Last night after Todd and I put our children in bed and I was ready to “veg” out, he insisted on reading me Jim Wallis’ commencement address to Virgina Theological Seminary. (You may read the entire address here) It’s titled; Unexpected Hope: The Vocation of the Church. Most of the graduates were leaving seminary and going onto leadership roles in churches around the nation.

Wallis starts by saying; “the central vocation of the churches: to offer unexpected hope”. He explains, “Because our mission is to the kingdom of God—“thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” That is what we pray. And while the kingdom of God was the central message of Jesus, and the New Testament, it has faded as ours. Finding salvation to heaven is part of the message, getting closer to God is part of the message, but the heart of the message of Jesus was a new order breaking into history—to change everything about the world, including us.” He continues saying that Christianity is not just about giving people a ticket to heaven, but its about bringing about wholeness, fighting for what we now call “common good”. Its about a relationship when made changes all other relationships, even us.

I love the following paragraphs:

But when people see the kingdom of God being actually lived out, they are first surprised by it, and then attracted to it.

Like when a huge and successful church in a midwestern state’s suburbs decides to take on the renovation of dilapidated and failing public schools in their neighboring urban area. Or like when a church in the Southern Bible Belt puts up a sign welcoming the Muslim cultural center that had just moved into their neighborhood and befriends those who were afraid of being attacked; and when that story of Christian/Muslim friendship on CNN changes the hearts of angry men in Pakistan. Or when a graduating seminarian, like many of you today, decides to start a church made up of homeless people and, after ten years, most all of their congregation’s leaders literally came from off of the streets.

When a Christian family farm business builds day care centers and houses for their migrant workers, provides college scholarships for their employees’ children, gives millions of dollars to Africa and Haiti, and still has the most successful orchard in their region, it attracts attention. When conservative southern California Anglo churches get deeply connected to Hispanic churches in their own communities, come to know each other’s faith and families, and then seek to fix a broken immigration system, it gets the attention of policy makers in Washington. When a famous evangelical mega-church in Chicago sends its people to the Middle East and starts speaking up for beleaguered Palestinian Christians, it challenges foreign policy. When another one in Ohio doesn’t just righteously proclaim itself to be “pro-life” but quietly takes in hundreds of low-income pregnant women every year to help them carry their child to term and settle into a better life, people feel helped and not just judged. And when faith-based organizations and denominations who might vote differently in elections make it clear to both Republicans and Democrats that they must not balance their budgets and reduce their deficits by increasing poverty and must draw a circle of protection around the poorest and most vulnerable, it breaks through the self-interest politics of both parties.

All these are true stories. And they are all about the unexpected and about bringing hope to hopeless times.

As I listened to Todd reading, I thought about one of our members, Melissa Julien. Melissa is a public school teacher in Gainesville. She is teaching in one of the most impoverished schools in the area. There are kids languishing in poverty in every school in Gainesville, but this school serves a higher percentage. The teachers at this school have very little parent support, and provide one-hundred percent of their supplies, this includes class room materials, hygiene items for the children, and often food for their families. Melissa isn’t just a teacher, she is also caring emotionally and financially for the kids at her school.

On June 2nd, we are having our next Get Out and Serve day. We are re-stocking Melissa’s classroom (and other teachers as well). This will help the teachers recover from the school year and prepare for Summer school. The following items are needed. You may bring them this Sunday to church or on June 2nd.

paper towels, hand soap, printer paper, construction paper, cardstock (white and mixed colors), crayons, tissues, hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes (brand name only), ziploc bags (quart and gallon size), spiral notebooks, visa-vis markers, dry erase markers, glue sticks, erasers, markers, pins, pencils, paper cups and plates, stickers, sidewalk chalk, bubbles, scissors, baby wipes, gift cards to Target, office supply stores, Wal-mart.

You may also donate: hand-me-downs–kids underwear, socks, plain colored collar shirts, school uniforms. As you get close to the end of school for your own kids if you have school clothes that will not be worn next year those are welcome as well.

While collecting supplies for the school is a part of our service day, we will also be painting their basketball court on June 2nd.

Let’s Get Out and Serve!