Why Vocation Matters

I want to talk to you today about a subject that has been near and dear to my heart for the better part of a year now.

Vocation.

This word gets pushed aside sometimes for the more touchy feely term "calling", which often has a mystical, woo woo experience attached to it. I'm not talking about that.

What I am talking about is the concept of serving God by serving our neighbor. The not-so-glamorous idea of doing, with humility and love, what needs to be done. Not because we really like to do something, but because God has put us in a position to be able to do it. Not for our glory, but for His.

See, Christians often think that only churchy work matters. If you aren't starting an orphanage in Haiti, or digging wells in Africa, or washing dishes at a soup kitchen, or writing a best-selling bible study that everyone is talking about, then it must not be important. At least that seems to be the prevailing message these days.

I recall a time not that long ago when I was living in Pittsburgh and attending a women's bible study at the BIG church in our area. The senior pastor's wife led the group, and the women were all very sweet. But I was beginning to feel isolated, and I knew that I needed to serve God's people outside of church. I felt the best way for me to do that was to get a job in retail during the Christmas season.

I know. Retail, right? Not a conventional "ministry", per se. But if I wanted to serve all people joyfully, not just church people, then it seemed like the right place to be. I've worked retail jobs in the past, and I know that my perky personality is a good fit for the service industry. And of all the places I have worked, this one was the best. I loved my crew, I loved our store, and I loved what I did every day. If we had not moved, I'd probably still be there.

Every time I worked, I spread a little joy and cheer for my coworkers and customers. I had to miss a lot of bible studies, but somehow I felt I was doing what God asked me to do: serve His people, all walks of life. And let me tell you, I did it well. I cleaned dressing rooms and filled orders and folded sweaters like my life depended on it. And I did it all with a smile and a kind word, and all for minimum wage.

When I finally had a chance to get back to the group, the pastor's wife asked me "Mary Rose, we've missed you. Where have you been?"

When I told her about my new ministry, busily serving God's people by working in retail, she visibly rolled her eyes, turned her body away from me, and began talking to the woman next to her.

Ouch. Dismissed. Obviously, retail was not churchy work.

That's the funny thing about vocation. You know when you are filling it, and at the same time you know that the world probably won't get it.

Raising children does not take time away from pursuing our vocation. The children ARE our vocation! The laundry, the snotty noses, the car pools, the Sunday school...all of it. Every day, day after day, mundane vocation.

Preparing dinner for my husband isn't going to get my photo plastered on the church newsletter. But it is a small part of what God and my husband require of me as a wife. He needs to eat, and so I cook.

Making soup and bread for my mother-in-law who has been sick isn't a revolutionary concept that is going to launch a book deal and video series and get talked about on Christian radio programs. The world will not see my humble service and give me the pat on the back and the "You go, girl!" That is not why I do it. I make the soup and bread because my mother-in-law has a need, and God has given me the ability to see to it.

I'm taking vocation really seriously in my new community. God has faithfully brought me back to my home state (which has long been a desire of my heart),  and I want to serve with joy because of all that He has done for us.

Recently, I made cookies and a card for a member of my new church who lives in my neighborhood. She had fallen and broken her wrist, and I wanted her to know that I was thinking of her and praying for her. It turns out she lives just behind my street. We can stand on our decks and wave to each other, that's how close we are.

If God wants me to love my neighbor, then it doesn't get any closer than my new friend and sister-in-Christ. I've been caring for her in small ways whenever I can.  A trip to the grocery store. A car ride to her hair appointment. A loaf of pumpkin bread. Little things. I have time. She has a need. Who better than me to step up and offer to help? And honestly, I am blessed in the process because as we run errands, I get to know her better, and she gets to know me, too. Win win!

When you think about it, it's really pretty simple. Why, then, do we complicate it so badly?

There are days when I wish I had a flashy title and a salary to show the world that what I do has some worth. Director of residential operations, a.k.a. bathroom cleaner. Food services procurement specialist, a.k.a. grocery shopper.

Thanks to vocation, God has already given me multiple titles. Wife. Mother. Daughter. Sister. Aunt. Neighbor. Friend. With each of these titles, he shows me needs, and I daily must make the decision to fill them.

In vocation, it isn't about what God is calling us to do. As Martin Luther once said, "God doesn't need our good works. But our neighbor does."

Vocation is about who God is calling us to be. His workmanship. Conforming to the image of His Son. Being Christ bearers in a world that desperately needs to see him every day.

"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2:8-10