Dr. Gene Edward Veith describes “vocation” masterfully in his book, “God at Work.” For Christians, we are renewed daily in our baptisms, knowing that Christ in us to bring us to repentance and console us that He abides. Furthermore, Veith, Luther and many reformed theologians declare that it is also in our day-to-day, mundane tasks–our vocations–that we find exactly where God is, too.
“Luther goes so far as to say that vocation is a mask of God. That is, God hides himself in the workplace, the family, the Church, and the seemingly secular society. To speak of God being hidden is a way of describing His presence, as when a child hiding in the room is there, just not seen.” (Veith, p. 24)
This exerpt led me to think about the correlation of the doctrine of vocation and diakonia (service, a response/reaction to God’s Gifts of Word with Sacrament) that has been having major surges globally within our Lutheran Community and Christians worldwide in the last two centuries, and especially in the last few decades. In uncertain economic times, a political society that undermines the value of life, and the intrinsic suffering we all endure, it seems that diaconia is the temporal answer to the eternal questions. This is not simply a Golden Rule tactic. But, as Veith’s title indicates, it is God Himself at work in and through each vocation, compelling them to diakonia. Veith concludes;
“To realize that the mundane activities that take up most of our lives…are hiding places for God can be a revelation in itself. Most people seek God in mystical experiences, spectacular miracles, and extraordinary acts they have to do. To find Him in vocation brings Him, literally, down to earth, makes us see how close He really is to us, and tranfigures everyday life.” (Vieth, p.24)
