Farewell Sermon

Well, good morning, church. Let's pray as we come to God's Word.

Father, thank you for the privilege of listening to your Word preached among these people and in this place

for the last two decades of my life. And thank you for the honor of proclaiming you.

We pray that your Spirit would fill me and that you would fill all of our hearts

as we listen and receive what you have for us today.

Pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Well, before I jump into the sermon, I want to thank you all for your support and provision of our sabbatical this summer.

My family and I spent the month of July driving to Montana and back.

Yeah, it was over 6,000 miles.

And along the way, we visited a few people who had played sort of key roles in our spiritual lives in different seasons.

So we visited the woman who had led Jane, my wife, to Christ in high school.

She lives in Wisconsin with her family.

We also visited the couple who are our campus ministers with InterVarsity in college and our mentors afterwards when I was working for InterVarsity.

And we spent a week in Montana with one of Jane's college friends, a bridesmaid at our wedding, who also worked with me on InterVarsity staff.

And so this trip gave us many opportunities to look back on different seasons of our lives

and think about the people that God had placed alongside us and to lead us and to mentor us and to walk with us.

At the same time, this trip was a new adventure into places we had never been.

Driving through the Great Plains and seeing the mountains, I thought it was clouds.

And then I realized they were the mountains, if you've ever been on that drive on I-90.

And for me, driving through the sort of vast prairies and then seeing the towering mountain peaks

gives a particular sense of how small we are before the majesty and the wisdom of our Creator God.

You know, we get to live in this world, we get to study it, we get to—we're responsible to maintain it,

but we didn't make it and we don't ultimately control it.

And I think when you're in the middle of God's vast creation, that's an impression that is valuable to hold on to.

So our trip this summer helped us to look back on God's faithfulness in the past

and to anticipate the next stage in our journey as we move to leading a new church.

So thank you for giving us that time. It was a blessing to us.

This morning, I want to give you some parting words from the Scriptures.

Now I realize some of you are—it's maybe your first time here, or you're new to town, or you're new to the church,

and you don't know me from Adam.

So the fact that I'm leaving, it doesn't register high on your radar.

But I think that these words, first of all, they're from the Bible,

so they are—all Scripture is useful for helping all of us in any situation.

But I think particularly they'll speak to any of you who are in any kind of transition or change

or sort of looking towards a new future, a new season.

So I said back in June, whenever we're facing any significant transition, any loss or change,

any new challenge or opportunity, the Scriptures encourage us to look back on God's faithfulness,

and consider what we can learn from the past, as well as to look forward with trust and hope

in God's unchanging character and God's unshakable promises.

So that's what I want to do today.

So if you turn with me to Hebrews chapter 11,

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

I want to look at a few words from the last three chapters of Hebrews.

Now, if you have read the book of Hebrews, you might know the main theme of this book in the New Testament

is the unparalleled greatness of Jesus.

So for the first ten chapters, the author unpacks this theme and emphasizes it over and over.

So he starts by demonstrating that Jesus is greater than the angels, than all the heavenly beings.

He rules and commands them all.

And then he goes on to say that Jesus is greater than all human leaders,

greater than all the previous leaders that God has sent to his people.

He's a prophet greater than Moses.

He's a priest greater than Aaron.

And he's a king greater than David.

So you see these themes woven through the book of how Jesus is our great high priest

and sort of God's final word to us.

And finally, that he's a better sacrifice.

He's the ultimate atoning sacrifice who makes a way for us to be cleansed from our sins once and for all,

to come freely and fully into the presence of God without any hindrances

and without needing anything other than him.

So for ten chapters, the author of Hebrews eloquently unfolds the unparalleled greatness of Jesus.

And then in the concluding chapters of the book, he gives some very practical instructions

about what it looks like to live a life of faith.

That is of trust and looking to Jesus.

How to move forward by faith in Christ.

So I want to look at three key truths.

One's in chapter 11.

One's in chapter 12.

One's in chapter 13 this morning.

So first truth is found in chapter 11.

And I want to read chapter 11, verses 1 and 2, and then 8 to 10, and then 13 to 16.

So let me read these verses.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

For by it the people of old received their commendation.

Going down to verse 8.

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance,

and he went out not knowing where he was going.

By faith he went to live in the land of promise as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob,

heirs with him of the same promise, for he was looking forward to the city that has foundations,

whose designer and builder is God.

Verse 13.

These all died in faith.

Not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar,

and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.

If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out,

they would have had opportunity to return,

but as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one.

Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

So the truth that we see in this part of chapter 11 is that God's people are always pilgrims.

Now Abraham is the particular example that verses 8 through 10 highlight,

and one of the pivotal moments in Abraham's life recorded in Genesis chapter 12

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

is when God calls him to leave behind his ancestral homeland,

to leave behind the previous source of his security and identity and belonging,

and to move to a new land that he had never been to and had no previous connections in.

And verse 9 says it was by faith in God's promises

that Abraham obeyed God's command to embark on that pilgrimage.

And then in verse 13 through 16, we see that this wasn't just an unusual pattern in Abraham's life,

but there's a broader pattern in the lives of all the people of God through the ages.

Verse 13 says,

These all, all the men and women of faith,

acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth seeking a homeland.

In other words, God's people are always pilgrims.

Now, this doesn't mean that followers of Jesus should be completely disconnected

from the places where God puts us for a time.

Right?

God did not create us as disembodied spirits floating around and attached to nowhere in particular.

No, he made us embodied creatures.

He put us in a particular time, in particular places,

so that we would inhabit those places fully as his image bearers.

One example of when God's people were called to do this is in Jeremiah chapter 29 in the Old Testament.

Jeremiah 29 · chapter mention

The prophet Jeremiah wrote a letter to the Israelites who had been exiled to Babylon.

And they were living in a strange and uncomfortable land, right?

They had been captured and taken there, where they did not want to be.

And some of them were completely fed up with the Babylonian culture,

and they just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.

But God sent them an unexpected message.

If you read Jeremiah 29, it's...

And his message was,

Settle down, build a house, plant a garden, and raise your family.

And seek the good of the city where I have sent you.

Pray for its flourishing, for in its flourishing you will find your flourishing.

In other words, God was saying to his people,

Invest in this place for as long as God keeps you there.

One church we visited this summer described their mission in four words.

It's gospel, community, worship, and place.

Right?

Now the first three are sort of what you expect to hear from a good, solid church, right?

The gospel is at the center of what we believe, the good news of Jesus Christ.

Worshiping God is our central...

It's sort of what gathers us together each Sunday.

Community is what we want to build together.

But I thought that was an interesting way to put their fourth commitment, place.

And they described it this way.

We seek rootedness in a transient culture.

We seek to engage our city and its people on the common ground of love for this place.

They were in Whitefish, Montana.

It's a beautiful place.

We call our members to consider how they may enjoy this place, knowing and loving its people,

serve this place, caring for the lonely and poor and vulnerable within it,

and prioritize relationships within this place with those who are near at home, work, school, worship, and play.

I think that's putting the principle of Jeremiah 29 into practice.

So let me encourage you.

If God has brought you to New Haven, settle down here and get involved in this community

and find a solid church that you can really sink your...

Sink your teeth into is the wrong metaphor.

But, right?

Like, enjoy.

Like, embed yourself within the community.

Don't, right?

Don't just be sort of floating around from place to place and rooted nowhere.

Right?

Enjoy this place.

Enjoy New Haven.

Serve New Haven and prioritize the people who God has put next to you,

where you're living, where you're working, where you relax and play, and in church.

So it's right for us, and do that even if you only expect to be here for a short time,

or even if you find some aspects of this place uncomfortable or alienating.

Right?

It's right for us to be committed to the places that God puts us for a time.

But, you know, however much God may call us to invest in particular places at particular times,

the truth of Hebrews 11 is also true.

God's people are always called to be pilgrims on a journey.

You see, none of the places that God calls us to inhabit for a time is our true home.

For our entire earthly life, we are pilgrims on a journey toward our true home in the heavenly city of God.

And so each time that we must physically move on from a place that we have known and loved for a long time,

or each time that we must stay and say goodbye to a loved one who is moving on,

we can remind ourselves that God's people are always called to be pilgrims.

And God himself is the only unshakable, unchangeable reality of our journey.

And when we accept our status, our call to be pilgrims, we can know that promise of verse 16,

therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God.

Earlier in Hebrews it says Jesus is not ashamed to call us his brothers and sisters

because he fully shared our humanity.

He called us to belong to him.

For many years I assumed that I would be here in New Haven and at Trinity indefinitely,

perhaps until I would retire or die.

This place and this church have been my physical and spiritual home

for literally half my earthly existence the last 20 years.

And so at times it's been a painful process to let go of that assumption

and to surrender some of my attachments.

But in that process God has drawn me to cling to himself

in ways I never would have imagined.

Over the last several months I've journaled once or twice a week,

writing out my prayers and processing my thoughts and emotions.

And as I read over my journal entries I'm struck by how many prayers God has answered.

Now if you told me a year ago that I'd be preaching my last sermon at Trinity today,

I probably would not have believed you.

But if you told me 20 years ago on the first Sunday of September

when I walked into Trinity Baptist Church as a junior in college

that I would still be here 20 years later,

I definitely would not have believed you.

I guess I'm not very good at predicting how my life is going to unfold.

But honestly, I don't know many people whose life has unfolded exactly the way they expected.

If your life's unfolded exactly how you expected, just wait a couple years.

Along the way God sends us unwanted afflictions as well as unforeseen blessings.

And you know both of those things are reminders that God is God and we are not.

And he's gracious to give us many good gifts

and he's entirely within his rights to take any of them away at any time.

But the invitation he extends to us in every transition,

in every loss, in every change, in every new challenge, a new opportunity,

is to cling to him and continue on the next phase of our pilgrimage toward the heavenly city.

You know, sometimes when we find ourselves in an uncomfortable place

or in the midst of a difficult season

or looking back on a very good season,

we can be tempted to idealize some season of life that has already passed.

Right?

We call it looking back on the good old days.

Right?

Nostalgia.

And the Bible actually warns us that nostalgia can be a trap.

In other words, constantly wishing that we could go back

to some other place or some other time.

Ecclesiastes 7.10 says,

Do not say, Why were the old days better than these?

For it is not wise to ask such questions.

Ecclesiastes is fairly blunt.

Once when I was about 12,

I was riding my bike down the street near my house

and I noticed something.

I don't remember what it was,

but I noticed something and turned my head for a few seconds

and I rammed into a mailbox.

Thankfully, I was wearing my helmet.

And then I turned back to see how in the world I had hit that mailbox

and I rammed into the next mailbox.

After the second mailbox, I learned my lesson.

Watch where you're going.

Right?

And there's a spiritual truth here.

Right?

Our posture is to be like Abraham in verse 10,

looking forward to the city with foundations,

whose architect and builder is God.

Yes, we can and should look back on God's faithfulness in the past

and learn from our mistakes in the past and the hard seasons in the past.

And yet, our gaze is not to be fixed on somewhere in the past.

Our gaze is to be looking ahead to what God has for us next

and ultimately looking ahead to the glorious future He's promised

in the eternal city of God.

Right?

Verse 15 says,

If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out,

they would have had opportunity to return.

But as it is, they desire a better country, a heavenly one.

You know, the last prayer in the Bible is Revelation,

the end of Revelation 22,

and it's only three words.

Come, Lord Jesus.

You know, 20 years ago,

I probably didn't pray that prayer very much, to be honest.

Because I had a lot ahead of me.

Right?

I was in college.

Life was going well.

And, you know, I would see that prayer in the Bible

and say, yes, come, Lord Jesus.

But also, there's a lot of other things I'm really looking forward to.

You know, the longer you go through life,

I think God is training us to pray that prayer.

Because the best things that we enjoy in this world

only pale in comparison to what's to come.

And all the hard stuff and all the afflictions

are meant to remind us that this world isn't our home.

And so I think it takes a long time sometimes,

but I think God is training us to be able to pray

those last words of the Bible.

Come, Lord Jesus.

With all our hearts.

So that's the first truth we see.

God's people are always pilgrims.

We are always called to be pilgrims on a journey.

The second truth I want to highlight

is found in chapter 12, verses 1 and 2.

So let me read these verses

that come at the conclusion of sort of the

men and women of faith of chapter 11.

It says,

Now Hebrews chapter 11 is our long list

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

of our spiritual mothers and fathers in the faith.

And verse 1 of chapter 12 calls these saints

the great cloud of witnesses.

They've finished their earthly journey.

They're sort of like spectators in the stands,

bearing witness to the faithfulness of God

who's brought them all the way to the finish line.

And we can derive a lot of encouragement and wisdom

from the stories of faithful saints who've gone before us.

Both those we've known personally,

as well as those who we only have read or heard about from others

or from reading books or from the Bible.

But you know,

the conclusion of this great chapter

of men and women of faith,

it doesn't say,

fix your eyes

on those faithful saints who've gone before us.

No, it says,

look to Jesus,

the founder and perfecter of faith.

That word founder

can also be translated author,

pioneer,

champion,

or even trailblazer.

You see,

the path that God calls us to walk

with all its unexpected twists and turns

has been blazed by none other

than Jesus Christ himself.

You know,

if you're traveling through unfamiliar territory,

it's important to know

who has gone before you.

Who has laid down this road

and who is committed to maintaining it?

You know,

when we were traveling through South Dakota this summer,

we went on a lot of dirt roads.

There are actually three kinds of dirt roads.

So there are maintained dirt roads.

And the speed limit is normally 55 on those.

You sort of realize,

no, you shouldn't go to the speed limit.

But there are maintained ones.

And then there are others that say

minimal maintenance,

travel at your own risk.

And then there are others

that are usually just like a track

that ends in a cornfield

that says,

no maintenance,

travel not recommended.

One of the places we stayed this summer

was down eight miles of dirt roads

in western South Dakota

near the Badlands.

And about halfway down those dirt roads

when all we could see was cows

and grasslands

and barbed wire fences,

Jane turned to me

and said something like,

how exactly did you choose this place?

Now, okay,

I planned the trip,

but every place,

I emailed her,

showed her at one point,

right?

She said,

how exactly did you choose it?

I said, well,

it had lots of good reviews online.

And she said,

I think this might be

a bit too far off the beaten track.

And I said,

well,

I'm just following the directions

they gave us.

Thankfully,

we made it without incident.

We didn't see any strange wildlife

along that road.

But you know,

when you're in unfamiliar territory,

it matters whose road

you're traveling on

and it matters whose directions

you're following.

Many of the commands in the Bible

are not easy for us,

for people like us to follow.

We sang that song,

prone to wander,

Lord,

I feel it,

prone to leave the God I love.

We're prone to turn off the road

and find ourself in a ditch.

Sometimes God calls us

to walk a road that seems hard,

a road of sacrifice

and suffering in obedience to him.

But Hebrews says,

let us run with endurance

the race marked out for us.

In other words,

let's continue on the path

that God has laid out for us

obeying his word

because Jesus has walked that path.

Every step of that path,

Jesus has walked before us.

He endured the cross

for the joy set before him,

the joy of bringing us

with him to glory.

See,

the message of the Bible

is that Jesus has done for us

what we could not do

for ourselves.

He has lived a life

of complete faith

and obedience to God.

All right,

if you read the stories

of Jesus' life in the gospel,

the way he treats other people

with love and honor,

the way he endured suffering

and hardship,

look at him.

I remember when I was,

I don't know,

maybe about 10,

maybe even less,

a little younger than that,

and I was listening to

the pastor of the church

I grew up in,

just preach about the character

of Jesus and his compassion

and his humility

and his love,

and it just,

I realized I was proud.

I was arrogant.

I wasn't like Jesus

in so many ways.

You know,

I'd grown up in the church,

I'd heard it,

but I remember it really struck me

just looking at the character

of Jesus,

how much I did not live up to that.

But the message of the Bible

is God has done for us

in Jesus

what we could not do

for ourselves.

We could not cleanse us

from ourselves from our sins.

We could not make a way

for ourselves to come before God,

but Jesus has.

He's paid the price for our sins

in his death on the cross.

And in his resurrection,

he's triumphed over death

and made a way for us

to come into God's presence.

So that's the invitation.

If you're new to Christianity,

if you're just exploring,

visiting,

or here with a friend,

that's what Jesus,

that's what Christianity

is all about.

It's not proving ourself

or a list of things

that we have to do

or not do.

It's about the person of Jesus.

So I encourage you,

look at who Jesus is

and consider him.

These words say

he's the author and the finisher,

the founder and the perfecter.

And that word perfecter means

someone who brings something

to its appointed goal,

or end.

Right?

Jesus is not only the one

who begins our journey of faith,

he's the one

who has promised to accompany us

all the way to the end

of our earthly pilgrimage.

So don't let anything distract you

from fixing your eyes

on Jesus and looking to him.

You know,

one of the books

that has shaped my understanding

of being a pastor

and that I've returned to

over the years

is called

The Art of Pastoring.

It was written by David Hanson

out of his experience

as a pastor

in rural Montana

for many years.

And the main idea

that he develops

in his book

is that a pastor

is called to be

a parable of Jesus.

And to some extent

he would say

this is the calling

of every Christian,

but his book

particularly focuses

on what that looks like

for pastors.

Here's a little

of what he says.

He says,

a parable is a story,

right?

Jesus told many parables,

a story about something known

that sheds light

on something unknown.

So its purpose

is not to tell people

what they already know,

but to bring something new,

unforeseen,

and surprising

to the hearer.

So he says,

as a pastor,

I'm a known quantity.

People see me,

they know me,

they hear me,

I listen to them,

but by God's grace

when I do these things,

people don't just encounter me,

they encounter the one

who I represent.

People encounter Christ.

But then he asks this question,

he says,

how can my oft-broken life

reflect and convey

the living,

intimate Lord of the universe

into everyday lives

of my oft-broken people?

Am I Jesus?

No.

So then he uses an analogy

from fishing,

because he spends

a lot of time fishing.

He says,

I'm just a hook

with some feathers

and threads on it.

As I follow Jesus

throughout my day,

I fish for people

for God.

Ultimately,

what I am

is the bait.

Pastors bring Christ

to people

and then quickly

become unimportant,

unnecessary

to the important thing,

the parishioner's

relationship

with Jesus.

So he says,

pastors who make people

habitually dependent

on them

can fall into many traps.

But pastors who walk

with Jesus

and whose lives

reflect Jesus

and who attract people

so that they get

hooked by Jesus

are doing exactly

what God made them

to do.

So if God has used

my words

or my presence

or my prayers

to help you

connect with Jesus,

then I praise him.

Because that's

an amazing privilege.

It's a glorious mystery

to be used by God

in that way.

But as I leave,

my greatest hope

is that your connection

to Jesus

would grow even deeper

in this next season.

That you would look

to him

as the author

and the perfecter

of your faith.

The one who has

drawn you to himself

through whoever

he may have used.

The Apostle Paul said

in Philippians 4 and 9,

whatever you have learned

and received

and heard

and seen in me,

practice these things

and the God of peace

will be with you.

So if there's anything

true or helpful

or godly or wise

that you have seen in me

or learned from me

or my wife Jane,

my encouragement is

put it into practice.

Pass it on.

Share it with somebody else.

So from chapter 11

we see that God's people

are always pilgrims.

From chapter 12

we see that Jesus

has gone before us

on our journey

and finally in chapter 13

at the end

we see that God equips

everyone whom he has called

to follow Jesus.

Go to 13,

chapter 13,

verse 20.

I want to finish

with these last two verses,

20 and 21.

Now may the God of peace

who brought again

from the dead

our Lord Jesus,

the great shepherd

of the sheep

by the blood

of the eternal covenant,

equip you

with everything good

that you may do his will,

working in us

that which is pleasing

in his sight

through Jesus Christ

to whom be glory

forever and ever.

Amen.

You know,

almost every New Testament

letter ends

with a word of blessing

and this was not

a common practice

in other ancient letters.

Most ancient letters

just ended with

farewell,

short and sweet.

But Christian letters

very frequently ended

with a word of blessing.

Sometimes it was short,

grace be with you.

Right here,

it's a little longer.

But it's the writer

entrusting his brothers

and sisters in Christ

into God's faithful

and merciful hands.

Look for a moment

at this blessing.

Verse 20 looks back

on what God the Father

did for Jesus.

Namely,

he raised Jesus Christ

from the dead.

Our great shepherd

who laid down his life

for us

has been raised

never to die again.

And then verse 21

looks forward

to what he promises

to do for us.

He will equip us

with everything good

so that we may

do his will,

working in us

that which is pleasing

in his sight.

So you see,

the logic of this blessing

is if God raised Jesus,

our great shepherd

from the dead,

then he is more than able

to equip us,

Jesus' sheep,

with everything we need

to accomplish his will.

So this prayer

is not just a wish.

The writer of Hebrews

is not just saying,

bye,

hope it all goes well

for you.

No,

it's a strong word

of affirmation

from the God

who loves us deeply

and who is sufficient

for our every need.

May this God,

the God of peace,

the God of glory,

the God who raised

Jesus from the dead,

equip you

with everything good

that you may do

the Lord's will.

And you might ask,

what is God's will?

Well,

very simply,

it's to endure

in faith,

hope,

and love.

If you look at the last

three chapters of Hebrews,

we could do this.

Chapter 11's about faith,

chapter 12's about hope,

chapter 13's about love.

So if you want to know

what God's will for us is,

start with those three things.

Right?

And this blessing

is that God would equip us

with everything we need

to hold on to faith,

to hold fast to hope,

and to endure

in loving one another

as he has loved us.

This is my prayer

for you

as a church.

It's my prayer

for the pastors

and the elders,

for the deacons

and the staff,

for the members

and the attenders

of the church,

that God would equip you

for all the challenges

and all the opportunities

that are now before you,

and all the ones

that will come your way

in the future,

the ones you might expect

and the ones you cannot foresee.

And that you would know

Jesus ever more deeply

as your great

and good shepherd,

that you would live deeply

into your union with him

and see him continuing

to work out

what is pleasing

in his sight.

Over the past few weeks,

I've reflected on

some of the work

that I've seen God do

in many of you

over the years.

It's been so encouraging

to do that.

You know,

sometimes we don't do that

very well.

We don't sort of step back

and look at not just

the last week

or the last few days,

but, you know,

the last year

or five years

or ten years

or twenty years.

And it's been so encouraging

to think about

some of the things

that, some of the ways

God has been faithful

to so many of you

who I have come to know

and spend time with.

And just seeing God's

sustaining people

through affliction

and bringing people

to faith in him

and sustaining their faith

through trials

and growing them

in different ways,

it's a wonderful thing

to look back on.

Also, God has been faithful

and merciful to us

as a family

in so many ways

through you.

It's been an honor

to have been one

of your pastors.

God has used many of you

in my life

and my family's life

over the years.

Your prayers

have not been in vain.

Your words of encouragement

have been heard.

Your admonitions

and hard questions

have been appreciated.

Your hospitality

and friendship

has been a blessing.

Your thoughtful input

and feedback

have helped

to shape

who I am

and who we are.

We wouldn't be

who we are today

without you

and we wouldn't be ready

to take this next step

apart from what

we've learned here.

So I thank God

for how he has worked

through you

to do what

these verses say,

to equip us

with everything good

for carrying out his will

and we pray and trust

that he would continue

to do so

in this next step

of our journey.

The last word

I want to leave you with

is just a couple

of reflections

on Psalm 23.

Right?

This benediction

talks about Jesus

as the great shepherd

of the sheep

and it's that shepherd

that Psalm 23

talks about.

Psalm 23 begins

by talking about

how Jesus leads us.

The good shepherd

leads us

into green pastures.

He goes ahead of us.

And then in the middle

it says,

even though I walk

through the valley

of the shadow

of death

I will not fear

for you are with me.

Jesus walks beside us.

And then the last verse,

verse 6,

says,

surely goodness

and steadfast love

will follow me.

Did you hear that word?

That word follow me

can mean

to chase you down,

to actively pursue.

Right?

Jesus goes before us,

Jesus walks with us

and Jesus even

comes behind us

to protect us.

Right?

When you're walking

through an unfamiliar place

you worry

about what you can't see

as well as

about what you can see.

And the Bible says

Jesus is all

of those things.

He goes before us,

He walks beside us

and His love

and mercy

will follow us

all the days

of our life

until we return

to dwell in His house

forever.

So as we continue

on our pilgrimage,

let's do so

looking to Jesus.

I want to close

with a prayer

that someone else

has written

but that I thought

would be appropriate

for today.

It's a prayer

for leaving

and continuing

on our journey

with Christ.

So let us pray together.

Friends and saints

and fellow pilgrims,

we part now

in the confidence

that in our diverging

paths we walk

the same road

fanning the same flame

and that in time

we will meet again

in a fellowship

forever unbroken.

By your spirit,

O Christ,

make us faithful

in the meanwhile

as we go out

to labor

in the diverse fields

to which you

have assigned us,

laboring unto

that better meeting

and unto that

new made world

that is yet promised

and that has already

begun.

O Spirit of God,

be as present

in our parting

as you were

in our gathering.

Be present

in our journeys,

be present

in our days to come,

be present

in our works

and in our words

and in our hearts.

Be present

in the bonds

of our community,

Lord Christ.

Be ever at work

among us

and through us.

Amen.