Come & Go

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Matthew 28:19-20, NRSV

A reflection for the closing of the Young Adult Festival

You have come from the north and the south, from the east and from the west, and from corners in between.  You have come.  You have come searching for community, seeking transformation, savoring every second with open hearts and mind.  You have come.  You have come with joy in your hearts and hymns of praise on your lips.  You have come to witness to love and protest injustice in our midst.  Praise God, you have come as Christ’s hands and feet in this broken world.  You have come.

And all week in our Scripture readings Jesus has invited us to come.  He invites those who are weary to come.  He invites those those who are hungry to come.  He invites those who are craving a life without fear to come.  Yet tonight Jesus offers us another, yet interrelated invitation.  Jesus asks us to “Go!”  “Go and make disciples of all nations.”

So now my friends go forth from this place refreshed, renewed, revived for the work ahead.  Go forth from this place oozing with the love of God.  Go forth from this place knowing no matter how far apart you are, this is your beloved community.  Go forth from this place continuing in the breaking of the bread and in the prayers.  Go forth from this place resisting the serpent biting at your heels.  Go forth from this place proclaiming in all you say and do the Good News of God in Christ.  Go forth from this place serving others and loving your neighbor as yourself.  Go forth from this place striving for God’s justice and peace.  Go forth from this place. Go forth. Go.