Thomas A. Langford - Sermon Untitled (February 20, 1983)
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| - | In this job I have been able to secure, | 0:03 |
| can I serve Christian ends? | 0:08 | |
| How can I work for Christian purposes in the one position | 0:14 | |
| I had been able to find? | 0:19 | |
| One of the more striking conditions | 0:28 | |
| of the present employment situation | 0:30 | |
| is the movement of people into unexpected jobs. | 0:32 | |
| Jobs which they had not actually prepared. | 0:36 | |
| Perhaps I can illustrate this with just one small arena. | 0:42 | |
| My family is now building a new home. | 0:46 | |
| I was surprised to find carpentry crews | 0:52 | |
| composed entirely of people | 0:56 | |
| who have undergraduate and masters degrees | 0:59 | |
| from universities. | 1:03 | |
| We were surprised to find | 1:10 | |
| even partial leadership | 1:11 | |
| on one of the masonry crews | 1:16 | |
| had an en-high school principal as its leader. | 1:20 | |
| Obviously, there is dignity to construction. | 1:29 | |
| Obviously, any vocation | 1:35 | |
| can be one which honors God, | 1:39 | |
| as long as it is ethically sound. | 1:42 | |
| But it does represent something of a cultural mutation. | 1:47 | |
| To find the number of people entering jobs | 1:52 | |
| for which they did not directly prepare. | 1:55 | |
| And yet, struggling to find in those jobs, | 1:59 | |
| the ways in which they can fulfill Christian ministry. | 2:05 | |
| This new employment situation has brought the need | 2:14 | |
| for assessment of Christian understanding of vocation. | 2:17 | |
| And this at two points. | 2:22 | |
| First, there is a new sensitivity | 2:25 | |
| to the condition of those who are out of work | 2:31 | |
| and those who need work. | 2:35 | |
| This is a problem of structure, | 2:40 | |
| of government, | 2:42 | |
| of politics. | 2:44 | |
| Employment opportunity simply must be established. | 2:48 | |
| But this sensitivity for those who are out of work | 2:57 | |
| also has very personal dimensions. | 3:00 | |
| One need only ask what is Jane or what it Tommy doing, | 3:05 | |
| to watch family embarrassment or hear long explanation. | 3:12 | |
| It's a basic responsibility of the Church | 3:19 | |
| to not only offer new interpretation | 3:24 | |
| of what Christian vocation means, | 3:27 | |
| but to be supportive of those who are | 3:31 | |
| caught in the crunch of this moment, | 3:33 | |
| to be affirmative of the jobs found, | 3:38 | |
| and to explore the possibilities for Christian meaning. | 3:43 | |
| But not only is there structural issue, | 3:51 | |
| there is the need to ask the questions of | 3:56 | |
| creative possibility | 4:00 | |
| within a particular job. | 4:04 | |
| This new and restricted employment situation | 4:13 | |
| does offer opportunity for recognition | 4:15 | |
| of the dignity of all work. | 4:20 | |
| We of necessity are breaking out of the laddering of jobs | 4:24 | |
| which neatly fit jobs in terms of social significance | 4:30 | |
| of prominence | 4:35 | |
| and of over and under kinds of evaluations. | 4:37 | |
| A valid interpretation of Christian vocation | 4:43 | |
| recognizes the interdependence of all jobs | 4:46 | |
| in the well being of the fabric of society. | 4:50 | |
| A wide diversity of jobs. | 4:57 | |
| Every area of ethically sanctionable work | 5:00 | |
| can become the place of Christian vocation. | 5:05 | |
| Such a new, | 5:11 | |
| even perhaps egalitarian evaluation, | 5:14 | |
| of the work place and work opportunity, | 5:21 | |
| moves us beyond the dividing walls of privileged positions | 5:25 | |
| and work-class status | 5:29 | |
| and brings us once again to the thought | 5:33 | |
| of honoring all good work | 5:36 | |
| in God's name. | 5:41 | |
| Martin Luther use to like to tell the story of the shepherds | 5:45 | |
| who came to see the baby at Christmas, | 5:49 | |
| and he commented that they did not go back to monasteries. | 5:53 | |
| They went back to the fields | 5:58 | |
| to be the shepherds they had been, | 5:59 | |
| and so it is with Christian vocation, he said. | 6:03 | |
| We go to those places | 6:08 | |
| where we can serve God. | 6:11 | |
| But how can one serve God? | 6:19 | |
| It's simple enough to exhort people: | 6:20 | |
| Be creative in the jobs you have. | 6:22 | |
| It's extremely difficult times to actually be creative. | 6:25 | |
| There are some jobs which seem to lack | 6:31 | |
| possibility for human fulfillment within them. | 6:35 | |
| There are some types of repetitive or menial work | 6:40 | |
| which seem to offer almost nothing | 6:45 | |
| in terms of intrinsic value. | 6:47 | |
| Perhaps the most that can be said for those situations | 6:52 | |
| is that the job becomes | 6:56 | |
| the stage upon which one can build | 7:01 | |
| other things | 7:07 | |
| so that Christian vocation looks to free time | 7:09 | |
| to avocational interests, | 7:12 | |
| to things one does off the job | 7:13 | |
| and the importance of the job is | 7:16 | |
| simply that it sustains life. | 7:17 | |
| But there are possibilities of finding meaning | 7:22 | |
| within work even in work we haVe not previously | 7:25 | |
| thought of as being all that meaningful. | 7:28 | |
| Creative vocation | 7:34 | |
| means to take the job we can get | 7:38 | |
| and ask, | 7:43 | |
| "How can I in this place | 7:44 | |
| carry with me | 7:49 | |
| my Christian concerns and my desire to serve God?" | 7:51 | |
| W.H. Auden, in one of his shorter poems, | 7:59 | |
| speaks of vocation and writes, | 8:03 | |
| "You need not see what someone is doing | 8:09 | |
| to know if it his is vocation. | 8:12 | |
| You have only to watch his eyes. | 8:16 | |
| A cook mixing a sauce, | 8:19 | |
| a surgeon making a primary incision, | 8:23 | |
| a clerk completing a bill of lading. | 8:27 | |
| They wear the same wrapped expression | 8:34 | |
| forgetting themselves in a function." | 8:38 | |
| Job necessity may set restrictions | 8:47 | |
| but even within restrictions, | 8:52 | |
| there remains possibility. | 8:55 | |
| To do the job as well as we can, | 8:59 | |
| to use the opportunities of human relationships | 9:03 | |
| as well as we can, | 9:06 | |
| and to try to make our daily labor | 9:10 | |
| a service to God. | 9:15 | |
| Well, vocational choice has undergone radical restriction | 9:20 | |
| in the last several years. | 9:25 | |
| This is the reality of our current situation. | 9:28 | |
| And the fact of limitation | 9:33 | |
| places upon the Christian community | 9:34 | |
| a necessity to rethink the meaning of vocational decision, | 9:36 | |
| and the quality of vocational act. | 9:41 | |
| At this point, prophetic and pastoral dimensions | 9:46 | |
| of Christian life intercept. | 9:50 | |
| Prophetic in that we must speak to our society | 9:54 | |
| about the jobless and the need for jobs. | 10:01 | |
| Pastoral in that we speak to one another | 10:05 | |
| in words and affirmation | 10:10 | |
| and support | 10:13 | |
| words which heal the open hurt | 10:18 | |
| and bring solace to the buoyant hope. | 10:22 | |
| In defining our vocation | 10:30 | |
| Lent presents us with a possibility | 10:34 | |
| of asking how in the incarnate life of the actual world | 10:38 | |
| we may learn afresh what it means | 10:44 | |
| for our life to be shaped by our worship. | 10:49 | |
| May I close by reading one of the Lenten lectionary texts | 10:57 | |
| for this week from the Fourth Chapter of Philippians, | 11:02 | |
| the 8th through the 13th verses. | 11:05 | |
| "Finally, brethren, whatever is true, | 11:09 | |
| whatever is honorable, | 11:14 | |
| whatever is just, | 11:16 | |
| whatever is pure | 11:19 | |
| whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, | 11:21 | |
| if there is any excellence, | 11:26 | |
| if there's anything worthy of praise, | 11:27 | |
| think about these things. | 11:30 | |
| What you have learned and received and heard | 11:33 | |
| and seen in me, do: | 11:36 | |
| and the God of peace be with you. | 11:39 | |
| I rejoice in the Lord greatly | 11:43 | |
| that now at length you have revived your concern for me. | 11:45 | |
| You were indeed concerned for me | 11:48 | |
| but you have no opportunity. | 11:50 | |
| Not that I complain of want, | 11:53 | |
| for I have learned in whatever state I am, | 11:55 | |
| to be content. | 12:00 | |
| I know how to be abased, | 12:02 | |
| and I know how to abound. | 12:05 | |
| In any and all circumstances, | 12:07 | |
| I've learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger | 12:10 | |
| abundance and want, | 12:14 | |
| I can do all things in him, | 12:17 | |
| who strengthens me." | 12:21 | |
| Amen. | 12:25 | |
| (choir singing) | 12:30 | |
| (choir stops singing) | 15:12 | |
| - | Let us affirm what we believe. | 15:15 |
| We believe in God, | 15:19 | |
| (audience repeating simultaneously) | 15:20 | |
| who has created and is creating, | 15:21 | |
| who has come in the truly human Jesus | 15:24 | |
| to reconcile and make new, | 15:27 | |
| who works in us and others by the Spirit. | 15:30 | |
| we trust God, who calls us to be the Church, | 15:34 | |
| to celebrate life and its fullest, | 15:39 | |
| to love and serve others, | 15:42 | |
| to seek justice and resist evil, | 15:45 | |
| to proclaim Jesus crucified and risen. | 15:48 | |
| Our judge and our hope, | 15:52 | |
| in life, in death, in life beyond death, | 15:54 | |
| God is with us, we are not alone. | 15:59 | |
| Thanks be to God. | 16:03 | |
| The Lord be with you. | 16:07 | |
| - | And also with you. | 16:09 |
| - | Let us pray. | 16:11 |
| Lord God Almighty and everlasting Father, | 16:23 | |
| you have brought us in safety to this new day. | 16:27 | |
| Preserve us with your mighty power, | 16:32 | |
| that we may not fall into sin, | 16:35 | |
| nor be overcome by adversity. | 16:38 | |
| And in all we do, | 16:41 | |
| direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose. | 16:42 | |
| Oh God, our strength | 16:49 | |
| the battle of good and evil rages within and around us, | 16:51 | |
| and our ancient foe tempts us | 16:56 | |
| with deceits and empty promises. | 16:58 | |
| This Lent, keep us steadfast in your word, | 17:02 | |
| and when we fall, | 17:06 | |
| raise us again and restore us to walk in your ways. | 17:08 | |
| We humbly beseech you for you whole church | 17:14 | |
| throughout the world. | 17:17 | |
| Fill it with all truth and in all truth with all peace. | 17:19 | |
| Where it is corrupt, purify it. | 17:24 | |
| Where it is in error, direct it. | 17:28 | |
| Where it is superstitious, cleanse it. | 17:31 | |
| Where anything is amiss, reform it. | 17:34 | |
| Where it is right, strengthen and confirm it. | 17:38 | |
| Where it is in want, furnish it. | 17:41 | |
| Where it is divided and rend asunder, heal its divisions. | 17:44 | |
| Oh holy one of Israel. | 17:49 | |
| Oh God, we remember to you all those who seek work | 17:53 | |
| and cannot find it. | 17:56 | |
| Of your mercy, raise up opportunity for their employment. | 17:59 | |
| That at peace and thankfulness, they may work | 18:03 | |
| and earn and find contentment. | 18:06 | |
| God, grant your mighty aid to the efforts | 18:11 | |
| of all to establish peace among the nations of the world. | 18:13 | |
| Give strength of purpose to those who lead. | 18:18 | |
| Enlighten those who sit in council | 18:20 | |
| and so transform the hearts of people everywhere | 18:22 | |
| by your gracious gospel. | 18:25 | |
| That they my exalt peace above war, | 18:28 | |
| service above gain, | 18:30 | |
| and righteousness above glory. | 18:32 | |
| We commend to your mercy those who are in pain and sickness. | 18:36 | |
| Give them grace to suffer patiently. | 18:41 | |
| Bless those who watch besides their beds | 18:44 | |
| and enable them to minister in the spirit of Christ. | 18:47 | |
| Bind up the broken hearted | 18:52 | |
| with the constellations of your cross. | 18:54 | |
| Graciously grant to us, oh God, | 18:59 | |
| these and whatsoever other things we ought to ask. | 19:01 | |
| For the sake of the passion of Jesus Christ, | 19:05 | |
| who has taught us to pray. | 19:09 | |
| Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. | 19:11 | |
| Thy kingdom come. | 19:17 | |
| Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. | 19:19 | |
| Give us this day our daily bread; | 19:23 | |
| and forgive us our trespasses, | 19:26 | |
| as we forgive those who trespass against us; | 19:28 | |
| and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. | 19:32 | |
| For thine is the kingdom, | 19:36 | |
| and the power, | 19:38 | |
| and the glory, forever. | 19:39 | |
| Amen. | 19:42 | |
| (choir singing) | 19:54 | |
| (choir stops singing) | 31:14 | |
| Oh God, giver of every good and perfect gift, | 31:16 | |
| receive these gifts of your people. | 31:21 | |
| Some of these offerings are given from great joy, | 31:24 | |
| others from sorrow. | 31:28 | |
| Some are given from plenty, | 31:30 | |
| and others from deepest need. | 31:33 | |
| Whatsoever the measure of our gift, | 31:36 | |
| receive it. | 31:38 | |
| For the sake of him who was rich, | 31:40 | |
| but for our sake became poor, | 31:43 | |
| your son, Jesus Christ. | 31:46 | |
| Amen. | 31:49 | |
| (choir singing) | 31:53 | |
| (choir stops singing) | 35:17 | |
| The Lord bless you and keep you. | 35:20 | |
| The Lord makes his face to shine upon you | 35:22 | |
| and be gracious onto you. | 35:25 | |
| The Lord lift up his countenance upon you, | 35:27 | |
| and give you peace. | 35:30 | |
| (choir singing) | 35:36 | |
| (choir stops singing) | 39:24 | |
| (continuous indistinct noise) | 39:31 |