Vocation & Identity

This morning, I discovered a back issue of Lutheran Partners (March/April 2004) devoted to "Vocation and Identity". Here are some highlights:

"Vocation: Using a Useful Doctrine" by Stanley Olson
"The concept of vocation is useful when we consider the church as steward and proclaimer of truth. . . .Every Christian is called to know the truth, not for the sake of knowledge but because true understanding and true speech serve God’s purposes. Each Christian is called to reflect on life through faith’s normative historical expressions so that his or her words and work will be toward the heart of (“in accordance with”) God’s work."

"In Search of Quotes" by William A. Decker
Decker seeks, but fails to find, the source of Luther's oft quoted counsel to maids and cobblers. Here it is:
"The maid who sweeps her kitchen is doing the will of God just as much as the monk who prays — not because she may sing a Christian hymn as she sweeps but because God loves clean floors. The Christian shoemaker does his Christian duty not by putting little crosses on the shoes, but by making good shoes, because God is interested in good craftsmanship."

And here's Decker's rousing conclusion:
"Housekeepers who sweep floors clean, shoemakers who make quality shoes, governors who wisely administer, scientists who explore God’s visible creation, and pastors and rostered lay ministers who use their God-given skills to teach and preach the life and work of the crucified, resurrected Lord of Life all have a place and role and purpose in the world which God has made and loves through the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ our Lord."