An old post from late 2013, polished up for 2022.

Back in December 2013 I was part way through a series of talks about pilgrimage. Not the kind of pilgrimage where you travel to Lourdes or some other holy location. I was talking about the journey that we are all invited to make as we grow in the Christian faith.

If by chance we did meet up in Canterbury or Rome, you might well be there on pilgrimage, yet I could be simply be visiting as a tourist. Pilgrims look for deeper personal and religious significance in the places they visit. They travel with a sense of destiny and purpose and with their eyes on an inheritance to possess. Tourists are visitors, tasting and experiencing a place for a short while before returning to home and to normality.

The Bible suggests that God-followers should, in heart and attitude, be pilgrims.

Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage. Psalm 84:5

It's a helpful analogy, suggesting meaningful movement rather than being rooted to the spot. Holding the world lightly. Moving on towards the goal. Looking forward to something of more value than anything offered by the world.

We see pilgrimage in the lives of the patriarchs -- our fathers in the faith.

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. Hebrews 11:8-10

You may be surprised to learn then that I was basing my talks around episodes in the life of Jacob.

Jacob is hardly the most attractive character to be found in the pages of scripture. A cheat and a schemer, he's a nasty piece of work. He grows up in a dysfunctional family and he consistently looks out for Number One.

And yet God is happy to be identified in the Bible as the God of Jacob.

I don't actually find this puzzling at all. Jacob is a vivid reminder that nothing in our family background, or in our childhood, or in our character, or in our behaviour is a barrier to God loving us. Sure, like Jacob, we are called to go on a journey. And like him, we will be changed as we encounter God and obey God.

Above all, Jacob points us to grace. Blessing overflowing into our lives from a generous, loving God -- totally unearned and none of it deserved. No wonder some have called it outrageous grace!

The Bible can't seem to mention Jacob without adding, speaking of God, "whom he loved".

Just as it is written: 'Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.' Romans 9:13

God's love for Jacob was so full and extravagant that, by comparison, God's love for his brother Esau seemed like hatred. Despite everything, the schemer was deeply loved by God.

Why should Jacob matter to us?

I can think of two big reasons --- pilgrimage and grace.

To follow Jesus means to follow Jesus. To go where he goes. So let's set our hearts on pilgrimage. It means embracing change. It involves a holy dissatisfaction with the way I am now. It implies a willingness to walk the walk. It requires a commitment to personal transformation and to continual growth. To living fully the Christian life.

And it is all by grace. One friend of Jesus sums him up in this way:

Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. John 1: 16-17

Grace upon grace. All by grace.

God is still happy to be called the God of Jacob -- or Susie or Arnold or Jerry or Eric, or whatever they call you.

His grace reaches you despite your history, your failures and your flaws. That's what makes God's grace, grace.

Are you set on pilgrimage? Is God's grace defining you?