Scripture: Luke 12:13-21

It is, by far, one of the saddest parables Jesus ever told.  A man works hard all his life.  He’s finally successful in making his business prosper and, at that very moment, he dies.  Now, what is really tragic about it is he never gets around to living because his job appears to have taken over everything including his common sense and world-view.  Everything . . . absolutely everything . . . centered on his job and the material wealth it could produce.

And do you know what is really tragic about this parable?  It is being played out in many of our lives today!  Like the man in the parable, most of us have worked extremely hard.  We have made countless sacrifices so our families can enjoy some of the privileges that come from being financially secure.  And, yes, many of us have the stress-related illness of all our hard work.

But why do we do it?  Why are the majority of twenty-first century Americans literally working themselves to death?  Well, for many us, it is simply because there is work to be done.  After all, someone has to clean the house, do the dishes, mow the lawn, make a living, pay the bills, raise the kids, coach the little league, teach the bible study, buy the groceries, and throw another load of laundry in on our way out the door!  But in all of our doing – in all of our working, nurturing, and volunteering – can we honestly say we enjoy it? 

Fredrick Buechner, a contemporary author and theologian, insists one of the reasons we tend to work so hard and enjoy it so little is that most of us see what we do as a job in place of a vocation.  Jobs, according to Buechner, are what (we) do for a living . . . (and our goal is to) make money enough to enjoy their moments of not working.   He then goes on to ask if we are simply working for the money does it make sense to be stressed, tired, and overextending for forty or fifty years so we can finally retire and enjoy ourselves?  Now, Christians, isn’t that exactly what the man did in today’s parable?  He worked hard.  He died rich.  But did he ever get around to being happy – to enjoying the life God gave him?

Let’s face it.  Anyone over the age of twenty will spend the rest of their lives working.  About the only thing that stops when one retires is the paycheck!  So, if we want to be happy but we can’t stop working, what we need to do is find our vocation – that work . . . that job . . . we are called to do by God!

The challenge, of course, is there are all different voices calling us to do all kinds of work.  So how does one go about finding which one is actually God rather than society’s or our own superegos? 

Well, according to Buechner, a God-given vocation is one that (a) you feel called to do and (b) that the world needs to have done.  In other words, your vocation is the place God calls

where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet. (Fredrick Buechner; A Shot in the Dark).

Friends, it is not the occupation or the job that makes us feel overburdened and under appreciated.  It is how we feel about it and how it fits into our lives.  Mother Teresa spent the majority of her adult life tending to the sick and the dying people she found on the streets of Calcutta.  There was never enough money.  There was never enough help.  The problems and the challenges were endless.  Yet, despite it all, Mother Teresa was content to live in the midst of the squalor and the suffering because she was convinced that was exactly what God had called her to do. 

When we, like Mother Teresa, finally find that place where God wants us to be our lives will be filled with joy and hope.  Each day will still present its own challenges but they will be challenges that energize rather than demoralize; challenges that bring hope rather than despair.

In the end it doesn’t matter what we do for a living.  We can litigate, mow, keep house, care the sick, teach, sing, raise the children, patch the streets, cook, design, hold a public office, plumb or compose.  If we do it because God has called us to the task, we will enjoy the journey and the world will benefit.

If you are not there yet – if this afternoon or tomorrow morning you have to get up and work at a job that doesn’t fit your calling – remember you are not stuck.  You may have to continue in your present situation for a while.  With a few modifications in your old habits, however, you can begin to see new possibilities that begin to change your life. 

As your attitude begins to change, remember to read the Scriptures and to pray.  Ask God to help you discern what it is you are being called to accomplish.  Maybe you’ll discover that second job, special volunteer project, or next promotion really isn’t necessary.   

If you need to talk, I would be happy to listen.  So would your spouse, your best friend, or that wonderful person who always sits next to you in Sunday school or Bible Study.

Above all else, remember the wisdom of Proverbs 16:3 tells us, Commit to the LORD whatever you do,/and your plans will succeed. 

To God be the Glory!