As we conclude our discussion on the Three Estates, it is important to see how our vocations in them give shape to our love for our neighbor. In the Estate of the Church, the preacher loves his neighbor by faithfully preaching and administering the Lord’s gifts according to Christ’s command and institution. The hearer of the Word receives the Lord’s gifts distributed by the hands and mouth of the Lord’s sent servant. Then, in response to His gifts given in the Divine Service, the hearers of the Word give their hearty thanks and praise to God for giving His Word and Sacraments. In the Estate of the Home, God uses mothers and fathers to give their children the nourishment, love, knowledge, and instruction in the Christian Faith, and children love and honor their parents.  

It is worth noting that the Estates of the Church and the Home existed before the Fall into sin in Genesis 3. The Word of God was taught directly to Adam in Genesis 2: “You may surely eat of  every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Adam then catechized Eve in this Word. When they obeyed God's command concerning the Tree of the Knowledge  of Good and Evil, they engaged in the worship of God by hearing and obeying His Word. Luther even describes the tree as “Adam’s church, his altar, his pulpit,” the place where Adam would acknowledge God's Word and will, give thanks to God, and call upon Him in prayer. Thus, even before the Fall, we see the Estate of the Church: God's Word being given and received, and God's people responding in faith and obedience. 

God created Adam out of the dust of the ground, Eve out of the man’s side, and presented her to the man as a helper fit, compatible, and uniquely qualified for him. He exclaims, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called  Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Then these profound Words, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” Before the Fall, we see the Estate of the Home established in marriage. 

But the Estate of the Civil realm is different. The Estate of the Civil realm doesn’t seem to be explicitly mentioned until Genesis 9. After the Flood, God commands, “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.” Where the Estates of the Church and Home clearly existed before the Fall, the civil realm appears explicitly only after sin has entered the world. In Genesis 9, after the Flood, God gives mankind authority to punish the shedding of human blood. 

This is echoed in the New Testament in Romans 13:1-5: “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” Paul goes on to say that the ruler “is God’s servant for your good” and that “he does not bear the sword in vain,” for he is “an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.” The Lord has given the civil government the authority of the sword, and He uses the governing authorities to enact His temporal  punishment on those who do wrong. This is why a Christian can be a police officer, a soldier, or even an executioner in good conscience, for the Lord has given the sword of temporal punishment to the Estate of the Civil Realm. A Christian in these vocations isn’t acting on behalf of the Estate of the Church, but the Estate of the Civil Realm.  

Though the Estate of the Home and Civil Realm are distinct estates, the Estate of the Civil Realm necessarily arises wherever homes and families live together in society. A single household can provide for and protect its own members, but the good of the community extends beyond what any one household can accomplish on its own. As families live together in a community, there arises the need for authority to establish and maintain good order, protect the innocent, and restrain wrongdoing. Thus, God establishes the civil authorities to serve the public good. The civil authorities love their neighbors—the citizenry—by protecting, providing, maintaining order, and the like.”

There are two basic vocations within the Estate of the Civil Realm: those who are given the authority of government and those who submit to their rule. The rulers serve their neighbors by exercising their authority for the good of the citizens, while the citizens honor governmental authorities according to the Fourth Commandment. 

In the Large Catechism, Luther explains, “The same should also be said about obedience to civil government. This (as we have said) is all included in the place of fatherhood and extends farthest of all relations. Here “father” is not one person from a single family, but it means the many people the father has as tenants, citizens, or subjects. Through them, as through our parents, God gives to us food, house and home, protection, and security. They bear such name and title with all honor as their highest dignity that it is our duty to honor them and to value them greatly as the dearest treasure and the most precious jewel upon earth” (Large Catechism, 4th Commandment, paragraph 150). It is the duty of the father of the house to protect his home and family. Yet the good of the community extends beyond what any one household can provide for itself. Therefore, God establishes civil government to exercise authority for the good of the entire community. The community includes widows and orphans, homes and property, businesses and commerce, public spaces, and many other things that require protection and good order. The civil realm, for example, employs police officers to protect the community, maintain good order, and punish those who do evil. In this way, God uses the civil authorities to protect and provide for our neighbors in ways that would be difficult or impossible for individual  households to accomplish on their own. 

In his 1539 work On the Councils and the Church, Luther states, “The first government is that of the home, from which the people come; the second is that of the city, meaning the country, the people, princes and lords, which we call the secular government. These embrace everything—children, property, money, animals, etc. The home must produce, whereas the city must guard, protect, and defend” (Luther’s Works, American Edition, 41:177).

In all these ways, the Estate of the Civil Realm serves the neighbor by preserving the peace and good order necessary for human life together. When the Estate of the Civil Realm functions as God intends, it provides the protection and order by which our neighbors can live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and honesty. When there is a  breakdown in the Estate of the Civil Realm, chaos soon follows. 

The Three Estates remind us that God has ordered human life so that we might receive His gifts and serve our neighbors. In the Estate of the Church, God gives us His Word and Sacraments and calls pastors to distribute those gifts faithfully. In the Estate of the Home, God provides for us through fathers and mothers and gives us the vocation of loving and caring for our families. In the Estate of the Civil Realm, God provides protection, order, and justice through those whom He has given authority to govern. In each of these estates, God is at work providing for His creation, and He gives us vocations through which we love and serve our neighbors. The Three Estates, then, are not merely a way of organizing society. They are a reminder that God is the One who provides for us, and that He uses our ordinary vocations to provide for others.  Whatever our vocation, we can give thanks that God has placed us in a particular station in life and uses us there as His instruments to love and serve our neighbor.