You’ve got ONE job!
You’ve got ONE job!
Often I am asked to do the chapel message for a Lutheran grade school. I enjoy these opportunities for a number of reasons. One of those reasons is that I get to see the difference between a grade school mind and the mind of a high school student.
It’s a Lutheran grade school, so I’m pretty sure that they are taught some important things about Jesus. I will ask the question, “What is the ONE job that you have?” In other words, “God has given you all this air to breath, food to eat, family and friends and this nice school to learn about stuff – so, with all those blessings and gifts, what is the ONE JOB that you have?” All the hands will go up (except the 7th and 8th graders). I will call on a third grader. The answer is always the same – “We’re supposed to tell people about Jesus.” Wonderful! (Did I mention that these are Lutheran grade schools?)
Then I go through a series of other questions. Did you eat breakfast this morning? Get ready for school? Brush your teeth? Hand in your homework? Go to lunch? Recess? Go home and do chores? Eat Supper? Say your prayers before bed? And the answers are predictable. Yes, Yes, Yes, etc.
Then – when did you do the one job that you were called to do? They look at their shoes. They might feel like they failed – until I tell them that all day long they were given the opportunities to live the love of Jesus to those around them. Sometimes they did. Sometimes they didn’t. Then at the end of the day, they can thank God for the opportunities and ask forgiveness when they blew it. The point is that they KNOW they have the job. They know what they are supposed to do.
Then there are Jr. high (7th & 8th graders) and high school students. Why do their hands not go up? What has changed? Peer pressure? Other priorities that the world offers them instead of that ONE job? Fear of looking out of place?
The thing is that many, if not most young people are figuring out what they would like to do with their lives (vocation) during these formative years. Wouldn’t it be great if there were people during these years reminding them and encouraging them to focus on the ONE job that should be the vocation for every Christian? Some of them might even be encouraged to go into full-time church work.
Saint Paul Lutheran High School IS such a place. Our job is to teach students about their ONE job – and that everyone – students, teachers, parents, dog catchers… can live joyfully and faithfully in whatever vocation God calls them – even if you’re way past 3rd grade.
Rev. Paul M. Mehl
Executive Director