Satisfied Sojourning

“Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles i to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.” 1 Peter 2:11

For the past six weeks we have been sojournering. We spent Christmas vacation taking a break from Mongolian winter and were reunited with friends and family in America. It was a strange feeling for me. I must say that I felt that I was resting in Rivendale, particularly when we were in Franklin having coffee or Irish pubbing with old friends. It was happy reunions and “many meetings” which made it almost a homegoing. Almost.

We visited family. My Dad met us at the airport and my Mom met us at the door of their home in North Georgia. Again it was a wonderful resting place for us after a long journey. And not just a long journey of 24 hour flying, but a long journey of 2 1/2 years living in a foreign land. We were free to rise early and nap and recover from jet lag and reaquaint ourselves with Starbucks and “The Cheesecake Factory”. We then went to Adamsville, TN to the home where Renee’ spent most of childhood years, growing up. It was where she called home. Her “Shire”, in a sense (although she would never approve of such blatent ‘Lord of the Rings’ metaphore). We spent a wonderful Christmas with her family and were so happy to see them - to be with them - again. It was good to be ‘all together’ for Christmas, and we were sad when it came time to say ‘goodbye’. These sojournings could also have been catagorized as something of a homegoing. But not quite.

We visited a different church almost every Sunday, all of which were churches that are close to our hearts; good friends are there. We felt very much ‘at home’ in each of these churches. Perhaps a real ‘homecoming’ has everything to do with connecting with Christ’s body. Yet, that wasn't quite it, either.

Several people asked me while we were Stateside, “So where do you ‘go home’ to? Is coming back to America ‘home’ or do you feel like you’re going home when you go back to your apartment in Mongolia?” Renee’ and I talked about this several times while we were traveling together. Our mutual answer to that question is “neither”.

Mongolia is not our home, and can never be because this will never be our own culture, language, society, or people. No matter how well we adjust here, no matter how long we stay here, no matter how fluent we become in the language.

On the other hand, we now know that we’ll never really be ‘at home’ in America. It’s not a culture or a society that we can be comfortable with. Plus no place is the same. When we’re in the States now, it seems that everything is in flux ... and we don’t see an end to that feeling. All four of us are learning that the life God has called us to also contains “many partings”. We say goodby a lot. When that happens it can be difficult to figure out where home really is.

So 1 Peter helps a lot. It’s a truth that I’ve known my entire Christian life. It’s a truth every Christian should live according to. I am just now beginning to understand how LARGE this truth really is for me. I am not and never will be at home on this earth. In no place. Never.

What this vacation has helped us to see is that we really are okay with that. Christ calls us to be satisfied sojourners. We’re exiles, living out God’s purpose and will for our lives on this earth. The “Grey Havens”, whatever that may look like for us, is where home really is found. Ultimately (not to be cliche'), it's where Jesus is. So I am okay with not feeling at home anyplace. In fact, I am now convinced that our lack of feeling at home here will make make our real Homegoing that much sweeter. All will be well as ends better.

Comments

[Wilson & Judy Clarke]

Hi Bernie:

Good site!

Judy and I have worked in India for the past decade.

6 years ago, the Lord put it in my heart to go to Mongolia and I have waited for the right contact to partner with in beautiful Mongolia.

My focus is on homeless or schooless children in larger Mongolian cities or towns.

I think that Canadian believer would be happy to help establish a home and program for such children and teens.

Thanks for a response,

Wilson Clarke,
Tioronto, Canada