RE-CALLED BY GOD
Michael Jinkins
July 1, 1990
What, exactly, sustains us in our vocation: a memory, a feeling, a sense, an idea, or something more tangible? And how do we recover a sense of calling when our feelings and memories lag? Questions like these badgered me recently when I was studying in Scotland. During that time, our washing machine broke down. I talked with the repairman-or service engineer, as he is called in Scotland-as he sat on our kitchen floor, dissecting our clothes washer. He had discussed his own church experience as a Roman Catholic in Glasgow. He opined about the priesthood and ministry in general. Then he asked me, "Why are you a minister?" It was a simple question, asked without guile. But I was stumped for a moment. "I'm sorry," he said. "Maybe I shouldn't ask something so personal." "No," I answered, "it's a good question. Only it just occurred to me that the way I would have answered you ten years ago isn't how I'd answer you now. Ten years ago I'd have said God called me, though he never spoke to me out loud. And I'd have left it at that. But now-now I'd have to go a little further." The service engineer stopped working for a minute to look at me, waiting for me to continue. "You see," I said, "I believe God has made each of us so that we can do many things. And I believe that in whatever we do for a living, we can follow Jesus. The church ministry is sort of a job, a profession in which we help people care for other people. I'm a minister now because I believe I was created with certain abilities that fit well with that job description. I like helping other people discover who they are and what they are meant to be. And I believe Christ is the key for us to be real human beings together." I looked at the repairman, unsure if I was just spouting ...
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