Noah and God's Call

I'm going to use Noah as a jumping off point, because to be honest, Noah's story isn't necessarily focused on call.  We don't see Noah argue or struggle - that comes after the flood.   Like the rest of the book, especially the first 11 chapters, the Noah story is weird.  The story raises all kinds of questions about God, sin, judgment - not to mention questions about the mythic nature of the story and the correlation between the Biblical flood narrative and stories we find in other Near Eastern traditions.  I'm not going to get into that here.  But, I do think that in the Noah we've got a starting point in talking about the concept of "call". 

The "Call" is Ecclesiological

I learned a lot of interesting little Biblical or theological "tidbits" in seminary.  These are fun to drop into Bible studies or sermons on occasion.  I guess you could see these as little sound bites that occasionally help when you reference them in a sermon or lesson.  One of my favorites is the meaning of the word ekklesia, the Greek word we translate as "church".   The word is a combination of two Greek words: "ek" which means "out of" and a form of the verb "kaleo" which means "to call".  "Ekklesia" literally means "the ones called out".  The word originally referred to the assembly of ancient Athens, basically a council of leaders chosen from among the people.  These would be people called out by their fellow citizens in order to lead.  The church are those who are called out of the world.  These are people called out of the world by God in order to serve. 

We can also bring the Hebrew word "kadash" into the conversation.  "Kadash" can be translated as holy, set apart, sanctified.  There's this idea of separateness  or set-apartness that's at work here.  The word at times refers to God, to places of worship, things consecrated as sacred, persons connected to those sacred places, times of worship, etc.  I think that it might be beneficial for Christians if we recognized that one aspect of holiness is being weird.  I love Flannery O'Connor's quote: "You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you odd."

God's call is not just for ministers or leaders or missionaries or any particular individuals.  God does indeed call specific people to specific tasks.  But God's call is primarily for the entire Church.  All are called.  Pastors cannot claim any exclusive privilege here.  God calls all of us to serve.  I have seen pastors use their supposed status as "called" as a way to abuse their power and position.  Yeah, if you're doing that, get over yourself and repent.  While God indeed calls and equips some to leadership, God's call is not the exclusive possession of a privileged few.  And for Christians, God calls us to humility and service - not dominance and arrogance.  *Hops off soapbox*

Back to Noah…

It's a common feature of our re-tellings of the Noah story to picture him in the middle of the desert, surrounded by incredulous and mocking neighbors.  My first exposure to this little editorial insertion was Bill Cosby's bit about Noah (btw, I love Noah's response at the 5:30 mark).  It's also a central feature of Bruce Almighty 2 and any number of Children's Bibles that I've read to my kids at bedtime.  While I like this little bit of interpretive license, the Bible doesn't tell us anything about Noah's neighbors, aside from them being wicked.  We see Noah separated, called out from the rest of the population because he was "a righteous man, blameless in his generation."  Noah was given the tremendous responsibility to be the head of the only surviving family on earth.  After the flood recedes, we see what is possibly the fallout of his set-apartness.  Noah is suddenly not so blameless and righteous when his son finds him passed out drunk and naked in his tent. 

Anyway, we might learn a couple of things about the concept of "call" from Noah:

1. God calls people out of the world to serve and to be set apart.  This does not simply apply to individuals, but to the Church.  The Church is God's called community of saints who, through the redemption given through Christ, are made righteous and blameless by God's grace.

2. The "call" costs the called.  Noah had to do something that radically changed his life.  It cost him a great deal, if we judge by his state following the flood.  God doesn't call us to complacency or remaining where we are.  We've got work to do.

3. God calls us to be servants and followers of Christ.  This makes us fundamentally different from those who do not follow after Jesus Christ.  Our task is not to judge or use our separateness as an opportunity for self-righteousness, but to lead others away from the floods of sin, apathy, addictions, anger, despair, etc. 
4. I'm stretching for this one - but it's ok to be weird.  It's ok if what we do doesn't fit into any of the boxes our culture(s) provide for us.  Even if the culture in question is a church culture.  Noah did not come from a long line of ark-builders. 

Ok guys - next week I'm going to look at Abraham, which I think will have a little more to chew on as it relates to call.  I hope that God's grace and peace will be with all of you!

Wes

Reflections on Call - Intro

 One of my favorite parts of my vocation is seeing new faces coming into ministry - hearing new voices and new stories.  The word "call" is used a lot, especially in those committees that are tasked with approving candidates for ministry.  We often ask candidates to articulate their call and this question often gives them pause.  They usually provide fine answers, but you can see the wheels turning as they seek to give voice to exactly why they want to do the work of ministry.   It can be a hard question to answer and even now, 20 years after hearing God calling me into the ministry, I still grapple at times with the exact shape of what God has called me to do.

One particular focal point of our conference and something that I've heard our Bishop state on several occasions is the "culture of call".  How do we talk to our parishoners (especially our young people) about God's call?  What do we mean when we use that word?  What exactly is a "culture of call"?  I'll admit that while I've given much thought and prayer to God's call in my life, I have not really examined the concept of "call" itself.  I've heard it and used it quite uncritically as long as vocational ministry has been a reality in my life.  I simply haven't given it much thought.  I'm thinking some theological reflection might be beneficial.  Over the next few weeks (maybe months), my hope is to "think out loud" on this blog and spend some time thinking about what it means to be "called"(this rambling post will serve as an "introduction" of sorts).

In thinking about the concept of "call", I do want to make an important distinction.  I believe that people are called to vocations and ways of living and not only to ministry.  However, in these posts I'm going to focus on the call to ministry as I've experienced it and observed it in others.  Our starting point will be Scripture - a good place to start, I think. 

The first "real" entry will look at three call stories from Genesis: Noah, Abraham, and Jacob.  These three stories are good entry points to talk about what "call" might look like in the Old Testament.  Over the next few weeks, I hope to look at Moses, Gideon, Samuel, David, Isaiah, and Jeremiah.  After these, I plan to move in the New Testament, focusing on Jesus' mission, his teachings that might relate to call, and then finishing with Saul/Paul.  That's what's on the immediate horizon…

I have had a history of starting something on my blog and then not blogging for 2 years.  I hope that this won't be the case this time…

If you're reading this, thanks!  Glad you're here! 

Grace and Peace,

Wes 

What God is Not

     Checking the date on my last blog post, it's been over 18 months since my last post.  I guess I'm not exactly the model of blogging consistency.  I have been pondering over the course of the summer about finding more time to write.  Or making time to write.  At this point in time in my ministry and in my life with my family, writing theological and Scriptural reflections on this forum is a discipline.  This is a good thing and it's a good thing for me to attempt to do.  And here on the cusp of our summer vacation, it's as good a time as any to put something new up.  I can't guarantee that it won't be another 18 months until I write something new, but I'll make the effort to post with more regularity once we return from the beach.

     One of my favorite thinkers from my Church History class in seminary was a fellow by the name of Pseudo-Dionysus (Denys, for short; pronounced "Dennis"), who wrote in the late 5th/early 6th century.  What I remember about Denys was the interesting nature of his theology.  Denys engaged in what is called "apophatic" theology, or theology of negation.  Apophatic theology starts by stating what God is not instead of saying what God is.  Denys argued that since the adjectives and metaphors that we use to describe God are all completely insufficient, we must talk about what God is not.  So it is appropriate to say that God is not good.  This sounds jarring at first until you understand that Denys is not describing God, but rather our understanding of what "good" means.  God is not good in the way that we mean "good" because our view of the good is limited by our own fallibility and finitude.  Eventually, Denys concluded that, when it comes to God, we are ultimately left in silence.  There is nothing that we can say of God that actually accurately describes God.  God is ultimately beyond our intellectual and linguistic grasp.  Kind of reminds me of Elijah in I Kings 19:11-13 - a story worth your time to look up and read.

     As a Christian and as a pastor, Denys is a reminder to be careful about the words I speak.  Especially when I speak about God.  Of course, I cannot completely follow Denys' proscription to remain silent about God.  I must speak, for any number of reasons.  And while the apophatic approach may be well-suited for meditation and theological speculation, it makes for pretty lousy proclamation and evangelism.  So I speak, but (hopefully) with care.  And I take the time to be silent, to reflect, to rest in the mystery of the God I serve and proclaim.  This particular discipline can be a challenge for me.  I'm easily distracted and always looking for pieces and tidbits for lessons and sermons.  It's difficult at times to simply let a reflection or thought remain in my mind or my soul.  The apophatic approach reminds me that I don't necessarily have to speak all I know (or think I know) and not every lesson God teaches me is for public proclamation.

"Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips." --- Psalm 141:3


Just some scattered thoughts on the cusp of the weekend.  Grace and peace to all of you!

Wes