Biblical call narratives help us to understand and answer the call of our own potential

Being called to go on a God-journey can be an upsetting experience.

When God called Jeremiah to become a "prophet to the nations," Jeremiah cried: "Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth" (Jeremiah 1:6).

God replied: "For to all to whom I send you you shall go, and whatever I command you you shall speak. Be not afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you" (Jeremiah 1:7-8).

God showed Jeremiah two visions, giving him authority as a prophet and transferring to him the power to do the job: ''Brace yourself, Jeremiah; stand up and speak to them" (Jeremiah 1:17 NEB).

In most all experiences, four stages can be recognized: God's call to a person, the person's objection to being called, reassurance that God will provide what is necessary for the person to carry out the action, and a sign or a vision that acts as God's signature on the contract. And, as we shall see, Mary, the mother of Jesus, added a fifth stage: reflection on the call.

The biblical call narratives help us understand the relationship of ancient peoples to their God. But they also speak to us today, helping us to hear the summons of Spirit in our own lives and to answer that call of our own potential.

A biblical call is generally a dialogue between God (or an agent of God) and a human.

Moses sees the burning bush and hears the voice of God calling him to deliver the Israelites (Exodus 3:1-10).

Sarah's call to be "mother of nations" (Genesis 17:16) comes through Abraham as she overhears a stranger telling her husband that she shall bear a son in her old age (Genesis 18:10).

Ezekiel's long, detailed call narrative covers Chapters 1 through 3 with visions and dialogues. The dialogue begins in Chapter 2 as a voice speaks from out of the throne vision: "Son of man, stand upon your feet, and I will speak with you" (Ezekiel 2:1).

An angel appears to Mary and begins with "Hail, O favored one, the Lord is with you!" (Luke 1:28)

The directness of these calls is more likely the ancient author's way of heightening the drama of an experience that is more common than we know: Spirit is always speaking to us in inner dialogue. This "call" can come to us in a whisper, a nudge, or a barely perceptible thought.

To answer the call effectively, we must learn to hear the Inner Voice that guides us, discerning the direction of a call through meditation and prayer.

And just as God transfers responsibility to Moses (''you may bring forth my people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt" in Exodus 3:10), we are grasped by the responsibility for hearing and following the call of Spirit to a greater life.

“God’s call to spiritual growth does not always imply a complete change in our lives. The Spirit moves in us always, nudging us, a ‘still, small voice’ within that calls us to small, daily duties.”

How We May Be Called by the Spirit

We are called in many different ways. It may be as simple as writing a letter of encouragement to those who need it, or as all-encompassing as creating a new, forgiving relationship with someone who may have wronged us. It might mean breaking through our reluctance to visit a sick friend or relative, making peace with a son or daughter, or entering into a program of self-improvement that ultimately blesses others. For one, it might mean a formal ministry to a congregation, for another, working at a local mission to the homeless.

To answer such a call may mean that we would be required to make major life changes, perhaps selling our home and property. But God's call to spiritual growth does not always imply a complete change in our lives. The Spirit moves in us always, nudging us, a "still, small voice" within that calls us to small, daily duties.

Yet how often we ignore the prompting of Spirit! This can't be God; I don't have time for this. I don't know how to do this. If I were really supposed to do this, God would make things a whole lot easier for me. Our objections are not much different from those whose calls are recorded in the biblical tradition.

Moses protested. "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?" (Exodus 3:11) Like Jeremiah, Moses is bold, even quarrelsome, in his discussions with God.

"They'll never believe me!" Sarah laughed. "I am past bearing children now" (Genesis 18:12 NEB).

Gideon argued, "Pray, Lord, how can I deliver Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manas’seh, and I am the least in my family" (Judges 6:15).

Isaiah complained of "unclean lips" (Isaiah 6:5).

"How shall this be" asked Mary, after Gabriel had announced that she would conceive a son, "since I have no husband?" (Luke 1:34)

Although Luke gives us details of Jesus' commissioning by the Spirit at his baptism, Jesus' call to a life out of the ordinary came through his mother (Luke 1:30-35). We don't know when he perceived that he was to have a public ministry, but Jesus was still a child when he stayed behind in Jerusalem in the temple, dialoguing with his teachers.

In reply to his distraught parents, he asked incredulously, "Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" (Luke 2:49) His words have the childlike innocence of one who has not yet faced the full responsibility that his call would engender. As an adult, Jesus struggled with the overwhelming implications of his ministry.

In the garden, he prayed a poignant, anguished plea: "Father, if thou art willing, remove this cup from me" (Luke 22:42). Even Jesus could object to God's call.

God Offers Reassurance, and Signs

When we were children, learning new skills could be terrifying. That bicycle I wanted to ride looked so big! But Dad said: "Go ahead and try. I'm right here by your side." We seek that kind of reassurance when we feel called to do something that seems beyond our present capabilities. The inherent unknowns of a God-journey can unnerve us as much as it did Moses.

God's response to Moses was "I will be with you" (Exodus 3:12). That wasn't quite enough for Moses, and he argued his inadequacy over and over until he was convinced that God would be there for him.

The angel's words to Mary should leave us no doubt: "For with God nothing will be impossible" (Luke 1:37). But we need lots of reassurance. As we face new responsibility, what we have is the faith that God is, indeed, with us and that in moments of terror, we can turn within to the Spirit that called us and is always there to guide us.

For Sarah and Mary, pregnancy served as an indisputable sign of the veracity of the call. Moses received his first sign when his staff turned into a serpent. Gideon's offering went up in a burst of flame ignited by the angel. Isaiah's lips were cleansed and his sin removed as a seraph touched his mouth with a glowing coal.

In these and other instances, God's sign leaves the human convinced that the call is irrefutable and irreversible.

Signs and visions are rather problematical in our modern, technological world. We tend to be doubtful when we hear someone say, "God sent me a sign" or "This came to me in a vision."

Although we might not be comfortable asking God for a sign or a vision to confirm the call, confirmation comes in the realization that we have done what was expected. It comes in meditation as we gain new insights into the call. It comes with a "thank you" from someone whom we touch in carrying out our call. It comes from an Inner Voice that says, "This is right; this is exactly what I need to be doing."

Mary added a fifth step to the traditional call narratives. Twice in Luke we read that Mary kept all these things in her heart (Luke 2:19 and 2:51). And she pondered them.

Like Mary, we can take time to ponder, to reflect on the call and its effect on our lives and the lives of those around us.

The way of a call is not always easy; it may require frequent recommitment. A daily quiet time of return to the Source recenters us so that the Source may well up in us to be expressed in the world.

With each answered call, we grow in Spirit. As we brace ourselves by drawing on God's infinite energy, we are changed at all levels of our being, invigorated by the bracing wind of the Spirit.

Like the Child that grew from potential to actualization in Mary's womb, the call of Spirit grows within us until it is manifested in the physical world. And as the Spirit empowered that child of God, the divine spirit entreats all humans as children of God to listen, to discern, to answer, to accept the strength of God's energy, the empowerment of God's loving embrace.


This article appeared in Unity Magazine®.

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