Vocations Sunday

Recent months we have seen the publication of new biographies of two of our greatest poets, John Donne, who died in 1631 and RS Thomas who departed this life a mere eight years ago. John Donne had been born into a Catholic family, but later converted to the Church of England. As a man with a good legal and administrative brain he soon secured a position as Secretary to the Lord Keeper of the Seal and a promising career at court lay before him. That was until he made the huge mistake of marrying Ann Moore, when she was still a minor and her father was unaware it was happening. The court closed ranks against him, he lost his job and was forced to rely on the charity of his friends over many years.

It was as he was hanging around frustrated and delusional that the Dean of Gloucester suggested to him that he should become ordained. Given the erotic and satirical nature of much of his early poetry the Dean's suggestion came something of a surprise. But the Church had room for someone who could argue the case for the emerging Church of England and Donne's wide reading during his years of inactivity had turned him into a serious thinker and writer. After years of failed ambition, sickness and poverty the thought of a guaranteed living in the Church was very tempting. But Donne knew the reputation of his early life and declined the invitation. It was to be another eight years before he would embrace holy orders, by which time the power of his writing had brought him to the attention of the Crown. Thus within a year of ordination he had been appointed a Chaplain to the King and the Deanery of St Paul's was to follow soon after. Here he was able to continue with the reading and writing that had sustained him during his years of inactivity.

Like Donne, Thomas was an educated man, but for him the path to ordination had been less tortuous. One evening the family had gathered round to discuss what the young Thomas should do and decided that he should be ordained. Soon after he went to Bangor and the theological college at Llandaff and a long ministry followed in the country parishes of Wales. These were not demanding assignments and there was plenty of time for reading and writing, or, in Thomas's case, composing poetry.

Throughout his life Thomas followed a set pattern, of writing in the morning and visiting in the afternoon. This was not unusual for the clergy and indeed was the pattern of my childhood. For while my father was not a poet, he was an historian and in our small country parish there was ample scope for reading and writing. Indeed it seemed to me as a young man that this slow and measured life had much to commend it.

In one of his poems Thomas wrote about his fellow clergy and in the poem he captures something of this gentle and ordered existence:

"I see them working in old rectories
By the sun's light, by candlelight.
Venerable men, their black cloth
A little dusty, a little green
with old mildew; their skulls
ripening over their many prayers."

This ordered pattern of prayer, study and pastoral care has been a feature of the clerical life for centuries; and indeed persists today. But as the Church has lost touch with society there has been a growing expectation of a more active ministry. Today's clergy need to be seen out and about doing things and a parish priest who spent most of their time reading and saying their prayers would now be seen as something of an anachronism. Indeed candidates for ordination now have to demonstrate that they have a heart for mission and the ability to connect in this fast moving and complex world.

This changing pattern of ministry provokes a question at the heart of today's Church. Is it the role of the clergy to lead the mission of the church, or is it their task to nurture the faithful and equip them to be the ones who carry the gospel into the world?

On this vocations Sunday the Church gives us a reading of the Good Shepherd. The image of the Good Shepherd has traditionally been received as a support to the pastoral ministry. The emphasis is on the one who cares and elsewhere in St John's Gospel Jesus talking to Peter emphasises the importance of feeding the sheep and caring for them. But we read these messages against the background of shepherding in this country where the shepherd watches over the flock and only steps in when there is a problem. To be a shepherd in Palestine was somewhat different. There the shepherd is seen in three quite different modes. In the first place he leads the sheep. As our gospel suggests they are penned in at night and the shepherd, not content to lock the door, as it were, and leave them to their own devices, puts himself in the doorway to protect them from harm. In the morning the sheep are reluctant to go out. Overnight they have heard the noises of the wild animals and now they are afraid to leave the safety of their pen for fear of what they might meet in the world outside. But they trust the shepherd and so he is able to lead them out and give them confidence to engage with the world.

The second mode is when we see the shepherd standing still resting on his staff. The weather is hot and too much activity will tire the sheep. There need to be times in the day when they rest and gather strength. The actions of the shepherd give them confidence to stop what they are doing, gather round and draw strength.

The third mode is when the shepherd is seen to be following the sheep. They are the ones who are leading the way and the shepherd now acts in support of them. It is for them to take the initiative and go where they will. But the shepherd will not leave them alone and if one does go astray he is always on hand to bring it back.

These three images point to the Good Shepherd as the one who in different contexts will lead, care and support. In the first instance the Good Shepherd is not afraid to go out into the world. At times it may seem dark and threatening, but he or she knows that this is God's world. In the death and resurrection of Jesus all evil has been overcome and a new light has dawned. To go out into the world is not to become separated from Christ in the Church; it is to discover him anew in places where his salvation is most needed. The Good Shepherd instils confidence in the flock by leading them out into the world where they will encounter Christ in new and more powerful ways.

It is the task of the Good Shepherd to feed the sheep. And he or she knows that the best place to feed is not in the pen on dry hay, but out in the world where the grass is green and fresh and more nutritious. Speaking a week or two back Todd Becker, a Reader in the Church and a human rights campaigner said of himself, "I draw energy from people, from the work I do, from leading worship and from being with people who are seeking". We gain energy from living in the world. Thus, while the image of the shepherd gathered around him is a reminder that a priest has an important task in teaching and nurturing the people, the real energy comes from engagement with the world outside. The priest must not keep the people trapped in the Church; he or she must lead them out for their soul's health.

The third image is a reminder that people who are always being led become dependent. They need to be allowed to go out and explore for themselves what it means to be a Christian in today's world. Unless they are encouraged to do that the world will only ever encounter God through the life of the clergy and those who shelter around them. Instead they need to encounter God in and through those Christian men and women who are seeking to live the Christian way in the world with all its difficulties and problems.

So the image of the Good Shepherd that we are presented with today suggests a 'both-and' to our question. The ordained ministry is both to nurture and resource the people and also to lead them out into mission. But it is not an exclusive 'both-and'. Their priestly ministry, whether nurturing or leading, is to empower the laity and give them confidence to carry forward the mission in the world. The lay vocation is to live the life in the world and to share the Gospel in those places where God has called them to be.

The story of John Donne is an interesting case study of how God works in the lives of people. Having thrown off the God of his childhood Donne had to find God in a new way. That journey of discovery led to ordination. But where did his vocation begin? The answer in one sense is that it never did begin. God's call is to all of us all the time.

We tend to think that vocation begins when we sense a call to ordination. But the suggestion by the Dean of Gloucester that Donne take Holy Orders because he would be a useful ally in countering Roman propaganda; or the decision by a Welsh family in the back kitchen that their son should be ordained puts an interesting slant on that word 'vocation'. It suggests that vocation may have more to do with life than with ordination as such. In other words regardless of what we do it only becomes a vocation when we do it for God. This is as true for you as for me. God is calling each one of us to live His life in and through our own lives. When we say yes to that we have a vocation. Thus in the end our vocation is about hearing what God is saying to us and following it in obedience and faith. Ordination focuses this truth for the whole Church.

More sermons, modern and historical, available in Norwich Cathedral Library

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