a break in the clouds is a break in my day

face the sun of my salvation

A sermon on vocation from the beginning of Genesis:

It’s really great to be here with you today; especially during vocation week.

Because I am sure it was here that I was first forced to reckon with this concept of vocation.

But, it's not just for nostalgia’s sake that is is nice to be here today. 

It’s always fun to preach to college students. Because you’re used to having to volunteer answers, and that always makes preaching more fun.

So let’s just try: 

What are you majoring in? *Let’s just hear a few…

Okay, and what vocations are these majors preparing you for?

Great! 

Okay, and what have you learned about vocations so far?

…Nothing? You’re thinking that my job? Well, okay.

Well, as I understand it, Vocation comes from the Latin word, Vocare. Which means, “to call.”

The root of vocare is “vox,” which means voice. 

And that is a root word we’re familiar with. 

From it we get words like, “Vocabulary,” and “Vocal,” “Convocation,” another word I hadn’t heard until I came here; and one of my favorites, “Vociferous.”

…Because when it comes to vocations, what makes them isn’t anything we do or don’t do. What makes vocations is what God does. And what God does is speak. 

Which is why our we had this passage of scripture from the beginning of the Bible. Not some Bible story of a Christian bravely carrying out their call, but what kicks it all off; God speaking. 

And let me tell ya, that’s a good God to have. 

A God who is vocal. A God who speaks. 

Because when God speaks, things happen. 

God simply said, “Let there be light,” and there was light!

This is how God’s word works; it creates.

And it is no different when it comes to your life… 

Has anyone here who has had to change their major?

Has anyone thought about it?

…I did. 

During the second half of my third year. I stopped studying journalism, but I had no idea what I wanted to do instead. So with no path ahead of me, I took the general electives I knew I would need, once I figured out what I was going to major in. 

And one of the classes I took, was one of the required religion courses; Life and Thought of Martin Luther.

What happened was, while the life I had been planning was falling apart all around me, God made a new one!

Taking a class I thought was just an elective, I HEARD about Martin Luther’s theology for the first time. I heard that we have a God who loves to speak; and not just speak, but speak gracefully. 

And that word created a whole new world out of the chaos of my life!

Yes, at the time, it was really hard. To have to start over. 

But looking back on it, I am able to hear whispers of how God was speaking into that chaos…

Because that’s the thing about college. 

Crammed into these four years is so much, isn’t there? 

Like that class. The one you take, and hate. The one that makes you wonder if you choose the right major. 

Or, the one you take and love. Only, you thought it was just an elective. But now you can’t shake that thought that maybe it’s more. 

And with just a class, your world gets put on its head.

Plus, there’s the rest of life that happens here, too. There’s the grade you didn’t anticipate. The call you didn’t expect. The bill you didn’t see coming.

And you have a whole list of other things too, don’t you? 

I mean, how far are we into the spring semester? Far enough, I bet. 

Far enough to have begun to learn that life doesn’t always pan out the way you thought. 

You know what it’s like to have your world shaken, don’t you? 

To wonder if you’ve made the right choices. 

To sit in darkness and chaos. 

But when that happens get yourself in the presence of God’s word. Because although we may all we can to avoid chaos, God is perfectly able to tame it. 

Like in the beginning; in Genesis. Or, like my third year here. 

Or, like you today. Like that time in chapel, you had to listen to someone just because they graduated from here ten years  ago!

Because it doesn’t take much. It just takes a little chaos; which as students you have no shortage of; and God’s word. 

And while you have plenty of chaos, God has also surrounded you with with preachers of God’s Word.

So that when you sit in chaos and darkness, you can get God’s word.

And yes, in the moment, it may not seem like it. But when you look back, you will catch the echos of it. When you tell your story, you won’t be able not to hear the ways how, with nothing more than a little chaos and God’s word, a whole new life was made for you. 

Because this is what God loves to do; take chaos and speak into it! 

And when God speaks, things happen. You happen. Your calling happens.

Light happens. New worlds happen!

Like right now, as you sit there. 

God is doing this now. God doesn’t wait. God isn’t holding back to start on you until you graduate or get your life in order. 

By your very presence here, you have the vocation; to be a student. 

For you, four years of life are set aside for learning. 

And that’s a great privilege. But it is also more, it is a vocation. A calling from God. 

Something God will use to dispel your darkness and chaos. And, if you let it, your neighbor’s. Because the world needs folks who faithfully fulfill their vocation. 

And this isn’t your only vocation either, is it? Because you have a God who is very vocal. God calls you to be brother or sister, mom or day, son or daughter. 

Maybe you have a work study job. When I was here worked in the library.

And the great thing about the multiple vocations is, sure they may be hard to juggle at times; because you have a God who can use chaos, these vocations enrich each other. 

You can study something totally abstract or esoteric. But by virtue of your other vocations, you will be in the spot to make\ the connections between those principles and day-to-day life. 

And even when doesn’t look like that’s happening, God is making it happen. 

When being here is only creating more chaos. When you don’t get some concept and the rest of the class moves on while you’re still in the dark; God speaks into that. 

And from that darkness and chaos, God gives you a future you never could have imagined or created.

You have a God who loves nothing more than to speak into darkness and chaos. You have a God who, with nothing more than that chaos, can speak a whole new world into existence. 

Make a Genesis week out of the chaos of our lives. 

So if you’re here wondering just what the heck you’re doing, know that there are worse things. To not have a vocation. To think that your time here is just to get a degree, to get a job, to get money.

You have so much more. You have a God who speaks. A God who takes your chaos and speaks into it. Creates a vocation. Right now even. 

So, may this week, your vocation week, dispel chaos and darkness. Fill your ears with God’s word that creates new life. 

Let me pray for you…