Spititual Realm: Word and Sacraments
Earthly Realm: Vocation
Lutheran theology speaks of two kingdoms, that God rules both the spiritual and the earthly realm, though in different ways. God bestows His gifts through means. God is at work caring for His people, each of whom contributes according to his or her god-given talents, gifts, opportunitites, and stations.
Our proper human condition is dependence. We are to depend on other human beings and, ultimately and through them, on God. Earthly life--and this is operative with non-believers no less than believers--consists of giving and receiving, serving and being served, in a network of economic and social and personal interdependence.
Behind the term vocation is the notion that every legitimate kind of work or social function is a distinct "calling" from God, requiring unique God-given gifts, skills, and talents. The purpose of one's vocation, whatever it might be, is serving others.
The Christian's relationship to God is based on sheer grace and forgiveness on God's part; the Christian's relationship to other people is based on love put into action. God does not need our good works, but our neighbor does. Strictly speaking, we do not "serve God"--rather, He is always the one serving us; instead, we serve our neighbors.
For Luther, ascetic self-denials, God-appeasing rituals, and private moralistic attitudes are not good works at all--one must actually help somebody. In fact, Lutheranism brings morality down into the realm of real life. It dismisses tributes to moral law in favor of actions accompanying it.
Our own sinful, egocentric inclinations do not necesarily thwart the way God works in vocation. The owner of a company may have no interest whatsoever in loving his neighbor or serving others. His sole motivation may be greed. And yet, because of his vocation, he manages to give jobs to his employees so that they can support their families, his company provides products that other people need or enjoy, making him a blessing to his neighbors.
How do we know our vocation? A vocation is not something we choose for ourselves. Rather it is God who "calls" us to a particular work or station. Since vocation is not self-chosen, it can be known through the actions of others. Getting offered a job, being elected to an office, finding someone who wants to marry you, are all clues to vocation.
Vocations are also multiple. A typical man might be, all at the same time, a husband (serving his wife), a father (serving his children), a son (serving his parents), and employer (serving his workers), an employee (serving his bosses), a citizen (serving his country). Note that leadership and submission may both be called for, as the different vocations make their claims.
Since God is at work in vocation, the devil seeks to thwart it. Unfortunately, a company may go bankrupt, a congregation may turn against a pastor, or a marriage may end in divorce.
Our inability to succeed in our own work can bring us to a deeper faith in the God behind the mask. When we can handle our own problems through our own ingenuity and effort there is little need to appeal to God. But when we are at our wits' end, when nothing is working and we are in a state of desperation, then we turn to God. The most intense, passionate, seeking prayer comes when we are struggling. Without faith, suffering is empty and purposeless, an example of the absurdity and meaninglessness of life. With faith, suffering in vocation becomes a cross, comprehended in the saving cross of Jesus Christ.
