To date we have now completed the Holy Cow
Survey, the active listening sessions, created and distributed a profile of
“us” (not a profile of what we are looking for), and invited, received and
reviewed applications to be our new Bishop.
This is a reflection on how I saw different
callings in each of the different applicants but all with the same purpose – “Love your God
with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with
all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27).
When I started reviewing the applications I was
struck by the varied callings of applicants with different backgrounds into
different ministries, at different ages, in different locations, into different
cultures. Some had entered the church early on in their lives and others were
called after they had successful secular careers in such fields as marketing,
the law, academia, medicine.
I was amazed that no matter when, where or how
each applicant was called they all ended up in the same place, their
applications to be our new Bishop in a file for access by the Nominating
Committee team members. I reviewed and
was humbled by their ministries described in their supporting documents.
As I started the reviews I thought about how
our God calls us to serve and remembered the time when I was called.
I remember the “mustard seed” planted within me
was a desire to learn which led to my attending the School For Ministry (SFM)
and started my formation. I recalled no matter how hard I tried to ignore or avoid
the calling by providing excuses why it could not be done, God persisted until
I surrendered and said “Yes”.
In reviewing the documents, I wondered if the
applicants had the same experience and I looked forward to meeting them
electronically via Zoom and maybe later in person.
The more I thought about our calling, the more
scriptural calls jumped out at me, such as God calling Moses, Abraham, Noah,
Samuel, and David.
I looked through the Gospels and noticed how Jesus
called the disciples and followers: “Come, follow me and I will
send you out to fish for people.” (Matt 14:19), “Jesus withdrew to the sea with His
disciples; and a great multitude from Galilee followed; and also, from Judea” (Mark 3:7), “After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the
name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow
me,” Jesus said,
and Levi got up, left everything and followed” (Luke 5:27-28).
I referenced the Epistles and found
examples of how God calls the “Body of Christ”, “You also became imitators of us and Jesus
Christ, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy
Spirit” (1 Thessalonians
1:6), “To the
church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be
his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of
Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:2) “But you are a chosen people,
a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may
declare the praises of the one who called you out of darkness the wonderful
light” (1 Peter 2:9).
When I reflected
on my own, and the applicants, formation I wondered about the theology of the
calling. Armed with this curiosity I looked back at my SFM notes and undertook
a search for papers from other sources.
In SFM last year I learned how my calling
involved two concepts, kenosis and theosis.
Kenosis, from the Greek word for emptiness was
the "self-emptying" of my personal will to become entirely receptive
to the “divine will”. When called to
serve I was emptied, either totally or partially, providing a void that was to
be filled by the Holy Spirit. This is not something that happens once, it is
happening all the time.
Theosis is the process in which I am constantly
being filled with the Holy Spirit which directs my
thoughts, words and actions and forms my union with God.
I recognized that my calling, my formation, my
self-emptying and filling with grace is an act of God. The inner signs of the grace
within me are shown through the outward signs in the prayers, worship, and
ministry I undertake.
When I
looked for other resources to provide more insight into the theology of how and
why we are called to serve God, I found an intriguing paper, “The Meaning of Calling in a Culture of Choice” from the
Magazine of Theological and Ethical Inquiry from Yale Divinity School.
When I
read this paper, I noticed there was a multi-part question that applied both to
my own theology and to the task of reviewing the applications, “What does it
mean to feel called to a vocation in a world where our churches seem
disconnected, where work can be impersonal, and where our careers change many
times?”
When
looking at vocation it is seen through the lens of our contemporary cultural and
our choices. I agreed with the paper which states choice shapes both our
secular and spiritual reality and it can seem we are often trying to create our
own faith story rather than God’s.
But
looking at the journey of these applicants I noticed no matter how hard they tried
to create their own journey, the Holy Spirit had guided them to the same place
at this moment in their lives – this calling to the Episcopate in San Diego!
For all except
one their journey will not end in being our Bishop, but it may change their
calling and change where they are headed. I felt that either way it will be a
forming experience for them, just as it is for me as I participate in this
search.
This task
identified the importance of discernment in decisions, the virtues of choice, but
also recognizes our decisions come as a response to God’s will. For me to speak
of a calling is to acknowledge God as the caller, and see our individual
journeys have a goal.
Martin
Luther famously expanded the language of vocation beyond the clerical into the
Biblical notion of the “priesthood of all believers.”
He argued
it is not just the monk or the minister who is called. Every state of life and
any type of work can be considered a calling, a true vocation, and any type of
work offers the opportunity to serve God and the “Other”.
I learned
this concept of calling passed from Luther talking about vocation as a state of
life, through Calvin’s “productive labor”, to the Puritans who changed it from
faithfulness within
one’s work, to faithfulness through one’s work, to faithfulness to one’s work resulting in the birth of today’s Work
Ethic.
In
reading this paper I loved the way my reflection turned away from vocation being
roles and responsibilities and focused instead on how God meets us where we
are, as we are. Each of us is a unique creation placed by God in a particular
time, at a particular place, and gifted with particular abilities, experiences,
and associations.
In this
review task there was a danger the process could become reduced to a search for
a person who matched my culture, tradition, tastes, needs, must-haves, and wants.
It was
crucially important to have an open and honest sense of myself and what God is
calling me to do, before I could review the calling of others.
For me,
this task of reviewing the applications and supporting documents was an
important part of my formation which allowed me to examine my own calling,
research the theology of kenosis, theosis and vocation, and recognize the
calling within those aspiring to be our next Bishop.
I would
challenge all readers to undertake a frequent self-examination of their calling
as part of their discernment on their own journey.
Ref:
No comments:
Post a Comment