Lay People Have Divine Calls From God (Third in a Series of Six)

Lay People Have Divine Calls From God

(Third in a Series of Six)

By: Rev. Jack Cascione

3. Luther taught that lay people have a divine call from God.

Luther showed the world that the clergy weren't the only ones with divine calls from God. He taught that marriage and parents had divine calls like Jacob seeking a wife. (LW5:189) He taught that those born to leadership, appointed, or elected to a position in the state, as well as children, mothers, (LW3:128, 3:217, 2:271) and soldiers, (LW2:272) all had divine calls from God.

"But the following definition is truer and is complete: 'Marriage is the lawful and divine union of one man and one woman. It has been ordained for the purpose of calling upon God, for the preservation and education of offspring, and for the administration of the church and the state.'" LW5:189

"Thus every person surely has a calling. While attending to it he serves God. A king serves God when he is at pains to look after and govern his people. So do the mother of the household when she tends her baby, the father of a household when he gains a livelihood by working, and a pupil when he applies himself diligently to his studies." LW3:128

"Home, state, and church are all human ministries with a divine call. These human ministries were established by God. Therefore we must make use of them and not look for other revelations. Thus God only warned the world through Noah in Gen 7:1." (LW2:83)

"This respect toward the king is memorable, for one must conclude that the state is an ordinance of God, just as marriage and the church are from God, and whatever good is done in those stations is divine and has been obtained from God by the prayers of the godly." LW7:143

As in the above, Luther points out examples of those carrying out the seemingly mundane duties of their divine calls, such as Abraham obeying God's command in Gen. 17:9 (LW3:128), Sarah (who has a higher call than Jerome and the Hermits LW3:217) preparing food for the divine guests in Gen 18:15, and soldiers being called by governments according to Romans 13:1(LW 2:272.)

After centuries of confusion taught by the Pope, Luther had to prove from Scripture that the pastors also had divine calls and that there was a true church and true worship apart from the Papacy.

"Every pastor would have taught the Word of God in his parish; and the church would have felt satisfied with the Word, Baptism, the Lord's Supper, absolution, and solace in death and life. Then everyone would have done his duty in his civil and household activities, whether he was a servant or a master, an officer of the state or a subject. Those monstrous papistic abominations would never have crept into the church." LW4:181

"Therefore when I am drunk and have the Holy Spirit in His gifts, in faith, and in the knowledge of Christ, Baptism, and the Word-gifts that are the greatest and most precious of all, gifts that lead to life-I also have a bath for the old man. Then the Lord God thrusts me out into His harvest. In this way our Lord God puts me at the wheel and at the grindstone. For there must be ministers of the church to teach the Word. The ministry is necessary; one cannot do without it. Not all can devote themselves to the
Holy Scriptures. The requirement of this life demands that there be craftsmen, smiths, and potters, as Sirach 38:24 ff. testifies. Without all these a city is not built. Not all should leave the fields, household management, the helms of states, and the other duties of common life. Therefore certain days have been designated for sacred assemblies. On these days the laity comes together to hear the Word of God. Here indeed the eyes
must be red, and the teeth must be white." LW8:269

Luther says that God speaks to us through the home, the government, and the church, just as God spoke through Adam (Gen. 2:23-24) who was in charge of all three (LW4:362). As shown above, the clergy are not the only ones speaking for God! Yes, the clergy have divine calls, but so do the home and state and every vocation in them. Every marriage has a higher divine call from God than the clergy. (LW2:271, 3:128, 3:217, 3:279, 4:181, 7:143, 7:312, 8:94, 8:269)

December 17, 2002