Old Testament

ABRAHAM (GENESIS CHAPTER 12 VERSES 1-5)

The first thing that God asks of Abraham is that he is to put aside everything that he has been
used to and then he is to embark on a new way of life, which will bring great reward. It is God
who takes the initiative and who also promises that Abraham will be great. Abraham will not be a
self-made man; it is God who will accomplish the great work. What is Abraham’s response to
this? The story, as recorded in the book of Genesis, portrays Abraham as a man of faith who puts
his trust in God despite the risks and sacrifice involved. The element of sacrifice in the story is
important - it would be a huge step for Abraham to give up all the things that he was used to such
as home, family, shelter and employment. As he set off to fulfil God’s command he was
embarking on a journey that he
knew virtually nothing about, anything could have happened. Later on, Abraham is once again
called to put his trust in God when the Lord asks him to sacrifice his son (Genesis chapter 22
verses 1-9).

SAMUEL (1 SAMUEL CHAPTER 3 VERSES 1-21)

Clearly at the time of his calling, Samuel was only a very young boy, and yet God still had a
place for him in his work. Some may find it surprising that God chose someone so young and
inexperienced in the ways of the world, but the fact remains that he was called. The story of
Samuel reminds us that that God calls very different types of people for His special work. It is not
really possible to put labels on them or to identify certain characteristics that are common to all
whom he calls. Each has their strengths and weaknesses, as well as different temperaments and
ideas. In Samuel’s story the part played by Eli the priest is important. It is Eli who realizes who it
is that is really calling the boy and he helps him to respond to that call.

JEREMIAH (Jeremiah 1:5-6)

Another great person of the Old Testament who struggled with his vocation is the prophet
Jeremiah. God said to him, before I formed you in the womb I knew you;
Before you came to birth I consecrated you;
I appointed you as prophet to the nations.” (Jer 1:5) But Jeremiah did not respond with faith, at
first he responded with lack of faith like Moses. He said, “Lord Yahweh, I do not know how to
speak, I am only a child.” (Jer 1:6) But after an interior struggle Jeremiah answered God’s call.

MOSES ( Exodus 3:11)

When God called Moses he objected many times to God’s call. God said to Moses, “I am sending
you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt” (Ex 3:11) and Moses replied,
“Who am I to go to Pharaoh…?” Then in the Book of Exodus there is a long conversation
between God and Moses and several times God has to reassure Moses that he will be with him to
help him but each time Moses finds some new excuse for not answering God’s call. The next
excuse Moses gave God was, “but suppose they [the Hebrews] will not believe me or listen to my
words, and say to me, ‘Yahweh has not appeared to you’?” (Ex 4:1). Again God reassured him
but Moses found another excuse, “Please my Lord, I have never been eloquent…for I am slow
and hesitant of speech.” (Ex 4:10). Again God reassured Moses but once again Moses made an
excuse, “Please, my Lord, send anyone you decide to send!” (Ex 4:13) It was quite a struggle for
God to get Moses to answer his call. Moses knew that it would be difficult to lead the Israelites
out of Egypt and he hesitated many times when called by God but eventually he answered the
call. He surrendered himself and his way of thinking to God who knows what is best.

EZEKIEL
Ezekiel’s message, while clearly communal in its concern, is addressed, more than was pre-exilic
prophecy, to the individual. “O house of Israel,” says the God of Ezekiel, “I will judge all of you
according to your ways” (Ezekiel 33:20b).

ELIJAH
the story is told of Elijah’s encounter with the prophets of Baal and its aftermath. Here we see the
contrast between, on the one hand, the overpowering public display of an Almighty God, who—
16 Vocation as in days of yore—answered with fire, proving his presence in outward
demonstration of his power and, on the other hand, his private answer to Elijah. On Mount Horeb,
however, all of the old signs—the great natural powers—are on display. First is the great wind,
then the earthquake, and finally a fire. But the text reveals that the Lord was not in any of these
things. Instead, “after the fire a still small voice.” It was in this small voice that only Elijah could
hear that the Lord was authentically present (1 Kings 19).

New Testament

MARY (LUKE CHAPTER 1 VERSES 26-38)

The story of the Annunciation is probably well known to us. It is a story of faith and trust in God
by a young girl whom he calls for a unique task - that of giving
birth to Jesus, who enters into time and space as true God and true man. The first thing that we
can learn from this story then is that it is a great privilege to be
chosen by God to serve him in a special way. And what is Mary’s response? Saint Luke tells us
that she was disturbed by the angel’s words and wonders why
she has been chosen, but the angel reassures her that this is God’s will and she has nothing to
fear. “I am the handmaid of the Lord,” replies Mary, “let what
you have said be done to me.” Despite the responsibilities, consequences and difficulties that will
come her way as a result of saying “Yes” to God, Mary
accepts what he has in mind for her because she knows that she is called to serve God in complete
trust and selflessness.

PETER (LUKE CHAPTER 5 VERSES 1-11)

According to Saints Luke, Matthew and Mark, the first apostle to be called is Peter the fisherman.
Peter is not a “professional” religious person, just an ordinary
man with an ordinary job and yet he is chosen by God as leader of the apostles. If we look
elsewhere in the New Testament we find that he is quite a
character, with clear personality traits. In his favour, he is willing to try something new, he is a
man who makes quick decisions, he is not afraid to speak his
mind, but he can also be a very humble man. We must also consider the fact that he can be
impetuous, scared, and at times, out of his depth. Perhaps if we
were to look for a perfect model of an individual’s response to God’s call, Peter might not be at
the top of the list. But Peter teaches us that there is nothing
special about the people God calls, they are ordinary people from ordinary backgrounds, but who,
with the help of the Lord, do extraordinary things.

Rich Young Man (Mark 10:17-22)

The rich young man turned his back on Jesus’ call. The young man had kept all the
commandments since his youth and we read that Jesus looked steadily at him and loved him.
Jesus asked him to do one more thing, to sell what he had and follow Jesus. But the young man’s
face fell at these words of Jesus and he went away sad. He went away sad because he wanted to
follow Jesus and he wanted to keep his possessions.

Jesus’ Vocation

Jesus too experienced a “call” which tradition identifies as his “baptism.” A pious person like
Jesus heard of a prophet who was mighty in word and deed: “Why then did you go out? To see a
prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet” (Matt 11:9). Jesus joined others and made a
pilgrimage to the Jordan to hear John. All of these pilgrim separated from their families and
homes to enter into a liminal process typical of status transformation rituals. John was
distinguished for purificatory rites, which took the place of sin offerings in the Temple. Like all
prophets, he could read hearts and see through hypocrisy (Matt 3:7-10). We assume that Jesus
observed all of this, and in doing so he himself learned to be a prophet, which in ritual studies is
called the liminal state leading to a status transformation. At the appropriate time, Jesus presented
himself to John, his mentor, for some conclusion of his stay. His “baptism,” then, may be seen as
a status transformation ritual whereby this pious person was taught to be a prophet and finally
established as a God-favored person with heavenly power to battle Evil and Satan.

Saul/Paul

While Paul comes from “a no low-status city” (Acts 21:39), Nathanael knows that nothing good
can come from Nazareth (John 1:46)? Generation looks to descent from a noble family, tribe or
clan, and Paul enjoys an honorable pedigree: “of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a
Hebrew born of Hebrews” (Phil 3:5). Yet even in this orthodox matrix, God had already “called”
Paul: God had “‘set me apart’ before I was born, and ‘called’ me through his grace” (Gal 1:15).
From before he was born, then, he had a “vocation” from God. As regards his training, Paul was
brought up as a Pharisee’s Pharisee: “I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my own age, so
zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers” (1:14; see Phil 3:6). As regards deeds, he was
convinced that he served God most faithfully when he persecuted the deviant followers of Jesus:
“I persecuted the church of God and violently tried to destroy it” (Gal 1:13). But God changed
him. However, in Paul’s case, God instigates the change by illuminating Paul with favored
knowledge. Previously Paul considered Jesus as a maverick, a sinner whose poison in Israel he
must expel. But “God revealed his Son to me” (1:16), causing Paul to change his mind about
Jesus, now acknowledging Jesus as “Son” (and Christ, Lord).