WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en-US 00:00:00.720 --> 00:00:07.280 Welcome, why don't we uh begin and uh  let's start with prayer. Our Father we   00:00:07.280 --> 00:00:12.480 we want to open our heart to you we want to  open our heart to your word, to your teaching.   00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:20.560 Lord with all the students, may you be gracious  to them through this whole class may be gracious   00:00:20.560 --> 00:00:30.160 to me may you teach us by Your Spirit and  You open our hearts to You. In Jesus' name. 00:00:30.160 --> 00:00:35.280 Well I want to welcome you to SF504:  Spiritual Formation, Vocation,   00:00:35.280 --> 00:00:41.200 and the Spiritual Disciplines. This is a  course where we've designed to help you   00:00:42.800 --> 00:00:48.720 look at vocation, look at the concept of calling.  What are you called to in life? What what is God   00:00:48.720 --> 00:00:54.800 doing in your life especially here at Talbot and  then beyond and I want to encourage you - before   00:00:54.800 --> 00:01:00.720 we actually get into the lecture - I want to  encourage you to to take good notes because   00:01:01.280 --> 00:01:06.800 it'll be on the basis of the notes that you'll do  the prayer projects and it'll be on the basis of   00:01:06.800 --> 00:01:11.840 the notes that we'll probably have a final exam.  It'll be one exam at the very end of the course. 00:01:13.200 --> 00:01:19.200 So this first lecture will be just kind of  some introductory ideas on just what is, uh,   00:01:19.200 --> 00:01:26.000 what are we talking about when we talk about a  calling. And this is, the idea of vocation and   00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:31.360 calling are connected because it's, uh, the idea  of vocations from the Latin "vocare" - to call,   00:01:32.080 --> 00:01:37.440 which comes from the Greek kalein to call. And  the the idea that we're going to try to get here   00:01:37.440 --> 00:01:44.640 is what is the calling which has to do with our  vocation here in life. And this first lecture will   00:01:44.640 --> 00:01:50.000 be kind of introductory. We'll - so I'm going  to talk about the concept of calling kind of   00:01:50.000 --> 00:01:56.320 formally, that is, what is the - what's the nature  of calling in general. What is implied by it and   00:01:56.320 --> 00:02:01.760 then the next lectures and pretty much through the  rest of these six or seven lectures it will be on   00:02:01.760 --> 00:02:08.880 the content of the calling. What is it that we're  called to, and uh, and looking at the details. 00:02:08.880 --> 00:02:16.240 But first I want to talk about just the, this  general idea - this formal idea of a calling, uh,   00:02:16.240 --> 00:02:19.520 in scripture. And I'm going to talk about  it from two perspectives in this lecture.   00:02:19.520 --> 00:02:27.200 One is the divine side and one is the human side  because there's going to be some tensions here.   00:02:27.200 --> 00:02:29.760 And so before I actually get into  this let me just give some tensions. 00:02:31.120 --> 00:02:37.920 The, the first issue is going to be: Where do we  look to, to get our calling? Where - what what   00:02:37.920 --> 00:02:43.360 is it that we're, we're looking to. And so as we  think of the potential things that we can look at,   00:02:44.960 --> 00:02:51.680 uh, so here I'm trying to discover  my calling and what are the possible   00:02:51.680 --> 00:02:57.600 ranges of things. Do I look to myself?  Do I look to my own desires at all?   00:02:59.040 --> 00:03:08.160 Do I, do I look to God in prayer? That is, do  I look to to God personally to to get gain some   00:03:08.160 --> 00:03:18.400 communication about what my calling is? Um, will  I appeal to some kind of feelings or thoughts   00:03:20.560 --> 00:03:26.240 about discerning "Is this the will of God?" Am  I going to look to the scripture? And I think   00:03:26.240 --> 00:03:31.840 that's going to be obvious the place we'll be,  but is that the only place? Will I look to others   00:03:33.600 --> 00:03:36.080 will others be used to help  me discover the will of God?   00:03:36.640 --> 00:03:43.360 Will, um, will my circumstances in life...some   00:03:43.360 --> 00:03:47.520 of you are already married, some of you  are single, some of you have children.   00:03:47.520 --> 00:03:50.720 Well those circumstances are going to  have quite a bit to do with this. So   00:03:50.720 --> 00:03:54.960 the tension is going to be where, where do we  discern the will of God in all of these things? 00:03:56.240 --> 00:04:01.680 Another tension that's going to emerge is when  we we're talking about the calling the issue is   00:04:01.680 --> 00:04:09.280 what what am I called to? Well there's a tension  here. On on the one hand what am I called to?   00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:18.520 Right so here - this I am called to  something and then what is God calling me to?   00:04:22.240 --> 00:04:27.760 And and so the tension here is what - how  much of this is something that I can appeal   00:04:27.760 --> 00:04:31.600 inside to myself about my desires  and what I want to do with my life,   00:04:32.320 --> 00:04:38.400 what I think I'm called to versus or is  this what God is doing - and sometimes   00:04:38.400 --> 00:04:42.480 it's going to go counter to my desires -  or is it always according to my desires?   00:04:44.480 --> 00:04:49.640 And I suppose the the third tension there  is that when we talk about calling, um,   00:04:50.640 --> 00:04:54.480 the issue of calling is it's what we  call a kind of reflexive question.   00:04:55.120 --> 00:05:00.880 And the question is what am I called to?  And it it brings up this question of "I".   00:05:02.320 --> 00:05:10.560 And that raises the question of really: Who am  I? What is my life about? Why am I alive? Why   00:05:10.560 --> 00:05:16.480 has God brought the circumstances He has? Why is  it that my circumstances are one way but another   00:05:16.480 --> 00:05:21.040 person's circumstances are a whole other thing  - and I might even want their circumstances but   00:05:21.040 --> 00:05:28.480 I have what I have. Where am I going? What shall  I do with my life? What is God really calling me   00:05:28.480 --> 00:05:35.520 to? What is it that God is calling me to, versus  what perhaps am I following that is something that   00:05:35.520 --> 00:05:42.080 I have not been called to? And so the - this,  this reflexivity of the question of God's call,   00:05:42.080 --> 00:05:47.600 it raises a certain amount of introspection.  God, what, what really is this call about. 00:05:49.040 --> 00:05:56.000 So I want to begin just to talk about the idea  of a call. And I want to begin with looking at   00:05:56.000 --> 00:06:01.760 it from the divine side and then and then the  human side. So let's begin, uh, with the divine   00:06:01.760 --> 00:06:06.080 side. Just as we look at generally the idea of a  call. And the first thing I want to say is this;   00:06:06.960 --> 00:06:15.120 that the call is fundamentally a call of God  and not a making or a creating on our part.   00:06:16.160 --> 00:06:22.400 The first major point is we want to say that when  we think of the call of God, it is fundamentally   00:06:22.400 --> 00:06:30.000 His call. It's His making and it's a creating  on His part. This is Second Timothy 1 verse 9,   00:06:30.000 --> 00:06:37.680 second timothy 1:9, where it said God called us  with a holy calling, not according to our works,   00:06:38.640 --> 00:06:44.960 but according to His purposes. Right, notice that:  God has called us with a holy call, holy calling.   00:06:46.160 --> 00:06:52.080 So I, in this class I'm going to be talking about  quite a few scriptures where we're going to see   00:06:52.080 --> 00:06:58.240 the word "calling" and how it's used. And here  it's God has called us with a holy - holy calling   00:06:58.240 --> 00:07:05.520 but not according to our works but according  to His purposes which were granted to us   00:07:06.240 --> 00:07:11.600 from all eternity in Christ. And  so this is fundamentally - when,   00:07:11.600 --> 00:07:18.720 when we think of our vocation it is fundamentally  a creating and a making of God's and not our own. 00:07:18.720 --> 00:07:21.840 A couple of points under  here. It's initiated by God.   00:07:23.680 --> 00:07:29.840 It's not what we create, it's not what  we make. This is Isaiah 41 where it says   00:07:29.840 --> 00:07:37.280 "You Israel. I have chosen you. I have called  you and I won't cast you out. In Romans 8:30   00:07:37.280 --> 00:07:42.000 it says that those that God predestined  He called . He's the One who's calling.   00:07:43.440 --> 00:07:49.600 Or in John 15:16 when Christ talks about the  disciples He says "you didn't choose me but I   00:07:49.600 --> 00:07:54.480 chose you." This is not something we create, we  make fundamentally. It's something that He does.   00:07:56.000 --> 00:08:01.600 And it's not something, therefore, that  we're going to know all the details of.   00:08:03.200 --> 00:08:08.720 In other words we would love if God had  laid out this vocation entirely so that   00:08:08.720 --> 00:08:15.280 at some point we got a total game plan to what  John Coe's life is going to be, or your life.   00:08:17.760 --> 00:08:21.920 But the logic of the fact that this  is it's fundamentally His calling. 00:08:23.600 --> 00:08:28.400 That's what it is - that's what it is now  to be in Christ. Now that we are believers   00:08:29.520 --> 00:08:36.720 our vocation is not fundamentally just my  calling, it's His calling. And so because of that,   00:08:36.720 --> 00:08:41.040 the logic of it is we're not necessarily  going to know all the details of this   00:08:43.200 --> 00:08:48.400 for it's fundamentally a calling  by another and to another. It's,   00:08:48.400 --> 00:08:54.080 it's the call to Abraham. "Abraham",  "Here I am." "Mary," "Here I am."   00:08:55.600 --> 00:08:59.280 It's, it's God's call to us and we  may not know everything about it. 00:08:59.920 --> 00:09:02.800 Another point of this and we'll be  talking about more of this later;   00:09:03.680 --> 00:09:09.680 it's not based on human merit. Remember Second  Timothy 1:9 It's, it's not according to our   00:09:09.680 --> 00:09:17.680 works. Your vocation, your calling in God is not  based on your works/on your efforts, on even your   00:09:17.680 --> 00:09:24.160 abilities or skills. And in that sense it's not  - the calling of God is not aristocratic. You   00:09:24.160 --> 00:09:29.360 know when Aristotle writes about the vocation of  a human being what he says we should look at is:   00:09:29.360 --> 00:09:33.680 What are all the human capacities and  potentialities that we have? And the way   00:09:33.680 --> 00:09:42.880 we've exercised them, and then WE determine what  is our vocation. But the calling of God we've been   00:09:42.880 --> 00:09:51.440 called into this body of Christ. It's His call  and it's not according to our capacities only. 00:09:52.160 --> 00:09:56.400 Now maybe it may be something according to  that but that was something God will decide   00:09:57.760 --> 00:10:04.720 because it may happen that today as I'm  going home I might get hit by a car I may   00:10:04.720 --> 00:10:08.800 be crippled the rest of my life and many  of my capacities will never be exercised.   00:10:10.320 --> 00:10:16.880 But I'm still going to be called by God. And so  the calling of God - this is, this is very heavy   00:10:16.880 --> 00:10:24.640 in our life - it's not according to our works or  even our desires and capacities. It's primarily   00:10:24.640 --> 00:10:33.760 His purposes His purposes which He granted  to us from all eternity in Christ. He has   00:10:33.760 --> 00:10:40.480 purposes of you once He baptized you into the body  of Christ. And now you're in Christ - and we've   00:10:40.480 --> 00:10:46.160 talked about that in other classes, what it is  to be in Christ; justification, full forgiveness,   00:10:46.160 --> 00:10:53.760 full acceptance - you are in Christ and now He  has purposes beyond our merit or our capacities. 00:10:55.040 --> 00:11:02.320 Another implication of this on the divine side  is this is not fundamentally based on creation   00:11:03.680 --> 00:11:10.160 but it's it's a calling, it's a vocation based  on redemption. As I think of a non-believer   00:11:10.800 --> 00:11:15.760 and an unbeliever when he thinks of his  vocation, he's going to fundamentally think of   00:11:16.400 --> 00:11:20.640 you know; what are my desires/what are my  abilities/what are my callings - that's   00:11:20.640 --> 00:11:28.320 appealing to creation. But as believers our  calling in Christ - though it doesn't deny   00:11:28.320 --> 00:11:34.800 creation, the way we're created, the image of  God in us - it's fundamentally a redemptive   00:11:34.800 --> 00:11:42.640 call. It's a calling in Christ according  to His purposes. And so God has a plan and   00:11:42.640 --> 00:11:46.800 that plan might be very different than the  capacities that we would like to actuate. 00:11:48.320 --> 00:11:54.400 Another point about this calling; it's particular.  It's not just to a collective. It's not just to   00:11:54.400 --> 00:12:00.160 the to - like in star trek - to the borg,  or it's not just the, to the beehive. It's,   00:12:00.720 --> 00:12:07.120 it's to a people and it's you as an individual  and you as an individual as part of this people. 00:12:09.280 --> 00:12:16.240 And the last thing I want to say about just  this divine side is it's constant. The Spirit is   00:12:16.240 --> 00:12:22.080 continually calling us. The Spirit is continually  working in our life. And we'll be talking about   00:12:22.080 --> 00:12:28.320 this later when we get into the actual details  and the content of the call what we're called to.   00:12:28.320 --> 00:12:33.200 But the first point here on the divine side  is is that this is fundamentally a calling   00:12:33.200 --> 00:12:38.800 of God. It's a making and a creating of His.  And that has fundamental implications for us. 00:12:40.320 --> 00:12:46.240 But now what about the human side? Again just to  talk about the concept of call generally, what,   00:12:46.240 --> 00:12:55.360 what can we say about the human side because even  though if we don't initiate it, what is our part   00:12:55.360 --> 00:13:02.880 in this? I don't create it but what is my part?  What is my part in participating in this call?   00:13:04.560 --> 00:13:07.760 And there are three, three concepts I  want to kind of talk about under this,   00:13:07.760 --> 00:13:11.680 under, under the human side. And  the first is what I would call   00:13:12.880 --> 00:13:26.720 our call-ability. This is, this is one  of our capacities. Our call-ability.   00:13:30.160 --> 00:13:35.680 And our call-ability, it's,  it is a capacity that we have   00:13:36.800 --> 00:13:44.400 and it's the capacity we have to be able to  be called by God into something - that every,   00:13:44.400 --> 00:13:53.200 every moment we can experience life as a call  from God. This is actually what human freedom is. 00:13:53.200 --> 00:14:03.360 See if here I am in the present  and, and I'm facing into the future   00:14:07.200 --> 00:14:11.360 and I'm wondering, well what should I do in  the future? What, what - all right this is   00:14:11.360 --> 00:14:15.200 the question mark always - what, what should  my life? What should I give my life to? What,   00:14:15.200 --> 00:14:22.000 what should this be about? Well if I'm a  non-believer I'm going to primarily be discerning   00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:30.960 my own desires my own capacities, my own whims  or whatever it is but it turns. And this is what   00:14:30.960 --> 00:14:36.880 human freedom is going to be about: What do I  do with my future? What do I do with my life? 00:14:38.640 --> 00:14:48.560 But here Galatians 5:13 says this; is that we  have been called to freedom but don't use it,   00:14:49.600 --> 00:14:57.840 but don't use it as an appeal to the flesh. Don't  use it as an opportunity for the flesh but through   00:14:57.840 --> 00:15:05.120 love serve one another. And it talks about in  verse 16 and 18 that we're to be led by the   00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:12.720 Spirit and to be walked by the Spirit so live out  the flesh. So for the unbeliever his life of flesh   00:15:15.520 --> 00:15:21.840 is only appealing to himself in his freedom  for what he shall be. But it turns out that my   00:15:21.840 --> 00:15:34.160 freedom is actually every moment a call from God.  It's it's a call from God to walk in the Spirit,   00:15:36.560 --> 00:15:42.400 to not use my freedom as an opportunity  for the flesh but to use freedom   00:15:45.200 --> 00:15:54.160 to love and to serve. And so every moment I as  a believer can transform even the most mundane   00:15:54.160 --> 00:16:04.400 of life into the call of God. It can be used  so that I can approach God and say "God, yes." 00:16:06.880 --> 00:16:14.640 A second capacity that we have is  what we might call vow-ability.   00:16:19.280 --> 00:16:26.400 And I just kind of created these words but  vow-ability is the capacity that I have as   00:16:26.400 --> 00:16:34.720 a person to say yes to God; to say yes to, to  reality. It's the capacity that I have as a person   00:16:35.760 --> 00:16:40.400 that in my freedom I'm not just going  to appeal to my desires and my capacity,   00:16:40.400 --> 00:16:49.840 but I can actually, I can transform transform this  moment, I can transform this moment of freedom   00:16:51.840 --> 00:17:00.080 into saying "Yes. I'll obey. Yes, God. What is  Your will? Yes God, I want to be open to You." 00:17:01.920 --> 00:17:08.320 And notice some of the implications about this.  That means that as believers our response is not   00:17:08.320 --> 00:17:16.640 a given. Now this this enters into issues  of uh divine providence and the concept of   00:17:16.640 --> 00:17:24.000 freedom versus kind of, you know, determinism but  at least from - I don't want to address that point   00:17:24.720 --> 00:17:29.680 in kind of an ultimate ontological way -  but just experientially what it means is   00:17:31.120 --> 00:17:36.800 when I'm confronted with my freedom daily,  when I get up in the morning, when I'm, uh,   00:17:36.800 --> 00:17:43.440 just kind of walking through my day, my response  is not a given. It's not a given that I'm going   00:17:43.440 --> 00:17:49.360 to love God. It's not a given that I'm going  to say yes to God. I can actually resist this. 00:17:51.280 --> 00:18:00.000 And so that means - another implication - there  is a time to grow up as a believer, where perhaps   00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:06.880 we have said, more often than not, "yes" to the  flesh, where I've just done my thing for the day.   00:18:08.080 --> 00:18:16.080 But the capacity of vow-ability, all that means  is I have a capacity to walk open to the Spirit   00:18:16.080 --> 00:18:23.120 throughout the day. I have the capacity to make  all the day - when I'm riding in the car, when I'm   00:18:23.120 --> 00:18:29.120 just sitting by myself, when I'm watching a movie  - to say yes to God, to transform that moment   00:18:30.160 --> 00:18:35.840 and to not live just in the power of  myself appealing to my own capacities. 00:18:37.600 --> 00:18:42.800 A third capacity that I have - now I don't  know if I'd call it a capacity as much as a   00:18:44.560 --> 00:18:50.240 deforming of a capacity - but seducibility.   00:18:52.960 --> 00:18:58.960 Seducibility. And what seducibility is,  this is the problem that we're going to have   00:19:00.160 --> 00:19:07.520 is, this is, this is our capacity/availabilities,  our capacity to say yes to God when it can, uh,   00:19:08.080 --> 00:19:16.720 can enter into sin and become dysfunctional. It's  the dysfunction where our capacity is now being   00:19:16.720 --> 00:19:25.120 used to live out calls that are really not calls  of God. There really appeals to our needy self.   00:19:26.800 --> 00:19:31.600 They really - they're, they're what we  might call, it's, this is our temptation   00:19:33.680 --> 00:19:42.240 to false calls. It's our temptation to accept  calls that really aren't necessarily from God   00:19:43.200 --> 00:19:49.520 but they're from needs we have - unhealthy,  neurotic needs - perhaps; needs to be important;   00:19:51.120 --> 00:19:58.320 needs to be big, to be recognized;  needs to be loved perfectly by others;   00:19:58.320 --> 00:20:05.280 needs to be adored by others; needs to deal  with the guilt and shame I have in life and   00:20:05.280 --> 00:20:10.080 so I need to give my life to something to  convince myself that I'm being good enough.   00:20:12.080 --> 00:20:19.840 These are temptations of our own fantasies and our  own our own dreams of our own making. These are,   00:20:21.040 --> 00:20:23.200 these are ways that we can be seduced   00:20:24.480 --> 00:20:28.080 to accept calls that really weren't  from God in the first place. 00:20:31.840 --> 00:20:34.400 Now let me give you some some points about these,   00:20:35.360 --> 00:20:43.040 these, these three ideas. The first thing is  this the, the general problem is that we are born   00:20:44.160 --> 00:20:52.080 already immersed in sin tendencies. Remember in  the first 501 course when we talked about original   00:20:52.080 --> 00:21:00.880 sin. We're already born with tendencies  and pensions to hiding, covering and,   00:21:00.880 --> 00:21:07.360 and filling the hole with inappropriate things  in idolatry. And so here we already can,   00:21:07.360 --> 00:21:14.240 can be tempted by "false calls" that will help  us hide, that will help us cover. We can already   00:21:14.240 --> 00:21:24.160 appeal to, so it's very possible that I might feel  a call to be a preacher just because I, I want to   00:21:24.160 --> 00:21:29.840 be known by people. I want to be recognized.  Or I can feel called to be a theologian   00:21:31.520 --> 00:21:36.720 or a great philosopher but it might be just out of  our own pathology because we have some need to be   00:21:36.720 --> 00:21:44.560 great and, and I want to hide the inadequacies I  have. I want to cover. Again, we want to get clear   00:21:45.520 --> 00:21:52.720 on what is a false call. What is just coming from  us? And what's truly coming from God? But we have   00:21:52.720 --> 00:21:57.440 our own sin stuff and then we've developed our  own sins through the years. Some of us have   00:21:57.440 --> 00:22:02.720 tendencies of worry. Some of us have tendencies of  fear. Some of us have tendencies of excess anger,   00:22:04.880 --> 00:22:08.800 bad self-image, "I don't feel good  about myself" and so we may use   00:22:08.800 --> 00:22:15.520 this idea of feeling called as a  way to manufacture an identity. 00:22:17.920 --> 00:22:20.240 Another tension that we're going to have about,   00:22:21.280 --> 00:22:29.000 about this, about really opening to - because what  we really want to do is we want to open daily -   00:22:30.960 --> 00:22:36.720 to the fact that God is calling us at every  moment. I want to open daily to saying yes   00:22:36.720 --> 00:22:42.000 to Him. But another tension we're going to  have is that we're going to feel at times   00:22:43.120 --> 00:22:48.240 immersed in the anonymity of  kind of everyday functionality   00:22:49.120 --> 00:22:54.560 that is we're going to feel sometimes,  the boringness of the day-to-day drudgery.   00:22:55.920 --> 00:23:03.120 And in that it's often very easy - going  to school, going to work, doing homework,   00:23:03.120 --> 00:23:09.920 attending classes - you don't necessarily  sense God's presence at every moment.   00:23:10.640 --> 00:23:15.280 And so it's easy to think He's, He's not  calling us at every moment to walk in the Spirit   00:23:16.320 --> 00:23:22.640 and so we can kind of go days and just kind  of live in the drudgery of our own flesh   00:23:23.680 --> 00:23:28.520 rather than realize, no, every moment  - it doesn't matter what I'm doing -   00:23:29.920 --> 00:23:35.840 God is calling me to love. God  is calling me to open to Him. 00:23:36.640 --> 00:23:41.680 And the third point I want to say about this,  the the benefit of all of all this - even this,   00:23:41.680 --> 00:23:47.200 this drudgery - will be that ultimately there's  going to be a certain anxiety in your life   00:23:48.400 --> 00:23:54.160 and the anxiety in your life that will occur  is sometimes, "Lord, am I really doing what   00:23:54.160 --> 00:24:00.560 I should be doing. Should I really be here at  Talbot? Or am I really am I really discovering   00:24:00.560 --> 00:24:07.840 what it is that you're calling me to do? Lord,  am I really following that way?" And so anxiety,   00:24:11.120 --> 00:24:16.240 now anxiety often leads to deeper work.  But you know what these, these are,   00:24:17.120 --> 00:24:23.200 is these are going to be signs. These are going  to be like idiot lights on the dashboard of your   00:24:23.200 --> 00:24:28.800 soul. They're going to indicate something. They're  going to tell you, you know something's not right.   00:24:28.800 --> 00:24:34.720 Something - I'm not sure because the the  opposite of this anxiety is going to be shalom,   00:24:37.680 --> 00:24:43.120 and that's the peace, the well-being of God  - and so as there's anxiety in your life   00:24:44.800 --> 00:24:50.080 this is a, uh, a great time  to now follow Him in prayer.   00:24:53.360 --> 00:25:00.267 To follow God in prayer. Anxiety, the first  move when we experience anxiety and worry   00:25:00.267 --> 00:25:06.080 is not to try to fix something, or to work out  a problem, or to solve some issue. The first   00:25:06.080 --> 00:25:11.200 thing is to follow God in this. What is God  doing in this? What does God want to teach me?   00:25:13.680 --> 00:25:16.880 Anxiety can be a great, a great service. 00:25:16.880 --> 00:25:27.840 Our, our temptation with anxiety is going to be  to be what what some psychologists say is willful.   00:25:28.960 --> 00:25:33.360 And the willful person is the one when they're  anxious about their future, they're anxious   00:25:33.360 --> 00:25:38.160 about well, what is the will of God for me, or  just, what is, what should I be doing with life?   00:25:38.160 --> 00:25:44.080 The willful person is the one who creates his  own vocation. He takes, he takes his life in   00:25:44.080 --> 00:25:48.640 his own hands says "I'm going to create it!" And  this is probably what, you know, the best of the   00:25:48.640 --> 00:25:57.200 non-believer does. He wants to, he wants to create  his life. The other temptation is to be will-less.   00:25:58.560 --> 00:26:02.800 And the will-less person is  the one who has come to say   00:26:03.680 --> 00:26:11.600 "I'm called to nothing. My life is a waste. I've  wasted my life. I've burned so many opportunities.   00:26:12.320 --> 00:26:18.160 I have wasted so many things because of sin or  because of whatever's gone in my life. I'm not   00:26:18.160 --> 00:26:23.840 called to anything." And this is a person  who, who kind of rides the waves in life,   00:26:24.400 --> 00:26:32.000 has become will-less. And both of these are sin.  And of course this is just so endemic to our life. 00:26:32.560 --> 00:26:39.360 The middle course is, uh, this is to  be open to God. This is to be willing   00:26:42.800 --> 00:26:51.840 to, to listen to God. To discern. To ask God, to  be open to God: "What are you doing in my life?"   00:26:52.960 --> 00:26:58.000 And again our temptation is - depending on what  your habits of life have been - in the past   00:26:58.880 --> 00:27:02.800 some of you are going to feel very despairing  about the future, about your life. Some of you   00:27:03.360 --> 00:27:07.600 are, there's so much anxiety that you  want to create, you want to make it.   00:27:07.600 --> 00:27:14.400 And our task is to begin to practice this - see  this is what really - prayer - this is I suppose   00:27:14.400 --> 00:27:17.920 is part of the heart of prayer is to  be open to God. "What are you doing,   00:27:18.960 --> 00:27:22.960 God? What are you doing? I want to  open to you in this as I move forward." 00:27:25.120 --> 00:27:30.720 Another point about just this whole idea of our  call-ability, our vow-ability, but also that we   00:27:30.720 --> 00:27:39.120 can be seduced - is that this is both threatening  and beckoning. On the one hand it's beckoning   00:27:39.120 --> 00:27:45.360 because it opens you to be alive if if  you really open daily to getting up in the   00:27:45.360 --> 00:27:50.880 morning and saying "God, I, I'm not just going  to use my freedom to do my thing today, but I'm   00:27:50.880 --> 00:27:57.840 called by You. God, what am I to do?" Open.  There's something beckoning that makes us alive   00:27:59.040 --> 00:28:04.160 but there's something also threatening  about this. Because the threatening part is   00:28:06.960 --> 00:28:12.160 I don't create this on my own. I'm  in part responding to another person.   00:28:15.120 --> 00:28:20.400 I'm responding to their call and so I, I  sometimes might get confused about this because   00:28:20.400 --> 00:28:27.280 that other person, God, may not give me all  the details of that I would like, and so I   00:28:27.280 --> 00:28:33.840 can sometimes get confused, I can sometimes feel  unloved. I can sometimes, again, be tempted to   00:28:33.840 --> 00:28:43.840 try to take over control or just to let go and not  just stay open to God - open to the will of God. 00:28:45.440 --> 00:28:51.120 This this also can feel threatening  at times because it may feel, uh,   00:28:51.120 --> 00:28:56.880 confrontative of my fantasies. That is,  it maybe if I open to the Lord, "God,   00:28:56.880 --> 00:29:01.200 what are you doing today? What's going on with my  wife? How should I open to my wife or my children?   00:29:03.200 --> 00:29:08.880 And how much time should I give to studies and to  school and to my family?" And as I open to this,   00:29:09.440 --> 00:29:16.960 it, it may, it may address my seducibility.  Because there are things I'd rather give   00:29:16.960 --> 00:29:22.000 myself to in the flesh; my own desires,  and my own capacities - not that God   00:29:22.000 --> 00:29:27.440 is going to ignore these - but these on  their own is not sufficient to discover   00:29:28.080 --> 00:29:34.240 the will of God in your life. Creation alone does  not answer the question "What is my vocation?"   00:29:35.280 --> 00:29:39.840 It's in redemption. God has called us  not according to our work or our merit   00:29:39.840 --> 00:29:45.600 but according to His purposes which He has  made known to us from all eternity in Christ. 00:29:49.840 --> 00:29:59.360 This idea is also threatening because the idea  of the Other's call, God's call, it may confront   00:29:59.360 --> 00:30:04.720 my finitude. It may confront that I can't do  everything that I would have liked to have done.   00:30:04.720 --> 00:30:10.960 That has happened to me now at 54. I've discovered  I cannot do everything that I thought I really   00:30:10.960 --> 00:30:17.040 wanted to do because as I've taken more and more  seriously the call I have to my wife, Greta,   00:30:17.040 --> 00:30:24.560 to my children and to some other very simple  things, that has consumed much more time than I   00:30:24.560 --> 00:30:30.240 thought I would ever have to give it to actually  do that in the call of God. And so, again,   00:30:31.040 --> 00:30:35.840 opening to the call of God, it may confront my  finitude that I can't say yes to everything.   00:30:36.720 --> 00:30:44.080 It, it, it confronts the temptation I might  have to omnipotence - that I can do it all. 00:30:46.960 --> 00:30:59.600 However, it will turn out in my life that, uh,  this will open me to love. This capacity I have to   00:30:59.600 --> 00:31:04.000 to experience every day as a call,  every moment. If I'm crippled, if I'm   00:31:04.000 --> 00:31:07.920 whatever. It doesn't matter if I can preach,  it doesn't even matter if I can speak anymore   00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:17.200 but now I can open to God. I can say yes to Him  in whatever circumstances I'm in. This opens me   00:31:17.200 --> 00:31:26.000 not just to a life of my own. This opens me to a  life of love. There is a Lover on the other end. 00:31:27.600 --> 00:31:31.840 What I would like you to do,  um, with this first lecture   00:31:34.080 --> 00:31:42.080 is I would like you to do a prayer project. And  the first prayer project is is just this for, um,   00:31:43.440 --> 00:31:50.800 let's say a half an hour a total. First thing I'd  like you to do is I just want you to ask the Lord   00:31:50.800 --> 00:31:57.840 a question for just like about 10 minutes. To what  degree have you approached your life as a call?   00:31:59.520 --> 00:32:07.600 To what degree have you spent your life and maybe  even in recent history as, as trying to open to,   00:32:07.600 --> 00:32:12.160 God every moment is a call to You. It's a call  to walk in the Spirit so here I am in my freedom.   00:32:13.520 --> 00:32:18.800 My freedom just tells me - see to the  non-believer the freedom just tells them   00:32:18.800 --> 00:32:25.200 "I can do my thing." - that's why non-Christians  love freedom. But true freedom is, it's the   00:32:25.200 --> 00:32:32.080 capacity to transform that now into "God this is a  call from You. What is it to open to you? To walk   00:32:32.080 --> 00:32:38.960 with You?" So I want you just to kind of spend a  few minutes just talking the Lord about that. And   00:32:39.680 --> 00:32:44.160 then I want you to take the next 10 minutes and  just spend some time talking with the Lord about:   00:32:45.760 --> 00:32:48.480 To what degree have you said yes   00:32:50.800 --> 00:32:57.840 to this? Or or to what degree have you kind of  repressed this whole thing, you just like to   00:32:57.840 --> 00:33:04.880 live your day in your own power. To what degree  have you been seduced by other things? How,   00:33:06.240 --> 00:33:14.480 how temptable are you? How temptable are you to  transform your freedom into just an opportunity   00:33:14.480 --> 00:33:19.120 for the flesh? And then the flesh - we don't  mean it's necessarily uh an evil thing - the   00:33:19.120 --> 00:33:24.960 flesh here in the scriptures is just an autonomous  thing; a thing that you just kind of want to do. 00:33:28.800 --> 00:33:35.440 The third part of this prayer  project is to ask this question: Lord   00:33:37.360 --> 00:33:44.320 what kind of anxieties have I had what are  the deep anxieties i think of my vocation   00:33:44.320 --> 00:33:49.680 my calling my future what are some of the deep  anxieties the fears the worries that i've had   00:33:50.960 --> 00:33:56.240 and how have i been responding to those lives  so just take about 10 minutes on this lord have   00:33:56.240 --> 00:34:01.600 i been willful i've been trying to create my life  if i've been willis just kind of letting this go   00:34:02.960 --> 00:34:09.200 have i been willing have i been open what what  what happens to you when you become anxious   00:34:09.200 --> 00:34:15.920 over these things so again spend 10 minutes on  talking to lord about just this call in general   00:34:15.920 --> 00:34:20.160 10 minutes on how much you're saying yes  or how much you're seduced in 10 minutes   00:34:21.520 --> 00:34:27.200 on the issues of anxiety and uh and again  write up write a page and you'll be bringing   00:34:27.200 --> 00:34:33.840 that back to talk to your cohort leaders  to discuss that so we'll end this session. 00:34:35.240 --> 00:34:36.240 [Break] 00:34:36.240 --> 00:34:41.760 Well let's pray and just open our hearts  again. Father we we thank you so much for   00:34:41.760 --> 00:34:47.440 your kindness and Dear Lord I pray you continue  to open our hearts to you. Bless these students   00:34:47.440 --> 00:34:53.600 as they continue their studies and to pursue  understanding their, uh, their call in you   00:34:53.600 --> 00:35:01.840 and opening to you Lord so hear our prayers  and we open to you in the name of Christ, Amen. 00:35:03.120 --> 00:35:10.400 Well this is our second lecture in, uh, this part  of the course on vocation. And what I want to   00:35:10.400 --> 00:35:16.960 move now from we talked initially just about the  general idea of call and calling, and we talked   00:35:16.960 --> 00:35:22.960 there about that it's primarily it's something  God creates, God makes. It's not according to our   00:35:22.960 --> 00:35:30.240 purposes and it's fundamentally a redemptive call  that we're called in Christ. And then we talked   00:35:30.240 --> 00:35:36.960 about the human side briefly - that we have these  capacities, that we can transform our freedom   00:35:37.840 --> 00:35:43.760 into responding to life every moment in the  call of God to, to not let our opportunity,   00:35:43.760 --> 00:35:49.040 our freedom, be an opportunity for the flesh  but to be - for the opportunity to love to   00:35:49.040 --> 00:35:54.000 serve. To be open to the Spirit, to walk in the  Spirit and yet we can be seduced in all of this. 00:35:54.560 --> 00:35:59.600 Well I want to turn now to  the content of our vocation   00:36:00.560 --> 00:36:06.400 so we just talked about generally the idea of  calling. But now I want to look at what, what are   00:36:06.400 --> 00:36:11.840 the callings of God and here we're going to look  at quite a few scriptures throughout to see what,   00:36:12.400 --> 00:36:20.000 what, what are the the details the content of this  calling. And we’re - first when we look at this   00:36:20.000 --> 00:36:27.680 calling we're going to say that there is, um,  the callings of God have a unilateral dimension   00:36:28.320 --> 00:36:35.120 and a bilateral dimension. The unilateral meaning  there's going to be a dimension about the calling   00:36:35.680 --> 00:36:43.600 that is, is solely God's work. And this is  going to be in harmony with the whole idea of   00:36:44.240 --> 00:36:51.760 the new covenant. In the Old Testament when  like in Ezekiel chapter 36 verse 25 to 27   00:36:51.760 --> 00:36:57.520 when they talk about the the concept of a, of  a covenant, this is what God is going to do.   00:36:58.160 --> 00:37:05.280 Jeremiah 31:31 and following right, God is  going to make a people right. He's going to   00:37:05.280 --> 00:37:10.560 make a covenant, not like He did the old covenant  but this covenant, He's going to put His Spirit,   00:37:10.560 --> 00:37:15.840 He's going to forgive sins, He's going to make  a people that's the promised side. That's Romans   00:37:15.840 --> 00:37:22.640 9:8 where we are now children of the promise  so we think of covenant; the covenant of God,   00:37:26.080 --> 00:37:31.440 right, this this new covenant, new testament  covenant or our new covenant. On the one side   00:37:31.440 --> 00:37:38.480 there is the unilateral side of the covenant  and this has to do with the promises - it's   00:37:38.480 --> 00:37:46.240 going to turn out we are called into a promise.  However there's another side to our vocation   00:37:49.360 --> 00:37:57.280 or or the new covenant and there's the bilateral  side and the bilateral side is our responsibility;   00:38:00.720 --> 00:38:03.840 our responsibility, and these are the commands. 00:38:06.320 --> 00:38:10.240 And so a number of us would argue that  the covenants throughout have always had   00:38:10.240 --> 00:38:16.400 this bilateral and unilateral notion.  And so let's begin with the unilateral   00:38:16.400 --> 00:38:20.960 dimension to the covenant and I want to look  at the content of this unilateral dimension. 00:38:22.560 --> 00:38:25.280 So the first point here under  the unilateral dimension   00:38:26.240 --> 00:38:33.120 is that we are called to God's work. We are  called to God's work. We are called to a person   00:38:34.000 --> 00:38:41.840 and to a promise because it turns out the promise  is the person of Christ. So let me give you a kind   00:38:41.840 --> 00:38:48.160 of a definition of this and we'll look at some  texts. The unilateral dimension of our vocation   00:38:48.160 --> 00:38:55.760 or of our covenant, it is a calling of or  choosing of God. This calling or choosing of God   00:38:56.320 --> 00:39:05.680 is His initiative for His purposes from all  eternity. Not according to our works or our merits   00:39:07.600 --> 00:39:16.880 but rather according to a promise that He has  made which is irrevocable. It's irrevocable. 00:39:16.880 --> 00:39:22.480 Let me repeat that again. This calling or choosing  of God it's His initiative for His purposes   00:39:23.440 --> 00:39:30.480 from all eternity, not according to our work  or merit but according to a promise which is   00:39:30.480 --> 00:39:37.360 irrevocable. See we are, we are called into  something. I think when most people think of "What   00:39:37.360 --> 00:39:43.440 is my vocation or my calling?" they immediately  think of the bilateral element. They immediately   00:39:43.440 --> 00:39:47.760 think of what are the commands of God that I'm  called to fulfill. What am I supposed to do?   00:39:48.800 --> 00:39:55.440 But most fundamentally we are called  according to a promise. We are called   00:39:55.440 --> 00:40:03.280 into a promise and that becomes most fundamentally  my vocation - is to live in that promise. 00:40:05.760 --> 00:40:11.760 And so the bottom line is in the Christian  life this is our hope. This is why we're   00:40:11.760 --> 00:40:16.720 different than all the other religions. This  is why we are different than the unbeliever.   00:40:16.720 --> 00:40:23.600 For the unbeliever they are making their own,  their own way. They are - and in false religions   00:40:23.600 --> 00:40:28.240 they're always bilateral. In false  religions fundamentally it's "How am   00:40:28.240 --> 00:40:36.080 I living to God's will? Am I, am I living  up to God's will? But in Christ our hope is   00:40:37.680 --> 00:40:44.480 that we live according to a promise. Our hope.  And this is why we can come out of hiding.   00:40:45.120 --> 00:40:49.360 This is why we can, we're free.  We don't have to hide anymore   00:40:49.920 --> 00:40:55.200 because why? We are most fundamentally called  into a promise and that promise is justification.   00:40:55.200 --> 00:40:59.520 It's what it is to be in Christ. It's  full forgiveness, it's full acceptance.   00:41:01.520 --> 00:41:06.400 And so the first point under this is, it's from  all eternity. This calling is from all eternity. 00:41:06.400 --> 00:41:13.760 Ephesians chapter one verse one to four  that He says we were called or chosen in   00:41:13.760 --> 00:41:21.440 Christ before the foundations of the  world. Before even the earth was created   00:41:21.440 --> 00:41:29.040 God from eternity past in His foreknowledge has  had you in mind. He has considered you, He has   00:41:29.040 --> 00:41:36.640 called you. There is nothing that has escaped  His notice. The circumstances of your birth,   00:41:36.640 --> 00:41:43.040 the parents, the siblings, all the situations of  your life, He has known it all because your life   00:41:43.040 --> 00:41:49.760 was already called from the foundations of the  earth. His calling of you was from all eternity. 00:41:51.360 --> 00:42:01.440 Secondly and really importantly is this calling or  choosing is in Christ, that He chose us in Christ   00:42:01.440 --> 00:42:08.720 before the foundations of the earth. See what  God had in mind is He just didn't call John Coe   00:42:09.520 --> 00:42:14.240 or Mike Wilkins or Dennis Dirk as individuals  saying "Boy you're, you're special people,   00:42:14.240 --> 00:42:23.520 I want you to do something for me." He said no  no I, I called you in my son. We are now in union   00:42:24.400 --> 00:42:31.200 with the son. His death and resurrection. We've  been baptized into Christ. And so we have been   00:42:31.200 --> 00:42:36.960 called from eternity in Christ so that our  fundamental vocation - now you gotta hear   00:42:36.960 --> 00:42:47.200 this - your fundamental vocation is to live this  life in Christ. It's to live continually in this   00:42:47.200 --> 00:42:53.760 promise. It's to live in the promise that  I'm, I'm fully forgiven so come out of hiding.   00:42:54.960 --> 00:43:00.560 I'm fully accepted in Christ because I'm clothed  with Christ. So John don't try to clothe yourself,   00:43:01.520 --> 00:43:08.080 accept His clothing and live in that reality.  And I'm to live in the Spirit - Christ in me   00:43:09.440 --> 00:43:13.600 this is most fundamental to our calling. And  some of us are are going to be scrambling,   00:43:13.600 --> 00:43:16.720 "Well should I be a preacher? Should I be  a teacher? Should I be a great theologian?   00:43:16.720 --> 00:43:19.600 What seminary should I go to?  What - who should I marry?"   00:43:20.320 --> 00:43:26.480 What's most fundamental what's most  primary is that you were called in Christ   00:43:27.840 --> 00:43:35.680 and your task is to continue to live in the  promise, to live in that freedom of that promise   00:43:35.680 --> 00:43:42.880 and not to be enslaved again by your anxiety  your worry your willfulness, your willlessness.   00:43:45.440 --> 00:43:48.240 That is crucial. That is the bottom of our faith. 00:43:50.400 --> 00:43:55.840 Next point is is that He initiated this.  Romans 5:10, while we were yet sinners   00:43:56.720 --> 00:44:00.000 Christ died for us. It wasn't our initiation   00:44:00.000 --> 00:44:06.160 to enter this promise. This is something  that He has done. He initiated it. 00:44:06.160 --> 00:44:14.080 Fourth point here it's not according to our merit  but according to His purposes. In second Timothy   00:44:14.080 --> 00:44:20.640 1:9 - we talked about this text earlier - second  Timothy 1:9 He called us with a holy calling,   00:44:21.520 --> 00:44:24.880 not according to our work but His purposes.   00:44:26.240 --> 00:44:35.600 He has purposes and and so as I think of what  my fundamental vocation is I'm called into a   00:44:35.600 --> 00:44:43.600 promise and part of that promise is that God has  purposes that maybe may go beyond my desires,   00:44:44.560 --> 00:44:48.800 my abilities, my skills. It it  might be something very different.   00:44:49.680 --> 00:44:54.960 And when we think of vocation we need to be  open to this because we are called in a promise. 00:44:56.400 --> 00:45:01.360 Fifth we are called into fellowship  with the Son this is first Corinthians   00:45:01.360 --> 00:45:08.240 chapter one verse nine. First Corinthians 1:9  God is faithful through whom you were called   00:45:08.240 --> 00:45:15.440 into fellowship with His son Jesus Christ,  our Lord. So part of our vocation - in fact   00:45:16.000 --> 00:45:20.720 central to our vocation - is we were  called into a relationship with Christ.   00:45:21.680 --> 00:45:25.840 This is very similar to Christ talking  in John 15 about abiding in the vine.   00:45:28.080 --> 00:45:31.360 And so again the calling - we tend  to think always of the calling as   00:45:31.360 --> 00:45:36.560 out there - but the calling is to this  promise, is to fellowship with the Son. 00:45:38.800 --> 00:45:46.400 A sixth point is this call is out of darkness.  It's out of darkness and it's into the light.   00:45:47.120 --> 00:45:54.080 This is first Peter 2:9 You've been called in out  of darkness into his marvelous light. Well that   00:45:54.080 --> 00:46:02.240 means if you have been called out of darkness,  whatever is still dark in you, there's going to   00:46:02.240 --> 00:46:07.600 be a purging of that. Now we'll talk about this a  little bit later but, but you have now been called   00:46:07.600 --> 00:46:12.960 out of the kingdom of darkness. You've been placed  into the kingdom of the Son but whatever flesh   00:46:12.960 --> 00:46:19.280 residue is still there in you then that's going to  be purged. That is going to be part of His calling   00:46:20.160 --> 00:46:24.880 is so that you now live out what it  is to be a member of this new kingdom. 00:46:26.480 --> 00:46:31.280 The seventh point is this call is to  be accomplished according to His power.   00:46:32.720 --> 00:46:38.160 It's to be accomplished according to his power.  This is second Peter 1:3 is that God has granted   00:46:38.160 --> 00:46:44.640 us everything pertaining to life and godliness  through the knowledge of Him who called us.   00:46:46.160 --> 00:46:53.040 See God has called us and has given us  what we need to live out our calling. And   00:46:53.040 --> 00:47:00.880 and here's where we fundamentally find our  resources. Not in going to seminary. Not in   00:47:00.880 --> 00:47:06.320 just developing skills. We fundamentally  find our resources in our relation to Him   00:47:07.600 --> 00:47:14.160 because He may be calling us to  something that your seminary training   00:47:14.800 --> 00:47:19.520 is not totally focused on. But you won't  discover that until five or seven years from now. 00:47:21.840 --> 00:47:24.480 Maybe I'll lose my capacity to speak altogether   00:47:25.840 --> 00:47:30.400 and so all the training that I've  had for studies to speak and teach   00:47:31.200 --> 00:47:38.000 that won't be there anymore. And so my fundamental  resource is my relationship in Christ because   00:47:38.000 --> 00:47:46.560 in there I will discover what I most need to live  out this calling in whatever circumstances I'm in. 00:47:48.000 --> 00:47:56.560 An eighth point of this is Romans 11:29 and  it's the idea that His calling is irrevocable.   00:47:57.920 --> 00:48:01.920 The gifts and the callings of God  are irrevocable for the church.   00:48:02.880 --> 00:48:10.160 His call cannot be taken back. He does not repent  of this call. He does not reject ultimately.   00:48:11.840 --> 00:48:15.680 You are called and this  will not be revoked on you.   00:48:16.800 --> 00:48:20.400 This is again the ground in  the bedrock for our life. 00:48:22.080 --> 00:48:32.400 And the ninth principle is that God has  called us. He has called us to shame the wise.   00:48:33.200 --> 00:48:40.160 This calling is not aristocratic. It's not  based upon your sufficiency. It's not based upon   00:48:40.160 --> 00:48:47.120 primarily your creation abilities or skills. Now  often when we think of our vocation, we think of   00:48:47.120 --> 00:48:55.680 what "How am I made and what should I do?" but  again God has all other kinds of purposes. And in   00:48:55.680 --> 00:49:04.080 first Corinthians chapter 1 verse 26 to 29, first  Corinthians 1 26-29 it says that God has called us   00:49:05.520 --> 00:49:13.040 as the foolish ones to shame the wise. He's  called the weak ones to shame the strong. He's   00:49:13.040 --> 00:49:20.320 called those who are nothing to nullify the world  so that no one will boast in himself but in God.   00:49:21.600 --> 00:49:28.240 And so God - this is the kind of the ground of  all that we do. The ground for all that we do   00:49:28.240 --> 00:49:37.600 is God's calling, His purposes - I'm called to  a promise. I'm called in Christ. This is now   00:49:37.600 --> 00:49:44.840 going to be the ground for everything I do. So,  so here's we think of now this our vocation. Um,   00:49:49.600 --> 00:50:03.360 the rock bottom is going to be the univocal  call of God into a promise. That is the,   00:50:03.360 --> 00:50:08.400 that is the bottom for our life. That is the  basis for which all the other vocations will come. 00:50:09.600 --> 00:50:16.000 And what we'll be looking at is we'll  then be looking at the bilateral   00:50:18.480 --> 00:50:28.160 call of God. And this will have to do with the  commands. And there's going to be a whole number   00:50:28.160 --> 00:50:36.160 of these. However, it's too, it's too easy for  us to think This is our vocation - the commands   00:50:36.160 --> 00:50:42.960 of God, following God's will, doing what He  commands us, um, but of course this can just   00:50:42.960 --> 00:50:48.320 become another form of legalism. It can be  another form of hiding from your, your sin,   00:50:48.320 --> 00:50:54.080 your failure, a way to try to cover you, a way  to try to meet all of your unhealthy needs.   00:50:55.360 --> 00:51:04.240 No. We do it on the basis that I'm fundamentally  called to a promise. This is my fundamental call:   00:51:05.600 --> 00:51:11.360 I'm in a promise. It's what He's done, not what  I've done. And so when we think of vocation   00:51:12.080 --> 00:51:15.280 our temptation is always  to think "What should I do   00:51:15.280 --> 00:51:22.080 with a vocation?" when really our fundamental  vocation is how to open to what he has done. 00:51:22.080 --> 00:51:28.480 And so about this, uh, there's a few  spiritual disciplines that, that now a   00:51:28.480 --> 00:51:33.040 number of them are actually kind of focused on  this. I'm just going to focus on a few of them   00:51:33.040 --> 00:51:39.760 but the first is the prayer of recollection. The  prayer of recollection. Recall that we did this   00:51:40.560 --> 00:51:48.640 perhaps in SF501 and you'll have this handout  with you, but in the prayer of recollection,   00:51:48.640 --> 00:51:53.920 recall this is based upon Paul in  Philippians chapter 3 verse 7 and following,   00:51:54.640 --> 00:52:00.720 where Paul is is giving us - as the church  looked at Paul's comments there in Philippians 3,   00:52:01.280 --> 00:52:05.120 they're going to form this into a  prayer - the prayer of recollection   00:52:05.920 --> 00:52:10.400 because Paul is telling us what He is  - what he used to find his identity in   00:52:11.040 --> 00:52:17.600 and what he - and it's basically his works, his  Hebrew badges, his Hebrew honors. And now he says   00:52:17.600 --> 00:52:25.120 I don't, I don't find my identity in anything that  I do anymore. I find my identity solely in Christ. 00:52:25.120 --> 00:52:28.240 So if you have the scriptures  just look for a moment   00:52:28.960 --> 00:52:33.040 at Philippians chapter 3. I  just want to read that text.   00:52:34.240 --> 00:52:40.240 Remember he says that he would have confidence  in the flesh even more than these Judaizers   00:52:40.240 --> 00:52:45.440 and then he lists the things that he used to take  pride in. He was circumcised the eighth day of the   00:52:45.440 --> 00:52:52.480 nation of Israel the tribe of Benjamin; Hebrew of  Hebrews; as to the law, a pharisee; as to zeal,   00:52:52.480 --> 00:52:59.840 he he persecuted the church; as to righteousness  which is in the law, he thought he was blameless.   00:53:00.560 --> 00:53:04.800 And so Paul now looks at that and says that  - that's not my identity, what I've done.   00:53:05.840 --> 00:53:11.600 And now he says in verse seven but whatever  things were gain to me - see this is Paul,   00:53:11.600 --> 00:53:17.200 this is Paul who has gone through a process of  recollecting his heart in his true identity and   00:53:17.200 --> 00:53:22.880 what is it? It's in Christ - whatever things were  gained to me those things I've counted as loss for   00:53:22.880 --> 00:53:29.360 the sake of Christ, it's loss. I count everything  to be loss in view of the surpassing value of   00:53:29.360 --> 00:53:34.400 knowing Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I suffered  the loss of all things and I counted but rubbish   00:53:35.680 --> 00:53:40.400 in order that I may gain  Christ and may be found in Him. 00:53:41.040 --> 00:53:44.320 Notice this this is what  Paul has given his life to   00:53:46.160 --> 00:53:52.480 and be found in Christ not having a righteousness  of my own derived from the wall, from the law.   00:53:53.040 --> 00:54:01.920 Paul is no longer interested in developing his  own righteousness in law keeping. But he wants the   00:54:01.920 --> 00:54:07.040 righteousness that comes from God on the basis of  faith. This is all of what it is to be in Christ.   00:54:08.320 --> 00:54:17.760 And so for Paul his identity was in the promise,  no longer in being a Hebrew or living out commands   00:54:17.760 --> 00:54:24.080 the Torah the law of God. Now that doesn't mean  the law or the Torah is bad. It just means it   00:54:24.080 --> 00:54:29.440 has to be grounded in the promise and so as you  will uh when we come back to the prayer project   00:54:29.440 --> 00:54:35.600 I'll have you do that prayer of recollection  again, where you will process reminding yourself   00:54:36.160 --> 00:54:40.720 of what your true identity is not. My true  identity is not being a teacher, a professor.   00:54:41.440 --> 00:54:48.160 It's not being someone who's a preacher. See these  are all potential false calls. I'm a theologian.   00:54:49.280 --> 00:54:56.080 I'm a philosopher. I'm a great philosopher. I'm  a great teacher. These are all potential false   00:54:56.080 --> 00:54:59.920 calls. These are not your true identity.  Your true identity is "I'm in Christ."   00:54:59.920 --> 00:55:03.840 So I want you to process that. Is that, is  that what really is going on in your life? 00:55:05.680 --> 00:55:07.840 And the second discipline,   00:55:09.760 --> 00:55:16.560 uh, that, that will encourage us if - because it's  going to turn out if our vocation or call is not   00:55:16.560 --> 00:55:22.720 first an effort, it's not first and effort  but rather it's an openness to a reality,   00:55:24.080 --> 00:55:32.560 then the developing of trust or faith in prayer  is going to be crucial in our life. The developing   00:55:32.560 --> 00:55:39.520 of trust or faith will be crucial to really accept  what God has done. That He is really in control of   00:55:39.520 --> 00:55:44.880 our life, that He really cares for us, that we're  really children of the promise, that, that's most   00:55:44.880 --> 00:55:53.760 fundamental. And so um, you will have these two  prayers that I want you to pray. Um so let me, um,   00:55:55.200 --> 00:55:57.920 let me turn now to the, uh, the prayer project. 00:55:57.920 --> 00:56:03.200 Here's what I'd like you to do. The first  prayer project is I would like you to take, uh,   00:56:03.200 --> 00:56:06.720 well it'll be one prayer project. Um,  and it'll last for about 40 minutes.   00:56:08.160 --> 00:56:14.560 I would like you to first for about 20 minutes,  uh, pray through the prayer of recollection,   00:56:15.360 --> 00:56:22.560 and again the primary part of prayer is going  through those things that you might be tempted   00:56:22.560 --> 00:56:30.720 to find your identity. Things like, um, being a  professor, being a husband, being a mother, being   00:56:30.720 --> 00:56:36.080 a father, uh, being a great theologian, being  a great student, being a straight-A student...   00:56:37.040 --> 00:56:40.720 Or it might even be your mess-ups - maybe those  things have really grabbed you. But it's going   00:56:40.720 --> 00:56:44.800 through those and telling the Lord, "Lord, that  is not my true identity." Now as you're going   00:56:44.800 --> 00:56:49.200 through that litany you may discover "Lord,  I know that is deep in me" and talk to the   00:56:49.200 --> 00:56:53.840 Lord about that. And then in the second part of  the prayer - you'll see it on the handout you   00:56:53.840 --> 00:57:01.520 have - it will be to affirm with Paul. And now  your true identity in Christ, who you are, that,   00:57:01.520 --> 00:57:07.120 that at the core you no longer are interested in  a righteousness of your own derived from Torah,   00:57:07.680 --> 00:57:11.600 but that which is through faith in  Christ. And open this because - see   00:57:11.600 --> 00:57:15.600 this is now this prayer I have been  probably praying for about 15 years   00:57:16.320 --> 00:57:24.480 every day because this is just now what it is to  to begin to speak my, my own heart to God about   00:57:24.480 --> 00:57:29.680 what I really want to do. And that is I want to  fundamentally live in a promise. I want to avoid   00:57:29.680 --> 00:57:34.480 moralism. I want to avoid hiding and covering. I  don't want to do that anymore. I want on the basis   00:57:34.480 --> 00:57:41.280 of a promise to open to Him now in the commands  of God, and spend about 20 minutes on that. 00:57:41.280 --> 00:57:44.720 And then the last 20 minutes what I'd like you  to do is I'd like you to take these two prayers.   00:57:45.520 --> 00:57:52.960 You'll have a prayer of cardinal Newman and  a prayer of Thomas Merton. These are prayers   00:57:53.520 --> 00:58:00.560 about developing faith. Faith that God knows what  He's doing even though - now some of you are, you   00:58:00.560 --> 00:58:05.280 may be very clear in your mind what God has called  you in life too and I'll have to say at one level   00:58:05.840 --> 00:58:12.080 This is very clear. You don't have to go running  searching for God's will: You are called to live   00:58:12.080 --> 00:58:17.360 in the promise. But in many of the things we might  be seeking, "What is God's will on something?"   00:58:18.800 --> 00:58:26.640 and these prayers have been written by  saints who, um, who are trying to help us   00:58:27.760 --> 00:58:34.400 know that God is always in control and that  we can trust Him even when sometimes we don't   00:58:34.400 --> 00:58:39.600 know what's going on. And so let me just read  this prayer to you. This is Cardinal Newman. 00:58:41.840 --> 00:58:45.360 And so you'll make this - I, I  want you to spend about 10 minutes   00:58:45.360 --> 00:58:48.800 just meditating on this prayer  as you pray it to the Lord: 00:58:49.360 --> 00:58:55.360 God has created me to do Him some definite  service. He has committed some work to me which He   00:58:55.360 --> 00:59:01.760 has not committed to another. I have my mission.  I may never know it in this life - notice - I   00:59:01.760 --> 00:59:07.440 may never know it in this life but I shall be  told it in the next. I am a link in a chain.   00:59:08.320 --> 00:59:15.520 A bond of connection between persons. He has  not created me for nothing. I shall do good.   00:59:15.520 --> 00:59:23.680 I shall do His work. Therefore I will trust Him.  Whatever, wherever I am I cannot be thrown away.   00:59:25.280 --> 00:59:30.480 If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve  Him. In perplexity, my perplexity may serve   00:59:30.480 --> 00:59:38.240 Him. If I'm in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him. He  does nothing in vain. He knows what He is about. 00:59:38.240 --> 00:59:43.680 This is - can we pray this? God You know what  You're about. Some of you may feel very thrown in,   00:59:43.680 --> 00:59:50.560 "God, I don't know what's going on." And I want  you to pray this, sit with God in this. He may   00:59:50.560 --> 00:59:56.880 take away my friends, He may throw me among  strangers, He may make me feel desolate, make   00:59:56.880 --> 01:00:04.080 my spirits sink, hide my future from me. Still, He  knows what He is about. I just want you take about   01:00:04.080 --> 01:00:09.040 10 minutes. Open your heart to this and whether  you believe this, what you think about this. 01:00:10.080 --> 01:00:14.960 And then I want you to take, uh, the prayer by  Thomas Merton, it's called "The Road Ahead."   01:00:16.160 --> 01:00:21.120 Now this has a different feel to it. Something  else is kind of going on here and as you're   01:00:21.120 --> 01:00:25.360 praying these two prayers I want you to kind of  be open to what is the difference in these two   01:00:25.360 --> 01:00:31.280 prayers. Which one more squares with what you have  felt at times or maybe are even experiencing now.   01:00:32.080 --> 01:00:37.840 But I want you to pray this prayer for about  10 minutes and opening to God. It starts: 01:00:37.840 --> 01:00:44.400 My Lord God, I have no idea where I'm going.  I do not see the road ahead of me right now. I   01:00:44.400 --> 01:00:50.880 cannot know for certain where it will end nor do  I really know myself. And the fact that I think   01:00:50.880 --> 01:00:56.240 that I'm following You or Your will does not mean  that I'm actually doing so. But I believe that the   01:00:56.240 --> 01:01:02.560 desire to please you does in fact please you. And  I hope I have that desire in all that I'm doing.   01:01:03.440 --> 01:01:09.280 I hope that I will never do anything apart from  that desire. And I know that if I do this You   01:01:09.280 --> 01:01:15.760 will lead me by the right road. I may know nothing  about it. Therefore I will trust You - that's what   01:01:15.760 --> 01:01:21.680 these are. These are prayers of trust - though  I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death   01:01:22.480 --> 01:01:29.520 I will not fear for You are ever with me and  You will never leave me to face my perils alone. 01:01:30.240 --> 01:01:33.760 So I want you to do the prayer of  recollection for about 20 minutes   01:01:33.760 --> 01:01:40.080 and these two prayers for a total of 20 minutes  and then write about a page and then you can be   01:01:40.080 --> 01:01:47.040 discussing it with your group. Let me close in  prayer: Father, You can watch over us and teach   01:01:47.040 --> 01:01:53.840 us that we most fundamentally are called in Christ  from all eternity. We're called into a promise.   01:01:53.840 --> 01:02:01.520 This is like no other religion. This is no  other relationship where one can promise so much   01:02:02.560 --> 01:02:10.160 and fulfill so much. So open our heart to this  and bless these students. In Jesus' name, Amen.