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"I shall make them conform or I shall harry them out of the land, or else do worse."—James I of England

King James had been harassing the Puritans. One group, called Separatists, left the church of England entirely fleeing to Holland in 1607, where they lived in Leyden for 12 years. A leader among them, William Brewster, was to write, "They knew they were pilgrims," and the name stuck.

In time, these supposed deviants would celebrate a kind of harvest home thanksgiving for God's goodness in watching over them as they crossed the Atlantic to Plymouth, and in bringing them through that first harsh winter to the abundance of autumn, 1621.

About 40 of the Leyden congregation had gone to England with Brewster and William Bradford in order to set out for the colonies in 1620. Accompanying the 40 pilgrims were 62 other colonists, whom they called "strangers" an assortment of people aiming to make their fortunes in the new world.

AS they prepared to leave England, they received a pastoral letter from John Robinson, the minister they had left in Leyden to look after the larger group. He was concerned about their relationships as they were jammed aboard ship for a long voyage, and as they faced the stress of life in the "hideous and desolate wilderness" of northeast North America.

The encouragement and warning set forth in Robinson's letter (here paraphrased and condensed) are as relevant and insightful for us today as they were for the Pilgrims in the summer of 1620.

Leyden, Holland

July 27, 1620

Loving Christian friends,

I heartily salute you in the Lord. I am present with you in my heartfelt desire, though I am constrained for a while to be absent in body ... Though I do not doubt your godly wisdom, I have thought it my duty to add some further stimulus, not because you need it, but because I owe it in love and duty.

Self-examination
We know that we are daily to renew our repentance before God, especially for the sins that we know and generally for the trespasses that are unknown to us.

But beyond that, and at this time of such difficulty and danger, the Lord calls you specially to a thorough search and careful reformation of your ways. Otherwise he might call to mind sins we have forgotten or had not repented of. Then in judgment he might leave us to be swallowed up in one danger or another. But consider the case where a person's sin is taken away by his earnest repentance and by the Lord's pardon, and the result is sealed to his conscience by the Spirit. Then great shall be his security and peace in all dangers, pleasant his comfort in all distresses, with happy deliverance from all evil, whether in life or death.

Giving offense
Next in importance to peace with god and our own consciences, we should carefully provide for peace with all people, so far as we are able. This applies especially in relations with our associates. We must be watchful so that we neither give nor easily take offense.

Considering the malice of Satan, and man's corruption, it is inevitable that offenses come. Yet woe to the man or woman by whom they come. The apostle Paul teaches that, more than death itself, we are to fear giving offense by our inappropriate use of things that in themselves are neutral (1 Cor. 9:15). How much more should we fear those offenses arising from things simply evil, in which we do not attach enough importance either to the honor of God or to the love of man.

Taking offense
Nor is it sufficient that we keep ourselves, by the grace of God, from giving offense. In addition we need to armed against taking offense at others. For, as the Scriptures point out, how imperfect and lame is the work of grace in a person who lacks the love to cover a multitude of offenses.

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November (Web-only) 2000, Vol. 44