"The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few…"
Matthew 9:37, NRSV

Note: Today many in our world celebrate St. Patrick's Day, the day we remember one who returned to those who enslaved him in Ireland as a missionary for Jesus Christ.  Beginning yesterday and through tomorrow, hundreds of Clemson students will be spending their Spring Breaks living in the shadow of St. Patrick, not the corrupted image found in our culture, but the true one from history.  I will be leading one such group, a team of 42, to the rural island of Eleuthera in the Bahamas.  Please keep us and all who are seeking to serve others (rather than their bellies) in your prayers. CLG

Last week I had the opportunity to participate in the Rotary-sponsored Career Day at our local high school.  Being someone who is sensitive to church-state relations, I felt a little uneasy about agreeing to be the ecclesial representative at a local public school.  But with Rotary doing so much good work in our community and throughout our world, I just could not help but say, "Yes, I'll be happy to come."

Several days later I received in the mail a list of topics that I should be prepared to discuss about my "job."  As I read down the list, I broke into laughter as I left the Post Office parking lot.  Here's part of what Rotary was asking me and others to address:

        Requirements for the Job
            Physical requirements
            Expenses and length of prerequisite education/training
        Nature of the work
           Regular hours
           Overtime involved
           Do you work indoors or outdoors
        Earnings
           Entry-level salary
           Benefits besides salary
        Preparation
           Certificate of license required
           Training or education required
        General considerations
           Degree of interaction with people
           Requires work with hands
           Work in teams or alone
           Is the work routine or creative
        Opportunities in this field
           What is the demand for new workers
           Is the field overcrowded
           What is the current trend
           Is there a large turnover rate
           Opportunities for advancement
        Advantages and disadvantages of entering this occupation
         
"I can hear Jesus answering these questions right now," I thought to myself.  "Who in their right mind would sign up for what Jesus had to say about a 'career' following someone who owned little, relied on God to provide his needs, and was eventually crucified on a cross because his simple yet life-changing way was deemed a threat to all that we hold dear?"  I decided that if I answered the student's questions like Jesus would, I probably would not get asked back again next year.

So instead of providing answers that would sound like wise cracks (For example: Physical requirements? You can be a stutterer like Moses, short-tempered like Peter, or a runt like David - it really doesn't matter to God!), I talked about how ministry should never be viewed as a "career" but as a "vocation."  A career path is a path that we choose, given our interests, abilities and desires in life.  A vocation, on the other hand, is something that God chooses for or gives to us.  The word vocation comes from the Latin vocare, meaning "to call."  Ministry - at least ministry that is God-inspired - should never be a career path that we choose.  Sure, we may last for a while, but over time we will most likely become part of the "large turnover rate" due to the many "disadvantages of entering this occupation."  For effective ministers to last, they must be God-called and Holy Spirit-equipped, otherwise the "Nature of the Work" and the minimal "Earnings" will be too overbearing to endure.

Over the last few weeks I have been re-reading a book by Richard John Neuhaus, Freedom for Ministry, with my staff.  Neuhaus uses a term in this book - "disputed sovereignty:" - that he believes is key to understanding the challenges of being a minister of Jesus' Gospel.  Neuhaus argues that the biggest difficulty of being in ministry in our North American context today is that we continue to represent and preach a disputed sovereignty.  The world understands power, prestige and status when it sees it, and surely the world does not see it in Jesus!  The more vocal and serious ministers are in serving and sharing this disputed sovereign with those around them, the more peculiar they will feel.  Why?  Because to the vast majority of our world - including many within the four walls of the Church - the God revealed in the person of Jesus Christ really cannot be trusted, at least not with ALL of our lives. The other gods of this world are too sexy, too seductive to give up.  So just like the ancient Israelites, we hedge our bets.  Paying partial homage to the One true God, we keep a few other gods as mistresses on the side.  You know, just in case. 

These last few months have challenged my call to ministry, probably due to the "Degree of interaction with people" inherent to the role of pastor and preacher.  It is obvious that the Spirit is moving in new and exciting ways in the parish that I serve.  But as we all know, movements of the Spirit are also a little scary, like a "rush of violent wind" or "tongues of fire" would be if they happened today (Acts 2:2-3).  The nervousness of folks manifests itself in various ways.  Some shoot off emails that reveal contempt, frustration or concern.  Some slowly pull away.  And others grab you by the arm and say, "I need to come by and talk with you." (For the record, it's the third kind that pastors Iike the most!)

The problem with being the people of God - if that is what we really want to be - is that there are no easy answers to the question, "Where is the Spirit leading us?"  Do I (or anyone else) know what the future holds for us as a church?  While I am tempted to act like I know, I really have no idea.  However, I do know one thing, having personally experienced it over and over again: a day of life lived following the Spirit of God is worth more than a million days of life lived following someone or something else.  That is the Gospel.  And living a never-know-what's-around-the-next-corner kind of life is what it means to be called by God.

Is Jesus, our disputed sovereign, calling YOU to be an ambassador for his disputed kingdom?  There is still a high "demand for workers" (lay and clergy), but oh so few are willing to respond.  Our "current trend" remains unchanged: the field is far from "overcrowded."  It's one of the craziest "jobs" that I know, but the "Opportunities for advancement" make it all worthwhile. 

Where is your Ireland? 
lane

Rev. C. Lane Glaze
Director - Clemson Wesley Foundation
Campus Minister - Clemson UMC
PO Box 1703 Clemson SC 29633
864-207-9135 (c) or 864-654-5547 (o)

Feel free to forward this email to a friend. The Clemson Wesley Weekly Devotional is a ministry of Rev. Lane Glaze and the Clemson Wesley Foundation, the United Methodist Church's ministry to students on the campus of Clemson University.  The purpose of this email is to look at issues relevant to the life of Clemson students through the lens of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If you would like your name added to this list, email Lane at glaze@clemson.edu