From March on Theology of Vocation

Some of you may not know what the Four Realms are, these are sometimes referred to as the Four Estates. Luther uses the Four Realms to talk about the four places in which a Christian lives. Every Christian lives within the family unit, community, church and employment. Within each of these Realms you also have different Vocations, responsibilities towards your neighbors within these Realms.
What does a congregation look like that lives out a theology of vocation? In order to answer this we will look at each of the four Realms in particular. How does our Congregation help support your Vocation in the Family Unit? How does our Congregation help support your Vocations in Community? How does our Congregation help support your Vocations within the Church? How does our Congregation help support your Vocations in Employment?
One of the major ways most congregations support our vocation within the Family Unit is through education. So in Sunday School you help children to understand their vocation as sons or daughters. In addition, within Sunday School you need Parents to recognize that they are caregivers for their children. As a congregation helps to support our vocation within the Family Unit, we are built around a family structure. This could even encourage us to support Family time within the home, and even family programs at Church (programs designed to have the entire family together).
Often times overlooked is how Congregations can help within the workplace or Employment. There are few things. One option is to visit people at work, and even patronize their businesses. As we teach that everyone’s occupation is designed to provide services for your neighbor, then we can receive or utilize these services. Another option is to affirm achievements, promotions, awards, and other honors people receive in their occupations. This may also include promoting joyfully when someone has got a new job, and encourage prayers for those who have recently lost their job or are continuing to search for a new job. In both options we must remember employment may still mean going to school, or even retirement.
Additionally within both the Employment and Community Realms you might want to remember to encourage proper treatment. This means encouraging businesses to promote good businesses practices and not cheating consumers. This may also mean encouraging fair wages, or even proper benefits. This often becomes more of a political issue, in which a congregation that properly understands the Theology of Vocation will encourage members to speak in the public square.
A congregation can help encourage our duty of citizenship by helping to make sure members are fully aware of the issues. Often times there are things that are happening within our small community that some are not aware of. There may even be times when we need to encourage one another to write to our congressmen to share our view on an issue. Thus, we need to encourage people to take part in their Community and be a voice of Christian Morality, Grace, and Justice in our Community. This may mean taking leadership positions in the community, or just simply speaking up in conversation.
Finally, How does the congregation encourage the proper Vocation within the Church? Remember every Congregation is built on the idea of family. We are brothers and sisters in Christ. It is our duty as family members to help encourage the family to work together. It is our duty to help to encourage people within their roles of the congregation. It is also good for us to remember that just like in a family everyone has to do something, but there is no such thing as a too small, or an unimportant, role. 

Hopefully, this gives you some ideas of ways in which we as a congregation can help to support one another in our various vocations. Next month we will continue by narrowing our focus to how the Theology of Vocation helps to Support the Theology of Place.

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