Crazy Theological Thoughts

This month we will be starting the Season of Lent, in which many Christians will be giving up something in order to show their devotion to God. (It may be a good practice to spend this season focusing on overcoming some particular bad behavior or developing a good behavior.) This is a good time for us to reflect on what the worship life may look like for a Congregation that lives out a Theology of Vocation. First, you need to reflect on what is the worship life of our congregation (remember that the congregation is the people of God). So this worship life is not one hour a week on Sunday mornings. It isn’t even the additional (not quite an) hour on Wednesday evenings during Lent. There are 168 hours in a week, so how does the congregation worship during these 168 hours? Does a congregation living out the Theology of Vocation worship only one hour out of 168? No, it is seen in our daily life of prayer. So it is important to ask: does the one hour we get together help elevate, suppo...

As you have started to make out your New Year’s resolutions, maybe you have given some thought into how you are going to be a happier person this year. We could all really use a resolution to be more “Positive Peggy”s rather than “Negative Nancy”s. So how does this help us better understand: What does a congregation look like that lives out a Theology of Vocation?  The last challenge we need to address is a constant Pursuit of Happiness. Our desire to be happy can drive us to do all sorts of things, which means that it can help us to do good things or bad things. Sometimes our desires can have good intentions but ultimately are either too self-centered or place greater burdens on others. (Sin can be defined as actions turned toward self or for advantage of self, in opposition to others.) One of the important keys to understanding the Theology of Vocation is that while Vocation is a Calling from God, it is also a call to service. God does not call you to serve yourself (Sin),...

We have spent the last couple of months with the question: What does a congregation look like that lives out a theology of Vocation? A congregation was defined as the people of God gathering together around the Word and sacraments. Vocation was defined by various things God has called us to do or be. So as we have started addressing the challenges to this question we first noted some idea of the Pastor or Holy Orders making a distinction between various vocations. Now as we are approaching the Christmas season, it may seem relevant to think about how we derive purpose in our vocations. Most people will tell you that the best Jobs are those in which you don’t feel like you have to go to work. The balance between “have to”s and “get to”s can reflect your understanding of purpose in your vocation. Thus, we like it when our “have to”s don’t outweigh our “get to”s. For some of you finding purpose and meaning in your vocation may be difficult. For others you may instantly understand. An...

Now that we have settled the understanding of Definitions, we can address the real challenges around answering the question: What does a congregation look like that lives out a theology of vocation? In the Augsburg Confession, the Lutheran Princes had to address the issue of Monks, Bishops, and Priests being declared the only Holy Vocations. They write:  [15] Furthermore, whoever was so ensnared and ended up in the monastery learned little about Christ. At one time there were schools of Holy Scripture and other disciplines useful for the Christian church in the monasteries, so that pastors and bishops were taken from the monasteries. But now the picture is quite different. [16] In former times, people adopted the monastic life in order to study Scripture. Now they pretend that the monastic life is of such a nature that through it a person may earn God’s grace and righteousness before God—indeed that it is a state of perfection, far above all other walks of life instituted by G...

Last Month we established a Question: What does a congregation look like that lives out a theology of vocation? We defined the congregation as the people of God gathered around Word and sacraments. So this Month it is our goal to look at the Theology of Vocation. The Theology of Vocation is outlined in many different places. It is most prominent in the Table of Duties. In Luther’s Small Catechism, he writes the Table of Duties outlining the various vocations people have. He lists things like Husband, Wife, Son, Daughter, Worker, Employer, Pastor, Hearer, etc. The Table of Duties is just a starting point. The term Vocation comes from the term vocatio in Latin. This Latin word means calling or called. As Paul talks about walking in the way of the Lord, this is about Vocation. Walking in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, screams vocatio or Vocation. So we think about the different things we have been called to be. Think not only of your station within ...

There are many things we can ask of ourselves as a Congregation. Especially as Zion Lutheran Church has struggled with maintaining attendance levels and membership, “how do we reach new people” becomes a very pressing question. But as I am often reminded the greatest struggle we have is “how do we remain Church?” But after being asked again today, what is Church? I think there might be yet a better question, which we will spend the next several months trying to address. What does a congregation look like that lives out a theology of vocation? You will note that the question itself assumes several things before it can be answered. First, what is the difference between a Church and a congregation or even a Parish. Second, we will have to define the theology of vocation. This will be followed by the further discussion on challenges and ways in which we can apply these answers. Luther tells us: We do not want to hear what they command or forbid in the name of the church, because, Go...