What Is God's Will for My Life?

Lutherans have a fancy label for the idea we’ve been considering in the last few posts.  It’s called “the doctrine of vocation.”  And it is a very encouraging and empowering doctrine!  It says, “God has called you to be and do what you are and do as Christian!”  On one level, your “vocation” is “a baptized child of God” no matter what you do.  But on another level, your “vocation” is all of the different roles, responsibilities and service opportunities you have assumed, because you carry them out AS a baptized child of God.

Sometimes Christians are tempted to ask, “What would God have me do with my life?” And then they become paralyzed waiting for a bolt of blinding clarity to come to them.  

There’s nothing wrong with wanting God to guide your decisions, especially when you are contemplating a change in work or lifestyle.  But Christians who ask “what would God have me do?” are often convinced that it’s “something different.”  In other words, they want a change and they believe that God wants them to change, too.

The truth, though, is that God wants you to serve Him where you are RIGHT NOW!  That doesn’t mean you can’t make a change in work or lifestyle, but it does mean that God has good work for you to do right now in the meantime!  

Don’t get frustrated that God hasn’t given you a “bolt of blinding clarity” while you pray over a change.  Whether you make the change or not, God wants to work through you where you are!  Wherever you are, there are people around you to bear with, love and forgive.  Whatever work you do, you can work as though serving the Lord with your work.

"for various holy orders and positions"

If you opened up your catechism to section 3 when you were reading the last post, you may have noticed the surprising sub-heading for the “Table of Duties”: “Certain passages of Scripture for various holy orders and positions, admonishing them about their duties and responsibilities.”

Holy orders!?!   That’s surprising enough, but then the list of “various holy orders” includes “hearers”, civil government, citizens, husbands, wives, parents, children, workers of all kinds, employers and supervisors, youth, widows, and even “everyone.”  

How can a list that includes “everyone” be a list of “holy” (i.e., set apart) orders?!?  Because this catechism is written for Christians!  And when Christians “go to work,” they are sent out into the world as God’s co-creators and Gospel ambassadors.  God is at work in the world through you!  And that makes your “day job” a holy work.

Does God work through engineers, secretaries and professional athletes who are not Christians?  Does He accomplish good things through them, too?  Yes, He does!  But as a Christian, you have a special calling as you go about your “day job.”  You share the Gospel in your words and deeds as you do your job!  In fact, you reveal Christ in your job.

“What Would Jesus Do?” has become a very popular slogan among Christians in the last few decades.  It’s meant to remind us that we want to follow the example of our Lord as we go through life.  And when it comes to doing our day job, that means we want people to see what “Jesus the engineer” or “Jesus the secretary” or “Jesus the professional athlete” looks like.

God's Word Has Even More to Say

Section 1 in the Small Catechism teaches the “six chief parts” of Christian doctrine, and most Lutherans teach these.  But it’s surprising how few churches teach the next three sections!  Section 2 provides four very helpful “daily prayers” for our use (either directly or as prompts for further prayer).  And Section 4 gives us a set of questions and answers to use when examining ourselves before participating in the Sacrament. 

But for this part of the blog, I want you to know about Section 3.  If you read through this section, you will notice that it is divided into different roles and responsibilities people can have:  pastors, hearers, citizens, husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, children, etc.  And in each sub-section is one or more passages of scripture that speak directly to how that person should carry out their duties.

For example:  Under “To Parents” we find Ephesians 6:4 which says, “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.”  So if you are a father (or a single mother trying to make up for a fathers’ absence) and you want some guidance on how to do your “God-given job,” this passage makes it clear that bringing your children up in the training and instruction of the Lord is your job.  Now you will probably rely on people in the church to help you do this, but you will make sure that it is getting done well whether you or they are doing the heavy lifting.

The Bible is full of passages that speak to us “where we are” like this.  This is another great reason for every Christian to eagerly study the scriptures.  Maybe you don’t have time to read large portions of the Scripture every day, but I encourage you to read a little every day.  

Get a small devotional booklet that gives you a Bible passage and a couple of paragraphs to think on every day.  (I encourage you to pick up a copy of Portals of Prayer at St. Paul – Annapolis on Sunday.  We distribute them in the narthex.)  After you read the passage of scripture and the author’s brief meditation, ask yourself this question:  “What is God saying to me through this Bible verse right now?”  Maybe the passage will reveal something God desires of you that you have been resisting.  Then simply say, “I’m sorry, Lord.  I want to do better.”  Maybe the passage will reveal something He wants of you that you never realized.  Then simply say, “Lord, I want to serve you.  Help me see how I can do what you have asked today.”  Maybe the passage will encourage you that God has already given you great gifts.  Then simply say, “Lord, thank you so much!”

Keep the Ten Commandments

In one sense, the Christian life should have a very predictable look at feel.  In the six parts of the Catechism, we have learned how Jesus’ sacrifice and new life have saved us from sin and given us a new life, too.  But being saved from sin means we now live according to God’s plan for His children and His creation.  And that’s summarized in the Ten Commandments!

So whatever you do – whether you are a husband, wife, mother, father, son, daughter, butcher, baker or candlestick maker – keep the Commandments!  Martin Luther was famous for saying that this alone would give you plenty of good works to keep you busy for the rest of your life.  You don’t need to go chasing after “more noble” works than these; they are commanded by God, they are pleasing in His sight, and He has attached great promises to keeping them.  Why “make up” new works when we already have enough trouble with the works we’ve been given to do?!? 

But if you are like a lot of Christians, you want something a little more “prescriptive” to guide your life.  For example:  Knowing that God wants me to “love God” and “love my neighbor” doesn’t help me choose a college major or decide whether to relocate my family to take a new job.  Or does it?

In one sense it does!  God has given you your talents and abilities, passions and interest.  But you can use those to serve selfishly or selflessly.  So when you are considering a college major, you really should ask yourself:  Will I be able to use the opportunities unlocked by this degree to serve God by serving my neighbor.

That reminds me of an annual dinner I attended while I was an engineer.  The comedian who entertained us was talking about the engineers he’d met from a competing company at their annual dinner.  They were building a high bandwidth satellite communication system and the comedian was looking for an opening to make a joke.  So he asked the engineers in the front: “What are people going to do with all this bandwidth?”  Without pausing between bites, the engineers responded: “Porn.”

Now I’m not saying that the engineers who built that system were responsible for the many ways people would misuse it.  But we should care about the work we do and the effect it has on people!  We should care if the company we work for maximizes profits by employing foreign workers at near-slavery wages.  We should care whether the commercial artwork we produce sells products by exciting lust.  We should care whether we are going to be forced to say or teach things that God finds morally repugnant.

So the first question you can ask when you have to make a decision (of almost any kind):  Has God forbid or commanded this in His Commandments?

That's All Folks! (Or Is It?)

At this point, we have examined the six chief parts of Christian doctrine as the Reformers presented them in the Small Catechism.  And this is the strong foundation of faith for Lutheran Christians.  When a Christian joins the congregation of St. Paul – Annapolis, (s)he affirms that (s)he believes this doctrine and will live his or her life according to it.

But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing more to learn!  In truth, we never exhaust God’s Word.  It speaks a fresh message to us as the time and circumstances of our life change, and the time and circumstances of our lives give us a fresh perspective on things we have heard before.  For example:  The Bible passages about persecution rarely leave much of an impression on Christians in America until they’ve had to suffer in some way for the faith. Then they suddenly discover that the Bible speaks directly to their circumstances and – surprise, surprise – it speaks a word of comfort!

In fact, it’s generally true that God’s Word and the Christian faith should, can and does inform every aspect of our lives!  Consequently, I want to commit a few posts to this topic:  What do I do now that I’m a Christian?

The Lord's Prayer: Conclusion

After all of these requests to God, the Lord's Prayer ends like this:  "For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever.  Amen."

What does this mean?  The Catechism says this: "This means that I should be certain that these petitions are pleasing to our Father in heaven, and are heard by Him; for He Himself has commanded us to pray in this way and has promised to hear us.  Amen, amen means 'yes, yes, it shall be so.'"

I've never particularly liked the longer explanation, but it does emphasize one thing very well:  We pray in faith.  We pray the Lord's prayer with boldness because God Himself gave it to us.  We know this prayer is pleasing to Him because this is the prayer He taught us to pray.  And because God gave us a pray that He finds pleasing, we can be sure that He hears it.

More than that:  When we say "Amen" it doesn't mean "I'm done now."  It means: "Let it be established!"  (That is the literalistic translation of the Hebrew word "amen.")  But we don't say this with any uncertainty.  God has called on us to pray for these things because He plans to give them to us.  And if God has said He will give them to us, it's a done deal.  The only question now is "how long, O Lord?"

So what should we do until He has answered all these petitions for us?  Oh, I know!  Keep on praying!

The Lord's Prayer: The Seventh Petition

The seventh petition of the Lord's Prayer is this:  "But deliver us from evil."

In truth, this is the second half of the sixth petition.  I find it helpful to imagine praying them as one:  "Lead us not into temptation; instead, deliver us from evil."

Of course, the attacks of the Evil one are many and varied.  But in the end they are all temptations!  The Devil is not content to just ruin your life or kill your body.  He wants you to reject the salvation you have in Jesus Christ!  And that means he wants to tempt you away from the faith with every thing he does.

Consequently, the Reformers explained the seventh petition in this way:  "We pray in this petition, in summary, that our Father in heaven would rescue us from every evil of body and soul, possessions and reputation, and finally, when our last hour comes, give us a blessed end, and graciously take us from this valley of sorrow to Himself in heaven."