the face of your anointed.

For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.

I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God

than dwell in the tents of wickedness.

For the Lord God is a sun and shield.

The Lord bestows favor and honor.

No good thing does he withhold for those who walk uprightly.

O Lord of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you.

Let's pray together.

Lord, we thank you for this word.

We thank you that you speak to us.

That we are not left alone on this journey,

but that you have spoken so that we might hear your words

and your voice as we travel through this life.

God, I pray that by your spirit this morning,

you would help encourage our hearts.

Lord, that you would teach us about the life of a pilgrim.

And Lord, that you would turn us again

so that we might see what you have made us for.

And Lord, give us strength to pursue you in this journey.

Amen.

We pray all these things in Jesus' name.

Amen.

The heart of humanity on pilgrimage through life

is pictured in this psalm.

We see a pilgrim who has a heart with two characteristics.

He has a thirsty heart.

He has a treasuring heart.

So let's look at these in order.

First, a thirsty heart.

As you look at the beginning of the psalm,

you see the pilgrim burst out in song.

How lovely is your dwelling place, O God.

He expresses this exaltation and joy

about the place where he might know God.

And then he says, I long for this.

Yes, I even faint to be with God.

I cry out.

Maybe that's a better translation

of the second half of verse two.

My heart and flesh cry out in need

and in desperation and in longing.

I cry out to the living God.

The psalmist envies the birds

who are able to go and make their nests

in the courts of the temple in Jerusalem.

The sparrows and the swallows

who are able to come and go easily

to be in that place.

And at the end in verse four of this section,

he says, blessed are those

who dwell in your house, O Lord.

Now he's used a number of metaphors here.

Your dwelling place, the courts,

the place of the altar, and your house.

And all of these things describe

the temple in Jerusalem.

And to understand why this pilgrim

longs to be in the temple of Jerusalem,

you have to understand the sweep

of the Old Testament story.

For when to the estranged world

God came and called Abraham.

He said, I will make you a father

of many nations,

and I will be your God.

And he confirmed this with Moses in Sinai,

and he said, I will be their God,

and they will be my people,

and I will dwell among them.

And he instituted this thing

called the tabernacle,

which was a portable traveling worship center.

And in that, God manifested

his presence among them.

And then as the people of God

moved into the promised land

and established themselves as a nation,

and as the king sat on the throne,

as David and Solomon took up

and established this kingdom,

then they built a temple,

and in that temple,

it said the glory of God

descended,

and in a unique way

manifested itself,

manifested himself

in the world.

And so for all who lived in Israel,

for all who knew God,

they would long to go

to this temple,

this place,

not because God was limited

to that place,

but because God had chosen

to make that place

the very special place

where his glory would be manifested,

the place where his people

could come and commune with him,

make themselves right with him

through the acts of worship

and atonement,

and sing praises to him.

The pilgrim longs to be at the temple

because it is a special place

where God said,

I will be among you.

And so he longed for it,

and he longed to be there

because he longed to be with God,

the living God.

So for us today,

are we to long to go back

to a temple in Jerusalem?

No, the Bible continues

to unfold God's plan

for how he will be their God

and how he will make

a people for himself

and how the Old Testament

people of Israel

and the nation of Israel

was a picture

of what he wanted to do

more broadly,

where he would make

a people for himself

from every tribe

and tongue and nation.

And you see the fulfillment

of this idea of the temple

in three ways

in the New Testament.

First,

you see Jesus coming

in those famous words

in John 1.

As John writes about

the coming

of the Son of God to earth

to redeem a people

for himself,

says the Word became flesh

and literally tabernacled

among us.

He came

to be the tabernacle,

the presence of God

among his people.

And so Jesus is the first

and maybe the greatest

fulfillment of this

where the temple is going.

It prefigures

this place

where God himself

would come

and be among his people.

But it's more than that.

The Apostle Paul

in 1 Corinthians 3.16

talks about

the people of God

in the New Testament

that is the church

as the very temple

of God.

That is that

in his gathering

of people

from every tribe

and nation

to be his

by faith in Christ,

he is building

a,

not a physical edifice,

not a space,

but he is building

a community

in which he dwells

by his spirit.

He says the same thing

in 2 Corinthians 6.16,

the presence of God

by his spirit.

And so that's

the second

thing that the temple

is prefiguring

and pointing to

is the people of God

now not located

in a particular place

in Jerusalem,

but spread

to the ends

of the earth,

gathering in places

throughout the world.

And then as we read

the Bible story

in the end,

the future consummation

in Revelation 21.22,

when God

having defeated

all the powers

of sin and death,

having judged

all evil

and unrighteousness,

having now

remade the world

so that it is

without sin

and sorrow

and sickness

and death,

it says,

there will be

no more temple

in that renewed world,

for the temple

is the Lord God,

the Almighty,

and the Lamb.

And friends,

this is what we long for,

is it not?

For us to be

in the presence of God,

our Creator

and our Redeemer,

to be with Him

in present,

in person,

in perfection,

where there will be

no barrier

of our sin

and our lack

of understanding,

but we will fully

know Him.

what a great glory

that is.

And friends,

this is what our hearts

were made for,

to be in the presence

of the living God.

I wonder,

do you thirst for God

the way the psalmist did?

I know I don't,

always.

sometimes my heart

doesn't want

to long for God.

See,

I don't like

being disappointed.

Sometimes I'd rather

kill my longing.

If I don't desire anything,

then

it doesn't hurt so much

when it doesn't happen.

I don't like to live

in the tension

of longing for something

that I can't control

the outcome of,

can't be sure

of when it's going to come.

sometimes

I long for God

and then it seems

that He's so far away

and there are other things

closer by,

earthly pleasures,

control,

success,

addictions,

whatever they are,

things that I grab onto

and say,

well,

at least I can get this.

Or sometimes

I just prefer despair

when I can't get

what I want

when I want it.

it's easier sometimes

to settle

than to thirst.

But friend,

the psalmist reminds us

that God has made us

for Himself.

And this life

of a pilgrim

is to long for Him

and for His presence.

And we will live

in the tension

because the psalmist

because the psalmist

writes this psalm

because He's not there,

because He's not

in the temple.

He's longing to be there

but He cannot be there.

And this is true

for us as well.

Though we have

the inbreaking

of His kingdom,

though we have

the gift of His Spirit,

we do not have

the fullness yet.

and so we live

with that longing.

And God

wants us

to continue

in this.

C.S. Lewis

puts it

this way,

I must keep

alive in myself

the desire

for my true country

which I shall not

find until death.

I must never

let it get

snowed under

or turned aside.

I must make it

the main object

of my life

to press on

to that other country

and help others

do the same.

Friends,

when we think

about our longing

as a church,

this is what

we are called to.

And I don't know

if you've ever

thought about it,

but this is why

we value

gathering together

as a church.

Because this is

the foretaste.

This is the place

where we get to

by gathering together

in person

encourage one another

and strengthen one another

and remind one another

and long together

for the fullness

that is to come.

To speak of the hope

that we are certain

of coming one day

but do not have yet

and to encourage

one another

when we are weak,

when we are stumbling,

and when we want

to give up.

This is why

the leadership

of the church

has been so eager

to figure out

how we could gather again.

And for those of you

who for good reason

may not be able

to join us

in the coming weeks

and months,

let this be

a place where you

will take hold

of that longing

and feed it.

Don't become discouraged

and certainly

don't compare yourself

with others who are,

but let your

not coming

feed that longing

to be with God's people.

for those of us

who may come

and do it,

may we give

with great joy

give thanks

for this oasis

in the desert

after a long

shutdown.

for it's been

a long shutdown,

it's a hard road,

has it not been,

to be separate.

The psalmist knows this

in the next part

of the psalm

in verses 5-9,

he displays,

he knows that

this journey

is one that goes

through the valley

of Baccah

and we don't know

much about it,

but we know clearly

that what it's picturing

is going through

a desert.

And the psalmist

knows

how hard

that can be.

But in these

verses

in 5-9,

he says,

in this journey

we are able

to find strength

in God.

And as we look

to Him

and as we look

to His help

for us,

we are able

not only to pursue

Him in the journey,

not give up

in our longing,

but in fact

we are actually

made to be,

look at verse 6 again,

that we will

make the desert

a place

of springs,

that in the midst

of the pilgrimage

of this world,

we can be,

because of what

God has done,

places where

there will be

a foretaste

of the fullness

of the presence

of God.

And this is true

in our spiritual lives,

this is true

in our society,

this is true

in our church,

that we can be

pools of water,

water,

and it will

come from pilgrims,

and it will also

come graciously

from God Himself.

The rains will come,

and we will drink

in the midst

of the desert,

because God knows

how hard

this road is.

So we're called

to look for it.

finally,

in this longing

section,

I want you to see

that He changes

His pronouns here

from I,

and I long

for these things,

He changes

to plurals.

He says,

blessed are those

as they go

through the valley,

they make it

a place.

we weren't

meant to journey

alone.

And as Pastor Greg

mentioned earlier,

one of our great

desires as a church

leadership is to

encourage you.

I know for me,

in the last three

months,

my default has been

me at home

alone.

Right?

That's what we've

been asked to do,

and it's been a blessing

to our world

to not feed

a pandemic.

But friends,

we weren't made

for that.

And maybe we need

to figure out how

to do it over phone

or over Zoom,

but we need to

be intentional

about connecting

with others.

I've been thankful

for chances to connect

with my small group

over Zoom.

I've been thankful

for the few times

I've gone on

socially distanced

walks with friends

where we've just

been able to talk

face to face.

I encourage you,

find places

and ways to do this.

as much as you can,

and everyone's

situation is different.

There is no

absolute

standard

to meet here,

but recognize

that as we long

for God,

we are meant

to do it together,

and we need

one another

to continue

on this road.

So the heart

of a pilgrim

is one who thirsts.

The heart

of a pilgrim

is also one

who treasures.

And this is what

we see in verses

10 through 12.

A day in your courts

is better than

a thousand elsewhere.

I would rather

be a doorkeeper

in the house of God

than dwell

in the tents

of wickedness.

The psalmist says,

the reason why

I long for God

is because God

is of such

great worth

that the highest

value that I could

give to anything

in life would be

to be in

his presence.

It is a treasure.

And a doorkeeper

in the house

is not per se

in this psalm

a role.

It is instead

a position.

I'd rather be

just on the outskirts

of the Lord's house.

I'd rather be close.

I would treasure

that above anything.

A thousand days

elsewhere

couldn't satisfy

but one day

being that close.

This is the treasure.

And it's easy

sometimes

for us to treasure

other things,

isn't it?

It's easy

for us to treasure

maybe things

that are easier

to control.

Things that we can

gather

and do on our own.

Things that we

can escape to

that for the moment

will help us

feel better

and resolve

the tension

of the longing

life that we live.

Perhaps it's worth

reflecting

what have I been

obsessing about

in the last couple

of weeks

or months?

Maybe it's worth

thinking about

where have I found

anxiety overwhelming

me

in the last

weeks?

What are the things

that I find myself

talking about

more than anything

else?

What do I find

my mind going to

over and over again?

Friends,

for this psalmist

it was

God himself

and being

in his presence.

and I wonder

if we have

become

distracted

and the psalmist

says

the thing is

that when we

look at God

when we actually

pay attention

to him

he is glorious

beyond belief

and he is all

that we want

and need.

He is a treasure.

It's not a question

of whether he is

worth that attention.

It is simply

a question of whether

we recognize it

or not.

this is what he

says in verse 11

for the Lord God

is a sun

and a shield

what more

could we want

in life

than an ever

producing

ball of fire

that gives light

and life

to all things

in our cosmos.

Okay,

so that's an exaggeration.

In our solar system

it gives all

in our world

at least

the sun

is the source

of all the energy

and all the light

and God

is like that

in our world

as the creator

and sustainer

of all things.

God is the one

who bestows on us

after a long winter

how do we long

for the sun

to come

and bring its warmth?

How does it lift

our hearts?

God does this

tenfold

hundredfold

to our souls

and to our spirits

regardless

of the journey

that we're on

and the trials

that we face

and he is not

only that

this life-giving

source

but he is also

our shield

he is our head

our protector

our overseer

he is like a king

who oversees

his kingdom

and as a shield

protects

gathers

provides

and loves

those that he is

over

and not only that

but he bestows

favor

and honor

one commentator

said that

this might be

better understood

as we look ahead

to what

the psalmist

is pointing to

favor and honor

sound like

God may give us

an extra day off

a bonus check

in our

paycheck

a special gift

something like that

but he said

actually this might be

better translated

that God

is giving us

his grace

and his glory

his grace

that is

his undeserved

acceptance

of weary

pilgrims

like us

whose faith

falters

whose hearts

are weak

he gives us

that acceptance

and welcome

come into my

house

and be my

people

be a part

of my family

I will be

your heavenly

father

this is the

grace that he

offers us

and it is also

his glory

that he invites

us not only

into his

presence

but he invites

us into the

richness

and the beauty

of his kingdom

and of his

goodness

and of all

of his

characters

and it's not

something that

we simply

observe

but it is

something that

we participate

in

it is something

that we are

able to

become a part

of

he bestows

upon us

his glory

so that

together

we reflect

and resound

and magnify

his glory

and this is

why God

is a treasure

above all

and so

Paul

in Philippians

3

says

I count

all things

as loss

for the

sake of

knowing

Christ

and being

found

in him

not having

a righteousness

of my

own

but a

right

having

one

that

comes

by

faith

I press

on towards

these things

because of

the

surpassing

treasure

of knowing

Christ Jesus

my Lord

now friends

it's easy

at this

point

to read

this psalm

and to hear

this message

and to think

that what I'm

saying is

alright

it's been a

hard season

buck up

long

harder

treasure

better

keep

going

you have

to

pull up

your

bootstraps

and get

on with

it

and friends

there is a

sense of

exhortation

in this

sermon

for us

to set

our

longings

right

and for

us to

set our

treasuring

right

but the

good news

of the

gospel

is that

there's a

better

story

than us

trying

harder

to do

better

it is

that Christ

took his

own

pilgrimage

and came

he left

heaven

to come

to earth

for us

he walked

a pilgrim

road of

hardship

and suffering

of persecution

and death

for us

and he did

it with such

righteousness

he is the

righteous one

from whom

God does not

withhold any

good thing

he has done

what we cannot

do in walking

righteously

before God

and he came

and did this

for us

so that we

might have

an acceptance

with God

and a

righteousness

with him

and a

presence

and the

right to

become

his people

and to

walk into

his temple

and into

his presence

we have the

right to do

that not

because of

anything that

we have

done

not because

we succeed

in being the

best pilgrims

today or

next week

but because

in our

faltering

faith

and in

our weak

hearts

and when

we lose

sight of

the treasure

Christ has

taken a

hold of

us

and when

we have

been joined

to him

by faith

he says

you are

now mine

and I

will take

you

and the

work that

he has

begun in

us

he promises

he will

bring it

to completion

he has

come to

do this

for us

to win

himself

for a

people

a people

who are

called

pilgrims

who are

going home

a home

that God

has achieved

for us

in Christ

a home

in eternity

that we are

certain of

going to

and a

presence of

his Holy

Spirit

along the

way

friends

this is

how the

pilgrim

walks

with a

longing

heart

for

the

fullness

of what

Christ

has

already

done

for a

treasuring

of the

things that

Christ has

already done

for us

when we

do this

then

we can

pursue

and walk

the road

with hope

and not

give up

may this

be true

for us

let's

pray

Lord we

thank you

for this

word

Lord we

you

by your

spirit

Lord renew

our hearts

today

Lord we

pray that

you would

Lord implant

in us

and revive

in us

our longing

for you

oh Lord

may you

help us

to see

how great

a treasure

we have

in you

and will

you guide

us oh

Lord

on this

pilgrimage

may it be

your strength

that is our

strength

we pray

these things

in Jesus

name

amen

say

what

be

what

did

this

act

on him

and have

a

honor

as

hi

and have

this

other

same

as

as

I

saw

them

and have

as

oh

to

right