The Masks of God and Our Vocations in Life Colossians 3:17

 

Grace, mercy and peace to you, from God, our Father, and our Lord, Jesus Christ.

 

Our message today is about the Masks of God and Our Vocations in Life. 

 

The word vocation means calling. Our vocation is God calling us.

 

God calls us, first to believe in Christ, and then serve in His name in all we do.

 

If we’re doing or saying something that we can’t attach the name of Jesus to, then God’s not calling us to it, and we ought not to do or say it.

 

But if we can attach His name, then we should do it boldly. To put it another way, we should strive to be the masks of God in all we do, as Martin Luther said. We’ll talk more about this later.

 

This past Monday was Labor Day, a national holiday to honor workers… work is a gift from God, and so to be honored, and given thanks for, and to be done well. 

 

When we speak of vocation, we tend to think of job or career, but more broadly it’s God calling us in all that we do in life, to do it in His name, to His glory, and for the good of our neighbor. 

 

Work and service are from God. He made us so that we can take care of ourselves and our families by our labor… and take care of our relationships by our love and service.

 

Work and service can also add meaning to our lives, especially when we believe that we do it in the name of God, and for the good of humanity and creation, and that God cares about everything we do… because He does. Every detail in the lives of His dear children, God sees and cares deeply about.

 

All we are and do matters to God… and every good thing, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem to be, is important and pleasing to Him. 

 

And so, as Paul says in Colossians 3:17, Whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father, through Him.

 

God serves us, let us serve Him and others.

 

God first served us by creating us, making us in His image, so that we may serve His creation, especially His human creation.

 

God made Adam and Eve for the task of loving Him and caring for each other… and taking care of the Garden they were created in.

 

God didn’t create us to do nothing; He made us to work and serve for the good of all.

 

And He made us to have joy and satisfaction in working and serving.

 

Adam and Eve were selfless and happy as they did what they were created and called them to do… their vocations, we could say, 1) to care for the Garden, 2) to care for each other, and 3) to love God.

 

But they lost sight of that when they forgot what God had made them for… and that’s when things started falling apart. 

 

They listened to the serpent; they believed his lies, and so they were no longer content being people, they wanted to be gods…

 

… so they ate the forbidden fruit, defying their Creator, and disowning His holy image they were created in, and by which they served in love and joy…

… and all they did, changed dramatically and horribly; they brought down a curse on themselves and all creation. 

 

We’ve done the same with our sin, and so we live with the same terrible consequences of sin, ultimately death.

 

After disobeying God, their lives became vastly more complicated, and sad and painful, and their work and labor become more difficult.

 

God told Adam, cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life… By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread.

 

After that, simply surviving became a struggle for humanity… and life became short and difficult.

 

But God refused to give up on humanity, so He promised, and then sent, His Son, who did the hardest work of all, the most difficult and painful task ever done, the work of redeeming us for life in Paradise again, in Heaven, in eternity.

 

So now, with our life and faith in Him, we again have a good and noble reason to live and work and serve on earth, until we live and serve and rejoice in Heaven. 

 

On earth, sometimes we can kind of whine about having to work and serve, but not in Heaven; there we’ll know the full joy and satisfaction of it, as Adam and Eve did in Eden before they sinned.

 

They say if you find a job you love, you’ll never have to work a day in your life… and that’s what our serving God and others in Heaven will be like… pure joy! 

 

And the Holy Spirit helps our life on earth to be more that way, too.

 

Although our sin has corrupted this world in some ways, still, God works through our work, our labor, our good deeds, and our service to others.

 

Martin Luther said that God doesn’t need our service, but our neighbor does, and that’s how we serve and please God.

 

And so our calling or vocation is to love and serve and do good in all the contexts of our lives, what we might call our “stations in life”.

 

These are the roles we fulfill; the different hats we wear. We can also call them our vocations or callings; we’re called by God to serve in these roles.

 

One might be our job or career, but there are many more.

 

Father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, grandparent… grandchild, aunt, uncle, nephew, niece, cousin, friend… next door neighbor, colleague or coworker, supervisor, employer, employee… citizen, legislator, governor or leader, soldier, captain… teacher, student, doctor, patient, client, pastor, church member, volunteer… community member, rotary member, 4-H member, girl scout or boy scout… and I could go on and on. 

 

Whatever the task or role, we’re called to do it in a godly way, and that’s how we answer God’s call to love one another, and to be His representatives on earth.

 

And this is what Martin Luther called the “masks of God”. 

 

He said our vocations or callings, all the different roles we’re called to in life, are the “masks of God.” 

 

On the surface, we see an ordinary human face — our mother, the doctor, the teacher, the waitress, the clerk, our pastor — but, beneath the appearances, God is ministering to us through them. 

 

And so, in a sense, God is hidden and at work in our human vocations, our work, our roles, our responsibilities to others, and our relationships.

 

When we may question what the good purpose and importance is of some of the ordinary, or daily, or routine, or difficult tasks we do, and the work and roles and responsibilities we fulfill, let us remember in whose name we do them…

 

… and whose face is behind them; we’re being as the voice and hands and feet and face of Jesus to the world.

 

In the end, it’s God who is behind it all, making these good and necessary things happen through us.

 

And so each of them is a blessing from God, and that’s how we ought to approach them, as blessings.

 

Some may see these ordinary, daily tasks of life, and roles and responsibilities as not so important or glamorous as other roles or tasks or jobs, but to God they’re every bit as important. 

 

He cares about every detail of every task and every relationship and every role we fulfill. 

 

So never think that your life, and your labor, and your work, and your deeds and tasks don’t matter: they matter greatly, because in them, God is calling you to serve in His good name, and in His place.

 

In everything, God is calling you to represent Him, and that’s the highest task there is! So whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father, through Him.

 

And as you do, the peace of God, which passes understanding, will guard your heart and mind, in Christ Jesus, by whose grace we live, and in whose name we serve. Amen.