Dear Christian friends:

The Bible uses many words for believers. Christian, Disciple, Child of God, Heirs of God, Family of God and many others. By these various names God's Holy Spirit wants to help us in our faith to encourage us, warn us, support us and cheer us.

Through Peter's writing in our text God calls us who believe in Jesus Pilgrims. By this name Pilgrim, God wants to help us in our faith and life through this world. We need the help and comfort which God wants to give us here by calling us Pilgrims. So let us attend today to the theme:


Why does God through Peter call us Pilgrims? Well, what is a Pilgrim? One who travels through one country to a new country. Or one who leaves an old, bad county for a new and better country.

At Thanksgiving time we think about the Pilgrims who came from England to America to New England in the ship called the Mayflower. These Pilgrims traveled from a bad, old world to a good new world here in America. They wanted to worship God as they believed the Bible taught. They didn't want the King and Church of England to force them against their beliefs and conscience. These Pilgrims were travelers and they suffered through great danger, hardships and storms to arrive in their new homeland.

The Jews under Moses were also Pilgrims when they left Egypt and slavery and traveled through the desert for forty years to their homeland in Canaan.

So God wants us to think of ourselves as Pilgrims, traveling to a new home and country. As the choir just sang in the hymn, I'm But A Stranger Here.

I'm but a stranger here,
Heaven is my home;
Earth is a desert drear;
Heaven is my home:
Danger and sorrow stand
Round me on every hand;
Heaven is my fatherland,
Heaven is my home.

We should remember that we are travelers through this earth. Here we have no abiding home or city. We will die. The earth will be destroyed. But if we confess our sins and believe in Jesus Christ who died for us on the cross and rose again on Easter morning, we shall awake from death in a new and wonderful county. A beautiful city not made with man's hands everlasting in the skies.

There no hate or sin or war or pain or death or crying will be there. But God's love and His Son Jesus will be there along with many, many friends with great joy and pleasures forever. God wants us to remember our heavenly home always. Remember here is not our true home. Then we will not love this here world full of pride and rebellion against God, sin and wickedness.

Peter says, "I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul." (1 Peter 2:11)

If you and I forget that we are Pilgrims then we will love this here world and its pleasures and money and forget God and lose our faith. We will never arrive in our true home in heaven if we forget that we are God's Pilgrims.

If the Pilgrims who sailed from England for America, if they forgot their goal and fooled around in the ship eating and drinking only and getting drunk and wrong sex would they arrive in America? Or if they stopped to play and fool around on a warm beautiful island, would they arrive in America? No!

So you and I if we love this here proud sinful world and love our bodies and always satisfy our selfish, sinful desire we will lose faith and not arrive in heaven.

So remember, you are Pilgrims here on earth. Don't live like you will stay here a long time. Don't attend only to earthly and bodily things. Attend to your soul. Remember who you are and where you are going. Then you will be more interested in the Bible and Church and Missions and all the wonderful things of God.

Does that mean we should have nothing to do with this here world? No!

"12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
13 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority,
14 or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.
15 For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people.
16 Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves.
17 Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor.
18 Slaves, in reverent fear of God submit yourselves to your masters, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh." (1 Peter 2:12-18)

By that you will hush the mouths and stop the hands of those who criticise the Church. They will see your good works and kind deeds. And when God visits them they may be sorry and turn to faith in Him.

We should do our earthly civic duties, too. But don't let your earthly work and duties blind you to your true goal.

Remember you are Pilgrims of God. Heaven is your home!

Amen.