Job vs. Vocation

Good morning everyone!

I went to get the mail this morning and saw a picture of me peeking out from the Citizen newspaper box. That is pretty cool! I truly appreciate how kind and welcoming everyone has been to me and my family.

I am about half way through Barbara Brown Taylor's book, An Altar on the World, for my devotion and prayer and reflection time. Today's chapter was entitled, "The Practice of Living With Purpose." Taylor went to Divinity School without a calling of what to do with that degree. Her classmates could share the story of how God had called them to ministry or to teaching. However, she had no story to share. So, she went to the top of a fire escape in a building next to the Divinity School and began to pray for guidance on what to do next. She learned to pray without words and instead prayed with her heart after spending much time on that rickety piece of metal. After much prayer, God answered her. God said, "Do anything that pleases you and belong to me."

Some people think being a pastor makes you more holy. Some pastors even believe that. While I love being a pastor and am grateful for the places God sends me, it doesn't make me better or more holy than the next person. My prayers don't get answered before the guy who bags my groceries at Food Lion. My work for the Lord is no more valued that the woman who volunteers every day reading to the kid who has no one to read to him at home. I don't sin any less that anyone I pass on the street. I am just called to a different task. According to the Book of Discipline 2008 of the UMC, "Ordained ministers are called to a lifetime of servant leadership in specialized ministries among the people of God…ordained ministers devote themselves wholly to the work of the Church and to the upbuilding of the ministry of all Christians" (Paragraph 138, page 93). I have gifts that God can use in the church, but so do many other people. I am merely called to devote a larger part of my time to the work of the Church.

I have loved many of the jobs I have had over the years. I really enjoyed working at Office Depot and being an expert in specialty paper and customer service. I loved teaching school because of the relationships and the opportunity to make a difference in someone's life. However, I have never been as excited to get up in the morning as I have been in the last two weeks. I am in a place where I can use my gifts and job skills in a place I am called to be. I have a vocation rather than just a job.

Dictionary.com defines a vocation as "a divine call to God's service or to the Christian life." A vocation may or may not be what you do 9-5 or 3-11 to pay your rent and buy groceries. Your vocation may be what you do on the weekends. It may be what you do two weeks a year. A vocation is what God has called you to do that shows you belong to God. What is your vocation? I want to know! If you do not have a vocation, I invite you to find your proverbial fire escape and pray and ask God what that could be for you. What skills do you have that God can use to bring about the Kingdom? Who can you touch with your gift of cake baking? Who can know that God loves him because of your gift of conversation? Who can have hope because of the hammer you swing?