November 14, 2024 

Today's Reading: Catechism - Table of duties: To Employers and Supervisors

Daily Lectionary: Jeremiah 29:1-19; Revelation 14:1-20; Matthew 26:36-56

Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him. (Ephesians 6:9)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. 

It can be fun to consider the changes in descriptive language from the time of the Bible and the Catechism to our current generation. 

The Bible speaks of farm and ranch life. A man’s wealth was his sheep, his olive orchard, and his water wells. At the time of the writing of the Catechism (the 1500s), the descriptive titles at the workplace included master and servant. Even words such as slave had meanings ranging from household servants to indentured servants and also those slaves captured as bounty in war.

Now, we don’t often speak of masters and servants. The titles might be Executive, administrative assistant, clerk, shift supervisor, project engineer, janitor, owner, or franchisee. You can probably think of many more.

The titles change (just as a farmer now plows a field with a tractor, not a pair of oxen), but we can still discern our Lord’s desire for us. He gives us to love our neighbor as ourselves (e.g., Mark 12:30-31). How do we love our neighbor? Love for neighbor flows from the heart of faith— faith that clings to Jesus’ love and mercy for the sinner and then brings forth the fruit of that faith in words and acts of love toward one another.

This love for neighbor has practical results in our lives. Our minds and hands produce actual, real-world benefits. This is how we may understand our vocations in life. We are the Lord’s servants to our neighbor. So, if we are employees, we serve our vocation well by rejoicing in our work and being productive employees. If we are employers or supervisors, if we’re given the job of boss at the workplace, then we serve our neighbors by treating our employees with respect, honoring our contract with them, and rejoicing in helping them to be productive in their employment. 

The language has certainly changed since the days of speaking of master and servant, but the Lord has not changed. He still uses us in our many and various vocations to provide for our neighbors. We know that the Lord who has redeemed us with His own blood is using our lives, even our minds, and hands, to provide food and home, safety, and honor for those He loves. And our Lord loves our neighbor. 

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Lord, help us walk Your servant way Wherever love may lead And, bending low, forgetting self, Each serve the other’s need. (LSB 857:1)

-Rev. Warren Graff, pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Albuquerque, NM

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.

Spend time reading and meditating on God’s Word throughout the Church Year with the Enduring Grace Journal. Includes scripture readings, prayers, prompts, and space for journaling. The Church Year Journal, Enduring Grace, now available from Concordia Publishing House.