Ezekiel 34:11-24; 1 Timothy 1:12-17; Luke 15:1-10
There was once a time in which you made a career choice in high school and that was that. If you chose to skip college and enter the work force, the chances that you would (or could) go to college later in life were very slight. If you entered college after high school you declared a major during your freshman year and stuck with it (or were stuck with it). But now we have all kinds of education and career options. Colleges have retooled to appeal to adult learners, both in the
classroom and on-line. In place of the worker who spent a career with the same employer, the average person changes jobs eleven times during his career. It’s so common for college students to change their majors that some schools don’t permit their students to declare a major until their sophomore or junior year. And if it turns out that someone ends up with a major in a subject that they dislike, they can always go back to school and get a different degree. With so many options available to us it can be difficult to decide what to do with our lives. As a result, some people are aimless, many are restless, and few actually end up feeling like they’re doing something meaningful with their lives. As Christians we have an advantage over other people. But are we any more clear about what direction to take with our lives?
In today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus speaks two parables that offer us insight into living out the purpose that God has designed for us. In these parables you won’t find a code for unlocking which major you should declare in college or a “Magic Eight Ball” answer to whether or not you should take a job offer. Instead, this purpose transcends college majors and job titles as an integral part of whatever our vocations in this world may be. In fact, God makes use of our education, training, careers, and every other aspect of our earthly lives to carry out this purpose in and through us. What is this amazing purpose? To share in His joy.
In order to share in God’s joy we must first understand what brings Him joy. People have a lot of ideas about what brings joy to God, but, as these two parables highlight, the Bible only speaks of God rejoicing when the people whom He has chosen to be His own are gathered into His fellowship by His grace. In whatever place in life you have now or will have in the future, God is inviting you to bring His love, mercy, and grace to the people with whom you study, work, play, live, and socialize — and, through those relationships and with all that He has entrusted to your stewardship, to share in His joy.
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