Called to a New Vocation

by Michael Schutz

When the Lord calls you to something, He gives you what you need to fulfill that calling. This promise and reality is all over Scripture. Think of Moses, Joshua, Gideon, and so many others who received the promise of God to be with them and to work through them as He called them into His service. As I begin this new calling from God as West Regional Pastor, I rely on the same promise and reality. God has called me through His church to this new vocation, and so He will give me what I need to fulfill His call, frail though I am in my sinfulness.

The term of this position began September 1, and I was installed, along with others who are also new in their positions, on September 6. As I write these words, my email inbox is overflowing and my calendar is filling up quickly. I’ve received many encouraging messages and had many encouraging conversations already, for which I give thanks to God.

At the same time, God has called me into this role after 26 years in the parish—13 as a deacon (DPS) and 13 as a pastor—and with that comes no small amount of wondering and uncertainty. I don’t yet know all the details of the position, nor do I know well all of those whom I’ve been called to serve. Those things will come in time, and I don’t need to think that it all depends on me; God has called me to trust Him each day that He will provide what I need.

God is faithful to His promises and fulfills them according to His own Word. We know that without a doubt from the Holy Scriptures. The temptation, of course, is to not believe this. So often we rely on our own understanding, our own sense of wisdom, and our own earthly resources to provide for ourselves. We forget that God is the giver of all good things. Most especially He gives us the gift of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, won by His life, death, and resurrection. He gives us mercy and forgiveness of sins—even the sin of doubting His Word.

Therefore, my beloved… work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
(Philippians 2:12-13).

So we return to His Word and most especially the Gospel, hearing it regularly with others in Divine Service and other times of worship, and receiving it tangibly through the wonderful gift of the Sacraments. His Gospel is given to us for nothing less than the forgiveness of our sins, salvation, and life in Christ. It is also that which leads us to live lives of service in response through the Holy Spirit at work within us, just as the Apostle Paul describes: “Therefore, my beloved… work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12-13).

We don’t accomplish our salvation on our own; that’s God’s work in us. We merely “work out” our salvation, not as if we’re trying to figure out how to get it but—as one pastor has paraphrased it—by “exercising” the salvation that has been given to us by God freely in Christ. And even our exercising of that salvation is God at work within us! What a comfort that is!

It’s a comfort also when God calls us to a new vocation. There are times in our lives when, in the three estates (home, church, and society), God calls us to something new. Maybe God has recently called you to a new vocation as husband or wife when you got married, or to the office of parent or grandparent through the blessing of the birth of a child. Maybe you’ve graduated from high school and are starting this fall a new vocation in university, trade school, or a new job. Maybe you’ve started serving in a new way in your congregation. Maybe you, like me, are a pastor beginning a new call.

In each one of these and every other calling from God, He gives you what you need to exercise that calling. When He calls you to faith, He Himself gives you faith. When He calls you to service, He is working through you to serve others. He is with you and working in you to will and work for His good pleasure.

I thank God that He is giving me all I need to fulfill this new office, even if I’m still figuring out exactly what that is every day. I thank Him for former West Regional Pastor Robert Mohns, who has graciously been sharing information and wisdom with me over the summer. I thank Him for the pastors, deacons, and congregations across LCC, especially in the West Region, who have been and will be exercising our partnership in the Gospel. May all we do together be for His glory and the upbuilding of the Church, according to His Word.

Rev. Michael Schutz serves as Lead Pastor of Concordia Lutheran Church in Penticton, BC, the former Vice-President of Lutheran Church–Canada and current Regional Pastor for the West Region.

Print this article