On Vocatio by James Gimbel
T
he Latin vocare often refers to a naming or calling. From this root, we get the word vocatio (or “vocation”), which describes God’s call for His creation to serve Him with a distinct mission and purpose.
All of creation has a vocatio Psalm 19:1 begins, “The heavens declare the glory of God,” and Psalm 150:6 says, “Let everything that has life and breath praise the Lord.” God created the sun, moon, and stars with a vocation—a purpose: to provide light and mark days and seasons. God called a gourd into creation to provide Jonah with shade as its vocation and purpose. Water and wheat and grapes were created by God for a purpose; in connection with God’s Word and command, they have a vocatio with sacramental impact. God called loaves, fishes, wind from their natural created purposes to a greater vocatio of service to Him.
Each person has vocatio God called Jeremiah to be His prophet, Aaron to be His priest, David to be His king; each one responded to God’s calling. God called the Virgin Mary to be a mother, and Martha to serve food. A person’s vocatio is not exactly a career, job, or profession. A vocation is God’s design and calling toward a role of complementary service that carries out His plan of action.
12
THE CANADIAN LUTHERAN | may/june 2022
Of course, one of the primary outcomes of sin is disrupting unity and God’s plans. Christ and His power, through faith, restores wholeness and unity, partially now, and wholly in the realized next life. The Holy Spirit also enables us to serve God in our vocations as a response of faith. It may be helpful to note that non-Christians also have a vocation in God’s design, whether they realize it or not; a non-believer may raise vegetables or perform surgeries or collect garbage, all the while unknowingly serving God.
Vocatio’s Variety of Roles In the table of duties, Martin Luther encourages each person to consider his or her station in life. This is vocational language; most people have vocations in the plural, filling multiple stations in life. The same person may be a son, brother, student, and caretaker of the yard at the same time. Daily tasks may shift as they fall under different vocations. Roles may change over time, and there may be tensions between the functions of the roles.
Vocatio as the Masks of God God’s design is to provide, protect, rule and govern, and care for people, animals, and the whole of His creation. When Luther speaks of God’s design, he distinguishes between direct and indirect care. God can intervene miraculously, as we see in the famous biblical
