The Grace of Vocation

A series on 2 Thessalonians 1:11–12.

“Stand back,” the guide told me. “Just a little bit further.” I was carefully examining a rich blue shard of stained glass as the midday sun lit up the walls of the magnificent 18th-century manor. We had spent that morning in the workshop of a local artist who explained the nuances of colouring which went into the creation of each piece of glass. I was now looking closely to appreciate the unique tones of this particular piece.

As I backed up, the guide’s gentle voice continued. “Just a little bit further. Let the light bring them together.” Stepping back a little more, I was finally caught up in the greater picture. The sunlight, filtered through the swaying leaves and branches of the great oaks in the courtyard, hit the wall, making each shard sparkle. It was the shared illumination provided by the shards together which I was now experiencing. In this room of light, I was a witness to the shards and their compilation, to the parts and their combined impact.

I found in this moment, another picture of vocation.

The apostle Paul closes his reflection on Christian vocation in 2 Thessalonians 1:12 with a beautiful treatise on the role of grace in our lives. “So that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

It is grace, we are told, that motivates God, the artist who is shaping our lives. Grace is the character of God’s steady hand as he puts each moment we experience into the bigger picture of our lives.

As we live out our vocation, the unique calling of God on our lives which rises out of the desires for good he places in us, we can lose sight of the importance of each moment in this journey. God is constructing a stained-glass window, not just individual pieces of glass. To appreciate the role of each of these moments, we need to step back and look at the whole through the light of God’s grace. Not only are we uniquely designed to experience God’s grace, as the Lord Jesus is glorified in us, but we are uniquely designed to express God’s grace, that we may be glorified in him.

It is not only to us that God is saying, “stand back,” but to the world. It is the full testimony of the arc of our lives which can fully reflect the grace of God to others. Take a moment to stand back, today, “just a little bit further.” Thank God for each piece of beauty that he has placed into your life. Let each piece shine, the ones that were shaped in pain, as well as the ones that were shaped in joy. And press on. The window is still in progress. Grace is still at work.