I have been intrigued by God’s surprises. Moses was surprised by meeting the Almighty in a burning bush. Saul’s surprise on the Damascus road must have felt like an ambush. Peter had his vision of what was clean and unclean. These examples, and others, show how God made a new call clear to those who were already sure of their calling.

A Mennonite Church USA pastor shared with a group of us that he never intended to focus his long-term ministry on neighborhood Jr. Highs. Yet that has become his new calling, showing significant fruits. 

Story after story is told across our church where people say, “We never intended to plant a church,” or “I would never have believed I would be involved in this ministry.” It seems that God’s mission is often caught more than taught; it is a kind of spiritual virus that infects us. We are surprised, and sometimes amazed, at how we get “caught up” in some movement of God of which we had little awareness. Often these surprises of God bring new focus to our lives. If it was so for Moses, Saul and Peter, it can happen to us too.

I am not debunking Christian education or seminary training. But often “God works in strange ways” to direct us. We can turn away from God’s direction, or we can accept a new understanding of our God-given viewpoint or purpose.

This is also true for our corporate calling as a body of believers in Mennonite Church USA. Readying ourselves for God’s next surprise can be what spells the difference of being faithful or unfaithful as a church. “Staying the course” is sometimes, but not always, an act of faithfulness if God is trying to redirect us. We want to be part of the evidence (the witness) of what God is already doing. 

Our Christian vocation is to discern together God’s missional purpose. We need each other to interpret God’s surprises. Our already-ordered lives may become disorderly in the transition, but later we often look back on that disorder as a holy moment. 

“Fear not God’s surprises!” can be a pathway toward being a missional church.

Jim Schrag is Executive Director of Mennonite Church USA

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The following announcements related to Mennonite Church USA Convention 2009 are to be read from the pulpit or used in church bulletins and newsletters. Thank you for inviting members of your congregation to participate. For more information contact Executive Leadership’s Convention Planning staff, by phone at (574) 523-3048, or e-mail ConventionInfo@MennoniteUSA.org.

• Songbooks. If you have your own copies of Sing the Story, Sing the Journey or Hymnal: A Worship Book, please bring them to Mennonite Church USA Convention 2009, June 30 to July 5 in Columbus, Ohio.  In an effort to conserve natural resources, Mennonite Church USA Executive Leadership will not provide separate songbooks or include music in the program books. However, the words for the songs sung will be available on the screen. If you wish to purchase any of these songbooks they will be available at the Mennonite Publishing Network exhibit in Columbus.

• It’s not too late to register for Mennonite Church USA Convention 2009. Forms are available at www.MennoniteUSA.org or from Mennonite Church USA Convention Planning at 574-523-3048. Full-time registration and daily registration may be purchased on-site; but no meal plans will be available for purchase.
• Are you curious about what’s happening at Mennonite Church USA Convention 2009 in Columbus, Ohio, June 30 to July 5? Check out the convention Web site for a list of seminars, worship speakers, late night events, the delegate agenda, or how to register for this event. All of this information and more is available at www.MennoniteUSA.org/convention.

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