Learning to be ambassadors of God’s love
by Stanley W. Green
Executive Director/CEO
Mennonite Mission Network

What would it mean for each of our lives if we would allow ourselves to be changed? -Stanley W. Green, Mennonite Mission Network

This past summer on a subway ride on the London underground, I saw a striking ad that went something like this: Will you remember today forever? In the news, lots happened. Someone was murdered in New York City ... dozens were killed in Iraq in the ongoing violence of war ... hundreds died of hunger and malnutrition in Darfur. But will you remember today forever? Happily for you, there was a moment of encounter. You remembered what really mattered. You decided to do something about it. You signed up. You volunteered. You offered yourself to make a difference. You didn’t want to read that the world had changed. You went out and had a part in change and influenced the direction of that change. You changed.

In this issue of Beyond Ourselves you will encounter a few of the people in the Mennonite Church who were changed. In the process, they wrought some changes of healing and hope in the brokenness of our world. That brokenness still cries out for every person not just to passively lament the situations that fuel hopelessness and despair but to engage actively in making a difference. More important, God’s purposes and our obligation as disciples to align ourselves with those purposes call us to sign up, to allow ourselves to be changed.

I had an encounter recently that reminded me of the change in direction that God wants to accomplish in us for the benefit of the world. On a trip to Pennsylvania, I visited our oldest son, Lee, in Philadelphia. He invited me to his office to meet his colleagues and see their ministry at the AIDS agency where he works. I went at the end of the day and greeted a number of his colleagues in the medical clinic and counseling center they run. Many were on their way home, but a few staff remained. I asked Lee why they would remain. Lee informed me that around this time transgender males — a marginalized group — would arrive. I began to be uneasy and sensed in myself a desire to leave before these people appeared.

Just as we were walking out the front door, I looked up and there before us were four men who looked like women. When they saw us, one of them looked at me, then Lee, then me again, apparently sizing me up. Just as I began to feel the sweat coming, the one who’d been sizing me up screamed, “Daddy!” and came at me with hugs and kisses, smothering me with expressions of love, delight and appreciation. It was his way of telling me their gratitude for the love, care and welcome Lee has shown them.

That afternoon on Locust Street in Philadelphia, the father became the son. I learned again the lesson that Jesus sought to teach and of my continuing need for transformation. In the welcome and generosity that Lee and others offer to these sometimes despised and demeaned people, they were made human. I, the one who was supposed to be an ambassador of God’s love, became the recipient of extravagant, generous love. I too became human as God intended us to be — generous in love, welcoming of diversity and respecting difference.

What would it mean for our church and each of our lives if we would allow ourselves to be changed and become agents of change in our broken world? We can become agents of change through prayer, through sharing of our resources, through investing our lives in making a difference. Remembering what really matters, will you sign up?