Signs of the Spirit
Discuss where you have seen God's Spirit at work this week. How have you experienced grace in a new way through Christian practice? Discuss any joys or struggles you had. How is it with your soul?
Purpose
Because we long for Christ to be formed in us, we make this covenant to tend the fires of our souls so that our longing for Christ may never be extenguished and that our lives will be set ablaze with his love.
Instruction
Have you ever felt called to ministry? Perhaps someone has asked you that question. Maybe you've wondered about it yourself. The idea may seem strange or frightening or unappealing: Me—ordained to be a minister?
All Are Called
Christians believe that all disciples of Jesus are called to some form of ministry. When we are baptized and when we claim our baptism through confirmation or a profession of faith, responding to this calling is a part of our response. We are given different spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12) in order to build up the body of Christ (Ephesians 4). Some minister as schoolteachers, as nurses and physicians, as businessmen and businesswomen, and as computer technicians and mechanics.
♦ Can you think of someone in your community whose work in the world is a ministry?
♦ What is the ministry to which you are called right now?
We also believe that God calls some to ordained ministry. The call may not be in an audible voice. I had pursued several other paths in college, and none seemed to lead me anywhere. One summer, while working on a camp staff, I had the sense that I should serve full-time in Christian ministry. And when I said yes to this leading, I felt an inner peace.
♦ Have you or do you know of someone who had a clear sense of a "call" to ordained ministry?
Some Are Set Apart
Ordained ministry begins with the call of God, sometimes identified as an "inner call." This inner call is usually "echoed" in an outer call. Faithful friends, family, teachers, and leaders are good people to talk with about a call of God in our lives. The church can also affirm our call. In this way the call of God may become audible, as God speaks to the individual through the church. When a person is ordained, he or she is "set apart" for specific service to God. God calls certain people to lead others in their faith walks.
♦ Why would it be important for someone to have others confirm his or her inner call to ministry?
Young women and men exploring ordination are given mentors who help them discern and pray about this direction for their lives. They are not in this journey alone. The call to ordained ministry is also a call to prepare. College and seminary courses in religion and theology build a solid foundation, and internships give candidates practical experience.
The Power Belongs to God
Candidates for ordination also develop relationships with ordained men and women. They find them to be human, with faults, failures, and sins but also with commitments to seek God's will in the work they are about.
One of the heresies of the early church was that the priest had to be perfect for the Communion service to be valid. Instead, the Bible reminds us that we have the treasure of the gospel of Jesus Christ in "clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us" (2 Corinthians 4:7).
God uses ordinary men and women in the work of ordained ministry. Some are effective speakers, while others are not. Some are great listeners, while others are not. Some are evangelists, missionaries, teachers, and organizers—all of these gifts can be of service to God and the world.
All Christians are called to some form of ministry. What is God saying to you? How will you respond?
Rehearsal
Take some time to discuss what it might be like to be an ordained minister.
♦ List some reasons a person might give for not being an ordained minister. List some other reasons for serving as an ordained minister. Compare your lists with others.
♦ Describe the ideal ordained minister. What would she or he be like?
♦ What is the most important part of an ordained minister's job?
♦ Which persons of your own age group have talents or characteristics that would make them good ordained ministers?
Then discuss how God might be calling you to ministry, even if it is not ordination. Where will you go for GOd? Sing together the hymn, "Here I am Lord" (Hymn #812 in Wonder, Love, and Praise) or another songa bout answering God's call.
Involving
What kind of ripples might (or have) come about from practicing ordination? How could your daily routine change by the transformation taking place in your soul? Discuss how you might see all areas of your life—home, school, nature, community, world, job, paying bills, and so forth—connected in a new way based on your spiritual formation journey.
Tomorrow
√ Schedule a conversation with an ordained minister about his or her work. What is satisfying about the job? What is sustaining? What is most important to him or her about the work of a minister?
√ Have a conversation with an adult whose judgment and wisdom have helped you in the past. Ask him or her to pray with you and to listen as you talk about different paths of ministry that might be in your future.
√ Ask to "shadow" (follow alongside) an ordained minister as he or she works one afternoon. Discuss the experience afterward.
√ Memorize Isaiah 6:8, meditating upon the ministry to which God is sending you.
This is one of forty-four life-forming practices from Soul Tending edited by Kenda Creasy Dean and Ron Foster, Nashville, TN, Abingdon Press, 2002. Reprinted with permission. Click here to buy the book.
|