Sunday, August 10th

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen. 

            We read from 1 Corinthians 12:  We were all baptized by one Spirit into one body.  Now the body is not made up of one part but of many…  There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit.  There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.  There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.  Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.  So far the text. 

            Today we reach the conclusion of our sermon series on vocation.  It’s been my goal and prayer that these weeks would help us to see God hidden in all the blessings that surround us so that we live gratefully.  It’s God who feeds you through the work of a farmer; God who heals you through the work of a doctor; God who clothes you through the work of a parent; God who supports you through your boss; God who protects you through your government; and God who delivers His grace in Word and Sacrament through your pastor.  All this could be easily missed, as God hides Himself behind the everyday labors of His people.  Yet, we are grateful, knowing “every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights.”

            Likewise, these weeks have given us to know we are links in this chain as God reaches through us in service to our family, employers, spouse, and neighbor.   The people we meet aren’t accidents, but opportunities formed in God’s foresight for we who are God’s workmanship “to do the good works God prepared in advance for us to do.” 

            Your vocation is nothing less than the station in life you have been given by God Himself to serve others, and by serving others you serve God.  It has been well said that the Christian lives every moment in this world, working and serving God as though our salvation depended solely upon us.  We should have a holy urgency to be about God’s work.  All the while, we live every moment trusting and knowing that our salvation is a free gift from God given to us through faith for Jesus’ sake.  We don’t deserve it.  We can’t earn the gift of God’s love.  It’s this knowledge, this confidence and trust that Christ declares us to be God’s forgiven people that moves us purposefully into the world as “God works in us both to will and to act.”  Our works don’t make us Christians, but by Spirit-given faith Christians do good works, like seeds growing where God plants us.

            These weeks we’ve tried to establish the truth that since God has His hands in our lives and world, and God wears us like a glove reaching into the lives of others, that the ordinary lives and responsibilities of a Christian are holy callings, opportunities to “let your light so shine before men that they see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

            Today, we consider our vocation in church.  Here again, in the church, God calls us to serve others, and by serving others we serve Him.  One could incorrectly conclude that since every part of my life is a holy calling, my calling in the church is irrelevant or unimportant.  The same way we don’t use our responsibilities as a husband or wife to excuse us from parenting we receive our stations in life as responsibilities from God and resist the urge to play them against each other. 

            For example, consider this… How many of you thought as you mowed your lawn this week, I wonder who’s mowing at church?  If you worked on a leaky faucet, how many wondered who was working on faucets in the new building?  When you see kids coming down from Sunday school, how many have considered teaching?  As you paid your bills, how many asked who takes care of these responsibilities at church?

            How does everything get done?  Who’s doing all the work?  You’ve seen those army training courses where the guys crawl through the mud while guns are fired over their heads.  It seems to me too many Christians are crawling through their lives in the church, keeping their heads down and hoping not to get shot!  I don’t want to be a treasurer, so I’ll just keep my head down, someone else will do it.

            It’s also tempting to work and support only things I voted for, standing on the edges waiting for it to fail or insisting on getting my way.  It gets dangerous when disgruntled members grumble and form factions, lining up behind their leaders.  That’s a long way from the Bible’s image of the Church as the Body of Christ, mutually dependent and mutually building one another up. 

            It should be said and remembered – God doesn’t need your work and your labor – your neighbor does.  If you have talents and skills and abilities that could be used for God’s Kingdom - but aren’t, God can easily take them away.  God gives gifts for work in His Kingdom, not to be squandered in laziness or withheld in squabbling.  Life is too short for such silliness.  Of those who hoard their gifts, refusing their vocations Jesus said, “Even what he has will be taken from him”, loosely paraphrased, “Use it or lose it.”

            There are a lot of places around your church right now that can use your support.  Remember I said God doesn’t need your work, your neighbor does.  What I mean by that is – when you’re part of a body – in this case the body of Christ the Church - you carry the load equally.  When one part of the body is weak, it strains and injures the parts that adjust to carry the extra burden.  We all love our families and other stations that God has given us.  When a very small number carry the weight of running a church or building a building, a very few must make tremendous sacrifices – and not only them but their families bear the brunt of the inequity.  What could be fun - an opportunity to work together and visit and get to know each other can become daunting and overwhelming. 

My point: Don’t crawl with your head down hiding from opportunities to use your gifts.  The Lord who gives can easily take away.  It’s simply not true that you’re not hurting anyone.  What St. Paul said about giving applies here also, “Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality.” 

I think it’s true – or should be true – that if we understand who we are in Jesus, and how deeply loved we are in Him – it casts our life in different terms.  God doesn’t accept you, because of any value you bring to the table.  He accepts you and forgives you, because “the blood of Jesus, God’s Son, cleanses you from all sin.”  1 Corinthians 6 says, “Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God.  You are not your own.  You were bought at a price.  Therefore, honor God with your body.”

When we understand that God declares us His forgiven son or daughter in Jesus – it reframes the question of our vocation within God’s Church.  We don’t give money to the church to buy God off.  We give our tithe for our neighbor’s sake – so they can hear the Gospel, the children can be taught, and to sustain the Ministry in this church. 

Please carefully read the worship insert in your bulletin today, as you think about stewardship.  We aren’t owners.  All things are God’s, and He gives them for our enjoyment, but God also gives our bread so that we can serve others – thus serving Him.  How does God’s Word teach us to give?  Our giving shouldn’t be an after-thought, shaking the lint and a few coins from our pockets.  God calls us prayerfully to set aside a percentage of our income in advance.  Prayerfully planning our giving– setting aside a portion in advance - rescues us, at least somewhat, from last-minute greed – and stinginess.  God told Israel to set aside the first-fruits of their harvest.  Our giving to God should be planned and thoughtful, prayerful and sacrificial. 

Here again, just as not everyone is healthy enough to climb on the roof, yet all have opportunities to serve.  Some have greater resources than others.  2 Corinthians 8 says, “See that you excel in this grace of giving.  If the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he doesn’t have.”  A widow giving her last mite trusting Jesus has and will take care of her, gives a more priceless treasure than the rich unbeliever giving a million dollars.  2 Corinthians 9 says, “Whoever sows [or gives] sparingly will also reap [or be blessed] sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.  Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.  And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”

When we see ourselves as God’s children by grace through faith for Jesus’ sake, we’re free from the burden of imagining we must give to earn God’s favor.  Paul wrote: “You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich yet for your sakes He became poor so that you through His poverty might become rich.”  That’s where it starts – you’re rich in Christ – you’re a King’s kid.  You have a mansion waiting for you.  

Another forgotten aspect of our vocation within God’s Church is hospitality – a mutual love for one another and concern for each other and a welcoming spirit that empties itself to bring God’s joy and peace to someone else.  I know it’s true some because of age or illness can’t do heavy work.  Some who live on very limited resources, may never be able to give what they wish.  It’s also true some people are just shy.  Yet, I think it’s also a God-given responsibility to get outside of our own little worlds, seeking people to welcome; seeking people to invite to church; seeking people to comfort in their struggles.

The modern church lives too much as separate islands – drifting past each other each Sunday – and less the body of Christ Paul speaks about – where we are mutually loving and concerned for each other.  I submit to you, this aspect of our calling in the Church requires much less sacrifice than money or work.  Everyone can greet a visitor or hug someone grieving a loss.  These are small sacrifices, where we who are loved by God for Jesus’ sake touch other lives with God’s love.

Finally, prayer is the constant companion for us within our vocations.  As we serve God by serving others in our homes, our work, our nation, and even in our church, we lift our pastor and church and members up to God and ask His blessing, His healing, His comfort, and all God’s richest blessings in Jesus.  We pray for those who have fallen from Jesus, and for all who are in need.  Prayer is the like the string that holds together our stations in life, like the parts of a necklace.  Prayer runs through every aspect of our lives.  Prayer surrenders us, our families, jobs, nation, and church to God – and that’s a good place to be.  “God can do more than we ask or imagine.”  Surrendered to God is a good place to be.  That’s exactly the posture from which we begin to see how perfectly Jesus fulfilled His vocation of Redeemer and Savior of sinners.  Amen.

And now may the peace of God which surpasses human understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.  Amen.