The Joy of Calling
As I listened to and read the work of Dr. Will Willimon, I thought about the joy of calling. I love the way he helped me identify my joy; I'm not sure in my current state of mind I could have come up with it without guidance. There's a young man I know who told me for a long time that he could not and would not ever choose sobriety. Ok, I said. I get it. Months and months went by and I'd run into him at various places around town and he'd say, "I'm never going to choose sobriety." I'd say, "Man, I get it. I'm not the sobriety police. I hear you and I believe you." He'd look at me like I had lost my mind. This is not what he expected. He expected me "of all people" to think he SHOULD get sober. But the truth is, I believed him. There was no need for further discussion. Eventually he stopped talking about his sobriety but he did not stop talking to me. I enjoyed our occasional chats.
Then one day I received an email that said, "Hey, just wanted you to know that sobriety found me. I'm doing well." I'm happy for him; but I did not need him to get sober for me to find joy in my calling.
I realize I did absolutely nothing to help him run into sobriety but still he wanted me to know news that he felt I would assess as good (true). All I ever did was make sure I was never in too much of a hurry to not chat. I did not believe or hope he would get sober. I just took his report at face value. Maybe this means I am tired and old, but my theory differs a bit from that narrative. It goes along more with Dr. Willimon's perspective as he looks back over decades of pastoral ministry.
Willimon says that God works like this - "Give me what you got and I'll work it up into something interesting. I'll do the rest. We are where we are because God has beckoned us." So like Abraham and Sarah, Jonah, David, Gideon, Peter, Paul and even Mary - God works with what we give him. We do not have all that much to offer. But it is enough for God to work it into something interesting. And this is the joy of calling.
God is at work. In this instance, the work was on and in and through me. It allowed me to stop thinking about what I want (a young man to get sober)as a function of calling and believe instead that God will work with whatever that young man gives him or I give him or you give him. God can work with whatever widow's mite we offer up. Oh the joy in knowing that we do not have to be successful or even particularly happy to still live a life of purpose and meaning.
