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Today's Scripture
27-31You are Christ's body—that's who you are! You must never forget this. Only as you accept your part of that body does your "part" mean anything. You're familiar with some of the parts that God has formed in his church, which is his "body":
apostles
prophets
teachers
miracle workers
healers
helpers
organizers
those who pray in tongues.
But it's obvious by now, isn't it, that Christ's church is a complete Body and not a gigantic, unidimensional Part? It's not all Apostle, not all Prophet, not all Miracle Worker, not all Healer, not all Prayer in Tongues, not all Interpreter of Tongues. And yet some of you keep competing for so-called "important" parts.
But now I want to lay out a far better way for you [i.e. charity, or spiritual love].
*I Corinthians 13.30-31 (MSG)
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Today, I begin a series on receiving a sacred call to service upon our lives. Often this is termed “vocation.” “Vocation” is Latin for “a call, summons.” Often it refers to a vocation to “professional” Christian ministry. Yet, I use it to include every Christian.
Indeed, vocation can refer to the following, and the first two every Christian is a part of:
a. A vocation to the Christian life. That is, accepting Christ as personal Savior and Lord ... of your life.
b. A vocation to a particular calling of service for persons not called to professional ministry in the Church. Every member of the Body of Christ receives such a call to service.
c. A vocation to a professional ministry within the Church. This includes the vocation of pastor, preaching evangelist, writer, professor, ...
d. A vocation to a particular status in life: this can include, to a single life, to the married life, to be a religous, to be an oblate, ...
* * *
I proceed with three points - a question and two affirmations on vocation. Today, I will cover the question:
What does it take to have a calling?
The Case of William Muehl - William Muehl has a complaint with ministers. Muehl has served on the faculty of Yale Divinity School. He has spent many years teaching people who are about to become ministers and those who are already ministers.
What bothers Professor Muehl is what he sees as a widespread tendency among ministers to do some romantic editorial work on the nature of Christian calling. To hear most ministers talk, claims Muehl, God calls people only in moments of theatrical intensity. The ministerial version of Christian calling almost always involves a moment of high drama.
Muehl does not doubt such moments occur, but he doubts they occur as often and predictably as some ministers say they do. Muehl thinks many ministers dress up call events in "Damascus Road" garb, which is unfortunate, since most persons come to faith, he says, in ways that are far more down-to-earth. They were forced into Sunday church school by parents, or found the local church youth group a good way to spice up an otherwise dull weekend, or discovered the sanctuary could be entered on the arm of an attractive member of the opposite gender. "These ways seem to have at least one thing in common," says Muehl. "They are not nearly as dramatic and intellectually impressive as people feel a genuine religious experience ought to be."'
One reason prompting Muehl to complain is his own experience of call. He was trained as an attorney. He became an exceptional trial lawyer in the law school "moot court." He won his cases, for the most part, but the stress caused him to develop a duodenal ulcer. After treating him for several gastric episodes, a physician made a dire prediction. "Muehl," he stated, "if you really undertake a career in the law, you will probably be rich by the age of forty. The only trouble is that you will be dead by the age of thirty."
Hearing this, Muehl left his law work and joined the faculty of Yale Divinity School. Surrounded there by colleagues who had come to their work in response to a sense of calling, Muehl began to doubt that he had experienced a real call. So, he approached another faculty member, the ethicist H. Richard Niebuhr, with his concern. Niebuhr puffed on a pipe, laughed gently, and responded, "What does it take to make up a 'call' for you, Muehl? What you had planned to do with your life was quite literally eating you up inside, driving you ... to consider alternatives. I can't imagine a better call outside the Bible."
*Thomas G. Long, "Shepherds and Bathrobes," CSS, 1987.
* * *
God can place a call on our lives, and this can occur through what might otherwise appear normal changes or through deciding to follow the shape God has given us.
WE BELIEVE THAT EVERY CHRISTIAN HAS A GOD GIVEN “SHAPE” FOR MINISTRY. EACH INDIVIDUAL “SHAPE” INCLUDES OUR SPIRITUAL GIFTING, OUR HEART (OR PASSION), OUR ABILITIES AND OUR EXPERIENCES. GOD DESIRES TO USE THAT “SHAPE” IN SERVICE TO HIM.
*Website of First United Methodist Church, Butler PA.
In a meeting with a pastor, recently, I described a hurtful situation. I said I, at times, felt like a failure due to that situation. He replied, with a heart of compassion, “Brian, you are not a failure, you are exactly how God has made you.”
That is what is meant by "shape" for being and service. Our calling to serve will conicide with the four things mentioned in the website notation above. Our sense of callling might arise from, and will agree with, answers to four questions:
(1) What is my spiritual gift, or gifts?
These are not acquired talents, but they are simply and in some mysterious way God-given. If you simply cannot sing well, be assured that is not your spiritual gift. Your spiritual gift will always come over as something you can do well - or learn to do well. For example, one of my spiritual gifts is speaking, but, initially, I could not bear to stand and speak before a group. The Spirit, over time, inspired my efforts and prayerfulness with amazing progress, and in a short time.
(2) What do I do and feel a passion for, a godly feeling from excitement to deep peace, when I am going it?
Your vocation will be fulfilling to you. Yet, sometimes the expectations of a context might take away a lot of that joy. In such cases, a change of venue or way of using the calling may be what a person needs to engage.
(3) What is my ability, or my abilities?
As I note above, a spiritual gift will be something you can do. You cannot make a spiritual gift; either you have it or not. Now, you might be given a new spiritual gift at a time in your life, but, still, you do not "get" it, you "receive" it.
(4) What does my experience say to me about my calling?
Look back over your life experience. You will get hints or shouts, maybe both, about the way God wills to use you to serve others.
Last, do not let the opinions of other persons discourage you from using your spiritual giftedness and, so, fulfilling you vocation with joy. Many persons have enjoyed my writings. Yet, once I got an email from a stranger saying: "You're an awful writer." Even when you fulfill your vocation, you may get detractors. Tend to trust loving criticism; make a practice of ignoring blunt statements that diminish you and your vocation. Many persons are about as prepared to judge your vocation as they are to ice skate on the surf of Panama Beach, FL.
* * *
Calling can be a confusing matter. But with patience and inquiry, you can discern what you are on earth to do in the Name of Christ.
Tomorrow, we will continue this subject. And we will consider the following verity: Often, a crisis is prelude to “listening to” a call. See you tommorrow!
Grace,
Brian K. Wilcox
Ordained Pastor, Christ Community UMC, Punta Gorda, FL
Ordained Oblate, Greenbough House of Prayer
*Sunday, January 25, 2009
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*Thomas G. Long's story was taken from www.holwick.com . The website of Butler First United Methodist Church is www.butlerfumc.org .
*Charitable contributions would be appreciated to assist Brian in continuing his ministry. For contributions, contact Brian at barukhattah@embarqmail.com .
*Brian's book of spiritual love poetry, An Ache for Union: Oneness with God through Love, can be ordered through major booksellers or the Cokesbury on-line store, cokesbury.com .
*Brian K. Wilcox, a United Methodist Pastor, lives in Southwest Florida. He is a vowed member of Greenbough House of Prayer, a contemplative Christian community in South Georgia. He lives a contemplative life and seeks to inspire others to enjoy a more intimate relationship with Christ. Brian advocates for a spiritually-focused, experiential Christianity and renewal of the Church through addressing the deeper spiritual needs and longings of persons.
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