So about a month ago a high school senior whom I mentor at the church I’ve begun interning at wrote me an email. Here is a piece of it:

Oh! And I have a question for Jon, but I’ll run it by you quick too. I want to organize a dinner for our lunch ladies at school. Do you think it’d be possible to use the kitchen and tables at Fellowship? Cam and I have been chatting about it a little bit, and thought it was a good location, if it all worked out.

I positively melted!

Two graduating seniors from a local public high school wanted to love on the ladies who have served them for four years by providing a dinner at our church!

How
cool
is
that?!

So this last Thursday that desire came true…and it was such a great time! All 13 of the Grandville area lunch ladies came to our church to enjoy a 4 course meal cooked by some of the ladies of the church. Pastor John, Dan, Tim, and I dressed up in a white shirt, black pants, black bow-tie and black apron and served them their meals at decorated tables. We pulled out all the stops and had a great time serving a group of people who are generally one rung higher than the janitors on the high school social ladder!

I haven’t really blogged about the church I’ve begun serving in, but I am helping re-launch the church and since the beginning of the year we have been dreaming of ways to serve our community and share the love of Christ outside of our walls. What’s amazing is that the first sort of “project” we tackled came from two 17 and 18 year olds! Again, how cool is that?!

Needless to say the ladies were blown away by the thought and care the went into the night. One lady who has worked at the high school serving food for 30 years said she has never been appreciated like this for her work. In fact, each year the staff of the high school are honored with an all staff luncheon, all them except the lunch ladies! What’s more: these 13 women not only cook for the high school (about 1700 kids), but also for the elementary students as well (another 800). So each day these women cook for some 2500 kids, all without nary a word of appreciate from the kids nor the administration.

And here come two teens who are trying to follow Jesus better and show and share the love of Christ with those who are neither appreciated nor cared for. That’s just like Jesus himself, isn’t it? Jesus noticed those who were on the margins of society, went to those who were the least and flooded their lives with love, attention and care.

I learned an important lesson that evening: the Church does not have to put on a production and reach massive amounts of people to live out the way of Jesus. The Church need only love. That’s what Ben and Cameron taught me that night, and I’m a better soon-to-be-pastor for it.