Called and Sent · Stop 1
What does your everyday work have to do with God?
You might think holy work belongs to pastors and missionaries. Luther disagreed. He said the cook in the kitchen and the student at the desk are doing work as holy as anything in a church building, as long as they're doing it for God and neighbor.
Start this stopCalling
Christians use the word vocation to talk about everyday work. It means calling. Luther taught that God calls people to be ministers, and also farmers, parents, teachers, nurses, and neighbors. Every honest job is a calling.
Luther taught that every baptized person is a priest. People call this the priesthood of all believers. Every baptized person is a priest, not because they lead worship, but because they stand between God and their neighbor. You carry God's care to the people around you every single day.
God works through ordinary things. The baker who makes your bread is God's hands feeding you. The nurse who sits with the sick is God's hands caring for them. You don't have to be doing something religious to be doing God's work.
What if you don't know your calling yet? That's normal. Luther said the place to start is right where you are, with what's in front of you. The work you do today for the people you can see is your calling right now.
Read it in your Bible
- Colossians 3:23–24. Paul tells workers to do everything with their whole heart, as though they're working for God and not for people. He says the inheritance they'll receive comes from God, and that Christ is the one they're truly serving.
- 1 Peter 2:9. Peter writes that believers are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, and a holy nation. God called them out of darkness into light so they could tell others how wonderful God is.
The First Article, from Luther's Small Catechism
He provides me richly and daily with all that I need to support this body and life, protects me from all danger, and guards me and preserves me from all evil; and all this out of pure, fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me; for all which I owe it to Him to thank, praise, serve, and obey Him. This is most certainly true.
I believe that God has made me and all creatures; that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my limbs, my reason, and all my senses, and still preserves them.
Words to know
- Vocation. A word that means calling, used to describe any honest work done for God and neighbor. Your job, your role at home, your friendship with someone who needs you: all of this is vocation.
- Calling. What God gives you in church and in every place you live and work. You don't have to wait until you know your life's purpose. Your calling today is the people and tasks right in front of you.
- Priesthood. Luther said every baptized person has this, meaning you carry God's care to the people around you. It isn't a rank. It's a job every Christian has.
- Neighbor. The person right in front of you who needs what you have to give. Luther said vocation isn't about grand plans. It's about the neighbor you can actually see.
- Holy. Set apart for God, including ordinary work done faithfully for others. Luther taught that work in a kitchen can be as holy as work in a church.