Theology 101 No. 22

Last week we began to look at the subject of vocation. Many people when they hear this word think of their job, their career, what they do for a living. But vocation literally means “calling.” As Christians, God uses the various callings in our lives to further His purposes. For example, He uses us in the work place as a means for working out His providence and care of others. We have a God that works most often through these kind of ordinary means.

Most people have vocations, or callings, outside of their occupation. Being a spouse is a God-given vocation. Being a parent is a Godly calling. Being a Christian citizen is also. Understanding vocation helps us to understand how it is that God works in our lives and how He uses us when we live out the command of our Lord Jesus to love our neighbor as ourselves. We also discussed that in every calling that we have in God, in every aspect of our lives, there are two questions that we ask ourselves to help determine if we are fulfilling our vocation(s) and Christ’s Law of love. When we ask ourselves, “Is what I am doing loving my neighbor?” and “Is what I am doing bringing glory to God?” we are searching for a yes answer to both of these questions.

All our vocations, or callings, are a gift from God and are an extension and an example of the Gospel at work in people’s lives. There is no part of our life that is hidden or separated from God and as such there is no part of our life that is untouched by the God-given gift of vocation. Having taken a generalized look at what the Doctrine of Vocation is, we now turn our attention to more specific areas of God’s work in our lives. In this edition we look at being Christians and our individual callings in the church/congregation.

These days many people criticize or minimize what they call the “institutional church.” Scores of people say things like, “I don’t need to go to church. I can worship God in my own way and in my own time.” Today’s entertainment driven society causes people to see the “traditional” church as “unspiritual” or to use our kids’ terminology – “boring” meaning it’s not flashy enough. People think that somehow the Spirit of God works better with drums and guitars – or with an electronic sideshow. The reality is that God works in the same old manner as He has for centuries.

We read last week about how God seems to work through “masks”– that He seems to hide behind very ordinary objects and people and it is through these everyday things that God works. It is no different in the church. Just because God, Father, Son or Holy Spirit, is not seen – just because there are no spectacular spiritual special effects or because those who worship Him in church are not religious super heroes – does not mean He is not present. Jesus promised, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there in the midst of them.” Jesus is present and the Holy Spirit is working in and through the Word and Sacraments, just as He promised to do.

Again, to our entertainment driven society, it may not seem exciting that God is working through ordinary, imperfect people or through the seemingly humdrum tasks of singing in the choir, serving as and elder, being on the board of trustees, teaching in Sunday School, or doing work on the various committees or boards or service groups of our congregation. These are, however, means by which our God works through you and me and these are critical areas of service that are tremendous blessings to the whole congregation and even to people outside of our church.

Much of what people see wrong with the institutional church stems from their lack of understanding of what the church is. But before we answer that question we need to understand who we are as Christians and exactly how our being in a congregation is yet another God-given vocation. Being a Christian is itself a calling. In fact, you become a Christian by being called by God. All over the New Testament we run into phrases like, “those who are called according to His purpose,” and “those whom He called He also justified,” and “He called you through the Gospel.” To be called, in the Biblical sense, means to hear a voice. Parents, when you call your children to supper, you usually call them by name our announce that supper is ready. In the same way God has called you with a voice. Jesus taught, “My sheep listen to my voice.” St. Paul taught, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” You are called to faith by the voice of Jesus Christ working through the Holy Spirit who in turn works through the Word. St. Paul says it well in I Thessalonians:

“For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.”

God uses that Word to call us to Him and to faith by showing us our sinfulness and our need for His intervention to bring us to eternal salvation. A Christian, plainly put, is someone who has heard and believed the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The same voice that called light into being has called us into faith. The same God who created the universe has created faith in you, when you were once dead in your sin and unbelief. And this power, this awesomeness of God, is not diminished one bit because He has uses the ordinary means of words written on a page, a witness to the Gospel made by a fellow, sinful human being, or the forgiveness of sins communicated through ordinary water and the word, or through bread and wine, body and blood. And as God has used these ordinary means to call and sustain us in faith, He has also called us to something new: A new life; a new way of thinking and living; a new attitude toward the people in your life. As a Christian you have been called to something.

By God’s powerful Word we have been called into this body of believers we call a church. This assembly of believers is called the ekklesia and it is usually translated as church or congregation in the Bible. But ekklesia literally means ek – out of and klesia – to call. The church is quite literally the assembly of those who have been called out of the world and their sin. The Church is ordinary people coming out of the secular world and coming together to worship their God. This place is where God calls, gathers and enlightens His Church, His believers, so that they can receive from Him, again through seemingly very ordinary means, His grace and love and mercy and care and nurturing.

What does all of this mean for us? It means that God has called us here and is using you and me for the purposes of the Gospel. It means we come here to learn what God has to say to us in His Word. It means understanding what God desires of us in our lives. It means learning and understanding how we can love and care for our neighbor – both physically (like the food pantry) and spiritually (like witnessing to the love of God in Jesus Christ to all who do not know Him). It means serving in the church with the talents and abilities God has given you for the building up of this congregation of believers. It means not running the other way when the nominations committee asks you to serve. It means not being afraid or too proud to ask for help from your brothers and sisters in Christ when you are unable to care for yourself or get something done.

Being a church is not simply about sitting in these pews. Your vocation as a Christian, specifically as a member of a congregation, finds its meaning and its expression in doing what God has called you to do: to believe in Him and to serve your fellow man in the same love He has shown you in Christ. We do it by serving one another in all the offices – from chairman of the congregation to custodian; from president of Ladies Aid to square cutter in Missions sewing; from caring for a neighbor to being helping hand. Our calling as a Christian is marked by the power of God and it is through you that He continues to show His power in our lives to others. God has made us so much more than a name on a list.

Christ came to serve us by His life, death, and resurrection. He continues to serve and build us up through the means of grace. As He has called us to faith, He has also called us to serve one another in love and fellowship. We are His church and it is through you and me, each masks of God, that He has chosen to send out His message of salvation in Jesus Christ to the world.