Matthew 28:16-20
The Great Commission

Once upon a time in the Ozarks of Missouri I was coming home from work, and I drove through what appeared to be a “blizzard” of butterflies. As I made my way down the four-lane, there were hundreds of monarch butterflies crossing the highway. My mind had been otherwise preoccupied, so it took me a second to realize what I was seeing: a monarch migration! It was amazing to see.

Each monarch has a singular purpose, but one that ultimately benefits the entire species: travel as far as they can in their short lifespans, and multiply. Despite their individual life goals, the butterflies don’t travel completely alone. They migrate together in the fall and spring, and when their paths cross along their long journeys, they cluster in colonies to preserve warmth. They nest together in their overwintering spots for the same reason.

We’ve come to the conclusion of our series titled Let’s Go! We’ve looked at how Esther, Gideon, Josiah, Peter, and the Hebrew midwives responded to God’s invitation to act, and each one had a singular purpose that furthered the course of their communities as a whole. It’s fitting that Jesus has the final word in our series, and his command is the same to us as it was the Old Testament folks we’ve been studying: Let’s Go! Let us go. Us. Plural, not singular. In Matthew 28 Jesus spoke to a community of followers, and he told them collectively, “Go!”

The monarchs’ paths aren’t identical, despite having the same goal. It was the same for the first community of believers, and it’s true for us today. Their commission--and ours! --is to travel as far as we can with the time we’ve been given, and multiply our numbers by sharing the Good News. Similarly, just as the monarchs don’t travel completely alone, neither do we. We have each other to offer support when the road gets tough, and most importantly, He promised to be with us “to the very end of the age.”

How’s your walk these days, friend? Are you traveling full speed ahead, sharing sunshine and Good News wherever you go? Or are you hunkered down and in need of reinforcement from the community of believers? Either way your family at Chatham Church is here to offer support and encouragement!

If you’d like to read or re-read the overview/summary of this week’s passage, you can find it here.