St Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary - Events - Orthodox Education Day Education Day Articles 2004

The Vocation of Each

The theme of this year’s Orthodox Education Day is taken from Jesus’ words to his disciples at the Last Supper, found in the Gospel according to St John: “You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and have ordained you…”(15:16).  As a young seminarian many years ago, I can remember pondering those words frequently as I attended the daily services in the seminary chapel.  They were not hard to miss, since they were inscribed in the open Gospel Book held by Christ in an icon hanging in the chapel. The words convicted me.  They seemed to be a personal call.  I am certain that many seminarians who have looked upon this beautiful icon—which is still displayed in a prominent place in the seminary chapel—have felt the same way. 

For me, this experience, among others, was a “calling” from God, a personal call for a particular vocation. But, let us not forget that God has “called” each person: there is a common call to every Christian, and a particular call. All of us, therefore, whether or not we are destined for priestly or ministerial service within the Church, have a “vocation” from the Lord. God has personally summoned each of us.  

What is this vocation? To what does God summon us?  Foremost, God calls each of us out of darkness into his marvelous light.  At each baptism, we proclaim that God “desires that all men be saved and come to knowledge of the Truth.”  In other words, God summons us to holiness.  He wants everyone to share in his life, and he desires that we reflect his life in the world around us.

Further, there is only one Christian holiness because “One is Holy,” as we proclaim in the Liturgy.  There is not a different holiness for monks, another for clergy, and yet another for laypersons. Yet, the call to holiness does not come at the expense of our unique personalities. The call to holiness requires that each of us discover who God made us to be. Holiness is not a flat, lifeless standard that applies generally.  When we speak about holiness, we do not speak about uniformity.  Rather, holiness is God’s life in us, which fulfills, completes, and vivifies the unique character of each soul.  St Paul emphasizes this when he speaks about a “cloud of witnesses” who point to Christ (Heb 12:1).   

Although all of us have been called to holiness, each of us will fulfill this call differently.  We will manifest God’s holiness in our own personal ways, given the unique conditions of our lives. God calls us to become who he created us to be.  He calls forth our true selves. He calls us to fulfill his vision of us.  Only he can help us discover and uncover our true identities. In a very real way, this is our common vocation as Christians—to discover our true selves in Christ.  Only in Christ are we truly more, not less, human.

Our vocation, therefore, has much more to do with “being” than with “doing.”  It has much more to do with our personhood than it does with our job or occupation. Although it is a great blessing when vocations and occupations meet and unite, such is not always the case.

Discovering one’s vocation—both the call to holiness and beyond it—is a difficult journey.  It is a “narrow path.” The journey, in my pastoral experience, requires four elements: (1) an acceptance that only God can reveal a true vocation; (2) a fervent desire to know and heed God’s will; (3) a recognition that God can speak and often does speak through others; and (4) a desire to apply the Cross of Christ to our lives.  Let me say a word about each of these.

First, God is the source of every vocation. He knows us better than we know ourselves. The prophet Isaiah states that “the Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named me” (Is 49:1). In other words, God knows us and is acquainted with all our ways. He has created us with a purpose in mind. Without him, it is impossible to discover our true vocation.  This is why it is imperative that we seek his will in all things. We must seek it with determination, even “violence,” which implies a resolve to overcome all obstacles that hinder our pursuit (Mt 11:12). We must seek it when it is agreeable to us, and when it is not.    

Second, God’s call is quiet, steady, and persistent. His voice is gentle, filled with love and direction. It was a still, small voice that came to Elijah (1 Kg 19:12). God does not force us to follow his will. He never constrains us; he respects our freedom.  In addition, his voice is irresistible: if we are willing to hear it, it beckons us by its power and love. Further, his voice is unrelenting. He is patient. He waits for us to respond. And, finally and most notably, St Paul tells us that God’s call is irrevocable (Rom 11:29).  He doesn’t remove it. We may not accept his call, but he never withdraws it.

Third, God’s call is often communicated and confirmed by others. As Christians, we are members of the Body of Christ, and therefore, members of each other. We need each other. Heeding the call of God is not only a subjective activity, but also one that includes those with whom we pray, worship, and have fellowship. God often works in our lives through others whose core beliefs are the same. He works through them to strengthen us, confirm us, to give an “Amen” to the questions in our hearts.

Fourth, we can only discover our true vocation by applying the Cross of Christ to our lives. Jesus taught, “He who does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it (Mt 10:38–39). Discovering our vocation is possible only if we are willing to crucify the false self, to die to the “old man,” the fallen nature inherited from Adam. Others project the false self onto a human being; even loved ones can project their images of who and what they want their beloved ones to be or become. The false self is the self that the world creates—how we should look, how we should act, what our goals should be, and what constitutes success. At other times, we ourselves create a false self. We want to be someone or something that in the core of our being we are not. It would be dishonest to say that we are unaffected by these influences, but by crucifying ourselves to them, by dying to them, we can be free to accept and nurture the person God created us to be.  Applying the Cross of Christ requires dying to egoistic plans, dreams, and ambitions that are not nurturing to the true self.  In doing so, we allow the true self to emerge and cry, “This is ‘home.’”

God has gifted us not only with life, but also with a unique vocation, which he summons us to discover through adherence to his will. This obedience ends not in enslavement but in sonship, freedom, and growth in the image of Christ.