“We can say with confidence and a clear conscience that we have lived with a God-given holiness and sincerity in all our dealings. We have depended on God’s grace, not on our own human wisdom. That is how we have conducted ourselves before the world, and especially toward you. Our letters have been straightforward, and there is nothing written between the lines and nothing you can’t understand. I hope someday you will fully understand us, even if you don’t understand us now. Then on the day when the Lord Jesus returns, you will be proud of us in the same way we are proud of you.”
2 Corinthians 1:12-14 NLT
The early church lived their lives anticipating that Jesus’s return to this world was imminent. So Paul wrote “on the day when the Lord Jesus returns” in an almost matter-of-fact way, much as we would say “we’ll pay you a visit when we get back from the shops”. Of course, Paul’s generation didn’t know when that would be, but they lived their lives as though it were coming tomorrow. There was a headline in one of the papers this morning in bold and large print, “WORLD ON THE BRINK”, and it went on to provide a list of jingoistic statements being made by various world leaders, the gist including what Jesus spoke about in Matthew 24:6: “And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately”. But those last few words are of bittersweet comfort to us pilgrims. We want Jesus to come back, and it is good to know that we are a few steps nearer than Paul was, but wars are terrible, and we look on at the situation beyond Eastern Europe’s borders and feel the pain of the people on both sides and pray for them.
We know more about what is to come than Paul did. Paul wrote this letter to the Corinthians about 55AD, but the Gospel of Matthew wasn’t written until after 70AD, and Revelation wasn’t written until about 95AD. However, Paul would have known some of what was to come and yet still believed that Jesus was returning in his lifetime. One statement Jesus made was quite revealing: “And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14). We can see this possibly happening in the next few decades, or even sooner, as Bible translation projects continue to bear fruit.
Paul hoped the Corinthians would come to realise the truth contained in his letter, to the point that they would feel proud of his achievements, and that Paul would feel equally proud of theirs. Paul said he wrote this letter with integrity and without any duplicity or “between the lines” innuendo, and he hoped that one day the Corinthians would fully understand the truth of this. It must have been painful to Paul, as it would be to anyone in his shoes, to hear that the believers in Corinth were unsure of the contents of Paul’s letters, as he painfully tried to find the words to keep their faith pure and holy in a world of false prophets and much potential error. But to Paul, the time was short because, on a day soon, the Lord Jesus would be there, calling His people to account.
The issue for us pilgrims remains: are we prepared for the return of Jesus at any time soon? If He returned to this world tomorrow, are our spiritual affairs in order? In a sense, events might happen that propel us to the Pearly Gates before we expect them, because no one knows the time or place when we will die. We, of course, live our lives without such a thought, but are we ready just in case? The early church was always in a state of readiness, and so should we be. In the following chapter in Matthew, Jesus told a parable. It was about ten bridesmaids, five of whom were prepared, but the other five weren’t. The hapless five tried, too late, to do what was required to gain entry to the Wedding Feast, and they cried out in despair, “… Lord! Lord! Open the door for us!” But the bridegroom responded, ” … Believe me, I don’t know you!” (Matthew 25:11b-12). And then Jesus concluded the parable with, “So you, too, must keep watch! For you do not know the day or hour of my return” (Matthew 25:13). Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3, “For you know quite well that the day of the Lord’s return will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night. When people are saying, “Everything is peaceful and secure,” then disaster will fall on them as suddenly as a pregnant woman’s labour pains begin. And there will be no escape“. Paul’s final advice can’t be bettered. He wrote, “So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be clearheaded” (1 Thessalonians 5:6).
We pilgrims are very much awake, I’m sure, with our escape kit ready and waiting for the big day when we greet the Lord Himself. Remember the old Gaither song, “What a day”? Here are the lyrics to sing us out into the new day.
What a day that will be,
When my Jesus I shall see,
And I look upon His face,
The One who saved me by His grace;
When He takes me by the hand,
And leads me through the Promised Land,
What a day, glorious day that will be.
Dear Father God. That will indeed be a glorious day when we see Your Son Jesus in Heaven. With deep thanks, we worship You today. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 