My Message to Our 2010 December Graduates

This last Wednesday night, 54 men and women boarded a yellow school bus to go to the first night of the Winter Shelter. Chaplain Jeff commented to me as we watched that many of those individuals had likely once boarded a yellow school bus as a youngster to go to school . . . never thinking that one day that same bus would take them to a homeless shelter. No one plans to become homeless.

Neither did a young couple 2000 years ago when they were required to return to their hometown for a census . . . Luke 2: While they were there, the time came for Mary to give birth. She gave birth to a son, her firstborn. She wrapped him in a blanket and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

There was no room for them in that town of Bethlehem . . . as you may have felt a year ago—that there was no room for you in Long Beach; but you found a place—a bit nicer than a manger for animals—and God met you here. Just as God (literally) met that family in Bethlehem, and continues to meet men, women and children down through the ages.

If you have seen the long-running Charlie Brown’s Christmas on TV, you may recall Charlie, Snoopy and the rest of the gang are practicing their Christmas program. Charlie Brown is charged with finding a tree appropriate for the program. Along with Linus, he searches through row after row of metal trees hoping to find the perfect one. Finally, they locate a tiny tree that’s barely clinging to life. Linus warns Charlie Brown that the others will not like the tree, but he takes it anyway—and it sheds needles all along the way back to the stage. When Charlie hangs a single ornament on it, the tree’s needles fall off and it bends to the ground as dead.

As you can imagine, Lucy, Snoopy and Charlie’s other friends give him all kinds of grief. And they ask Charlie why he chose such a pitiful tree.

Do you recall Charlie’s answer? He said, “The tree needed me.”

At a time when you needed help, you were that tree in the tree lot—and no one wanted you; but you needed us . . . and you came here for help . . . ultimately choosing to come into the New Life Program. And and somewhere along the way to this day the roles became reversed.

As God’s gift to each of us who have been reconciled to him finds out, we needed you as much as you needed us. His Word in Corinthians says that it is the weakest members that are worthy of more honor—that we are to embrace those in need as we would Christ Himself. That's God’s economy.

Now you are at a transition—not the finish line. You will have new responsibilities. As well as moving on in your life, you are now reconcilers. The One who reconciles us, makes us reconcilers of others . . . and you now become reconcilers.

Reconciliation may be with yourself first, and then to family relationships, or to someone down the road . . . but you are now given the same task of becoming reconcilers of God’s grace to others—the community—the world. That same grace that you have freely been given will be passed on through you to others. That is being the light of the world . . .

I will leave you with two scripture verses:
1 John 1:7: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin.
Ephesians 5:8: For you were once in darkness, but now you are light in the Lord: walk as children of light.

We will continue to be here for you—as family, and as a kingdom community—to help you keep walking in that light . . . and help you pass that on to others as a testimony of God’s grace.

God Bless you.