The 84th psalm describes them moment when pilgrims reached the holy city of Jerusalem. Pilgrims spent months traveling from their homes to come to the Temple, the place where God's home was most visible. Just as they crested the hill, they got their first look at the holy city, with the Temple of God standing on top of Mount Zion. And the pilgrims cried out, “How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts!” Their bodies weak and their hearts tired from their long journey, the pilgrims sang, “My soul longs, indeed it faints for your courts! My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.” This psalm of devotion and praise was for those who’d been on a long journey in order to be close to God. Pilgrims anywhere and at anytime could understand the joy of longing and fainting to reach the journey's end, and finally experiencing that climactic joy when the end was in sight. The pilgrimage was an act of faith. The journey away from one’s home toward God’s holy temple was thought to purify pilgrims. Physically, they left their homes behind and set their feet upon the path toward the Temple. Just so, they spiritually left behind them their daily distractions, and focused singularly on entering the presence of God. The pilgrim's journey was always long, usually difficult, and often dangerous. A person without faith might observe that it made more sense to just stay at home. But the psalmist explained what every pilgrim knew, that he or she was most at home whenever and wherever God was present. Better to be a servant, to be a beggar, to sleep on the doorstep of God’s beautiful home, than to live apart from God in the tents of wickedness. Home was not where a pilgrim came from, but where a pilgrim was heading. The journey's end, and step along the way was a blessing in the presence of God's grace.

Pilgrimage is a foreign concept for most Protestants. We hear of Muslims who make pilgrimages to the holy city of Mecca. We may be familiar with Catholic pilgrimages to holy sites connected with the saints. But we Protestants don’t often take literal journeys as an act of faith. As Protestants, we tend to be less connected to place. We focus more on the internal journey of faith. But a pilgrimage can be like a sacrament. A sacrament is a visible act that becomes a means for encountering God’s gracious presence. A pilgrimage can be sacramental because the journey itself becomes the means for encountering God in a new way. When I was in Scotland I visited the Isle of Iona. This tiny island off the western coast of Scotland is remembered as the place where Christianity was introduced to Scotland. An Irish Christian by the name of Columba is said to have landed on Iona in the year 563. Columba established a monastery there, and he spread the good news of God’s love in Christ to the Scots. For centuries, faithful Christians left their homes and undertook the often-dangerous journey to come to Iona. These pilgrims walked the pilgrim’s path from Columba’s Bay to the monastery on the opposite end of the island. My partner and I decided to walk that path when we visited Iona last month. I’d envisioned signs posted along a path, sort of like the signs for the Lewis and Clark Trail. But there weren’t signposts. In many places there was no discernible trail at all. We weren’t sure we were going the right direction. We had to tramp across sheep and cattle pastures, doing our best to keep our shoes clean. When we reached the bay, there was nothing to tell us that this was it, that we’d arrived at the right place. But as we sat down by the ocean, looking south and west across the water, I tasted just a little of the blessings of a pilgrimage. A pilgrimage is like life itself, or at least like I hope for my life to be. The path isn’t always clear. It certainly isn’t always what I expect. Sometimes the best I can do in life is to just avoid the manure along the way. Pilgrimages, like the journey of life are often filled with danger and risk. But in life, like in a pilgrimage, the journey is a blessing. The path can’t help but travel through the beauty of God’s creation. And each step is a reminder that God is in front of us, and God is behind us, and most importantly, God is with us no matter where we stand along the path.

Our destination, daily and eternally lies in God. We may remember that our eventual destination is to be with God in heaven. But we often forget that our daily destination is also to be in the presence of God here and now. Our daily task is to find God's home wherever we find ourselves. There's a beautiful children's book called, "Mama, Do You Love Me?" that tells of a young girl who asked her mother if she loves her. The mother says, "Yes, I do, Dear One." But like children often do, the little girl tests the limits. "What if I carried our eggs, and I tried to be careful, and I tried to walk slowly, but I fell and broke the eggs?" The mother answered, “Then I would be sorry. But still, I would love you.” “What if I stayed away all night and sang with the wolves and slept in a cave?” the little girl persisted. “Then, Dear One, I would be very sad. But still, I would love you.” In the end, Mama tells her daughter, “I will love you, forever and for always, because you are my Dear One.” God's loving presence is the same sort of love that mother had for her child. No matter where we go, no matter how we struggle against what’s right and good, we remain the objects of God's loving affection. Sometimes death seems to be the only time we spend any attention on discerning where God is in relation to us. In those moments when a loved one dies, people suddenly become very theological. The most profound questions of faith that I've are asked almost always by people struggling to make sense of death. And I usually say what I try to say every Sunday in worship and every opportunity that I can in the exercise of my ministry, and that is, "Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus." Death does not separate us from God. But that's a daily truth as well. Our bad choices don't separate us from the love of God. Our wealth nor our poverty can separate us from the love of God. Our despair nor our ecstasy can separate us from God's infinite love. We remain always and in every moment at home in the gracious presence of our loving God. "In the sweet by and by" we’ll be with God. And today, and this moment, God is with us as well. God is both our eternal destination and our daily goal.

Life is a pilgrimage. We’re on a journey. The Christian faith proposes this: that the pilgrimage of our lives offers to teach us the lesson that no matter where we travel, we're always in God's house. No matter how far we stray from the path of doing what is right, God is tramping through the difficult times along with us. Our journey is taking us to live with God. God’s presence is the journey's end, and that's the goal each step of the way. No matter where we make our home, we’re always at home when we recognize that God is with us. May we live in peace and recognize God's loving presence no matter where we are along our path. May we remember that we are loved forever and always, because we are God’s Dear Ones. Amen.