Many of you have seen the bumper sticker: "I owe, I owe, so off to work I go." In the saying is reflected a basic reason for why we do what we do in our jobs: we need the money.

Sometimes, however, we must have another reason for doing what we do because the money is not particularly great. I happen to preach for a living so I can relate to preacher salary stories.

A friend of mine once filled the pulpit for a mission church that was meeting in a trailer. His pay: some country ham. Granted, it met a basic need, but all things being equal - and since he was in school - money probably would have been appreciated at least as much. Yet my friend achieved a level of satisfaction that was far removed from monetary considerations; he was fulfilling the requirements of his vocation.

The fact that he was engaged in a "religious" vocation begins to broaden the horizons of our understanding concerning the meaning of vocations as it relates to this passage. For in the context of our Christian faith, "vocation" means much more than what we do for a living. Rather, Christian vocation encompasses an entire philosophy of life.

It is a philosophy of life because our view of vocation begins with this fact: the One who calls us to vocation is the One who brought us into being. Thus, God is more than a boss; He is Creator.

My father worked in a textile mill. By the time of his death he had risen as far as he could in his particular job, to the position of foreman of his department. He told me once of having to fire one of the workers in the department. The man was on the 12-8 shift. My father would arrive at work just before that shift got off and he would stay until just after the 4-12 shift came on.

The night foreman had been having trouble with this individual and the situation had worsened to the point that my father had to deal with it. When confronted with the complaints of his foreman, the man said, "That man can't tell me what to do." My father's response: "Of course he can, he's your boss."

God is much more than a Cosmic Shift Foreman; He is the One who put us in this world. He has a plan according to which we are to function within the world. This plan is a good gift; it is a blessing. What are the implications of our vocation being a gift from God?

In the first place, the work we have is part of our natural makeup. The biblical view of paradise is not of some idyllic scene wherein one lies around all day being fed grapes by an attractive specimen of the opposite gender. For many of us, the best part of vocation is the vacation -- but not in the Bible.

Work is part of paradise. Indeed, our work is to be seen as an extension of the creative activity of God. God created the world and then put us in it to take care of it. No matter what we do for a living, if we are Christian we must subsume our task under the all-encompassing category of "God's Work." Whatever our job, it is related to this one task of protecting and developing God's good creation. Granted, many of us are responsible for very specialized components of that creation, but the responsibility is real nonetheless.