The Medieval Church taught that Christians could gain a future reward from God by their own merit. Ordinary lay people could obtain very few merits because they engaged mostly in non-spiritual activities such as raising food or making clothes. Clergy, monks, and nuns, however, gained more merits by reciting the mass, renouncing property, and remaining celibate. The church taught that these merits were collected into a great spiritual treasury that they administered. Often, the church dispensed merits in exchange for favors, goods, or services. Indulgences are one good example: the purchaser received alleged spiritual merits from the treasury in exchange for money.
Luther learned from the Bible that only the merit of Jesus Christ matters. His merit is freely available to every Christian through faith in his sacrificial death and resurrection. This is a free gift, because we are justified by grace alone through faith alone for the sake of Christ alone. Monks do not earn anything before God by living in poverty, celibacy, and obedience. Laity do not lose anything before God by living in marriage, conducting business, or serving in public office. Since all Christians are justified through faith, no role or occupation earns any saving merit at all.
Each vocation is valuable in God’s sight as a way of loving and serving the neighbor. And, because salvation comes through faith alone, each is pleasing to God.
By the same token, our everyday work in ordinary roles and occupations takes on spiritual significance. In thanksgiving, Christians offer their lives as spiritual sacrifices to God by loving their neighbors as they love themselves. Thus, for Christians, being a father or mother is not simply a role to fill. It is a calling from God to serve their children by caring for their physical and spiritual needs. Being a garbage collector or businessperson is not simply a job, but a calling from God to help meet everyone’s bodily needs. Being a neighbor is not simply a matter of being friendly, but a calling from God to improve and protect neighbors’ possessions, reputations, and lives.
Since the Latin word for “calling” is vocatio, Lutherans call these roles “vocations.” Each vocation is valuable in God’s sight as a way of loving and serving the neighbor. Each comes with its particular challenges and temptations, but also with its particular joys and rewards. And, because salvation comes through faith alone, each is pleasing to God.
-DL