October 2, 2022; Sunday School

Order of Service

• Sunday School Lesson
• Prayer

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Sermon Title: Living as Pilgrims — An Introduction to the Sojourner Life

Scripture: Hebrews 11:8-16

I. The Language of Homesickness in Scripture

A. Homesickness is a universal theme in human storytelling (e.g., Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings) that points to a deeper spiritual reality B. Believers are called sojourners, exiles, strangers, and foreigners throughout Scripture

1. Genesis 23:3-4 — Abraham declares to the Hittites, "I am a sojourner and a foreigner among you"
2. Hebrews 11:8-10, 13-16 — Abraham and the patriarchs lived as strangers and exiles, looking forward to "the city that has foundations" and "a better country, that is, a heavenly one"
3. 1 Chronicles 29:15 — David prays, "We are strangers before you and sojourners, as all our fathers were; our days on the earth are like a shadow"
4. 1 Peter 2:11 — Peter addresses believers as "sojourners and exiles," applying Old Testament pilgrim language to New Testament Christians

C. Donald Bloesch (quoted by Derek Thomas): "Our greatest affliction as believers is not anxiety or even guilt, but rather homesickness — a nostalgia or yearning to be at home with God"

II. Why We Are Homesick — The Origins of Our Pilgrim Condition

A. God created mankind for intimate fellowship with himself

1. Genesis 1-2 — Creation is declared very good; God provides abundantly and knows the needs of Adam and Eve intimately
2. God walked and talked with Adam in the garden — a picture of unbroken communion

B. The Fall broke that fellowship and introduced exile

1. Genesis 3 — After sinning, Adam and Eve immediately hide from God, breaking the intimacy they had always known
2. Genesis 3:22-24 — God drives Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden; physical expulsion pictures the spiritual separation already present
3. This expulsion from the garden is the root of our homesickness — we were made for intimate dwelling with God, and that dwelling was lost

C. What was lost in the probationary test

1. Had Adam and Eve obeyed, the result would have been confirmed, unending perfection — an eternal, unbreakable intimacy with God
2. The fall forfeited that destiny; we now live in the "already / not yet" — between the loss of Eden and the promise of its restoration

III. The Hope That Awaits — The Promise That Answers Our Homesickness

A. Revelation 21:1-4 — The new heaven and new earth restore what was lost

1. "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man" — the intimacy of the garden is fully and finally restored
2. No more death, mourning, crying, or pain — the life Adam and Eve would have entered had they passed the test
3. This is ours by faith in Christ, who is the author and perfecter of faith (Hebrews 12:2)

B. The arc of redemption: from garden to garden

1. What was lost in Eden will be regained — and surpassed — in the new creation
2. Believers are called to recognize their homesickness, let it point them to the promises of Scripture, and live accordingly

C. Practical application: living as pilgrims in the in-between

1. We are to be good stewards of creation even while longing for what is to come
2. The pilgrim life involves real tension — faith is hard, doubts and anxieties come — but believers are called to hope
3. This series aims to help believers live well now in preparation to die well, with hope in the gospel