Vocations of the Homeschool Family: Part 1: The Holy Spirit Has Called Me by the Gospel
You can watch the original presentation of this paper here.
Holy Cross Lutheran Church Homeschool Conference
May 11, 2024
Pastor James Preus
To discuss the vocations of the homeschool family, we first need to define vocation. Vocation comes from the Latin word for calling, vocatio. In the New Testament, a calling (κλῆσις, or one who is called or calls, from a form of the verb καλέω or the adjective κλητός ) is used to refer to two types of calls: the call of the Gospel to be a Christian and the call into the office of the Holy Ministry.[1] However, Martin Luther[2] and our Lutheran Confessions[3] do speak of vocation or a calling (Latin vocatio; German Beruf) to refer to one’s station in life (Stand, Amt, ordinationes). This is done ordinarily to promote those godly stations in life, instituted by God and to distinguish them from the phony vocations invented by the papist church, such as monastic vows, which drive people away from their true calling and God-given responsibilities.
Today, we have a similar problem as they had during the Reformation battling the imagined vocations of the papacy. People abuse the word vocation to refer to anything they feel the obligation to do or have a strong desire to do. So, to prevent the multiplication of vocations like frogs in the Nile during God’s punishment of Egypt, which frequently hinder true vocation, let us define the requirements for something to be a vocation.
First, Luther and the Confessions teach that a vocation is given by God. God is the one who calls. A vocation is a divine call. This means that a vocation must find its source in the Holy Scriptures, the Word of God.[4] If God has not spoken, how can you say that He has called you to do something? So, to establish a vocation, you first need to find God’s command and promise concerning it in Holy Scripture.
Second, there must be a visible sign that God has called you.[5] Regarding the call to the Gospel to be a Christian, we see this sign in Holy Baptism, which itself has God’s command and promise. This is a wonderful sign, which gives great comfort to the Christian that he is indeed called by God. Regarding the Office of the Ministry, the visible sign is the call of the visible church, which includes ordination. For a husband, it is his wife; for a wife, her husband; a father and mother, their children, etc.
The command and promise found in Holy Scripture, and the clear visible sign gives the Christian certainty that God has indeed called him, and that this is not simply an internal feeling or a social pressure. This also soothes the conscience when you realize that what has been pushed on you as a vocation does not have the authority to burden your conscience. If God is not calling you to do something, then you are free. It is not a sin for you to stop, change, or reassess and do something different.
A vocation is different. A vocation is a call from God. God is calling. This means that you cannot ignore or refuse the call without greatly displeasing God and risking damaging your primal call to the Gospel.[6] It is a sin to reject your vocation. For example, a husband and father can quit his job as a schoolteacher and take a job as a truck driver without risking his call by God to be a Christian. However, a husband and father cannot quit being a husband and father once he has been called by God to be those things, without risking great damage to his primal call to be a Christian. The callings and promises of God are irrevocable (Romans 11:29). Our careers, hopes, dreams, and plans are not.
But before we can discuss with any benefit the stations in life which distinguish husbands from wives and mothers from fathers and children from parents, and teacher from students, we must first establish what the primal vocation that every Christian homeschooler has in common. That is the divine call to be a Christian, that is, the call from God to believe the Gospel that Christ Jesus has died for all your sins and is now risen and ascended to heaven making eternal intercession for you, the call to feast on the Means of Grace through faith, and to walk in faith, hope, and love according to this calling.
It is the Holy Spirits calling by the Gospel which must establish, form, and support every station in the Christian life. Every station in life, whether father, mother, son, daughter, or student must serve this primal call. Everyone in the home must first recognize that he is called by the same Gospel by the same Lord and baptized into the one Baptism. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, man and woman, but you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28). And this can be appropriately paraphrased, “There is neither mother nor father, son nor daughter, teacher or student, for we are all one in Christ Jesus.” Obviously, there is a distinction between mothers, fathers, children, etc., just as there are distinctions between master and slave and man and woman. But before you can beneficially address those distinctions, you must first see that there is no distinction between dad and son, mom and daughter with regard to their calling by the Holy Spirit to the one and same Gospel of Jesus Christ. You are all sinners deserving of hell. You are all pardoned by the same blood of Jesus Christ (Romans 3:23-25). And you are all called to trust in God for Christ’s sake and to love one another, putting the needs of the other before your own.
How many times will a son sin against his father in a day and repent, and the father must forgive him? Does not our Lord say, not seven, but seventy times seven times, meaning, as often as he repents? (Matthew 18:21-22) And how many times will a father sin against his son in a day and repent, and must his son forgive him? Are parents less obligated than their children to not despise God’s preaching and word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it? St. Paul writes in Ephesians 4, “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one Baptism (Ephesians 4:1-5). Likewise, he writes in Colossians 3, “And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body.” (vs. 15) And so, the homeschool family (and every Christian family), should think of themselves as laborers in the vineyard, who will be given their equal denarius at the end of the day by grace, whether they are father, mother, son, or daughter (Matthew 20:1-16). Notice, how Peter emphasizes to the Jews in Acts 2, that the promise is for them and for their children (Acts 2:38-39), and how Paul and Silas comfort the jailer in Philippi by saying, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” (Acts 16:31) It is the same call to father, mother, and children.
We learn in our Small Catechism:
I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. In the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. In this Christian church, He daily and richly forgives all my sins and the sins of all believers. On the Last Day He will raise me and all the dead, and give eternal life to me and all believers in Christ. This is most certainly true.
The Holy Spirit has called you by the Gospel. St. Paul writes to the Thessalonians in his second letter, “God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through the sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. To this He called (ἐκάλεσεν) you through our Gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thess. 2:13-14) And he wrote to Timothy in his second epistle, “Share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling (κλήσει ἁγιᾳ), not because of our works but because of His own purpose and grace, which He gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel…” (2 Timothy 2:8b-10) And in his first letter to Timothy, Paul wrote, “Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called (ἐκλήθης)…” (1 Timothy 6:12). And Paul admonished the Galatian Christians, “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting Him who called (καλέσαντος) you and are turning to a different gospel.” (Galatians 1:6)
These passages comfort you by emphasizing that you are called to eternal life in Christ Jesus. They admonish you to recognize the importance of this call. And recognizing the call to the Gospel as your primal call is also remarkably practical.
Perhaps, the most daunting factor in deciding to homeschool your children is time management. The way most people manage their time is by dividing their day into twenty-four hours. You work for eight hours (or, as most Iowans seem to do, ten to twelve hours per day). You have an hour or two a day for commuting to work and back, an hour or two of preparing food and eating, you spend time getting your kids ready for the day in the morning and again time getting them ready to go to bed, maybe you have a hobby you like to spend an hour a night doing, you sleep for six to eight hours each night. Perhaps you try to get an hour of exercise per day, which doesn’t include changing and showering. And of course, you probably waste more time than you’d like to admit on some stupid device. So, when you add up all these hours, you find that you have none to spare. So, then when Sunday comes around and you don’t have to go to work, what do most people do? They use that time to catch up on things they didn’t have time for in the week. And when their pastor suggests that they do daily devotions, they simply cannot find a moment in their jam-packed day to do them! And when you add the insanity of educating your own children at home, you have hardly a moment to breathe, let alone to devote to God’s Word and prayer. And calling everything a vocation doesn’t help! That just makes you feel more guilty that you are neglecting this or that vocation. And your primary vocation as a Christian is often set aside.
But your vocation as a Christian is not just one of many obligations you have, which must be content with its allotted minutes of the day, so that your other obligations may get their fair share. No, your vocation as a Christian is a twenty-four-hours a day, seven-days a week vocation. Jesus says, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.” (Luke 9:23) and again, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.” (Luke 14:26) Jesus doesn’t ask for a little bit of you. He doesn’t call you for fifteen minutes a day or for an hour and a half on a Sunday morning. Jesus calls you forever, every minute of every day.
“Well, how is this practical? Doesn’t this make it worse? I had zero minutes to spare. I’m looking for some help scrounging a few minutes to give to Jesus, and now you’re telling me that Jesus wants all of them!” Consider the words of Jesus, “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30) How can Jesus call His call to you easy and light? How can He speak of a yoke, which He intends you to wear at all times as easy? Because Jesus is calling you to have faith in the Gospel. The Gospel is a free gift of forgiveness and everlasting life that does not depend on your works. And with this free gift is given the Holy Spirit, who not only enables you to believe and accept this promise of forgiveness and salvation, but also enables you to walk in a manner worthy of this calling. St. Paul writes, “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13) And again he writes in Galatians 2, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (vs. 20)
The yoke and burden of Christ, which you bear in your calling through faith, is such a yoke and burden that it does not hinder the rest of your work, but helps you succeed in it. In fact, without this burden and yoke, all your work is impossible. Jesus speaks of the calling to faith to be a Christian, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) Apart from Christ, you can do nothing. Unless you follow your vocation to be always a Christian, then you can succeed in nothing. “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil, for He gives to His beloved sleep.” (Psalm 127:1-2)
None of your work matters if you lose the Gospel. What does it profit you if you gain the whole world, but forfeit your soul? What does it profit your children if they learn three languages, master calculus, go to the finest university, and get a job paying $400,000 a year, if they lose their faith in Christ Jesus? You must remember Jesus’ words, “What is exalted among men is an abomination to God.” (Luke 16:15b) So, you must not look at your vocation to be a Christian as a time-consuming task, which takes away from all the other things you want to get done. Rather, you must consider your call to be a Christian as that which empowers you to do every task throughout the day and enables you to do the work of your other vocations in a God-pleasing manner.
And for this reason, it should be unconscionable in your mind to skip church so that you can fulfill some other tasks according to your vocation. Your week should begin with worshiping Christ and receiving His grace, so that you may go to work refreshed and strengthened by Him through the week. And you should go about your work each week as if you are journeying to the next Sunday, when you will again be refreshed and strengthened by Christ’s holy Word and Sacraments. Likewise, it should sound silly to say that you do not have time to start the day with devotions or to end your day with prayer. That would be like saying that you didn’t have time to brush your teeth, put on deodorant, or go to the bathroom. You make time to do those things, so that the rest of your life isn’t miserable. Likewise, beginning a day without God’s Word and prayer is miserable. Begin your day with God’s Word and prayer, so that you may conduct your life in the grace of God’s Word. And do your work toward the goal of finishing your day in prayer.
There are three things that everyone in your family, whether you are the dad or mom, son or daughter, should do. First, go to church every Sunday. This shouldn’t be a question. Church is not time consuming. Church, where you hear God’s Word, eat Christ’s body and blood, sing hymns and pray to Him, is the reason for your time here on earth. It is your rehearsal for heaven. Nothing but severe sickness should keep you from it. And if some extraordinary, uncontrollable circumstance causes you to miss worship on Sunday, then you should take time to worship, preferably as a family, meditating on God’s Word and prayer. Going to church should not compete with sports, vacation, family get-togethers, work, or school. Rather, you choose where and when you go on vacation, so that you can go to church. You make it clear that family visits on Sundays involve going to church. If your job keeps you from regularly worshipping with your family, find another job. If the sports director schedules games and tournaments on Sunday, skip them and go to church instead. Think of it. The coach is telling your kid to skip church to play a game. Why should he not hear you say that he will skip the game for church? And your child should have a faithful Lutheran Church being nearby as the number one factor in determining where he will go to college.
Going to church every Sunday is what you are called to do. The first Christians devoted themselves to the Apostles teaching, to the fellowship and the breaking of the bread, and to prayers (Acts 2:42). All Christians are called to devote themselves to this. In Luke 14, Jesus tells the parable of the invitations to a banquet, where those invited one by one gave lame excuses not to come. One bought a field, another five yokes of oxen, and another married a wife, and for some reason, these things prevented them from answering their call. In Matthew’s parallel of this story in chapter 22, Jesus concludes the parable by saying, “Many are called, but few are chosen.” (Matthew 22:14) The word for call[ed] and invite[ed] are the same, καλέω or κλητός. You are called to sit at the Feast of Salvation. You answer that call when you come to church to hear God’s Word and eat Christ’s Sacrament. When you come to church, you not only eat the foretaste of that heavenly feast, but the meal, which strengthens you to get there.
Second, every member of the Christian family should have devotions every day. You do not need to do Matins, Sext, and Vespers every day or spend hours a day reading the Bible as your pastor does. But you do need to take a moment at the beginning of each day and at the end of each day to worship God. Psalm 90:14 states, “Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.” And Psalm 143:8 states, “Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.” Psalm 3 states, “I cried aloud to the LORD, and He answered me from His holy hill. I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the LORD sustained me.” And Psalm 4, “In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.” Our devotions to the Lord, that is, our prayer and meditation in His Word should be like running from one shelter to the other in a hail storm. We should begin and end our days with them. In fact, by meditating on God’s Word, it is like bringing an umbrella with us.
Finally, every member of the Christian family should speak theology with each other. This last one is impossible without the first two, because you need a foundation in the Word of God to speak about God’s Word. Deuteronomy 6:4-7 states, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” Talk theology at the dinner table, as you’re working in the kitchen, as you’re driving in the car. Theology is your mother tongue according to your second birth. It is the fruit of your faith, which always praises your God in heaven.
These three things are not time consuming. Obviously, they take time. Everything does. We are but grass that will soon fade away in time. But these three things never rob you of a minute as so many other activities steal from you. Rather, these are the means by which God keeps you in the faith. They are employing the Word of Christ. And you will find that when you diligently follow these three things, they become more and more natural. You will also find that you aren’t late more often than if you didn’t do them. You are not worse at your job. You don’t get less school work done. Rather, your work gets done, school gets taught, and you even find more joy in what you do.
I will now take the rest of my time for this first session to give a brief demo on family devotions, to show you first, how they should be done, and second, that you do have time to do them. In fact, I’m going to time us to show you how much time it takes to do simple devotions with the family. Family devotions should consist of three things: 1. Holy Scripture; 2. The Catechism; 3. Singing Good Lutheran Hymns. This does not mean that you need to do all three of these things every time you have devotions, but within the day, all three of these things should be done.
Go to Handout.
Easy Way to Learn Scripture and the Catechism by Heart
Daily:
He himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed. 1 Peter 2:24 (ESV)
Odd (every other day):
Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” John 8:12 (NKJV)
Saturday (once a week):
And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; 20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, 21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 1:19-21 (NKJV)
11th (once a month):
Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 1 John 3:2 (NKJV)
This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. 1 Timothy 1:5 (NKJV)
The First Petition: Hallowed be Thy name. What does this mean? God’s name is certainly holy in itself, but we pray in this petition that it may be kept holy among us also.
How is God’s name kept holy? God’s name is kept holy when the Word of God is taught in its truth and purity, and we, as the children of God, also lead holy lives according to it. Help us to do this, dear Father in heaven! But anyone who teaches or lives contrary to God’s Word profanes the name of God among us. Protect us from this, heavenly Father!
Daily Prayers
Invocation: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Ten Commandments:
- You shall have no other gods.
- You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God.
- Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
- Honor your father and your mother.
- You shall not murder.
- You shall not commit adultery.
- You shall not steal.
- You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
- You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.
- You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
The Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose from the dead. He ascended into heaven. And sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Luther’ s Morning (or Evening) Prayer:
Morning: I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.
Then say a prayer for your family, friends, congregation, community, government, etc. If you have time before going to work, read from the Bible or sing a hymn. If you do not have time, read from Scripture and sing a hymn in the evening for your closing devotions.
· List of Suggested Hymns
Parents Should Sing with Their Children
o LSB 862: Oh, Blest the House
TLH 334: Let Me Be Thine Forever
o TLH 401: Praise to Thee and Adoration
o LSB 422: On My Heart Imprint Your Image
o LSB 655: Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Your Word
o LSB 708: Lord, Thee I Love with All My Heart
o LSB 555: Salvation unto Us Has Come
o LSB 556: Dear Christians One and All, Rejoice
o LSB 594: God’s Own Child, I Gladly Say It
o LSB 601: All Who Believe and Are Baptized
o LSB 730: What Is the World to Me
o LSB 689: Let Me Be Thine Forever
o LSB 895: Now Thank We All Our God
o LSB 880: Now Rest beneath Night’s Shadow
o LSB 883: All Praise to Thee My God, This Night
o LSB 332: Savior of the Nations, Come
o LSB 334: O Lord, Ho Shall I Meet You
o LSB 81: O Jesus Christ, Thy Manger Is
o LSB 358: From Heaven Above to Earth I Come
o LSB 395: O Morning Star, How Fair and Bright
o LSB 839: O Christ, Our True and Only Light
o LSB 420: Christ, the Life of All the Living
o LSB 438: A Lamb Goes Uncomplaining Forth
o LSB 467: Awake, My Heart, with Gladness
o TLH 207: Like the Golden Sun Ascending
o LSB 716 (TLH 413): I Walk in Danger All the Way
o LSB 730: What Is the World to Me
o LSB 734: I Trust, O Lord, Your Holy Name
o LSB 756: Why Should Cross and Trial Grieve Me
o TLH 415: Lo, Many Shall Come from the East and the West
o LSB 656: A Mighty Fortress Is Our God
o LSB 516: Wake, Awake, for Night Is Flying
This List is by no means exhaustive, but these are good core Lutheran hymns to sing with your children. A wonderful resource is Kloria Press’s illustrated hymn books.
[1] Κλῆσις: 1 Cor. 1:26; Ephesians 1:18; 4:1, 4; Ph. 3:14; 2 Thess. 1:11; 2 Tim. 1:9; Heb. 3:1; 2 Peter 1:10. The first instance of call, κλῆσις (κλήσει( in 1 Cor. 7:20 may refer to a vocation as in a station in life, whereas the second instance, which is the from the verb καλέω (ἐκλήθη) refers to the divine call to be a Christian.
Κλητός: Matt. 20:16; 22:14; Rom. 1:1, 6, 7; 8:28; 1 Cor. 1:1, 24; Jude 1:1; Rev. 17:14
[2] AE 3:30, 65, 128, 130, etc.
[3] “The Gospel does not overthrow civil authority, the state, and marriage but requires that all these be kept as true orders of God and that everyone, each according to his own calling (Ordnung), manifest Christian love and genuine good works in his station (Beruf) of life.” AC XVI (German); “On the contrary, it [the Gospel] especially requires their preservation as ordinances of God (ordinationes Dei) and the exercise of love in these ordinances (ordinationibus). AC XVI (Latin); “And as callings (vocations) are unlike [one is called (vocatio) to rulership, a second to be father of a family, a third to be a preacher], so this calling does not belong to all, but pertains properly to that person with whom Christ there speaks, just as the call of David to the kingdom, and of Abraham to slay his son, are not to be imitated by us. Callings (vocationes) are personal, just as matters of business themselves vary with times and persons,; but the example of obedience is general. Perfection would have belonged to that young man if he had believed and obeyed this vocation (vocationi). Thus perfection with us is that everyone with true faith should obey his own calling (vocationi). (Latin). [Not that I should undertake a strange calling (fremnden Berufs) for which I have not the commission (Befehl) or command of God (Gottes Gebot).] (German) Ap. XXVII (XIII)
[4] AE 3:30
[5] AE 3:30
[6] “This comfort is necessary and must often be impressed upon men, for it makes hearts confident and prevents the dangerous abandoning of a calling, the abandoning that is never attempted without sin.” AE 3:65.
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