It seems to me that we of the Christian faith have lost touch with our roots in some very important ways. We are so comfortable in the modern world, so at home in it, so “in touch”, that some of our old hymns really don’t mean much to us any longer.

“On Jordan’s stormy banks I stand and cast a wistful eye, To Canaan’s fair and happy land where my possessions lie”, or “This world is not my home, I’m just a-passin’ through. If heaven’s not my home, O Lord what shall I do?”

What do Jordan and Canaan have to do with the Christian faith? Christians of an earlier generation found much in the history and practice of Israel that they could identify with. One of the most fundamental Christian beliefs is that we are not at home here. We are strangers and pilgrims, and we look for a better world to come.