Learning Lessons from the Pilgrims

In November, 2020 we will be celebrating the 400-year anniversary of the arrival of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Harbor in what is now Massachusetts.  But why did the Pilgrims embark on this daring voyage from England via Holland to another continent?  As we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving this week, and then the quadricentennial anniversary in 2020, I wanted to be sure that I have the “Pilgrim story” correct. (See “Further Reading” below.)

Historians record that the Pilgrims left England for Holland in 1607 in pursuit of religious freedom from the Church of England.  Also known as separatists, the Pilgrims correctly believed that “the Church” had strayed from biblical Christianity in the years following the Protestant Reformation.  While religious freedom was their chief motive for leaving England, this does not explain why the Pilgrims left from Holland on the Mayflower, in 1620.  Robert Tracy McKenzie, professor of history and chair of the history department at Wheaton College, finds in the writings of William Bradford who later became governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony what I will consider to be three reasons the Pilgrims left Holland for North America.

First, the Pilgrim’s placed high priority on establishing godly families and a community patterned according to their understanding of biblical principles.  Hoping to accomplish this goal in Holland, they instead encountered a morally permissive Dutch culture that made it difficult for Pilgrim parents to raise their children with “due correction without reproof or reproach from their neighbors.”

Second, over half of the separatists that came to Holland had to become textile factory workers.  According to McKenzie, in place of the seasonal rhythms of farm life they had known in England, the Pilgrims faced the work of carding, spinning, or weaving in their own homes from dawn to dusk, six days a week, merely to keep body and soul together. Hunger and want had become their taskmaster.

Perhaps the Pilgrims might have tolerated the moral laxity and harsh economic conditions, were it not for what they saw as a third, more fundamental reason for leaving Holland.  They came to understand that the first two factors were becoming a threat to maintaining a vibrant Christian faith.  To these separatists, their daily walk of faith depended upon a cohesive faith community centered around strong families and church.  Therefore, we should call these committed Christians “Pilgrims” and “separatists” not because they separated geographically and sailed to an alien land.  Instead, the two names fit because their faith in God and His Word had led them to view themselves as “Pilgrims” and “separatists” from a world whose secular values were in opposition to their beliefs. 

Having left England for religious freedom, the Pilgrims found themselves in a Dutch culture that threatened to smother their lives of faith with the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things (Mark 4: 19).  Maybe their “second separation,” a separation that led them to cut their moorings from a permissive, materialistic culture of Holland and set sale on the Mayflower, was a greater challenge than separating from the Church of England.  Whatever the case, the Pilgrim story provides Americans today with a choice of two Thanksgiving narratives—and more broadly, two American narratives.

Professor McKenzie challenges Christians today not to seize on the first narrative as simply “ammunition for the culture wars” against an unbelieving culture that undervalues or despises “religious liberty.”  While I do not deny that Christ-followers have an important role in standing against threats to religious liberty, the institutions of marriage and family, and other freedoms under the U.S. Constitution, we must not ignore the second Pilgrim/American narrative.  As Christ-followers, we must not forget that we too are called in the power of the Holy Spirit to be “pilgrims in a foreign land” and as such to remember another battlefront—one within our own souls, as the Apostle Peter reminds early believers (emphasis mine):

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light: who in time past were no people, but now are God's people, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.  Beloved, I beg you as foreigners and pilgrims, to abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; having good behavior among the nations, so in that of which they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they see, glorify God in the day of visitation (1 Peter 2: 9-12).

Providentially, the Cape Cod coastline provided safe harbor.

Here, I must admit that as I write, I am “preaching to myself.”  I find it much easier to be my own political and cultural warrior against materialism and moral laxness than to focus regularly on battling the thorns and thistles that tend to grow and thrive within my soul.  So easily, they can crowd out my priority of seeking the peace of God and the fellowship with His Holy Spirit through daily time in prayer and the Word of God.   John Winthrop who led 700 Puritan immigrants to New England and was instrumental in founding the Massachusetts Bay Colony, in 1630, preached a sermon entitled, “A Model of Christian Charity (Love)” in which he emphasized the spiritual disciplines that promote inner virtues and war against our fleshly selfishness:

Whatsoever we did, or ought to have done, when we lived in England, the same must we do, and more also, where we go. That which the most in their churches maintain as truth in profession only, we must bring into familiar and constant practice; as in this duty of love, we must love brotherly without dissimulation, we must love one another with a pure heart fervently. We must bear one another’s burdens. We must not look only on our own things, but also on the things of our brethren. 

After challenging his Puritan listeners, Winthrop gives instruction and his vision for righteous living in community of Massachusetts Bay.  His message also challenges me to discipline my inner life so my words and actions will showcase Christ’s love in my marriage, family, church, and government (emphasis mine):

For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us. So that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken, and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be made a story and a by-word through the world. We shall open the mouths of enemies to speak evil of the ways of God, and all professors for God’s sake. We shall shame the faces of many of God’s worthy servants, and cause their prayers to be turned into curses upon us till we be consumed out of the good land whither we are going.

In summary, may I apply Winthrop’s challenge to all of us who choose to regard this year’s Thanksgiving as a holiday, or “holy day?”  In true “holy-day” spirit, we must direct our “thankfulness” to God, the only object worthy of our thanks—not to ourselves or our accomplishments, not to America or her cropland, forests, fisheries, mines; or great leaders and past heroes, as much as we ought to be thankful for all of these.  Our ultimate thanksgiving must be uplifted to the only Worthy Object of our thanks: Almighty God.

In giving our thanks to God, may we remember the “Pilgrim Fathers” and their costly commitments to separate not only from a church that was ruled by false doctrine, but from a materialistic and morally drifting culture that threatened the integrity of their marriages, families, and church.  But, most important of all is the lesson for us is in how Pilgrims believed and behaved.  They understood that their primary role was to be witnesses of Jesus Christ and not simply critics of politics and culture. 

In conclusion, Tracy McKinzie challenges us not to ignore the aspects of [the Pilgrim] story that might cast a light into our own hearts. They struggled with fundamental questions still relevant to us today: What is the true cost of discipleship? What must we sacrifice in pursuit of the kingdom? How can we “shine as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:15) and keep ourselves “unspotted from the world” (James 1:27)? What sort of obligation do we owe our local churches, and how do we balance that duty with family commitments and individual desires? What does it look like to “seek first the kingdom of God” and can we really trust God to provide for all our other needs?  As Christians, these are crucial questions we need to revisit regularly. We might even consider discussing them with our families [during] our Thanksgiving celebrations.

Further Reading:
The following articles and two books are recommended as Thanksgiving readings:
Thanksgiving and Black Friday: Invitations to Develop Contentment (2011)
Remembering the “Yearning to Breathe Free” (2013, and edited recently for corrections)
Thanksgiving in a Watching World (2014)
How Do You P-R-A-Y This Thanksgiving? (2015)
McKenzie, Robert Tracy. 2013.  The First Thanksgiving: What the Real Story Tells Us…
Metaxas, Eric.  2012.  Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving.  Thomas Nelson.

Remembering the “Yearning to Breathe Free”

“Being thus arrived in a good harbor and brought safe to land, they fell upon their knees and blessed the God of Heaven who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean.”   -- William Bradford

Bowing to worship and give thanks to their Creator was a fitting beginning for the Pilgrim Fathers when they arrived on the shores of North America on November 11, 1620.  The Pilgrims had suffered much from religious intolerance in England and had fled to Holland for a time, before embarking for North America to escape a culture of moral laxity.  They hoped that their perilous 65-day voyage across the Atlantic to North America would satisfy their “yearning to breathe free” to worship and serve the God to Whom they had entrusted their lives.

"The Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor" - W.F. Halsall

Throughout world history, many various people groups have embarked on perilous trips much like the Pilgrims, some across rugged mountains and others across arid deserts or stormy seas in hopes of finding freedom and opportunity in a new land.  The descendents of Abraham migrated to Egypt to escape drought and famine (Genesis 47).  Two centuries later, numbering approximately 2 million, Abraham’s descendents were miraculously led by God and His humble servant, Moses, through the Red Sea and arid desert to escape slavery of Egypt and to establish a new nation under God.

Today, one can read news reports of the migration of refugees on many continents. For example, in Asia as a result of the war in Syria, an estimated 100,000 have died and more than 2,000,000 Christians and Muslims have fled.  Many Syrian refugees have migrated into the same region through which Abraham once migrated on his way from present day Iraq to modern day Israel. 

This Thanksgiving, I am reflecting on the manner in which God led our Pilgrim Fathers to come to America and establish civil laws that would eventually grow into our Constitution.  My reflection on American history has ushered in a time to reevaluate the freedoms I often take so lightly and which are being eroded by decisions made daily in Washington, DC.  Contemplating people groups now living under tyranny, and considering the prospect of an America in which our Constitution is being ignored or displaced makes me all the more thankful for a God Who will not be thwarted in His purposes by any human actions.  But I am also thankful for those among our leaders who stand up to honor God by humble and unselfish service to our country in both military and civilian roles. 

And so, on this Thanksgiving perhaps you would join me in thanking God for His many provisions if you live in America or another nation in which the basic freedoms are granted.   We can pray also for wisdom for world leaders, both in our country and abroad.   The decisions that they have made and are making will determine the trajectory of the future of our lives, and whether we will continue to have at least some of the freedoms for which Americans have fought and died in the past 250 years.

Source:  WORLD Magazine, Nov. 16, 2013

Perhaps you would also agree to join me in learning more about the Syrian refugees, or another group of displaced people, to pray for them, and to learn of ways to help those who are directly involved in providing assistance.   WORLD Magazine reports that numerous NGO’s, including World Vision and Samaritan’s Purse, are ministering to the needs of refugees not only in practical material ways but also in order to meet the deeper yearning for freedom within their souls.

This Thanksgiving, being thankful to God for our country and asking Him to direct us in ways that provide appropriate assistance to people groups in deep need can cause us to be renewed and refocused toward things that really matter.   We can be directed from our own selfish tendencies and the tendency to relax in our comfort zones, and instead to reflect on the great cost of freedom that was paid by our forefathers, many of whom yearned to breathe free to worship the One Who had purchased true freedom for them on Calvary’s cross. 

Estimated Number of Syrian Refugees
 (UN High Commission for Refugees)

As I reflect on past generations who have made great sacrifices because they yearned for both spiritual and political freedom, I wonder if our yearning today has turned from God Who alone can meet our greatest needs to the federal government which offers to satisfy our needs.  But, as we remember the assassination of President Kennedy this month, we ought to remember one of his famous challenges:  “Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country.”  Every invitation from government to take over responsibilities formerly handled by individuals, families, and communities is an invitation that comes at the price of a loss of freedom. 

A case in point is the Affordable Care Act (ACA) which promised health insurance coverage for all Americans, but at the cost of a loss of individual control over patient-doctor relationships and choice of a policy that best fits one’s needs.  Furthermore, the ACA will legalize the collection of extensive personal information to be stored in huge government databases.   Perhaps most unsettling is the numbing effect that expanding government services can have on the people of a nation, particularly if the services are not intended to provide temporary help coupled with a help toward gainful employment and financial independence. 

The toxic effects of prolonged welfare and other government programs on individual freedom and personal initiative can be inferred in the case of Greece which is experiencing dramatic increases in HIV transmission and infections associated with increases in prostitution and intravenous drug use.  The report, based on a World Health Organization study in 2011 includes mention of a number of deliberate self-infections with HIV “to obtain access to benefits of €700 per month and faster admission onto drug substitution programmes."  It is worth reflecting on regretful ways in which people seek to meet the yearning within to “breath” what only Heaven can supply.

In conclusion, the “yearning to breathe free” of our Pilgrim Fathers which eventually brought “a new birth of freedom” in the founding of our great nation is a cause for much reflection on this Thanksgiving Day, 2013.  May our reflections lead us to offer thanks and praise to God for His provision of political and spiritual freedom in Christ, and to renew our commitment to be a testimony in words and in actions on behalf of these freedoms.  Our testimony is especially important in today’s world in which America’s freedoms are being threatened.  Her beacon of liberty which had once shone brightly, even if imperfectly, is growing dimmer toward the multitudes across the world who look to her for hope.  The call of God recorded in II Chronicles 7: 14 outlines our only true path to breathing free:

And My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

As a historical example of how Americans once applied the spirit of this call to humility and confession, I close with an excerpt from President George Washington’s “Thanksgiving Proclamation” presented on October 3, 1789:

By the President of the United States of America, a Proclamation.

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor-- and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be-- That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks…