19th Day of Lent- The Parable pf the Workers in the Vineyard- Matthew 20:1-16- Vocation

Today we begin a new parable, the seventh in our devotions, the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard.  The author is correct when he writes, "Martin Luther saw ordinary work as sacred."  Luther was reacting against a common two-tiered assumption of his day, that there were the sacred religious callings, like priests and Bishops, and then there were the common, every day tasks that everyone else did.  This understanding still hangs on today.  It is assumed that pastors are "called" into the ministry, while parishioners have "jobs" of one sort or another.  In another quote of Luther he writes, "A cobbler, a smith, a farmer, each has the work and office of his trade, and yet they are all alike consecrated priests and bishops, and every one by means of his own work or office must benefit and serve every other, that in this way many kinds of work may be done for the bodily and spiritual welfare of the community, even as all the members of the body serve one another." (from, "An Open Letter to the Christian Nobility)  For Luther, and for us, all our work is sacred in so far as it serves God and the community.

In this parable, all the laborers were "called and sent" by the master.  In what sense to you think of what you do as a calling from God?  What have you been sent to do?  Whatever it is you are now doing, think of it as your vocation, your calling, your way to serve God and the community.  And if you are restless or unhappy in that calling, perhaps God is preparing you for something new yet to come.  In any case, who you are and what you do is holy to God.  Thanks be to God for the many vocations to which people are called and which make possible life in community!