St Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary - Events - Orthodox Education Day Education Day Articles 2002

The Call of the Laity

Deborah Malacky Belonick

In his Homilies on Ephesians, St John Chrysostom defines the duty of the sacramental priesthood in terms of responsibility toward the laity: “…the Apostle is the most vital vessel of the whole body, receiving everything from Him; so that He maketh eternal life to run through them to all, as through veins and arteries, I mean through their discourse.”

Here apostolic leadership hinges on the capacity to mimic the self-emptying service of Jesus Christ, the High Priest, and to act as a conduit for the power of the Holy Spirit so that other members of the church may receive eternal life. It is apparent that the laity are baptized and chrismated so that the divine nature that dwelt in our Lord Jesus Christ would dwell within them. The duty of the sacramental priest is to nourish and encourage the royal priesthood of all believers, so that they might in turn build up the church as living stones.

Scripture affirms: “And his gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of the ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ; so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the cunning of men, by their craftiness in deceitful wiles. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in very way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every joint with which it is supplied, when each part is working properly, makes bodily growth and upbuilds itself in love” (Eph 4:11-16).

This “equipping of a saint,” katartismos, connotes a preparation, training, and perfecting, making the person fully qualified for service. In classical language, the word was used in reference to setting a broken bone: the Great Physician makes the necessary adjustments to members of the church, so that it will not be “out of joint.”

When speaking of “The Call of the Laity,” we must be mindful both of the method - formation within the sacramental life of the church; and the goal – attaining maturity to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. However, there is another concern: the calling to specific ministries – of “prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers” (and might I add martyrs, ascetics, musicians, peacemakers, hospital chaplains, and many other ministers). Very often, laity do not grow to the fulness of the stature of Christ or build up the church, because they simply do not hear a call, or they incorrectly discern a call. The passage from Ephesians baffles them. They wonder, “What is my calling?

Characteristics of a calling:

• A calling comes to someone obedient to Jesus Christ and His commandments. Obviously and essentially, our first calling is to be holy, for God is holy (Lev 19:2). A person who obeys the commands of God will hear the voice of God. As Oswald Chambers notes: “The call of God is like the call of the sea – no one hears it except the person who has the nature of the sea in him.” [1]
• A calling comes from outside of a person; it is not the voice of one’s own ego. When the Archangel Gabriel came to the Virgin Mary to reveal her unique calling as the Mother of God, Scripture tells us that she was “troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was” (Lk 1: 29). Very often, when the Lord calls a person, his or her initial reactions are puzzlement, even fear!
• A calling follows adversity. Proverbs 20:24 states: “A man’s steps are ordered by the Lord, how then can man understand his way?” Similarly, how then can a man or woman even plan a path in life? Sorrow, pain, loss, and other obstacles erect the crucible for refinement of the person, until he or she is ready to be used by God. Grant Colfax Tuller expressed this in poetry:

  My life is but a weaving betwixt my God and me;
  I do not choose the colors, He worketh steadily.
  Oft times He weaveth sorrow, and I in foolish pride
  Forget He sees the upper, and I the underside.
  Not till the loom is silent and the shuttles cease to fly
  Will God unfold the pattern and explain the reason why.
  For the dark threads are as needful in the Weaver’s skillful hand
  As the threads of gold and silver in the pattern he has planned.

  Mother Gavrilia in her biography, Ascetic of Love, alludes to this poem: “Someone was complaining of being unfairly treated…Then one day he had a vision: He saw God, up in Heaven, with an embroidery-frame, on which He was embroidering the lives of all of us. He also saw us humans, down on Earth, looking only at the loose threads hanging from the reverse of the Embroidery, unable to discern or understand God’s wonderful Needlework…”[2]

A calling is not a trifling matter: it is both a gift and a burden. Therefore, the human response to a calling entails serious considerations.

Answering a calling:

• Questioning a calling, or demanding explanation from God, may or may not result in a reply. When the Virgin Mary queried the Archangel Gabriel regarding the birth of Christ, she received a reply: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you…” (Lk 1:35). But, in other instances, she remained in a quagmire, pondering the meaning of the circumstances. At the circumcision of her son, Simeon uttered that eerie prophecy, “…yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also” (Lk 2:35). When she lost her twelve-year old boy and found him in the Jerusalem temple, his reply confused her: “Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” “But they did not understand the statement which he spoke to them.” (Lk 2:49-50). Pursuing a calling while facing a silent God demands utmost trust, perseverance, and courage. St Anthony the Great, after struggling with demonic forces for decades, finally received the reply to his query, “Where were you Lord?” “Anthony, I was here all the time.”
• Answering a calling produces a miracle. Poignant are the words of Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow (1782-1867), who expressed this idea beautifully in a sermon that he gave on the day of Annunciation:

  During the days of the creation of the world, when God uttered his living and mighty words: Let there be… the Creator’s words brought creatures into existence. But on the day, unique in the existence of the world, when Holy Mary uttered her humble and obedient Let it be, I would hardly dare to express what took place then – the word of the creature caused the Creator to descend into the world….[3]

  The miracle may occur even after the demise of the person called, like the wheat that springs from a seed buried in the ground, but it will occur.

• An answer must follow a call, not precede it. This seems self-evident, but zealous Christians often manufacture circumstances to produce a calling, or else they attempt to rush God’s calling. It is a frequent mistake: starry-eyed Joseph, motivated by his many colored-coat and dreaming of sheaves of wheat, most likely never imagined an exile and an imprisonment would be required before that vision materialized (Gen 44:26). Sarah made the same error when she got discouraged waiting for a son from her own womb and asked her husband, Abraham, to impregnate Hagar, her handmaiden. Peter, just after confessing that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God, tried to dissuade his Master from going to his death. If these chosen people erred in this way, why would we think ourselves exempt from this temptation? So often we attempt to manipulate situations according to what we think God wants – for us and other people – instead of listening for God’s direction in prayer and fulfilling His purpose at the ripe time.

It is a great honor to be called by God for a purpose, a mercy beyond measure. But it entails holiness, discernment, and extreme humility. May we answer when God says, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?”, “Here am I! Send me.” (Is 6:8).

Notes

[1] My Utmost for His Highest: An Updated Edition in Today’s Language, ed. James Reimann, (Oswald Chambers Publications Association, Ltd., 1992), August 5th selection.

[2] The Ascetic of Love, translated by Helen Anthony (Nun Gavrilia – D. Georgiou, Leros, Greece, 1999), p. 309.

[3] Georges Florovsky, Creation and Redemption: Volume III in the Collected Works (Belmont, MA: Nordland Publishing Company, 1976) The Ever-Virgin Mother of God, p. 181.