Quick Summary:

There are times in our lives when we arrive at the top of a pass and are afforded a view that allows us to look clearly in two directions: where we’ve come from, and where we’re going. And that’s the frame I’m suggesting we use this morning as we take in the view we’re given by the first lesson from Genesis, the final verses of Matthew’s gospel, and Scholarship Sunday.

At the tail end of Matthew’s gospel, which we heard today, the one who showed the world what God’s companionship in the flesh looks like, speaks his final word and it is a promise: GO IN THE NAME OF THE TRIUNE GOD, AND REMEMBER: I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS, TO THE END OF THE AGE.

So as we stand here on this pass, with one view showing us where we’ve been and the other where we’re going, we’re led to the profound conclusion that all along the way we have been companioned—and will be yet again—by the God whose name is Emmanuel—the one who journeys with us.