Luke 4: 1-13

The gospel lesson for the first Sunday in Lent each year tells the story of Christ’s temptation in the desert.  Instead of focusing on temptation, today, I want to focus on our life journey which is, of course, full of twists and turns, the ups and downs, joys and sorrow.  As I said last week, if we have the spiritual understanding of our life journey…, if we can find the spiritual dimension of what we are going through, it is worthwhile to be on the journey even if that journey is taking you to a desert.

There is a very interesting book, The Archetype of Pilgrimage: Outer Action with Inner Meaning.  This book gave me many insights about life in general, especially, as we begin our Lenten season.  The Season of Lent is regarded as a spiritual-journey.  We believe that life itself is a journey, right?   And there are two types of journey: Tourist and Pilgrim.

The tourist travels through life, but wants to the journey to be comfortable.  The tourist wants to keep experiencing a familiar world, one that presents no threat or challenge.  The food, the hotel, the language, the money should resemble what the tourist has back home.  After a safe and happy trip, the tourist wishes to return with lots of photos, souvenirs, and pleasant memories.  There are many who, for a price, are willing to accommodate the expectations of the tourist. 

The pilgrim also sets out on a journey, but travels in search of something outside the familiar.  At its core, pilgrimage is a journey into the unknown so that something new can happen.  Pilgrimage requires an act of faith, a placing of oneself in the hands of God.  A pilgrim goes out searching for the holy away from the structures of everyday life.  Rather than seek out what’s comfortable, the pilgrim willingly accepts discomfort and even danger.  Returning home, the pilgrim often carries something back, but these reminders are secondary.  The heart of pilgrimage is that the traveler returns home a changed person.

When Jonathan was sophomore in high school, he joined the YAM (Youth Ambassadors in Mission).  Yes, he was on a mission trip to Cochabamba, Bolivia to build a church and teach at an after-school program.  To join the YAM, he had to raise some money for his travel costs and necessary vaccination before travel which is imperative.  He wrote a letter about his plan and sent it to our relatives and some of my former church members.  Soon, they began to send not only checks but encouraging notes, like “I’m proud of you, Jonathan” or “Have a safe trip.  I’ll remember you in my prayers.”  Within a month he could raise almost $2,000.  Jonathan and I, of course, were very thankful for all their supports. 

As a father and pastor, I was also thankful for Jonathan for his willingness to serve others.  Every time I tried to remind him of that he was going there not as a tourist but as a pilgrim, he said, “Oh, I know, dad…. Don’t worry.  I know!”  But, every time when I had a chance, I kept trying to emphasize my point because I hoped and prayed that may this mission trip would help him realize that he should live his whole life as a pilgrim, rather than a tourist.

After the trip, he sent many Thank You Letters to all those who supported his mission trip.  He also wrote an essay in which he thanked God for his “Life Changing Experience.”  By the way, his essay was once posted on the NYAC website.  I believe Jonathan went to Bolivia as a pilgrim and he had a very important experience – a life changing experience.  Jonathan is still wearing a bracelet that was made by the local children and given to him as a farewell gift.  It’s been three-and-a-half years and he is still wearing it, which says a lot about how much it means to him.

The question I call each of us to consider today is this: Do I live life as a pilgrim or as a tourist?  By the cross smudged on your foreheads last Wednesday and by your presence here today, you are showing the world that you are a pilgrim.

A pilgrimage can be either a journey to a sacred place for religious and/or spiritual reasons or a place that draws us or holds a special meaning for us – whether the destination is Jerusalem, or Mecca, or ground zero at the World Trade Center site, a cemetery, or your childhood home.  The sense of sacredness may already be present at the destination spot or you may give the place its specialness because the role it has played in your life. 

I also believe a pilgrimage can be any LONG journey with many obstacles and difficulties which will present spiritual challenges.  I mean, the journeying itself also makes one a pilgrim.  The pilgrimage experience is an invaluable mirror which can reflect aspects of how we journey through our entire lives.  Like life itself, the process of pilgrimage is usually more important than the arrival at the final destination.

The New Testament is all about a pilgrimage, and Jesus is the pilgrim.  He journeys through life, through suffering and death, and returns home to God with Good Friday scars and Easter glory.  He travels not as a tourist, but as a pilgrim.  Jesus returns home a changed person, because all of us return home with him. 

The story of his temptation proves he’s a pilgrim.  No tourist goes into the desert for forty days to fast!  Prompted by the Spirit, Jesus places himself in the hands of God.  He trusts God enough to remain in a strange place, in strange circumstances, for a long time.  He trusts God enough that the devil’s offers of food, power, and safety do not interest him.  He leaves the wilderness a different person: he has been tested and found to be solid.  Jesus has spent forty days intentionally outside the familiar and the comfortable.  Now he is fit to continue his pilgrimage into the unknown, even though the horrible suffering and death.  He is now ready to preach, teach, heal and even perform miracles.

Here’s the question: what about us?  Do we try to live our lives risk-free, like tourists, or do we pick up our crosses and follow Jesus, as pilgrims?

The choice may seem obvious.  Especially, in this season of Lent, let us seriously reflect on our faith journey one more time, because it is possible to think we’re a pilgrim, when we’re simply a religious tourist!  It’s all too easy to hang around holy places, and just see the sights, collect the post cards, but close ourselves to any change or transformation. 

The One we follow was not afraid to live and die for us.  He was not afraid to pass through strange places: his abandonment, nailing to the cross, descent to the dead, and frightening his friends when he left the tomb.  Jesus did not shirk transformation at the hands of God, and we, my friends, are the fruit of his transformation.  The suffering one has become our savior.  His flesh and blood have become our Sacraments.  Once the lone pilgrim, now Jesus is the pilgrimage path, the road we are asked to take – through Lent and through life. 

As we continue our journey, we need to be nourished along the way.  But, I am not worried, because Jesus is the bread of life.  As we make our way through our journey, we need to know the direction.  But, I am not worried, because Jesus is the way.  It is true that it is not an easy way.  That’s why we need courage to continue on our journey.  We need faith and we also need fellow pilgrims, because we stumble all the time.  When we do, we need others to help us up again.  So, my pilgrim friends, let’s join together.  Let’s go together.  Let’s go pilgrims.  Amen.