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How will you live your life as a Christian this year? Sometimes we Christians think that the only “Christian” thing we do all week is go to church on Sunday morning. Some think that if you are not a pastor or theologian then you are not really doing God’s work through out the week. But really, every aspect of our life – including our roles as parents, spouses, children, family members, teachers, students, neighbors, citizens, employers, employees, volunteers, and friends – belong to God and are ways we proclaim and bear witness to Christ through loving service to the world. Occupations and callings are not higher or lower, better or worse, or more or less connected to God’s work in the world. All work is a calling from God and an opportunity to serve.....
Paul says, “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit, and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” (1 Cor. 12: 4-7.) We may hear that and think it solely has to do with church work. For example, we think “Sure, some are choir members, some are quilters and some are on the property committee.” But our gifts are not limited to church life alone. You serve God in all that you do. You live out your baptism the other six days of the week too. God calls you to use your various vocations to witness to the Gospel of Christ wherever you work or serve.
So we are going to celebrate your vocation and how you serve God in daily life. On Sunday, January 24 at 10:30 we will have a special worship service where we affirm and bless your vocation. What is my vocation, you may ask? A vocation is something that you are called to do, called to be and how you minister in the world. Being a nurse or sales person may be your vocation. But your vocation is not just limited to your job. Your vocation may be as a parent, a friend or a grandparent. Your vocation may be as a quilter, a good listener or as a cookie baker.
We ask that you bring some symbol of your vocation or an instrument of your trade with you to worship on January 24. This may take some thinking and discerning to figure out what your vocation is. If you are a doctor, perhaps you can bring a stethoscope. If you are a student, perhaps you can bring a pencil and notebook. If you are a grandparent, perhaps you can bring pictures of your grandchildren. If you are a painter, perhaps you can bring your brushes. If you can’t bring in an actual tool of your vocation, consider bringing a picture of it. Get creative! We will gather all these symbols on the altar to represent that all we do, we do for the glory of God and to live out our baptismal calling. We will then bless them and pray that God would use our daily life to minister to a world in need.
Blessed New Year, Pastor Julie Blum
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