... Discipleship and Vocation?
16th MAY 2017
Jesus called his disciples to 'follow' him. In those seven words lie the foundations of both vocation and discipleship, it seems to me. It was the kind of invitation that seemed impossible to turn down. Whatever their background they followed him, even to the foot of the cross.
Whether impetuous fisherman or scheming tax collector, sister of a dead man raised to life or heart-broken mother, they all followed him and became his disciples (Even his mother? Yes, I think so, even his mother).
Where, then, did vocation fit for Peter or Matthew or Mary or Mary?
Well, perhaps becoming a follower of Jesus is something both individual and collective. It is a decision that inevitably leads to forming a community. A follower becomes part of something bigger. A follower, a disciple, is also someone committed to a way of living that then grows into something bigger. And that 'bigger, is vocation.
The root of the word vocation is vocare, which means 'call' in Latin. In this sense, Jesus called his disciples into something bigger than themselves. And then out of that joining in came specific roles and responsibilities. In the pattern of the early church, we learn that individuals were set aside for particular tasks and purposes. Paul writes lists to do with these roles. Perhaps one of the most well known is the sense of specific vocations listed in the letter to the Ephesians in 4.11-13.
The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of faith and the knowledge of the Son of God to maturity, to the measure of the stature of Christ.
Christian vocation then is about the individual calling of people, young and old, to enter into the bigger picture of the body of Christ to build up every one to become fulfilled disciples, followers, of Jesus. Is this the beginning of an answer to my question? What do you think?
"to be fulfilled disciples..." What does it mean to be fulfilled disciples? Fulfilled in whose mind? My experience has been that when all goes well for me, my spiritual life stagnates. The most progress is made in the hard times, even though that may be obvious only in hindsight. Is fulfilment only obvious to God? How is it that St.Paul appears fulfilled. If I had been in his shoes, I think I would have felt a failure. Here he speaks of his suffering, which I would have seen as failure in my vocation.
ReplyDelete2 Cor 11:23b-28
I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. 24 Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 26 I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. 27 I have laboured and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. 28 Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.
My current understanding is that our calling to be disciples, to follow Jesus, to be with him, and live like him, is the vocation of all Christians, and that will include suffering, not failure, because we follow Jesus on the way to the cross. So to me discipleship is vocation. And that’s why there are vocations in the playground and schools, the workplace, the home, the church fellowship, as well as the ordained ministry.
ReplyDeleteGod, in his grace, gives us a variety of gifts to equip us for that vocation. The gifts themselves are not the vocation, but equip us in all sorts of different ways to live out our discipleship in perhaps a more focused way, in specific roles or with specific responsibilities. These gifts may vary at different times in our lives. And these gifts are given for the bigger picture: to build up the Church, to build the Kingdom, to serve others, not for personal gain. So there is something about motivation here. When we are trying to discern in which areas to live out our vocation to follow Jesus, do we need to look at our motivation? Are our gifts self serving or community building? Vocation always has a bigger picture because Jesus calls us to be the people of God together.
For some reason this blog has brought to my mind “holiness”. Being “holy” means being set apart. As disciples of Jesus, and through baptism, we are all set apart from ways which are turned against God, the way of evil, and set apart to be image bearers of God in our daily lives, “to shine as a light in the world to the glory of God the Father”. Our vocation makes us holy. I find that a most humbling thought.
some years ago I read a book callled 'Dangerous Memories.' I can't remember who wrote it and I haven't been able to find it, but it is a book about trying to find Mary as a real person, not the mother of Christ, not the Virgin Mary, not the glorified Queen of Heaven, but the little peasant girl, the wife and mother in the ordinary, everyday life of tending the home and the disciple playing her part in the Christian community.
ReplyDeleteIt's coloured my thinking about Mary, some of my thoughts I've attempted to put into poems, particularly thoughts about the child and teenager. I see a child enjoying her life, finding fulfilment and joy in learning and doing things well,laughing and dancing, then later sharing/teaching that way of living to her children. I see Jesus love of the countryside as something he saw first through his mother's eyes. One of my cousins knew and loved wild flowers. We went for many walks and she taught me to look. Wherever I walk I'm looking for the flowers.
I also see Mary as a woman of deep integrity, someone who got on and did the things that had to be done to the best of her ability without bitterness or complaint. The events surrounding her pregnancy and giving birth were not what one would hope for of one's first pregnancy and early married life. For Mary, Joseph and Jesus as exiles, refugees in Egypt it would have been Mary who held the family together, and although the gifts of the wise men had given them valuable and easily portable gifts, and Joseph could work anywhere, they were still aliens in an alien land.
Mary had to a Christian disciple and active member of the early church. How could she be mother to John if she wasn't. They could not have had the kind of deep mother and son relationship that Jesus blessed them with otherwise.
Further thought - the importance of the fruit of the Spirit in using Holy Spirit gifts - referring back to 'It Ain't What You Do.'
ReplyDeleteHello everyone. My name is Olga and I'm from Russia
ReplyDeleteAt the moment I'm in the process of writing my master's thesis on the use of blogs in education.
Could you help me a little? Just answer the question here in the comments. What do you consider the most beautiful place for travelling?
It can be one place or several ones. I will be very grateful for your help.
Beams of goodness all around, as we say in Russia.
Within our Travelpro Maxlite 4 inspection, you are going to find out which causes it certainly one of the bag suitcases with function and its price.
ReplyDeletedelsey helium titanium