For Luther, any vocation in which God is glorified and our neighbor is served can be a Christian vocation.  It all begins, of course, in Holy Baptism, where Christ Jesus claimed us for his own, and poured out his Spirit who has blessed us with an abundance of gifts.  And these gifts were given, not simply for our sake, but for the sake of both the church and the world.

Dear Friends in Christ,

Eddie Phillips.  Who is Eddie Phillips?  I have no idea.  I’ve never met the man.  I’ve never even seen the man.  But I know his name.  Once a month, or however often he does what he does, Eddie Phillips comes by the church and inspects our fire extinguishers.  I know, because I see his name and signature on the little green tag that hangs from each red appliance. 

Because I don’t know Eddie Phillips, I have no idea how he understands the work that he does.  Maybe for Eddie, it’s simply a job.  He gets up every morning, goes to his office, picks up a schedule of fire extinguishers that need to be inspected, does his work, and goes home at night, satisfied that he did eight hours of work for eight hours of pay.  Ho-hum. 

Maybe Eddie likes his work, maybe he doesn’t.  Or, perhaps Mr. Phillips knows he performs a valuable service.  After all, if there’s a fire anywhere close to the extinguishers he’s inspected, his faithfulness to his duty could save a building—or a life.  And that’s a pretty important thing.

Or maybe Eddie Phillips sees his work as a God-given vocation—that inspecting fire extinguishers is his calling in life.  Maybe he’s a student of Martin Luther and has read what Luther wrote about the possibility of a job being more than a job; the possibility of a job being a Christian vocation. 

For Luther, any vocation in which God is glorified and our neighbor is served can be a Christian vocation.  It all begins, of course, in Holy Baptism, where Christ Jesus claimed us for his own, and poured out his Spirit who has blessed us with an abundance of gifts.  And these gifts were given, not simply for our sake, but for the sake of both the church and the world.

“A scrub woman can serve God better than a parish priest,” Luther was reported to have written.  Do you believe that?  I do.  I believe that each of us has been endowed with gifts—talents and abilities—which can be used in service to Christ.  And I don’t mean simply the gifts we use in church, whether that be singing in the choir, teaching Sunday school, or being a leader by serving on the council. 

I mean the gifts you’ve been given to be whatever it is that you are: a teacher, a nurse, a lawyer, a ditch digger, a doctor, an architect, a banker, a homemaker, a plumber, a retiree, a firefighter, an engineer, an entrepreneur. 

The point is, just as God has called some of us to be pastors or teachers of theology, so God has called others to be whatever you are.  For in whatever you do in life as your vocation, God can be glorified and your neighbor can be served.

So, I celebrate Eddie Phillips and all the Eddie Phillips’s of the world.  I rejoice that God has called you into your vocation, whatever it might be.  And I give thanks to God through Jesus Christ that as you go forth each day to do your work, it is, in fact, God’s work that you’re doing.  I hope you remember that.

Pastor Bill