One of the characteristics of Lutheran Sunday School curriculum is that is should teach children about their vocations. (No, not vacations, wonderful though those are.) In Lutheran theology, one's vocation is the way(s) God provides the Christian to server our neighbor.
On occasion, I receive articles submitted for Teachers Interaction, the magazine I publish for volunteer Sunday School teachers, in which the author focuses on spiritual gifts. I recognize that the Bible teaches us about spiritual gifts in the New Testament letters of Paul, and in my years of service as a director of Christian education I occasionally tried to use these passages in ways I thought would be helpful to the faith and life of members of the congregations I served. But some of the ways in which those Bible passages are applied in the Church today can create issues rather than solve them.
I'm more inclined these days to emphasize vocation rather than gift. Our vocations are objective and obvious. They don't have to be discovered or taught. God has made me at various times in my life a son, student, citizen, employee, congregation member, husband, and father. In each of these vocations, I have had opportunities to serve others (parents, teachers and classmates, community, boss, congregation, wife, children, and others) with all the gifts God has given me.
As it is with all of life this side of heaven, my service in these vocations has been less than perfect. In these roles, I have at times, by God's grace, been helpful to others. In these roles, I have at times, in my sinful nature been less than helpful. In these roles, I have sought God's grace in confession and absolution, known God's forgiveness, and continued to serve as best I could strengthened by God's Word.
Our vocations are marred by sin (laziness, improper motive, weakness, and imperfect effort) but they are blessed by God and used for His purposes in spite of sin. The dichotomy of simul justus et peccator is lived out in the Lutheran understanding of vocation.
Most often, in the "We Live" section of a lesson I've edited, this is what you'll find as you teach God's children His Word.
How often do you see vocation in the lessons you teach?
What do you find most helpful about this doctrine as you teach children?
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