One of my favorite attributes of the Lord our God is the ability to get into a good, long, drawn-out wrestling match with the Divine. I love the fact that we worship a God who is so intensely personal and relational that they want us to push, prod, question, argue, and otherwise unload all of the baggage that we carry from our life experiences. I love the fact that the Lord God we worship does not treat us as a bunch of automatons, where everything that happens is a direct result of his order and we have no say or control over whether or not we follow the Divine will. I love the fact that instead of this, God invites us to accept the Divine offer of love and grace, reconciliation and redemption, the reality that there is nothing that we go through that God will not hold our hand all the way to the finish.
I was reminded of this yesterday as our district committee on ministry (DCOM) met in Lafayette to visit with those who are in the process of seeking certification, licensing, or other credentials for ministry within The United Methodist Church. As a committee, we are given the privilege to walk with men and women who have experienced the call to pastoral or specialized ministry as they journey through the process of discerning God's will for their lives. Many of these servants of God hold down full-time employment while serving a church on what is classified as a part-time basis and pursuing continuing education 3-4 times a year.
While most of us who are a part of our churches will never wrestle with a call to some sort of specialized ministry (pastoral or lay), there's not a one of us who can avoid the call to ministry, for it was through the waters of baptism that God placed the call to minister to the world.
So, take this as a word of encouragement to wrestle with a deeply personal and loving God over what kind of ministry God is calling you to fulfill. Let us, as a congregation, wrestle with how to carry out the call to minister to Morgan City and beyond. Let us, as people called by God to go and make disciples of all nations, care enough to engage in these questions. For, as more than one person has said who starts this process, "I know I am called to ministry, but don't know what that looks like." May we all be so bold as to step out in faith, seeking to respond to God's call to be in ministry, working with each other through prayer and service to discern our future through the work of the Holy Spirit, sent by the grace of Christ, to the glory of God.
(Oh, and if you drive by or drop in our facilities tomorrow afternoon, take a moment to pray for those who are present, for we are hosting the committee as they work with pastors on this end of the district.)
See You Soon!
Lamar
