As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.

Ephesians 4:0

In past reflections, we have considered the fact that if you have a calling, then you also have a caller, or, better yet, a divine Caller. The Creator of the universe, the King of kings and Lord of lords has called you to belong to him and to join him in his creative, restorative work in the world.

Have you allowed the wonder of this truth to penetrate your mind and heart? Do you feel honored by the fact that God wants you and has called you?

I'm reminded of an experience I had while in graduate school. One morning, I received a phone call from a professor at Harvard Divinity School. "This is Harvey Cox calling," said the voice on the line. "I'm beginning a new course for undergraduates called 'Jesus and the Moral Life' and I'm wondering if you'd be willing to help me develop and teach this course." Professor Cox went on to describe my role as head teaching fellow, which would involve planning the course, overseeing the teaching fellow staff, and even giving one lecture.

I was thrilled by Professor Cox's request. Partly, I loved the thought of teaching Harvard undergraduates about Jesus and his relevance to contemporary ethics. Moreover, as a grad student, I knew that this opportunity would help me when looking for a teaching job. But, most of all, I was honored because Harvey Cox was one of the most highly regarded and well-known of Harvard's senior professors. To be sure, his theology wasn't quite in line with my own. But, nevertheless, I was thrilled to have received a call from such an influential thinker and excellent teacher.

Perhaps you have had an experience like this in your life. But, whether you've been literally called by someone important to do something important or not, you have been called by the most important being in the Universe—namely, God—to do the most important thing a human being can do—participate in God's creative and redemptive work. This is true.

Do you feel honored?

QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION: Do you feel honored by your calling from the divine Caller? If not, why not? Is God's call real to you? What helps you to take seriously your calling? What might help you to live this day feeling honored by your calling?

PRAYER: Gracious God, thank you for calling me to yourself and into your work. I realize that I have not done anything to deserve this. Yet, when I consider my association with you, when I think of the fact that you have called me, I am astounded. And I am honored. Honored to belong to you. Honored to be called by you. Honored to be part of your creative and restorative work.

Help me, I pray, to live today with a strong sense of my calling. May I live with gratitude and purpose because you have called me. Amen.

P.S. from Mark: To finish my story, I did indeed work with Harvey Cox on the development and teaching of "Jesus and the Moral Life" during my last two years of graduate school. Working with him was a marvelous experience because Harvey was a thoroughgoing collaborator. He allowed me to help him shape this course and did indeed give me the honor of giving a lecture in it. Moreover, though we differed on many points of theology, Harvey was consistently supportive of my orthodox Christian faith. He taught "Jesus and the Moral Life" for fifteen years. It became one of the most popular courses at Harvard, serving thousands upon thousands of students.

Image courtesy of Laity Lodge, one of our sister programs in the Foundations for Laity Renewal.