“Preach the Gospel Always – If Necessary Use Words”

The above quote by St. Francis of Assisi was used yesterday in the fourth session of our six-week adult ed Sunday class, DOWN + OUT – Where Grace Takes You.

The very Lutheran concept of Grace – God coming down to us through Justification and we, in turn, going out into our world via our Vocation – is what the class is all about. Yesterday’s focus contrasted the nuances of Vocation (our calling) and Occupation (what we do for a living). Realizing these distinctions can mean the difference in finding freedom and satisfaction in the Christian walk.

Vocation (or “calling”) utilizes our God-given gifts and creativity to enhance God’s world. Occupation is how we earn money to live in society.

As an example, my wife’s vocation is in teaching and nurturing children with love and understanding. It’s her God-given gift (I certainly don’t have her gift) and through it she gets her “strokes” and some self-validation through her service. Her occupation was (we’re retired now) as an office administrator, and she was a very good one. But just ask her; it had “its times.”

As we as Christians administer God’s grace in the world through our vocation and calling, it can obviously overlap into our occupation, and often does. But what’s beautiful about the “picture” is that our vocation never changes – whether we’re a student, or whether we’re working at our job or profession, or even when we’re retired. This is what’s so “freeing.”

My wife still teaches Sunday School and loves kids, as she has all her life, even though we are now in the “golden years.” Exercising one’s gifts in one’s vocation just could be the way God allows us to get some important strokes for self-validation. That may not always happen, for instance, in struggling with a difficult or frustrating “job.”

Kay Lynne and I are more and more realizing how blessed we are to be in a church that not only helps us discover these distinctive nuggets of truth, but also continues to provide teaching, resources and opportunities for living out our vocations in God’s grace.