So, what do you want to be when you grow up? And there we have it. The classic 21st century question of vocation. In many ways, the concept of vocation is a culmination of what we've studied in this class so far. We'll consider the biblical basis of the idea of vocation before specifically discussing the vocation of a Christian. The word vocation comes from the latin: vacatio, which is related to the greek word "kaleo," both of which carry the meaning of calling. The Hebrew verb qara carries the sense of calling out in joy or pain, but also in the sense of calling someone to duty. So, a vocation is, simply put, a calling. This business of calling occurs quite early in the biblical story. God calls the light day and the darkness night in Genesis 1:5. In the very act of creation, God calls even inanimate objects to fulfill an important purpose. Psalm 147:4 says that God calls each of the stars by name. In classic Hebrew thought, the calling or naming of something gave God sovereign power over that thing. It also displays God's care and love for what God creates and calls by name. In the creation account, God calls humanity into existence. So, in a real sense from the very beginning, God has called each and every person. In the Old Testament, vocation or calling appears in several foundational areas of both communal and personal life. God calls Israel by name and chooses that people group to be witnesses of God to the world. Israel doesn't always fulfill that vocation, but God remains faithful to the people, renewing their covenantal calling time and time again. Certain people are also given specific vocations in the Old Testament. Prophets, priests, and kings are anointed to fulfill special responsibilities but others in the Old Testament are given other tasks that are not usually associated with divine calling. In Exodus 31:2-6, the vocation of Bezalel is described. I have called by name Bezalel, says the Lord, and I have filled him with divine spirit, with ability, intelligence, and knowledge in every kind of craft to devise artistic designs to work in gold, silver, and bronze in cutting stones for setting and in carving wood and every kind of craft. And I have given skill to all the skillful so that they make all that I've commanded you. In the Old Testament, vocation is communal and individual and because it includes sacred and secular occupations, we see that vocation is perhaps not to be understood as a dichotomy between a religious job and a worldly job so to speak. God's calling extends to all areas of God's creation. As Paul will later write in Romans 11:36, for from God and through God and to God, all things are made. Vocation continues as a theme in the New Testament. The three special responsibilities of prophet, priest, and king culminate in the person of Jesus Christ. The Gospel of Matthew connects the lineage of Jesus to the royal house of David, the kings. Mark links Jesus to the prophet, John the Baptist. Luke's gospel shows the relationship of Jesus to the priestly family of Zechariah and Elizabeth. In the person of Jesus, the New Testament writers believe that we see the perfection of God's calling, the culmination of vocation. The Gospel of John adds an interesting aspect to this view of Jesus and vocation. The first chapter of John begins with a kind of hymn that identifies Jesus with the lagos, which is reason or wisdom. God's wisdom, God's Word or lagos became flesh in the person of Jesus Christ. With the Incarnation, the wisdom of God becomes inextricably linked with the material world. Max Stackhouse, a reformed theologian, comments that the scribe, the scholar, the rabbi, the scientist, and the student all live by engagement with creative and reasonable words of wisdom. Yet, the reality they can almost discern does not remain abstract only. They cannot ignore the presence of divine intent in the fabric of material life. In other words, John's perspective on the Incarnation continues to expand the idea of vocation beyond the roles of prophet, priest, or king. John 1 points out that Christ's fulfillment of vocation and calling includes all positions in the world. All roles played within the world around us can be godly and holy because God became flesh and dwelled among us. The disciples were called in the New Testament to be a vocation of preaching and teaching the good news of Jesus and in doing so, they shaped a new community that came to be known as the Christian Church. Like in the Old Testament, the New Testament records individual vocations like those of the disciples, but it also includes a communal calling. Followers of Jesus were called to enter the church community and Paul writes that those who are called into the church have a heavenly calling. They're called to be saints. In Romans 1:7, Paul addresses his letter to all those who are in Rome beloved of God called to be Saints. So, you might hear a vocational question in Christian circles that sounds a little like this. Has God called you? Or, has God placed a calling on your life? If the person being questioned is a Christian, then the answer is yes. According to Paul, God has called all Christians to the spiritual vocation of being Christian. Okay, but what about a particular vocation? How does the calling to be Christian, the vocation of being a follower of Christ work out in life at the crossroads? In the details of life and the daily tension between the kingdom of the world and the kingdom of God? How should we talk about Christian vocation today? Well, the idea of Christian vocation is frequently limited to roles like priests or preachers, missionaries, etc. Does Christian vocation reach beyond these roles? Does God call people to be an entrepreneur, a pharmacist, teacher, or dance instructor? Does God call people to a vocational role like being a husband or a wife or a parent? In his book on vocation, theologian Douglas Sherman offers three reasons that he believes God does call individuals to particular vocations. First, Sherman points to Paul's discussion in 1st Corinthians 7. Here, Paul uses the word calling in two ways. First, he uses it in the general spiritual manner mentioned earlier. A person is called to fellowship with Christ, but in verse 17, Paul uses the idea of calling in a more particular way. He writes: let each of you lead the life that the Lord has assigned to which God called you. Not surprisingly, Paul doesn't give an exhaustive list of callings. Writing materials were pretty expensive back in his day, but Sherman writes that it is reasonable to conclude that all defining spheres of social life are, by implication, callings assigned by the providence of God. Second, Sherman notes Paul's use of household codes which are the instructions given to members of a Roman family group. In Ephesians, for example, Paul includes special instructions for the typical members of a Roman household- husbands and wives, parents and children, and servants and masters. Each member of the household is to carry out his or her duties as unto the Lord, Paul writes. Apparently, following God is to extend to every part of a person's life- the relationship between spouses and between children and parents and even to relationships outside the immediate family. Sherman writes that the call to love and serve the Lord made active in a person's life transforms all spheres and activities into so many callings. And finally, Sherman relates the idea of vocation to a larger theological pattern seen in the biblical metanarrative. God creates a good earth in which humans experience fellowship with God and with each other and in which they exercise stewardship of the natural environment. When sin enters the world, God's intentions are corrupted not only into human beings, but in every part of creation. But every aspect of creation that was warped by sin is now being redeemed through Jesus Christ. As agents of redemption, Christians have the responsibility, the calling of being part of God's comprehensive renovation of all creation. Sherman writes that this is also why what people do in the home, workplace, and community in all aspects of life must be permeated with the Spirit of Christ. So, let's return to the question that began this whole discussion. What do you want to be when you grow up? This question reveals a kind of misunderstanding of Christian vocation that is relatively recent. As a Christian, one doesn't simply choose a course of action because one finds it interesting or lucrative. Instead, a Christian responds to a summons from God, a calling that is often against the will of the one who was called into service. The late theologian AJ Conyers wrote that vocation is something that happens to us. It's an experience. Its truth is captured in the words of Ephesians 2:10. We are God's workmanship. Theologian Elizabeth Newman agrees. She writes: we cannot simply think our way into living out our calling more fully. Rather, the fullness of our calling is discovered in a way of life sustained and nourished by Christian practices such as prayer, sabbath-keeping, meditating on God's Word, fasting, hospitality, and spiritual direction. So, perhaps for the Christian, a more appropriate question would be: what does God wants you to be doing now? Conyers writes that vocation is about being raised from the dead, made alive to the reality that we do not merely exist but are called forth to a divine purpose. So, ask yourself: where in our world does God make you most fully alive? Where has God called you for a defined purpose? For some, God's calling is to a life in the church. Perhaps as a pastor or missionary, but for most in this class, that isn't the case, but in any case, the medieval church made a distinctly unhelpful dichotomy when it claimed that there were two roads of vocation- the high road of the clergy and monastics and the lower road of the secularly employed. If God's realm, the kingdom of God, truly is all that God created, then a Christian's calling or vocation is at home in so-called secular employment as well as professional ministry. Indeed, the highest calling for a Christian is whatever vocation God chooses. Professor Todd Lake points out that each of us will spend most of our waking hours for the rest of our lives doing our jobs. This is a stunning fact which tells us that if Jesus Christ is not Lord of our work life, he is Lord of very little. So, Christians in the fields of healthcare, business management, or journalism for instance are not meant to conform to the world's definition of their jobs. Instead, even in secular jobs, Christians are to follow the two greatest commandments: love God and love your neighbor. The different vocations of Christians will necessarily take them into the arena of the secular workplace. As they go, they follow in the footsteps of Jesus, the carpenter, in the excellent quality of their work ethic, the way they deal with others, and the way Christ love radiates from them. By following God's vocational call in to whatever workplace, Christians are building the kingdom of God. Just as Paul urged members of the first century household to do all things as unto Christ, 21st century employees should work also as unto Christ, as ambassadors for God laboring to redeem a world broken by sin.