What does it mean for a Christian to "work"? Mark Mitchell addresses this issue in a sermon called “Don’t Waste Your Job.” I enjoyed this sermon very much although I might categorize it more as a great lecture than a good sermon because it really didn’t preach Christ. If you wonder how your work life fits into God’s plan then this is a good place to begin getting some answers. You can find discussion questions, download the message (45 minutes in MP3 format), or listen online HERE.
At one point the preacher quotes the Lutheran scholar Gene Edward Veith
The Reformation notion of ‘the priesthood of all believers’ by no means denigrated the pastoral office, as is often assumed… Rather, it taught that the pastoral office is a vocation, a calling from God with its own responsibilities, authority, and blessings. But it also taught that laypeople as well have vocations, callings of their own that entail holy responsibilities, authorities, and blessings of their own. All believers, like the priests of the Old Testament, can come into the presence of God through the blood of the Lamb. All believers can handle holy things (such as the Bible, earlier denied to the laity). All can proclaim the Gospel to those who need its saving message. ‘The priesthood of all believers’ means that all Christians enjoy the same access to Christ and are spiritually equal before Him. ‘The priesthood of all believers’ did not make everyone into church workers; rather, it turned every kind of work into a sacred calling… Every kind of work, including what had heretofore been looked down upon – the work of peasants and craftsmen – is an occasion for priesthood, for exercising a holy service to God and to one’s neighbor. Gene Edward Veith, God at Work: Your Christian Vocation in All of Life
, page 18-19
You can download additional lectures by Dr. Veith in MP3 format by clicking HERE. Veith is particularly helpful in laying out a Lutheran understanding of work, art, worldview, and literature. Veith’s two part lecture on the doctrine of vocation can be found by clicking Part 1 and Part 2. His lecture on visual Art can by found HERE.
