新视野

Orders of Vocation(大猫姐姐翻译）

BAPTISM OF OUR LORD                                   January 8  2012 

Orders of Vocation

(Mark 1.4-11)

Introduction

‘What are you going to be when you grow up?’  In my childhood, the regulation answers for a boy were a fireman or a soldier…  or a nurse for a girl.  (I was odd right from the start and I wanted to be a shopkeeper!)  And so our culture rehearses one of the most common (if not universal) recipes for happiness and fulfilment… ‘I will be happy/satisfied when I find that job, that role, that vocation which is just right for me.

“长大后你想成为什么？”在我的孩童时代，男孩对这个问题的普遍回答无非是消防员或士兵等等，而女孩则是成为一个护士。（我从一开始就有奇怪的答案——我想成为一个店老板！）于是，我们的文化重审得到幸福和成就的最普遍的（如果不是最宇宙性的话）秘诀之一——“我若找到适合我的那个工作、成为那个角色、拥有那个职业，那么我将会很幸福很满足。

This dream naturally becomes more sophisticated with age.  (Very few of us actually do become firemen!)  Most of us choose a career, a work, in which we believe we’ll be happy and fulfilled… and this satisfaction quotient is generally given more weight than financial reward… (although the ideal is where both coincide!)  This vocation of course can be a role rather than a paying job – motherhood being the most obvious and common example.

随着年龄的增长，这个梦想很自然变得更加世故。我们当中很少有人真的成为消防员！大部分人则选择一个自认为会幸福和满足的事业和工作⋯⋯并且这种满意系数通常被赋予了比金钱回报还要多的价值（其实最理想的是二者一致）。这种职业生涯更像是一个角色而不是付薪工作，例如，为人之母就是最明显和常见的例子。

Some of us are fortunate to find such a career early in adult life, but many people struggle – lives full of continual change always searching for that elusive ‘right job’ are quite common.  Also common even within outward stability, is that nagging discomfort – ‘this is not working for me, this is not right… there must be a better career for me out there somewhere.’  In reality, the recipe for happiness that says, ‘I’ll be fulfilled when I find the right work, the right vocation’, is not only elusive but very demanding.

有些人可以幸运地在成人后不久就找到这样的事业，但我们也常见到许多人总是在寻觅那种捉摸不定的“合适工作”，伴随着这种变数挣扎着度过人生。有时即便表面上有稳定的工作，但其中却充满了令人不安的唠叨：‘这个对我没用，这个不适合我⋯⋯在别的什么地方一定有对我来说更好的事业’。在现实当中，幸福的秘诀所宣称的“找到合适的工作和职业我就会满足”，不仅令人捉摸不定，而且十分苛求。

(Is there a version of this that continues into retirement… does it morph into a different dream of vocation… as the perfect grandparent or the stellar golfer etc …. or is the absence of this struggle one of the blissful consequences of old age?)

是否这种版本的寻觅和抱怨一直持续到退休？是否它变幻成另外一种职业梦想——成为祖父母或高尔夫球星等等？再或者是因为上了年纪而产生的幸福后果之一就是使这种挣扎的生活不再继续？

It is indeed a great blessing when one is content in one’s work, one’s vocation… where what we do for a living brings satisfaction as well as a pay packet.  And it is indeed tough, when one feels caught in a role or career that is just not ‘happy’… that feels stressful, boring and unsatisfying.  This is such a clear and obvious reality that it seems unchallengeable.  Nevertheless, today, the feast of the Baptism of Our Lord, is one of those days when the faith questions the correlation between work and happiness… asking if it actually works that way… and suggesting we reorient our priorities and look instead in a different place for our satisfaction and fulfilment.

一个人若很满足于自己的工作和职业，确实是一个很大的祝福。我们为谋生而工作给我们带来的不仅是一捆钞票，更是那种满足感。当然，若有人感到自己陷入某种职业或角色，却不感到快乐，只感到压力、乏味和空虚时，那的确是很难受的。这种情况看起来很显然是不可挑战的。不管怎样，今天耶稣受洗的特别聚会就如同在平时的日子我们的信心质疑工作和幸福的关联性一样，我们求问实际上是否可以另辟蹊径⋯⋯重新确定我们的优先顺序，换个不同的地方来寻找我们的满足和自我价值的实现。

The Baptism of Jesus

The limited vision the gospels give us into Jesus’ early development, suggest a child endeavouring to discern what the inner whispers of God mean for him… what is he called to do with his life.[1]  And so at the age of mature adulthood for a Jewish male (30), he travels to the river Jordan where John is baptising, looking for clarity and confirmation of God’s call[2]… and it is there that ‘it’ happens.  All four of the gospels share an unusual agreement on this – it is in the baptism of John that it begins… that Jesus of Nazareth comes to know the path set before him.  Now he knows who he is and what he must do.

福音书中关于耶稣早期成长的记载带给我们的有限认识，使我们知道对一个孩子来说重要的是让他尽力分辨他内心当中上帝的声音——即他生命的呼召。所以当他成长到了对犹太人来说的成熟的成年（30岁）时，他去到约翰施洗的约旦河，以求得上帝对他呼召的确据（這一點具神學爭議﹣溫老師）就是在那里耶稣受了洗。所有的四本福音书对此事件的讲述出奇的一致——伴随着约翰的施洗开始了耶稣的受洗⋯⋯拿撒勒人耶稣也知道了那摆在他前面的道路，如今他知道他是谁且知道他必须要做的事。（這一點具神學爭議﹣溫老師）

It is in this experience of the Spirit that Jesus is anointed for his great work, his vocation… as Christ and Saviour.  There is in his baptism the power of God’s touch (Jesus feels it!)… but the accompanying words show us as witnesses what has happened here.  “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’[3]

正是借着此次圣灵的工作，耶稣受膏为基督和救主来从事他的伟大的工作和职业。正是耶稣的受洗使得神的能力触摸到他（耶稣也感受到了）⋯⋯但伴随着耶稣的受洗而说的话语向我们在这里做了见证：“这是我的爱子，我所喜爱的”。

Note that there are no details – no strategy for ministry; no message to be delivered; no mention of disciples or church – no job description at all of what he has to do!  Just two crucial realities are communicated…

请注意这里没有更多的细节——没有事工策略；没有释放的信息；没有提到门徒或教会－也根本没有关于他所要做的职位描述！只有两个关键的现实在这里做了交代：

• who Jesus is…  (He is God’s beloved son)… and…

耶稣是谁⋯⋯（他是上帝的爱子）⋯⋯以及⋯⋯

• where Jesus stands in relationship with God…  (God is delighted with him!)

And this is the source from which his vocation flows.

耶稣与上帝的关系⋯⋯（上帝喜悦他！）——这是他的工作得以进行的源泉。

Orders of Vocation

The faith challenges our common assumption and says that happiness… peace… fulfilment… come not so much from what we do… but rather from knowing:

信心挑战我们通常的假设，且告诉我们幸福、平安、满足等等不是来自我们做什么，而是来自我们是否知道：

• who we are – that is, who God created us to be; and

我们是谁－即，上帝创造我们成为什么；并且

• how we stand in relationship with God.

我们与上帝的关系如何

The emphasis is not so much on doing, but rather on being and on relationship… especially our relationship with God.  And if we can get a handle on those two critical fundamentals, then what to do will not only flow quite seamlessly and naturally… but also carry less weight of hope and expectation.

重点不是我们所做的，而是我们是谁，我们的关系⋯⋯

特别是我们与神的关系。若我们掌握了这两个关键的基本原则，那么我们做什么将不仅仅天衣无缝，而且我们所背负的期望的重担也会轻省很多。

Christian tradition teaches that there are actually three orders of vocation in descending priority…

基督徒的传统教导我们实际上职业按优先排序有三个次序。

1. The first vocation of a human being is to live!  God’s greatest gift to each of us is the breath and spirit of life.  And so God asks us, ‘Will you live… will you truly live?’  (Sadly many of us who are breathing are not really living!)  God invests us with life and being… gives us our own unique name… and thus our first and critical vocation is… to be who we are created to be.

人的第一职业是活着！上帝给我们每个人的最伟大的礼物就是气息和属灵的生命。并且神因此问我们：‘你想要活着吗⋯⋯你真的想要活着吗？’（不幸的是我们当中有很多人有气息但却不是真正的活人！）上帝赐予我们生命并留存我们，赐予我们独一的名字，因此我们第一重要的职业是成为上帝所创造的我们的样子。

1. The second priority of vocation is to relate… that is to respond to our Creator in love… to be in faithful relationship with God; to receive God’s love, to respond to God’s love, and to share this love with all people.  Relationship is the second order of vocation.

第二优先的职业是与他人的关系⋯⋯也就是我们以爱来回应造物主⋯⋯跟神有忠实的关系；接受上帝的爱，回应上帝的爱，并与所有人分享这种爱。关系是职业的第二优先。

1. And only then can we hope to attend properly to the third priority of vocation… that is, what we do with our lives… work, career, role etc.  Now this is important…to name what we do as the third priority is not to belittle its importance or its place in the order of vocation.  Who we are and how we stand with God must be expressed in action… in work for the peace, justice and the good of society… What we do is the fruit of our being and our relating.

然后我们只能希望我们可以恰当地涉入职业的第三优先⋯⋯，即，在我们的生活中我们应做什么⋯⋯工作、事业、角色等等。现在这个很重要⋯⋯将我们所做的定义为第三优先并不是贬低其在职业次序中的重要性和地位。我们是谁以及我们与上帝的关系必须通过我们的行为来表达⋯⋯我们工作是为了社会的和平、公正和益处。“我们做什么”是“我们是谁”和“我们与上帝关系”的果子。

But if we invert the order of vocational priority and focus on ‘what to do’ as the main game, as the first priority… we will never ‘get there’…   We will never find true satisfaction… fulfilment… no matter how good the job/role is.  And not only are we less fruitful and useful to those around us, the work of God’s Spirit in our life is stalled and frustrated. [4]  It doesn’t work that way!

但是如果我们颠倒了求职的优先次序，并将焦点放在“我们做什么”，将其作为主要游戏、作为第一优先，那么我们将永远不能实现我们的目标，我们永远找不到真正的满足、真正的成就感，不论这工作或职责有多少好。并且，不仅我们因此缺少了成就感，对周围的人少了益处，而且圣灵在我们生命中的工作也将停下来，且倍受挫折。总之，那样做是行不通的。

Conclusion

Richard Rohr, the wonderful American Franciscan teacher, tells the story of giving counsel to a young man, a recent university graduate about to commence his career…  The young man was agonising about whether he should take a job in Chicago or New York… both jobs had their attractions but he wanted to take the one that was God’s will for him…  And as zealous young men are apt to do, he went on and on and on about all the possibilities, the options etc, etc… until Richard Rohr interrupted.  “Young man, God has no opinion about whether you take the job in Chicago or New York… in fact God doesn’t care.  Choose which ever one you feel strongest about, and then when you get to whichever city it is, look at God and say, ‘Here I am and I’m ready’… and trust me, God will have work for you to do!”

Richard Rohr，一个优秀的美籍圣芳济会教师，告诉我们一个他所辅导过的年轻人的故事。这个年轻人最近刚从大学毕业，准备开始他的职业生涯。他在是否去芝加哥还是去纽约工作二者之间徘徊和踌躇，这两个工作都有各自的吸引力，但他想选择一份符合上帝旨意的工作。带着热情洋溢的年轻人特有的灵敏，他不断地讲啊讲各种的可能性和选择等等，直到Richard Rohr打断他说：“年轻人啊，上帝对你去芝加哥或是纽约工作都没有意见，事实上，上帝并不关心这个，你只要选择你感觉很想做的工作就好了，然后当你到了任何一个你决定去的城市后，仰望上帝并告诉他：‘我在这里，已准备好了’⋯⋯请相信我，上帝一定有要你做的工作！”

Even within the church, we spend so much time and energy trying to determine what job we should do… and… yes, it is important… but we’re starting at the wrong end of the process… we’re getting the priorities in the wrong order.  If only we would take that energy and focus it instead on:

即便在教会里，我们也是花费大量的时间和精力试图决定我们应当做什么工作，当然这是很重要的，但我们的流程一开始就错了，我们的优先次序颠倒了。相反，如果我们只把精力和注意力放在：

• Who has God created me to be; and

上帝造我成为谁；以及

• What is happening in relationship between me and my Creator,

我和造物主之间的关系正在发生着什么变化

then the question of ‘what am I to do’ will be answered quite naturally and freely… without all the unhelpful expectation and baggage.

那么关于“我将应该做什么”的回答将十分自然流畅，没有任何毫无帮助的期望和负累。

Then, the faith says, contentment, peace, satisfaction – who knows, even happiness – will flow… and critically, so will fruit for the Kingdom.  Good actions, good works… blessings will flow seamlessly from you… from your presence as well as your labours.

然后，信心会宣告知足、平安、满足等——谁知道——甚至幸福会涌流而入。而且重要的是，我们会为天国结出果子。好行为和美好的祝福等等将不断地从你身上和你的行为向外不断溢出。

When Jesus comes up from the waters of baptism, he hears God’s voice speak, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’   And it’s from this foundation that his ministry of salvation begins!

当耶稣受洗完从水里出来的时候，他听到上帝的声音说：‘你是我的爱子，是我所喜悦的。’这正是耶稣拯救世人的事工开始的基石。