Vocation: Using Our Gifts, Participating in the World of Redemption

The Gospel reading this morning is about vocation The word vocation comes from the Latin word for voice, and the related word, calling. We discover our vocations by listening to God’s voice, which is also our own deepest inner voice. In the intimacy of Jesus’ relationship with God, whom he knew as Father, Jesus discovered his calling: to enter public ministry, teach and heal and proclaim God’s forgiveness and love. And he was called to live out that message of forgiveness and love all the way, even at the cost of his life. When some of the religious leaders of his day were threatened by Jesus and turned to violence, Jesus’ vocation was to accept his suffering and death without protest and without striking back.

In the radiant light of the resurrection, we know now that God’s purpose was to reveal that love is stronger than violence and death. Jesus prevailed over his enemies, not by resorting to force, but by forgiving them.

Of course, no one really knew for sure at the time that this would be the result—even Jesus walked by faith and not by sight. But he had heard God’s call in the deepest part of his heart and he trusted in God enough to carry out his vocation. It’s understandable, as the Scripture says, from a human point of view, that Peter tried to talk him out of it. Who would stand by while a loved one announced their intention to be martyred? But it’s also understandable why Jesus rebuked him so sharply, because it is only by following God’s call to us that we become whole and free. The voice that tries to argue us out of following God’s call is indeed demonic, even if it springs from the best of intentions.

It is especially hard to resist that voice if it is echoes our own deepest fears and doubts about our path. In the film, “The Last Temptation of Christ,” when Jesus is about to be crucified, the devil shows him a vision of a normal life, with a wife and kids, instead of the lonely path of suffering and death. And Jesus is sorely tempted. He ultimately resists, but the strength of that movie is that it shows that sometimes the hardest temptations to resist are choices that are benign or even good in themselves, like having a family, but they’re not what God wants us to do.

Because God calls each one of us to our own unique path. God has given each of us gifts and by using those gifts we take part in God’s purpose for the world. At every point in our lives, we can use our God-given gifts as part of God’s work of redemption. The way we use our gifts is likely to change over the course of a lifetime. You may have chosen the vocation God intended for you at age 20, but 10, 20 or 30 years later, you might discover that God is calling you in a different direction. You might uncover a hidden part of yourself, some gift that you want to develop and use. Learning to listen for God’s voice is a lifelong journey. Basil Pennington, one of the leaders of the centering prayer movement, writes that faith is a muscle that grows by hearing. We often think of prayer as talking to God, sharing your troubles, joys and gratitude. It is all that but it is also learning to listen to God, to discover God’s deepest desire for you.

God’s deepest desire for all of us is healing, peace, freedom, joy and intimacy with God. Following our calling will ultimately lead to wholeness—to our true selves. But sometimes the path takes strange turns. Sometimes God calls us to do things that seem too risky, or radical or just foolhardy to our friends. I have a friend who used to work at the UN. She had a successful career, made a good salary and was gaining respect in her field. But something in her was not complete. She did some soul searching and ultimately went back to school to become a paramedic. She now rides ambulance in a small community in Massachusetts. Her healing gift was not being used in her other job even though it was a good job. But many people tried to dissuade her, telling her she was throwing away a wonderful career. She had to cling fast to her faith in that inner voice that was calling her to do a new thing. Sometimes it is hard to stand fast against the voices that tempt us away from following where God is leading us, especially when they are well-intentioned friends and family trying to protect us. But if we trust God and follow our call, we will find our true selves. And we will find intimacy with God. Because the journey to our true selves and the journey to God are one and the same.

Jesus never promises it will be easy for us. In fact, his path of suffering illuminates for us the inevitability of suffering in human life, even though most of us don’t have to experience torture and martyrdom. One of our culture’s most pervasive illusions is that it is possible to avoid most if not all of life’s ills. If we work hard, we don’t have to be poor. If we eat right and exercise, we won’t suffer poor health. If we take the right supplements and use the right products, or even have the right surgery, we won’t have to age. And death is not even considered a polite topic of conversation. But even if we lead the most fortunate lives, we will age, we will suffer loss and we will ultimately die. I had a 72 year old parishioner who got a terminal diagnosis, and she reported that all her friends and family were very upset. Her comment was, “I don’t know what all the fuss is about—I’ve known all my life I was going to die.”

Not many of us are that stoic, but her response shows that accepting that our path involves suffering and putting our trust in God gives us great inner freedom. By accepting her death and putting her trust in God, my friend had more energy and freedom to devote to her family and friends in her remaining days. If we move through suffering instead of trying to deny or avoid it, we will paradoxically experience new life and growth. The Pascal mystery is that we must die to be reborn.

The pattern of our lives is death and resurrection. Each change represents some degree of loss. The child starting school loses a little safety and security and the parents say goodbye to a particular role as the school bus rolls away for the first time. The young person graduating from high school or college loses the comfort of a known path, as does the person retiring after a lifetime of work. But if we accept that loss, and put our faith in God, we will also experience an invitation to new life. School brings new competency, young adulthood brings a sense of independence and mastery, retirement is very often a time of renewal and growth. Christ’s death and resurrection teach us that when we’ve moved through the loss, no matter what kind of loss it is, there will be new life.

As we look forward to the fall, Labor Day, the renewal of our life in the church and for some of us, at school, take some time to listen to God. Spend some time thinking about the gifts God has given you, whether they are gifts you have been using all your life, or gifts that are dormant. Consider what gives you joy. Frederick Buechner, a wonderful pastor and writer, offers this guidance on seeking God’s will for your life: "The kind of work God usually calls you to is the kind of work (a) that you need most to do and (b) that the world most needs to have done. If you really get a kick out of your work, you’ve presumably met requirement (a), but if your work is writing TV deodorant commercials, the chances are you’ve missed requirement (b). On the other hand, if your work is being a doctor in a leper colony, you have probably met requirement (b), but if most of the time you’re bored and depressed by it, the chances are you have not only bypassed (a) but probably aren’t helping your patients much either. Neither the hair shirt nor the soft berth will do. The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet."

We are not the only ones who experience new life when we embrace our vocations. Our choice to follow God’s call or not affects everything. The world is a long way from the new creation that is laboring to be born. Each of us has the opportunity to participate in that birth process by following God’s call. As it says in Ephesians, there is one hope in God’s call to us.