Vocation

Good Morning, Bethel Friends. Welcome back to our series of sermons on Faithfulness in the Moment. We have been comparing the recent experience of the church with the Biblical experience of the people of Israel. After they were conquered by the armies of Babylon, they were hauled off into exile by a people with no respect for their values and no awareness of their God. But Babylon also shows up in the book of Revelation. It is an image of all that is violent and corrupt in the world. You’ve got to love the book of Revelation. It isn’t often that we get a glimpse of how things are going to turn out. And while the book isn’t always easy to interpret, it is impossible to miss the ultimate message of the book of Revelation: that is, God wins. Babylon will fall. (Rev 18:21,24)

So Babylon the great city will be thrown down with violence, and will be found no more … for in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slain on the earth.

We know how the story ends, folks. No matter how much it feels like the church is giving up territory, this, too, is part of God’s plan. And God’s plans will be fulfilled. God wins.

Just a reminder of where we are in our sermon series. As you likely recall, we have entered a practical phase, where we were highlighting practices that are critical to our role of representing God in an increasingly secular environment. We have considered and will consider the practices of: generosity, community, prayer, engaging with scripture, thanksgiving & hospitality. These are the things that should make Christians stand out in our society. They should challenge the citizens of Babylon to recognize that we have been radically changed by Jesus, and changed for the better -- giving us larger measures of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. And while the world may talk about “community”, the people of God are to live it.

But this week, we will consider a practice that we call “vocation.” Now that’s not a common word: “vocation.” And our culture has messed with our habits of thinking on the topic: we have become conditioned to think that “vocation” is a word that fits somewhere among the words “work” “job” “occupation” and “career.” But scripture doesn’t ever go there. On the topic of our work, we have 1 Thessalonians (4:10,11):

But we urge you, brothers, to… aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands.

And Ephesians 4:28

Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands

And in the cases of individual examples, when Jesus calls his disciples with the words, “follow me,” they simply left their jobs and followed him. But how does that help us to understand “vocation”? And how do we disentangle the idea from “job”? I’m afraid that it is might take some work this morning. So fasten your seatbelts.

By way of introduction, let me tell you about something I've learned from E. But I’m not going to talk about her work as much as I’m going to talk about her practice at work. After all, your practice at work is far more important than your actual work. As most of you know, E. works as a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner. In her work, there is a strong temptation for the medical professionals to label their patients, but E. tries to avoid such labeling. For example: instead of referring to “the twenty-four weeker”, E. prefers to say, “the baby born at twenty-four weeks gestation.” In this way, her patients are not being defined by their medical conditions.

Now you might be tempted to think that this is just a subtle quibble about the way we use words. I get that. But the fact is that it is an act of grace to choose to describe people instead of attempting to define them. Because nobody likes being pigeon-holed. And one of the most basic ways in which we can love our neighbours is to avoid defining them. Last month, one of the principles of Jesus’ interaction with culture was “don’t let others define you.” And today, in the spirit of the Golden Rule, we need also to altogether avoid trying to define others.

The root of the problem may be due to the English language itself. In particular, this verb that we call “to be” is peculiar. It can describe or it can define. We say “it is Saturn” (a definition) and we also say “it is large” (a description). We use exactly the same phrase -- in this case, “it is” -- for both description and definition. It doesn’t come with any warning signs as to which one of those two it is doing. And this ambiguity can cause us grief. Now philosophers make the helpful distinction between “essentials” and “incidentals” (or, as they used to say, “accidentals”). A definition is essential, but a description is incidental. And I hope to convince you this morning that occupations are incidental, but vocation is essential: in fact, vocation is what we are designed to be doing, it is the activity that matches our very definition.

It used to be -- not long ago -- that if someone were to say (for example) “I am Mennonite” (and I am!) that everyone would understand that he was just describing himself and his heritage -- the fact that his family came from that tradition is just incidental. But in the last few decades, this understanding has shifted: the descriptive has retreated, the definitive has advanced. And now, if someone says, “I am Mennonite” it is often taken as less of a description of the speaker, and more to be part of the definition of the speaker -- even essential to his very identity. Why is this happening? In a word, politics.

You may have noticed that politics has become an enormous enterprise, and expanding daily. The amount of money being spent on political campaigning has been growing at the rate of seven percent per year over the last five years. During that time, the value of real estate in Canada grew seven percent per year. Considering that there is usually something close to a fifty-percent risk of a political campaign failing, the returns on successful political money must be substantial! After all, people don’t usually want to throw their money away. So if people are investing differentially in politics rather than in stocks or real estate they must expect a huge return on those investments. And sure enough: careers in politics can be absurdly lucrative. But not only that: the levers of power can be manipulated for immense financial gains for the people that control them. Just ask SNC-Lavalin, for example. Of course, political power simply means the power to control… people.

But politicians have noticed that it isn’t very efficient to try to control people one at a time. They need to be able to control people in groups. In the past, politicians would position themselves as champions of economic classes -- representing the middle class or representing the working class, for example. But other strategies have recently come into play. Now, instead of attempting to manipulate economic classes, politicians are now focusing on classes that derive from race, and from sex, and even from religion. How is that working out for them? Follow the money. It is making people very wealthy indeed. But in order to manipulate people in this way, it helps to first convince them that their race or their sex or their religion doesn’t just describe them, it defines them. Politicians have learned that definitions are hugely more powerful motivating forces than mere descriptions. And because definition establishes identity -- because our identities are grounded in our definitions --  it makes sense to call this new trend “identity politics”.

Now politicians and their supporters have a different story to tell, of course. They would say that the expression “identity politics” just describes minorities banding together to fight injustice. But labeling “fighting for justice” as “identity politics” is a bit peculiar. Let me explain. While justice is the most noble of goals, when folks fight for justice they are always fighting for everyone to be treated the same. It is a great injustice if white folks get treated better than others because they are white. It is a travesty of justice if men get treated better than women because they are male. The essence of justice is fairness for everyone. But you know what that means? It means that as far as justice is concerned, the only human essential is our shared humanity. The very nature of justice requires this to be true. And scripture testifies to this (Gal 3:28):

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

In the body of Christ, there are no racial or economic or sexual classes. As far as justice is concerned, the only human essential is our shared humanity. The essence of justice is fairness for everyone. There just aren’t any other human essentials when it comes to justice. So when folks try to convince us that incidental things are actually essential, they are really just trying to deceive us and control us.

But that brings us back to the English language. You see, in order to exercise this kind of control, politicians would like us all to think that when they use expressions like “I am” and “you are,” these are not so much descriptions as they are definitions. And their success in this direction has gotten out of hand, now having a huge impact on our ability to think not just about our identity, but also to think about our work and our vocation.

Because we hear people say things like, “I am a plumber” or “I am a librarian” all the time. And while we used to understand that these were just descriptions, we’re more and more being conditioned to think that expressions like these are definitions. And the result has been that work, career, job -- perhaps even activity -- have been elevated to identity-defining levels, with tragic consequences. Derek Thompson wrote about this problem in the Atlantic a few weeks ago:

In the past century, the American conception of work has shifted from jobs to careers to callings—from necessity to status to meaning.
[And the ] mismatch between expectations and reality is a recipe for severe disappointment, if not outright misery, and it might explain why rates of depression and anxiety in the U.S. are “substantially higher” than they were in the 1980s....

And the problem is compounded, of course, when this trend of thinking of our jobs as our callings coincides with jobs becoming less secure and careers growing shorter. What a recipe for anguish! Because when we begin to trust in our job, when we put our faith in the company that we work for, then, being laid off or having to retire is the worst possible event, and we could collapse under its burden. And that’s just the negative consequence when the job turns out to be a good one! If, on the other hand, we have been conditioned to think that we should find our fulfillment and identity in our work but we find our work to be soul-crushing it can lead to identity crisis, and even psychological breakdown.

Instead, we need to be vigilant about who we give the authority to define us. Our identities are precious commodities. So many people will try to convince us to sacrifice our identities to their cause. But as Jesus says (John 10:10):

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.
But I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

Giving others the power to define us always results in our being used up and discarded. Only Jesus has the power to define us in the direction of life itself. In order to understand our vocation, we need to understand a key principle:

Your Lord defines you; Whoever defines you is your Lord.

We could even say that, "whoever we give the authority to define us becomes our lord." Now, of course, some folks imagine that they are capable of defining themselves; that they can be their own Lord. There is a proverb for them, though -- one that is so important, that it shows up twice in scripture (14:12 & 16:25)

There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.

There will be great disappointment for anyone expecting to define themselves or letting their government or employer define them. There is great risk to letting anyone define you by your incidentals, because those are the things that will change and eventually fade away. And as much as our identity rides on things that will pass away, when those things pass away... so do we! On the other hand, if we let Jesus define us; if we let him become our Lord, then he will provide life, and life abundantly. Because we can count on him to be the way and the truth and the life. As scripture says (Hebrews 13:8),

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Now it might come as a surprise to some that the abundant life that Jesus is promising has no connection to money, or status, or comfort. It is a Babylonian idea that abundant life must rely on any one of those things. But Jesus knows that his followers can and do go through hard times. At the same time, he also knows that we can experience abundant life in spite of life’s greatest challenges. This is what he said (Matt 7:24-27):

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.”

Jesus knows that when the storm comes, we need to be connected to something deep down and secure -- unmoving -- to ensure that our lives do not crumble. Do you want to have the internal strength to be able to not just survive but to thrive in whatever circumstances life throws at you? Jesus is telling us how to equip ourselves for even the worst of eventualities. He is calling out for us a principle that every builder knows: it is the foundation that is critical -- it is who we permit to have the authority to define us that makes all the difference. If we allow Babylon to define us, we are going to crash. If we allow Jesus to define us, we will stand firm.

The wise man builds his house upon the unmoving rock. The trends of yesterday are forgotten today. Yesterday’s superstar is today’s has-been. Yesterday’s rallying cry is today’s hate speech. Don’t waste your time attempting to build your life on what isn’t going to last. Instead, the only Rock worth building your life upon is Jesus himself. As scripture says, “The Rock is Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:4)

So who does Jesus say is this wise man? Not the one who just listens to him, but the one who listens to Jesus and also puts his words into practice. Which words are these? Well, the previous three chapters are a good place to start. These chapters represent what we call the “Sermon on the Mount” -- a capsule of Jesus’ teaching. And with the time remaining, we’re going to unpack what Jesus says about the true definition -- the true “vocation” -- even the identity! of his disciples (Matthew 5:13):

“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its saltiness, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.

Now when Jesus was walking the earth, salt was worth more than diamonds. The English word “salary” comes from the Latin word that means “salt”. So before going any further, we need to appreciate that when Jesus tells us that “we are the salt of the earth”, he wants to define us as having great value. Seriously! But salt has no value to anyone if it is left on the shelf. The point of salt is not just to be salt: it is pointless if it just sits around. Salt is useful when it gets used up. As Jesus also said, “Anyone who wants to save his life will lose it, but anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it.” And saltiness is the behavior of salt and not just the character of salt.

The primary value of salt in those days was in its preserving properties. Left on its own, raw meat will go rotten very quickly -- typically within just a few days. But properly cured -- with salt, of course -- meat can be kept edible for months. Similarly, the world will also go rotten left on its own. And the same tendency toward rottenness also exists in human relationships. Misunderstandings happen so easily. They cause irritation, then bitterness, and then grudges. But the salt of the earth is to be engaged in a "ministry of reconciliation" (2 Corinthians 5:18), reversing this natural decay.

We sometimes say that the Christian life is all about a relationship with Jesus. And so it is. But Jesus himself says that whatever relationships we have with the marginalized, and the sick, and the injured, and the needy, and the hungry -- the very least of his brothers -- that is the relationship that we have with Jesus himself. And it is our willingness to reach out to the downtrodden, to love our enemies, and to see the good in people who may be messed up but really, really need to know God’s love, that make us as different from the world as salt is from rotting meat. When we behave that way, we aren’t just acting like a preservative, we’re also acting like good medicine. But that’s another property of salt, isn’t it?

When I was growing up, my parents liked to have wood burning in the fireplace. To this day, just the smell of a wood fire can bring back happy memories. But to make that happen, my father would often be chopping and stacking wood, and he would occasionally damage his hands in the process. Now having grown up in the badlands of Alberta -- mostly outdoors -- my Dad hadn’t developed the habit of caring for the cuts, and scrapes and splinters that he would receive in this way. As a result, every so often -- perhaps as much as once a year -- I would discover my Dad in the kitchen with his finger or thumb in a mug full of piping-hot salt water. It was always too hot for me. And it was super-saturated in salt. As a result, any infection that might have been troubling him would soon disappear. Within a few days, the pain and swelling would be gone. Are you that kind of person this morning? When you walk into a room, does the irritation level go down?

In our calling -- our vocation -- as the salt of the earth, we are to act as preservatives, sure, but we are also to act as good medicine. But if we direct those activities inward, or if what we offer is indistinguishable from what Babylon offers, we have become like salt that has lost its saltiness. We need to do more than just hear Jesus definition of us: “You are the salt of the earth.” We need to put it into practice.

How else does Jesus define us in the Sermon on the Mount? (5:14-16)

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Now Jesus also says that he is the light of the world. In fact, our being the light of the world is entirely due to our following him and being a reflection of his nature in the world. As you know, a mirror can only reflect a light if it is oriented toward that light. Let our fix our eyes on Jesus this morning, in order to truly be the light of the world.

Light is the most practical of God’s gifts to humanity. It provides the basis for the most basic human ability to orient oneself, to navigate, and to interact with the world around us. And it provides dimensions of beauty for those who open their eyes to creation. This, too, is part of our calling: to give the world an environment in which they, too, can orient themselves toward God; an environment in which they can also experience the incomparable beauty of His participation in their lives.

I can still vividly remember a particularly blustery winter day many years ago. I was driving home from Ottawa in a snowstorm. It was one of those snowstorms in which I could barely see the highway, let alone the lines on the highway, high beams or not. So I prayed. And just then, a semi-trailer pulled onto the highway in front of me. But not just any semi-trailer. This one was beautiful. It was going the perfect speed: I could settle in behind it quite comfortably. It had beautiful bright red lights all around the border of its tail panel. Those lights just ahead of me guiding the way made all the difference. But most important, it was heading home. I thanked God for the answered prayer.

And our calling as the light of the world will make others want to settle into our neighborhoods, and to follow us, too. Let's make sure we're steering them in the direction of their one true spiritual home. We need to do more than just hear Jesus definition of us: “You are the light of the world.” We need to put it into practice. And the world will indeed see our good works and glorify our Father who is in heaven.

This morning, our topic was “vocation” -- much more than just our “jobs”. Rather, vocation reaches deep down to our very definition, and touches the very root of our being. But it is when we receive this vocation from Jesus that will make us be able to stand up in the storms of life. It is his vocation that will result in abundant life -- in spite of challenging circumstances. As the salt of the earth, we are called to a ministry of reconciliation -- acting as medicine and preservative in a corrupt world. And as the light of the world, we are also called to a ministry of illumination -- demonstrating the impact of Jesus’ Lordship by the way we live our lives.