Discernment

Articles 2004

Discovering our true selves, and discerning the presence of God in all things

On 29th June the Church celebrates the feast of St Peter and St. Paul. The gospels reveal that Peter was often the spokesperson of the disciples, possibly indicating that he was acknowledged as something of a leader amongst them after Jesus' resurrection and ascension. St. Paul, who hadn't known Jesus during his earthly lifetime, became an apostle (one sent out to tell the good news of Christ) by virtue of his dramatic conversion experience on the road to Damascus. He became the apostle who was determined to let the gentiles (non-Jews) be equal members of the Church by virtue of faith alone.

Ordinations

This time each year, Petertide, is when many are ordained deacon and priest throughout the Church of England. Of course, this year we are celebrating the fact that it is ten years since women were first ordained to the priesthood in England. Despite the pain and confusion that this caused to some in the Church, many of us would say that it was long over due. Ten years on, it is difficult to imagine things any other way.

Vocation

Approaching the time of year when the majority of ordinations take place, we are bound to be thinking about the whole subject of vocation. We are praying especially for those who are following a call to the ordained life. A vocation, however, is not something that only the clergy have. The Church believes that each person has a unique vocation. That is to say that God calls each person to be something special for him.

Petertide makes me think about this, but so does the fact that I have just returned from the deanery day of prayer for vocations. This is the third consecutive year when, as a deanery, we have asked people to come together to think and pray about vocation and about how God is calling the people of this deanery to follow him. We have been fortunate today in having the Team Rector of Jarrow, the Rev'd Bill Braviner, to lead us. He is a man who trained as a chartered accountant and then saw the error of his ways! As he puts it, just when he was about to start earning a reasonable income, God made it clear that he had other plans for him.

Our true selves

Bill was good in reminding us who were gathered in St. Andrew's, Haughton that finding our true vocation is about discovering our true selves. Every person has a vocation because every person is called by God to be his or her true and best self. Whatever we find ourselves being called to in life, then, it must be true to our own personal and unique 'grain'.

Forget self

Central to this call, though, will almost certainly be the need to forget self. It seems ironic, but the fact is that ultimately we do not find our true selves, and we certainly don't achieve fulfilment, if our ambition is to serve our own selfish needs. Christ was making this clear when he told his disciples that if they wanted to follow him, they had to deny themselves and take up their cross. It might sound painful; for all it is difficult and for some impossible, but the irony is that by taking this route we actually gain much more.

Together in service

Another aspect of what Bill was saying related to the corporate nature of our calling. We cannot be a Christian in isolation from others, and we cannot follow God's calling in isolation either. Together as the Church, then, we are called to make connections 'upwards' with God through our worship and prayer. Secondly, we are called to look inwards to the 'workings' of the church to develop a spiritually strong community of believers. Again, this is not something that we can do as individuals in isolation from each other. Thirdly, we are called to look outwards together as a Church to serve the needs of the world.

Our parish vision

I have to say, I find this very encouraging because it is consistent with the vision that we have discerned for this parish. I am also heartened because so many people have offered their time and talents to the working out of that vision. (The same is the case on the financial front, as Ellis Leatherbarrow reports elsewhere in the magazine.) Such generous offers of help represent each one of us working out our own unique vocation. The important thing is for each individual to be doing what is right for him or her. By each one of us doing this the church also becomes its best and truest self.

Your contribution

So, whatever your contribution to the life of the Church, whether this is something that you have been doing for years, or whether it is something that you are just about to embark on, it is much more important than just a 'job' or a 'task'. Hopefully, it is a prayerful response to a need - as a vocation always is - and it is one of the ways in which you are becoming the person that God wants you to be. Seen in this way, we begin to get a truer picture of what is going on around us.

Ordinary, everyday things are shown to have a much deeper significance. Arranging flowers, cleaning the church, making coffee after services, preparing the pew sheets, keeping the accounts, serving on a PCC committee, attending a prayer group, and countless other 'things' that we feel called to do all become as much a part of the sacred as the priest presiding at the eucharist. Each is an aspect of individuals, and the church corporately, becoming their true selves. It is also important to say that if you are too old to be doing lots of 'jobs', or if you are prevented from getting involved for other reasons, you are still able to pray at home for the church to fulfil the vision God has given it. Such a significant contribution is no mean calling!

The Church as a body

It was St Paul who described the Church as a body (1 Corinthians 12). The point is that different people have different places, different roles, different tasks, but each is essential and all are equal. That is so true in the life of a parish and each of us would be wrong to underestimate our own contribution.

Vocations beyond the church

None of this, however, is to deny the obvious truth that for many the lion's share of their vocation is to be found in the rest of the world beyond the bounds of the institutional church. This does mean, though, that we still have to discern prayerfully how our responsibilities at home, at work, or in the wider community are part of God's plan for us. And when we can do that, then the same thing happens as when we look at the different tasks that people perform within the church community. What may initially seem ordinary or utterly secular is discovered to have a sacred dimension. So, for example, when a schoolteacher recognises his job as part of God's calling to be his true self, then the sacred nature of that job is acknowledged. But then, how could it be any different when God is in all things?

God in all things

Ultimately, any approach to life which acknowledges that God is calling people to be their true and best selves necessitates an understanding of God as the creator who is still at work in every aspect of his creation. It is when we can perceive God's presence in the most ordinary of situations, in the most mundane of moments, that we begin to appreciate his gentle nudging and calling.

Responding to the request to deliver Christian Aid envelopes, sensing that a neighbour needs some help, writing a letter in protest against some injustice; such things could be seen as totally 'ordinary'. The eyes of faith, on the other hand, would surely see the presence and the call of God. So it is that the sacred nature of all life is detected, and the world becomes more as its God would have it be.

With my very best wishes,

John

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