based on jon schroeder’s essay for the 60 th biennial convention of the wisconsin ev. lutheran...

OurCalling

Based on Jon Schroeder’s essay for the 60th biennial convention

of the Wisconsin Ev. Lutheran SynodArranged by Harmon Lewis

“God opened his mouth wide and said, “Let there be light,” and suddenly, piercing the darkness, light came screaming out of the mouth of God at 186,000 miles per second, filling the world with its brilliance. God saw that the light he had made was good—of itself, essentially good.”

– Rev. Jon Schroeder

Our callingOur calling to be the children

of God

based on essay, Our Calling by Jon Schroeder. Class arranged by Harmon Lewis

1570-73; Oil on canvas, 77 x 109 cm; Galleria Doria-Pamphili, Rome

Our calling to be the

children of God

Our calling to be the

children of God

The First Gospel Promise

<< ENMITY >>

Your Offspring

(unbelievers)

Her Offspring

(believers)<< ENMITY >>

He (singular) will crush your head.

You will strike his heal.

Personal

Hostility

“For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.”

Romans 8:28-30

Our calling is free

Our calling to be the children of God

Our calling is free

1.Tell me about the parable of the wedding banquet.

2.What did the invitation cost the guests?

3.What did the guests have to offer?

The Parable of the Wedding Banquet

Matthew 22:1-14

Our calling is free

4. Why are we called?“God, who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace.”

2 Timothy 1:8-9

Our calling is free

5. What does our calling cost us?

“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.”

-Isaiah 55:1

“God’s love does not find the object it can love; God’s love creates it.”

-Luther

Our calling is through means



Why don’t we depend on programs, methods, or personalities to work faith in sinful man’s heart?


6. What tool has God given to grow his Church?

“Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.”

Romans 10:17


7. What tool has God given to grow his Church?

“We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. ”

2 Corinthians 5:20


Presentation of the Augsburg Confession to Emperor Charles V, 15 June 1530

So that we may obtain this faith, the ministry of teaching the gospel and administering the sacraments was instituted. Through the Word and Sacraments, as through instruments, the Holy Spirit is given. He works faith, when and where it pleases God in those who hear the gospel.

-AC V,1

8. What does the Lutheran church confess the reason for the ministry of teaching the gospel and administering the sacraments was instituted?

Our calling is free

“I believe that I cannot by my own thinking or choosing, believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to him. But the Holy Spirit has called me by the gospel.”

Luther

Our calling is universal



9. Who does God want to be saved?

“This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”

1 Timothy 2:3-4


10.Who does God want to be damned?

“Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, O house of Israel?’”

Ezekiel 33:11


11.Who will be saved?“For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.”

Romans 8:29-30


“We should not think of this call of God which is made through the preaching of the Word, a juggler’s act.”

FC XI, 29, Concordia.

Our calling is efficacious



12.Tell me about the Parable of the sower.

13.What does the seed represent?

14.What did the different soil types represent?

The Parable of SowerMatthew 13:1-9

26

A harsh reality


15.What does this mean?

“Sinners must die, says Romans 6:23, ‘for the wages of sin is death’, either eternally or baptismally.”

Gerhard Forde, On Being a Theologian

of the Cross: Reflections on Luther’s Heidelberg Disputation. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997)


16.Why are some saved and not others?

“I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

Luke 18:17

The result of our calling


Our calling to be the children

of God

17.What is the result of our calling?

“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!”

1 John 3:1

My son became like you, so that you can be like him.

OurCalling



Our callingOur calling to be the mask of

God


From Shakespeare's As You

Like It, 1600:JAQUES:

All the world's a stage,And all the men and women merely players:They have their exits and their entrances;And one man in his time plays many parts,His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.And then the whining school-boy, with his satchelAnd shining morning face, creeping like snailUnwillingly to school. And then the lover,Sighing like furnace, with a woeful balladMade to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,Full of strange oaths and bearded like the bard,Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,Seeking the bubble reputationEven in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice,In fair round belly with good capon lined,With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,Full of wise saws and modern instances;And so he plays his part. The sixth age shiftsInto the lean and slipper'd pantaloon,With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wideFor his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,Turning again toward childish treble, pipesAnd whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,That ends this strange eventful history,Is second childishness and mere oblivion,Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

“On February 18, 1546, a most improbable thing happened. The professor condemned to the stake by the world’s most powerful churchman, and condemned to an outlaw’s demise by the world’s most powerful nobleman, that professor died of entirely natural causes.”

Rev. Jon Schroeder

Now What?

“Dr. Luther’s legacy to the Church includes a teaching that was an innovative and reformative departure from the medieval theology of the Roman Catholic Church: the doctrine of Vocation.”

Rev. Jon Schroeder

VocationThe word “vocation” comes from the Latin vocatio, which means “calling,” and is the word used by the Latin Bible for the call of God to faith and sonship. However, “vocation” in modern English usage is often associated with words about a man’s work, profession, or trade.

Rev. Jon Schroeder

Now What?

“Christian vocation goes much further than the sum of work we have to do: ... Like all of God’s calls, Christian vocation, too, is a call with a purpose. Christian vocation is our calling to be the masks of God.”

Rev. Jon Schroeder

Freed from medieval

monasticism

Our calling to be the mask of God

Freed from medieval

monasticism

1. How do passages like Galatians 5:4 challenge the medieval monastic view of vocation?

“You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.”

Galatians 5:4

Freed from medieval

monasticism

2. Paul is encouraging new Christians about their vocations. How does that free us from the medieval thinking of vocation?

“Each one should remain in the situation which he was in when God called him.”

1 Corinthians 7:20

Freed from medieval

monasticism

DRIAEN JANSZ. VAN OSTADE 1660

Which is the more noble task? SETTING THE TABLE CLEANING A TOILET

Empowered by the promise



3. Explain how a legalistic approach is not the best motivation for the Christian to do good works.

Good

Works


4. Why might a son feel more empowered to serve then a servant?

“I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.”

John 15:15-16


5. Will a Christian properly make this statement, “To be a father to my children, I can do nothing; I am worth nothing; Christ must be all and do all for me.” ?

“I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit —fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.”

John 15:15-16

Life dignified with a purpose


Where is the dignity in this?


In 1518, Luther defended his theology in front of his Augustinian Order at the Heidelberg Disputation. In his twentieth thesis, he explains that God reveals himself to us by hiding himself.

Rev. Jon Schroeder


6. Why did God hide himself before Moses?

“Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.” Then the Lord said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”

Exodus 33:18-23


7. How did God reveal himself to Elijah?

“The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

1 Kings 19:11-13


8. Why does God hide himself?

“Truly you are a God who hides himself, O God and Savior of Israel.”

Isaiah 45:15


Luther says that God wears masks (Larvae dei) when he interacts with man. What do you think he meant by that?


9. What is the mask God wears to interact with the world?

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

Acts 1:8-9


The Christian autoworker heads to the plant each day knowing that even the repetitive nature of his job cannot take away the dignity of being God’s mask to provide for his family.


The Christian homemaker covered in baby food knows that lack of recognition for her work cannot take away the dignity of God wearing her as a mask today to care for these young ones.


10.In what ways might we crack the mask of God?


11.Where do the failed masks of God find forgiveness?

Forgiven – Greg Olsen

Now observe that when that clever harlot, our natural reason . . . , takes a look at married life, she turns up her nose and says, “Alas, must I rock the baby, wash its diapers, make its bed, smell its stench, stay up nights with it, take care of it when it cries, heal its rashes and sores. . . ?”But into this context Luther breathes fresh gospel air:What then does Christian faith say to this? It opens its eyes, looks upon all these insignificant, distasteful, and despised duties in the Spirit, and is aware that they are all adorned with divine approval as with the costliest gold and jewels. …O how gladly will I do so, though the duties should be even more insignificant and despised. Neither frost nor heat, neither drudgery nor labor, will distress or dissuade me, for I am certain that it is thus pleasing in thy sight. . . . God, with all his angels and creatures is smiling—not because the father is washing diapers, but because he is doing so in Christian faith. [LW 45:39-40]


http://www.amazon.com/Luthers-Works-Christian-Society-II/dp/B000JVD4QM/sr=8-1/qid=1169212792/ref=sr_1_1/102-9526248-8240158?ie=UTF8&s=books


“Life has no purpose without God. But with God, all of life has a purpose, from the most noble estates to the most insignificant duties. They all have the high dignity of being part of our calling as God’s mask.”

Rev. Jon Schroeder

For more on the subject of Christian vocation, see the excellent papers from the 2006 Symposium on Christian Vocation at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary. A more extensive treatment of the Lutheran doctrine of vocation can be found in the papers “Understanding Our Calling,” “Uncovering Our Calling,” and “Unleashing Our Calling.” http://www.wls.wels.net/sections/continuing-education/symposium/59.php

http://www.wls.wels.net/sections/continuing-education/symposium/59.php

OurCalling



Our callingOur calling to be the Church

of God


He calls us to be his Church—that is our calling for the world.

A people with a purpose

Our calling to be the Church of God


1. For what purpose did God call Abram’s people?

“I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

Genesis 12:2-3


2. Why did God call these people?

“For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession. The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers.”

Deuteronomy 7:6-8


3. Just as God called Israel into existence to fulfill his purpose, who has God called a new people out of nothing to carry out his purposes in the world?

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God.”

1Peter 2:9-10

4. What is the church’s purpose?


His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms

Ephesians 3:10

Means and Ministry as the Mouth of God



5. What does it mean to be the mouth of God?

“Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, ‘Now, I have put my words in your mouth.’”

Jeremiah 1:9


6. As the mouth of God, what is the church called to say?

“Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, ‘This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.’”

Luke 24:45-47


7. No longer does God’s voice thunder from the mountain. From where can God’s voice be heard today?

“All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.”

2 Corinthians 5:18-20

Twin directives of our calling


Twin directives of our calling

8. What are the twin directives of the church?

Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

2 Timothy 4:2-5

Our callingOur calling as the WELS


Our calling as the WELS

9. How does our constitution echo these directives?

“The object and purpose of the synod shall be to extend and conserve the true doctrine and practice of the Evangelical Lutheran Church...”

Constitution and Bylaws of the Wisconsin

Evangelical Lutheran Synod. Article IV, Object.

Sharing the Word: A Synod

goes



goes

The mission minded man responsible for our synod’s founding was born 209 years ago in Notzingen, Wuerttemberg.

Johannes Muehlhaeuser

Sharing the Word: A Synod goes


goesGod permits us to live here on earth in order that we may bring others to faith, just as he has brought us. You must, says Peter, exercise the chief function of a priest, to proclaim the wonderful deed God has performed for you to bring you out of darkness into the light. Let it be your chief work to proclaim this publicly and to call everyone into the light as you have been called.

LW 30:11


goes

“if you utter worthy, not worthless, words, then you will be my

mouth”.Jeremiah 15:19

10.What do you think? “Outreach over everything” is a good motto for the WELS.

Keeping the Word: A synod

grows



goesJohn Bading would become the second president of the Wisconsin Synod, and would be known as the man who led our church body on its journey to confessional Lutheranism

Johannes Bading

Keeping the Word: A synod

grows

11.What part of the great commission stresses the need for doctrinally sound disciples?

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Matthew 28:19-20

A confessional Lutheran Church

with two passions



goes“The calling of the Church is not to pit sharing against keeping or keeping against sharing. God calls us to do both: share it and keep it; God wants outreach and inreach, training and sending, mission zeal and doctrinal commitment. One side of the coin does not suffice if we hope to be true to our calling.”

Rev. Jon Schroeder

“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!”

1 John 3:1

based on jon schroeder’s essay for the 60 th biennial convention of the wisconsin ev. lutheran...

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