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Pilgrim's Progress
(with apologies to Bunyan)
from JAC Issue #18
by
Captain Stephen Poxon
“…And all
the time the Lord went before them, by day a pillar of cloud
to guide them on their journey, by night a pillar of fire to
give them light, so that they could travel night and day. The
pillar of cloud never left its place in front of the people by
day, nor the pillar of fire by night”
(Exodus 13: 21,22, New English Bible).
“Guide me, O thou great Jehovah, pilgrim through this
barren land…
Let the fiery cloudy pillar lead me all my journey through…”
(William Williams, SASB 578, from verses 1 & 2).
One of my favourite Army songs, to which I was introduced by
none other than General John Gowans at Westminster Central
Hall, London, a couple of years ago, is SASB 383; “Songs of
salvation are sounding…” I like the tune, I like the note of
praise that is resonant throughout, and I like the
sequentiality of the words in that they tell the gospel story
in a nutshell.
What appeals to me most, though, through all of that, is the
penultimate line of the chorus; “Sinners to Jesus now
clinging”. These are truly marvellous words, and I would go so
far as to say that they describe exactly what The Salvation
Army is, so far as I understand it. That is to say, for all
our pomp and ceremony, this is what we have always been, and
this is what we need always to be – a bunch of sinners,
clinging to Jesus for dear life and any hope of glory. What
say we abandon the ribbons on our caps and have new ones made
up with those five words embroidered on them? What say we
order some fresh notepaper that is headed, “The Salvation
Army, A Christian Church and a Registered Charity, Sinners to
Jesus Now Clinging”?
For me, the appeal of those words lies in the reminder of our
daily need to abide in Jesus (both individually and
corporately, as a Movement). The Lord said, in John 15:5,
“Apart from me you can do nothing” (NEB). I have no dilemma in
re-phrasing those words as “Apart from me, The Salvation Army
can do nothing”.
Outside of his mercy, we remain utterly lost and dead in sin
(Ephesians 2:1-10). Maybe Lieut.-Commissioner Arch Wiggins
understood our state of absolute dependence when he wrote, in
SASB 171, “Thou canst the breath of man bestow or canst behold
(see also Psalm 104:29). In other words, we can’t even breathe
by ourselves, without God’s grace!
What a starting point in our pilgrimage that is – the
realisation that we are unable to inhale without help! As
individuals, we cannot take in oxygen and release carbon
dioxide unless God decrees it so, breath by breath. Arguably
more importantly, as a Movement, we cannot absorb any of the
breath of God without first acknowledging our need of same.
The lungs of The Salvation Army remain flat and lifeless
unless we plead with God – sinners clinging to Jesus – for him
to breathe life into us. Job knew full well the life-imparting
qualities of God’s breath (see Job 27:3 & 37:10) – not to
mention Adam! (Genesis 2:7), and The Salvation Army must be
similarly aware, and careful to practice deep breathing all
the time.
Exodus 13:17-22 gives us the account of the Israelites
departing from Egypt. They move from one place to another,
from Egypt through the wilderness towards the Red Sea, from
Succoth to their camp at Etham, all the time following the
guidance of the Lord as revealed in instructions to Moses and
as shown by the cloudy and fiery pillars.
Throughout their journeys, they remained utterly in need of
instruction, and grace abounding was theirs as God saw fit to
manifest the pillars (or “the Angel of the Lord” – see Exodus
14:19) to lead and direct. Who is to say that such help will
not be given to every corps or centre or headquarters or
individual if it is sought? Who is to say that The Salvation
Army need be without such thrilling intimacy with The Divine
Navigator? In our planning, in our deciding, in our goings out
and comings in, I have to believe that we too can experience a
level of care and control that will see us safely through our
wanderings.
I took my little boy to see a collection of fleas once. They
were long since dead (one hopes!), and encased in glass as
part of a large collection of insects, scorpions, spiders,
butterflies and moths.
Being a voracious reader, I bid young Alistair remain still
while I read the accompanying notes about the history of
fleas, and was astonished to discover that the little
creatures only started to become a problem for humankind when
cave people took to settling down, and establishing permanent
homes. Until that time, man had been relatively untroubled by
flea bites. To paraphrase the official information at the flea
exhibition, it was only when men and women decided to stay put
that the parasites moved in! Apparently, our more nomadic
ancestors came and went without a bite to report.
Is this not some kind of parable for The Salvation Army? All
the while we keep on the move – following the pillars – we can
expect to live adventurous lives of exciting holiness and
obedience. When we think we know best and choose to stay in
one place (because it’s more comfortable, as were the caves),
we can expect to have our lifeblood sucked out of us.
If God is calling his Salvation Army to follow him, here,
there and everywhere, then follow we must, for parasites find
it much easier to feed on and irritate that which is stagnant
(for which read dying). It might not be comfortable to follow
a moving God (in fact it will probably be extremely
uncomfortable at times, according to Matthew 8:20, in which we
read of a transient Jesus), but if the alternative is to
abandon his leadership and huddle ourselves away in our little
caves of personal preference and routine, then I don’t see we
have any choice. We follow, and live, or we go our own ways,
and slowly but surely, the life that we have drains away.
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