We All Like to be Chosen

 

Probably one of the more stressful parts of being a kid is during playground or team sports when everyone lines up to pick teams. There are always the kids you know everyone wants on their team. And then there is -you. "Will I be picked in the middle, or will I be last? And will I prove to everyone that I am as bad at the sport we are about to play, as they think I am? Please God, if the ball comes my direction,  just let me catch the ball and don't let me shut my eyes."  The thing is – we all want to be chosen.

In the passages for today, we hear Stephan give an eloquent testimony about the way God has planned and chosen certain people through out Biblical history to 'man the oars' of faith. Each one that he picked had a mission that they were led into by God. It was rarely one of their own choosing. Here is possibly the one instance when men were not anxious to be chosen. Being chosen by God means you will  have some really rough waters to sail on. It means that the challenges will be noticed not only by God but are meant to be noticed by all mankind. It is a very exclusive and hugely important job.

Thus in this passage Stephan speaks about Abraham, Jacob, Isaac, Joseph and finally Moses. He lists concisely all that they went through once they were chosen. He details that it was not a straight road to their mission, but often there was a falling away with troubles and probably doubt. Each were given enormous tasks (get all the Israelites out of Egypt and perform miracles to scare the Pharaoh along the way).

However, each of these great fathers of the faith provided a milestone in the faith of the one true God. Each brought human beings closer to a real understanding of who this living God was to them. The voice of the powerful, omniscient God who was the great creator and the great "I am" was also becoming the personal God who reached his hand down to stop Abraham from killing his own son. He was the same God who saved a wayward boy named Joseph from being deserted from his family forever and helped us understand a fathers love for his child. He was the same God who prompted the most unlikely man on earth (at that time) to become the leader of a Jewish nation trapped in Egypt as slaves. This was no accident!

As  people who have attended church all throughout their lives, we sometimes need to press the "re-fresh" button on our faith and the stories we are so familiar with. We need to remember how ordinary these people were and yet they were chosen to be on a unique team—God's team. Plucked from all the good guys out there, they were the ones chosen to have their names laid down forever in the Word of God.

Critics of faithful people often like to chastise believers by asking, "where are the great icons of faith now? How come God is not planting an Abraham, a Moses or a David in the world?" What they do not understand because they lack belief or knowledge of God and His Word, is that He is still planting these people. A very important point that they do not understand is that when Christ came into the world, lived and died and was raised from the dead, ALL THINGS WERE CHANGED. It is too bad, I suppose that God did not decide to make that point really clear to the non-believer by showing some great symbol such as re-coloring the sky from gorgeous blue to shiny red ( I am glad He didn't).  He hoped that we would all catch on, because raising His beloved Son from the dead should be a fairly spectacular event, enough for us to grasp that something had changed.

Jesus was the final and ultimate VIP of those who would lead men in faith. There was no greater thing that could be done  then what Jesus had done for us!. The mission was turned over to the disciples and eventually to Apostle Paul. With the entry of the Holy Spirit, Christ's commandment was to spread the word, develop the kingdom of God on earth so that all would be prepared for the time when Christ arrives again.

God has continued to chose individuals that rock the world of faith (Martin Luther all the way down to C.S. Lewis). He continues to pick leaders and whole nations who are in line with the Christian faith. The best example is our own nation. We must remember that most of  our founding fathers of this great nation were strong Christians. Faith has played an enormous role in our countries history from those who led it (Abe Lincoln) to those who have led the faithful in it (Billy Graham). 

            However, being a famous "faith filled" person is not what qualifies you to be chosen by God. There will be millions of people who are not in the news, but are leaders in faith in our churches, our communities, our state, and our nation. Every one of us, who has a personal and eternal relationship with Jesus Christ, has been chosen to spread the Good News of the savior for all humankind. We don't have to fret if we are good enough anymore, because we have been the first ones to be chosen  for God's team.

Laurie Erdman

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