The call to ministry isn’t always a thundering voice from the
sky or a burning bush on the side of the road. In my case it was a slow
accumulation of experiences and encouragement from people I respected. The most
mundane and everyday things that people are paying attention to can contain the
call to ministry.
I stood in front of my first grade classmates and launched
into an incredible account of my weekend activities. It was time for Show &
Tell. This was one of my favorite parts of the school day. I didn’t get to go
up front every day but I did whenever I could. Sometimes I would bring
something to show but most of the time I preferred to regale the class with
adventurous tales of riding motorized mini-bikes through the woods, exploding
firecrackers in glass bottles or attending some spectacular show that had been
advertised on TV. I would talk until the teacher told me it was time to sit
down so someone else could have a chance.
Had anyone been paying attention they might have thought I
would grow up to be the World’s Most Interesting Man and make a living pitching
Mexican beer. Evidently, no one was paying attention, including the teacher,
because it would have been pretty easy to tell that I was making things up as I
went along. Some might call it lying. They would be justified to do so. I
prefer to think of it as the beginnings of my creative writing talents and
practice for public speaking.
I found that I liked being at the front of the class or the
front of the church. Of course, I was in the Sunday School Christmas program
every year but I also volunteered to act in special dramas put on at the
church. When I was old enough I signed up to be an acolyte for worship. The
acolyte got to wear a special robe, light the candles, hand out the offering
plates and collect the tiny glasses as people finished receiving communion. It
wasn’t long before the pastor began asking me to help out at special services.
Adults encouraged me and said that I did a good job which made me want to do
more.
None of these things is particularly ground shaking. There
isn’t a single one that I can point to and say, “That’s when I knew I would be
a pastor.” But when I look back at them
I begin to see a pattern. I was encouraged through these things and was given
opportunities to lead and serve. These were some of the experiences that led me
into ordained ministry. And even though I never heard God’s voice speak to me
as I did these things I can now comfortably say that God did indeed “call” me
through these everyday events.
The Bible is full of stories where people hear God’s voice
speak to them. Is it possible that God’s call came to them in one of these
everyday events and when they looked back at what had happened they could “hear”
what God was saying to them? What if the places where God speaks to people in
the Bible were more common than we assume they were?
God spoke to Abraham through three travelers that he hosted by
the Oaks of Mamre. Who hasn’t hosted someone in their home and found themselves
in conversation late at night only to reflect on what it meant later? While
Moses paid attention to a burning bush that appeared not to be consumed, God
spoke. Who among us hasn’t seen some phenomenon that boggles our mind, makes us
take a closer look and wonder aloud at what we are seeing? Yes, words came out
of Balaam’s ass (I could say it was his donkey but the play on words here is
way too rich) while Balaam was trying to go someplace and was frustrated by his
animal’s refusal to move. Who hasn’t been frustrated at the roadblocks (often
put in place by someone who resembles the aforementioned animal) and the
inability to get around them, and then spent time wondering what to do next. God
speaks to the prophets, to Peter, to Paul, to John of Patmos and to so many
more through dreams and visions. Have you ever awakened with the memory of a
dream so vivid that you return to it over and over again during the day and
ask, “What does this mean?”
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