As anyone who ever waited in a school yard for a team captain to call their name knows, it feels good to be chosen. How much more, to be chosen by God? Remember these words, “Why me Lord? What did I ever do, that was worth loving you, or the kindness you’ve shown?” Kris Kristofferson recorded a hit when he sang those words in the 1970’s. Have you ever wondered why God chose to bless us in the ways he has?
Abraham might have wondered. After the flood and the debacle of Babel, Abram and his family left the urban center of Ur to travel to Harran. There God tapped him on the shoulder and told him to leave kith and kin to go to a new land which they would discover. Why did God choose Abram and his family? God chose Abram because he wanted to bless him. But that is not the whole story. God chose Abram so that he would be a blessing. After the goodness of creation and the badness of the fall into sin comes the newness of God’s better plan.
In election, God chose Old Testament Israel to be his missionary nation to the world to declare his mighty acts to the nations so that they, too, might believe. Then he chose Christ, the perfect Israelite to be the Savior of the world, the fulfillment of his original purpose. Finally, God chose the church, the true Israel to take the message of salvation to the world. God’s election of humankind is corporate and purposeful. He chooses us so that he might bless us with his gift of salvation. With privilege comes great responsibility. God saves us so that we might take the message of his salvation to the world.
To be chosen by God is no small thing. But God’s election is not individual and spiritualistic. God’s election is corporate and cosmic. God has chosen all who are in Christ to be his people so that we might extend his salvation to the ends of the earth. Imagine twelve people stranded in a cave. They will drown as the water rises if they are not rescued. There is a small escape route, but only one person can fit through the hole in the wall. This woman is chosen to go and get help. Once she leaves the cave through the hole, she is safe and sound. She now knows she will not die. Wasn’t she fortunate to have been chosen? Yes. But her work has just begun. She must go and get help so that the all the others can be rescued as well. In the same way God has chosen us in Christ to be saved. God has rescued us. Now we must be about the work of making sure that all others are rescued as well.
