Luther on Vocation

by Gustaf Wingren (Editor)

...[C]oncern about the [inherited doctrine of vocation and its relevance for modern life] was generated out of the complexities and frustrations especially of industrial life, and it has produced a voluminous literature of a popular and semi-popular kind which has served to drive home the problem of daily work upon the conscience of contemporary Christians, and also to provide certain resources for handling it. In addition to this varied literature, the last years have also seen a very general discussion of the question at every level of church in ecumencal conferences, in the curricular material of the major denominations, and in conferences and study groups of all kinds. About the urgency and importance of the problem of vocation there is now no doubt. But now we find that the rather simple formulae in which we have been dealing with it do justice neither to the Biblical and Reformation inheritance, nor to the profound dilemmas that appear not only in industry, but in every area of professional and commercial life. The problem now is not only to equip our lay-people with fuller theological resources for the understanding of the meaning of discipleship, but to utilize their practical experience of day-to-day dilemmas and day to-day decisions. ...Gustaf Wingren's conscientious analysis of Luther's teaching on the matter...remains our prime resource for the understanding of the relation of faith and works. Nothing could exceed the patience and thoroughness with which Wingren has combed through the Luther corpus.... [I]t will serve to put the full range of Luther's insight at the disposal of those who care for theology as part of their care of all the Churches. Alexander Miller Stanford University

Genres: Theology, Religion, Christianity, Nonfiction, Faith, Christian, History

268 pages, Paperback

First published February 28, 2004

Reviews

[Ivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply superb. Aside from the prosaic title, this is a brilliant book. Good reminder that our work is not for self-realization but for others’ good. Read this book and it’ll likely change your view of calling and vocation! (Thanks to Gene Veith for introducing me to this book: ‘God at Work.’)

[Glenn Crouch · Rating 5 out of 5]

This a marvellous book that quite thoroughly examines Luther's view on vocation, which is an often overlooked area in Luther's Theology - and one that has much for us in the 21st Century.

This book was originally written in the 1950's and this English translation makes it available for those of us who don't speak German - and for that I am grateful.

So often we fall into the trap of thinking that vocation (or calling) is something that just applies to Pastors and Missionaries. If God is going to issue a "call", then surely it would be to one of these "higher" roles in His Kingdom. This shows us that Luther's arguments from almost 500 years ago are still needed today! For example, the Baker, in his vocation, is called to be a good baker - to bake good and healthy bread, and make it available at a reasonable price - so that he enable his neighbour to purchase food, and that he can feed his own family. In doing his vocation well, the Baker shows forth God's love to his neighbour, as well as to his family. This is a just a "taste" of Luther's approach...

I also liked that Wingren shows that Luther's argument went further than just Christianity - rather that God uses Vocation to "force" Society (both Governments and people) to love their neighbour. Whereas for us Christians, Vocation gives us a welcomed opportunity to better love our neighbour.

The book also shows us that Vocation is bigger than a "job" - rather we have many vocations - such as parent, child, citizen, etc. And that to obey God, and do these things well, is honouring to him - as well as beneficial to us and to society! Talk about a Win-Win situation.

So highly recommended!

[Lauren Larkin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This text took me by surprise considering its age. Being written in the 1950s, I expected a more conservative and stark approach to Luther and Luther's conception of Vocation. While I will not claim that Wingren is progressive by any stretch of the imagination--he's not at all and that is clear from the text--he allows for Luther's creativity to shine through rendering Wingren creative in his own right at times. I find this refreshing because sometimes Luther can be approached with such mathematical precision as to make everything black and white; but Luther is way more nuanced than that, and Wingren does a good job demonstrating just how creative Luther is. Now, the book is redundant; I find Wingren repetitive on basic points. However, this could be a teaching mechanism to drill in those basic points so the reader never forgets them. Wingren also does a fairly good job of taking Luther's concept of vocation and communicating it in accessible terms. However, there are German titles of Luther's texts and Treatises peppered throughout which then nullifies such a positive attribute. Considering the text, to me, does not present as strictly an academic approach to conceiving adn articulating Luther's doctrine of vocation, that move seems unnecessary. (To be fair, that cold be a translators dilemma and less one for Wingren.) All in all, worth reading, it's a classic.

[Jon Coutts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Were it pitched in contemporary terms, this 1957 book would make a compelling case for command ethics in context, over against a reliance on virtue. It's helpful to see this in Luther, but I'll be looking to Bonhoeffer to retrieve the ecclesiology it lacks.

[Timothy Winterstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

With so much talk about "loving the neighbor," this book could be very helpful because it contains so many essential distinctions and clarifications on what that love looks like. Vocation, vocation, vocation!

[Chad · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my third reading of the book over the last twenty years. Every time I come away with fresh insights into vocation, Christology, law and gospel. I can’t recommend it highly enough, not just as a book about vocation, but a veritable digest of Luther’s theology.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a well thought-out book (and I admire authors who can accomplish this, so that is not a throw-away compliment). If I have to work to discover the logic behind the thesis of a nonfiction book, I get easily frustrated. Right away, in the introduction, the aim is made clear: "Our study is not intended to be a systematic treatment of basic principles, criticism of contemporary theology, comparison of Lutheran and Romanist thought, or comparative treatment of Luther and his followers... Our aim is not to trace the progressive unfolding of this view [of Luther's doctrine of vocation] in Luther through successive modifications occasioned by his various experiences and the progress of his reforming efforts... Our aim is rather to integrate Luther's statements about vocation with his basic theology, that is, to present expressions concerning 'Beruf' in the context of his fundamental concepts - law and gospel, the work of Christ, freedom, sin, etc... The correctness of an interpretation of Luther's doctrine of vocation can be shown only by its clarity and congruity with his total outlook. Our main purpose therefore makes a treatment of the material systematic in that our quest is the total view of a definite historical person, Luther."

To this end the author continues, in a very logical and methodical manner, one chapter building upon another. I did not find any of the book to be dry or hard to get through. Every chapter seemed important and well-written. Sufficient information, nicely paced, not overwhelming.

Maybe it was just where I am in my life right now, but I found this book on doctrine to be very interesting AND highly relevant to "real life." Many of the ideas discussed were not new to me, but the way in which the author integrated the seemingly separate doctrines WAS very new and enlightening to me.

I also found it very helpful that important previous material was frequently reviewed and connected with any new material, so that throughout the book, the reader is integrating Luther's "big ideas" -- ideas that were paradigm-shifting at the time, certainly, but for some of us who are still learning, it still feels powerful to have that light dawn as things that were hazy before start to snap into focus.

The best thing I can say about Luther's theology is that it is all of a piece. Every aspect complements the other and completes the big picture. The other thing I can say about what I know of it to this point is that it has both feet on the ground while still reaching to heaven in faith. I greatly appreciate Luther's unapologetic way of acknowledging the nitty gritty nature of reality without feeling the need to explain it all away or deny how it feels to all human beings, Christian or not. With his eyes wide open, he plants his hope firmly in the right place and in doing so, he inspires me to do the same.

At the heart of this doctrine of vocation is this dualistic idea:
Faith ascends to heaven, where we are only allowed to receive from God's grace...
but love is earth-bound, looking for ways to serve our neighbor.

Luther famously said that God does not need our good works, but our neighbor does. He also spends a lot of time talking about how God chooses to remain hidden. Luther explains that God insists on being found how and where He determines (for example: in a manger... or in the Word of God), and so we are not allowed to see His face... we are only allowed to see His "masks." We cannot tell God how to reveal Himself... we must be humble and practice believing that all He does is good (praying for the gift of faith). We seek Him where He commands us to, in the Word and in sacrament, and we practice looking for His masks, grateful for the ways in which His grace breaks through in creative ways.

People are sometimes the "masks" that God chooses to hide behind, giving and loving and serving through our good works towards our neighbors. Therefore, we can see the butcher as a mask of God... and the farmer, and the teachers and the truck drivers and the judges on their benches. God gives to all of us an invitation to love, labor, create, and serve, so that He might feed and clothe us, co-creatively.


But because we live in a fallen world that is filled with "thorns and thistles," we often find obstacles in our path to service. Along with the command comes suffering, which serves us well on our path to heaven. This keeps us returning to Christ, every time we find ourselves too weak to serve well or with the right heart. (*Note: God gives this command to love, for our own benefit and for the benefit of our fellow men, and Luther never advocates that we are free to ignore this command, as Christians).

Prayer is a "creative process" in Luther's view, a way in which we realign ourselves with God's creative purposes when there is confusion, struggle, or fear. As humans we do face these things because nothing on earth is static. Things change constantly, and we change with them... and therefore how we love and serve must also be "free" and adaptable. We become co-creators with God in this way, through a process of constant change, service, struggle, suffering, and renewal.

Ultimately after a life of loving service (and suffering in it), our reward is heaven, a place free from merit and work, where we are accepted on the basis of Christ's life and death and resurrection, and where there is no more need for faith, because our eyes will finally see. The call on our lives here on earth is to remember this fact, placing all faith and hope in that life to come rather than insisting on that life here and now. The willingness and ability to do this is what truly brings a sense of freedom to a Christian's life.

Luther was not "against the law," by any means. He simply relegated it to where it belongs, on earth. Here we are free to serve in love, "as love demands" (love being the ultimate command/mandate, particular and unique to each relationship and situation). But in heaven we are bound by God's grace: God does not allow us to enter by claiming anything or obligating Him to anything at all by our works and effort. And so we find hope, comfort, and rest in the gospel of Christ's work on our behalf while also serving our neighbor in order to fulfill God's mandate for us here on earth: "love one another."

Understanding the two kingdoms and the significance (and place) of both law and grace in a believer's life opens up a better way, a way that integrates real life and real faith -- without all the hand-wringing. Fear and confusion become doorways to prayer, and prayer is an invitation to enter into God's creative will. Death itself becomes a way to heaven, working its way into us throughout our lives in countless ways, big and small.

The author does a wonderful job of summarizing in his last chapter. I LOVE it when authors are able to do this succinctly. It helps to solidify anything that remains hazy, and anchor any still-floating ideas.

There is far more to the book. I haven't done it justice. But hopefully that is enough to spark an interest. There have been some recent debates in Reformed Theology circles regarding the law/gospel distinction for Christians, and I think this book clarifies some of that. I did not come to this book looking to find anything on that subject, I was just looking for some encouragement regarding vocation itself. I got a lot more than I bargained for, and I'm grateful for it! Luther has always felt like an old friend to me, funny and earthy and wise, unflinchingly honest with an enviable "why not?" attitude... living fully in faith, even with all his sins about him, a fiery tempest of a man clinging to Jesus to the end. I just love it, I get how he thinks, and his less than perfect self is a great comfort to me. Can't wait to meet him on the other side.

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book as Gene Edward Veith credited it for much of his thought in his excellent book God at Work. It then promptly sat on my shelf as a witness against me for about a decade which included a few fitful starts and stall-outs (the writing is in the fruitcake-dense, academic tradition). Well, I finally got around to it, and it's a real keeper. One of the struggles in the Christian life is the Ecclesiastes transience of the world around us. We understand intellectually that our job here isn't to "wait until we die and go to heaven" but struggle with the actual understanding and practice of it. This book goes a long way in making sense of the nature of our (and other's) work here on earth. Plus, it pushes the doctrine of vocation into the edges of our lives far beyond just our "jobs." And to note, there's a whole lot of other great stuff in here as well only tangentially related to vocation proper (such as on prayer). Really need to re-read this one to absorb it all, but boy is it worth it.

[Adam Chandler · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent work which deserves to be in every theologian's library. This is Wingren's exploration of Luther's writings on vocation, a doctrine that is rarely talked about in the Christian Church at large but essential for living out the faith. Luther gives attention to vocations (callings from God) to work and live in the world. These are established by family, location, citizenship, personal traits and aptitudes, etc. Basically: God has made you and He has given you the gifts and opportunities to serve your neighbours in this world. These are honorable callings that we must live out. We cannot toss them aside or take them for granted (like, as Luther argued, the Catholic Church did when it elevated the clergy into the realm of the holy and did not hold high value for the civil realm where most God-given responsibilities lie). We should listen to our God and live out every vocation we have toward His glory and our neighbour's good.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well worth the time to grasp Luther's mind when it came to the intersection between the sovereignty of God, the bondage of our wills, and how God works through us for the benefit of those around us. Wingren sums up Luther in one sentence "God does not need our good works, but our neighbor does." (pg. 23)

[K B · Rating 5 out of 5]

a MUST READ

[Eric Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book on Luther and his theology. Period. It is only here where I�ve found a portrayal of Luther and his theology that explains his academic and theological work with his social concerns. Understanding Luther�s view on the nature of work and call of people made in the image of God is the key to harmonizing his interdisciplinary (and at times seemingly diverging) activities.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit dry; I'm not learning anything terribly new or surprising about Luther's views. I think it was a fairly medieval thing to split the world into separate spheres--not that that's invalid or wrong or not useful.

Reading chapter two ("God and the Devil"), section two ("The Concept of Freedom") was good. He hits the nail on the head (or as reported by Wingren).

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

recommended by Pastor Hill

[Michelle Haughton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my fourth attempt to read this book. My pastor recommended it a couple years ago. I believe there's something good in there if I can get through it...

[Gary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reminiscent of "Koeberle's "Quest for Holiness." Though more dense, also full of more quotable gems.

[Tamara]

Herb bought for Christmas for me - by accident I opened it, so I got it 2 months early :o)