On Sundays, I don’t get to share everything I’d love to share.
There are always layers left unexplored—historical insights, cultural context, or stories that could bring even more clarity to the text. But over the years, I’ve learned something surprising about preaching… the hardest part isn’t always knowing what to say… it’s knowing what NOT to say.
In other words, the Spirit of God is not just at work in what’s spoken on Sunday mornings—He’s also at work in what’s left out.
I share that because there was something I DIDN’T include last week in the message, LIVING GENERATIONALLY – and it’s something I’ve been thinking about all week.
It’s about the monarch butterfly… crazy I know… but seriously, I’ve been thinking a ton about the amazingness of the monarch butterfly all week.
Here’s what I learned…
The monarch is the only butterfly known to migrate like birds—traveling thousands of miles between the northern United States and central Mexico each year.
But here’s what makes that journey so remarkable… it takes FOUR GENERATIONS to complete it. Three generations of monarchs head north, each living only about six weeks. None of them reach the final destination which means… their entire role is to move the mission forward—to carry things just a little farther for the next generation.
Then comes the fourth generation… what’s called the “super-generation” – they live up to eight months.
And somehow… without GPS… without ever having made the journey before… they fly thousands of miles back to the very place their great-great-grandparents came from.
That is 100% ASTONISHING!
Clearly, so many questions to ask here…
How do they know where to go?
Why do they migrate in the first place?
How does the final generation find its way home?
Great questions that lepidopterists have answers for… but what fascinated me most about all of this is not so much HOW but WHAT.
Each generation plays a part in a journey they will never see completed. They give themselves to something bigger than their own lifespan.
I really wanted to share this with you on Sunday, but time did not allow and truth be told, I had no idea how to pronounce lepidopterist.
Just so you know… what we’re doing as a church matters more than you might realize. And here’s why I say that…
The prayers we pray…
The gospel seeds we plant…
The way we love, serve, give, and disciple…
ALL that is moving Jesus’ mission and ministry forward.
We may not see the full fruit of it in our lifetime… and that’s ok.
We may not be the “fourth generation” that gets to experience the beauty of it all coming together… and that’s ok.
But to be as clear as I can…
OUR ROLE TODAY IS BOTH SIGNIFICANT AND SACRED!
Our mission is not just about “our walk with God” – the mission is helping all people walk with God who will help the next generation walk with God who in turn will help the next generation do the same.
And just so you know…
THAT’S SOMETHING WORTH GIVING OURSELVES TO.
