Election Progression
October 16, 2011 | Patrick Preheim | Psalm 1, Matthew 22: 34-40
Eternal God,
We know your call to be powerful:
Your voice cuts through the darkness of the deep and brings forth light
Your Word becomes flesh and dwells among us
Your voice reached the Thessalonians and sounded through them.Speak to us in ways
that we can hear
so that we might respond
and continue the echo which reverberates through the centuries. Amen
The writ for a Saskatchewan election dropped last Monday and my sermon title is designed to pique interest in political reflections I may offer. Sorry, I was just teasing. I will not wade into that bear trap today. While my thoughts may have political undertones, I will not be referring to the parties competing in this current campaign. I chose my title because election is a key concept in our texts today. In 1st Thessalonians 1:4 Paul lovingly reminds them that they have been elected. Some translations use the term “chosen” and some “election” and I will tease out my distinction a bit later. In either case, Paul is linguistically telling the Thessalonians that they have been chosen to bring good news to the nations and their neighbours in the same way that God had chosen the Hebrews as a “channel for service and witness to all the world” (Jacob Elias, 1 & 2 Thessalonians (in the Believers Church Bible Commentary series), p. 52). A difficulty with divine election, however, is that the chosen must also choose to embrace the call God has extended. Divine election follows a progression and has very concrete outcomes at its fulfillment. I will outline the manner in which I make sense of this divine election punctuating the philosophical reflections with stories.
Section one: The gods we choose to follow
Psalm 96 states that the Lord is to be “revered above all gods” and that the “gods of the peoples are idols”. These observations point to the reality that in our world there is a pantheon of gods of which the Lord is but one. I would name nationalism, mammon, capitalism as some of those gods that compete with the Lord for our allegiance. So why follow Yahweh—the God of Jesus? It is a compelling question given the options of deities out there. And I will share my thoughts on that matter, but first a quick illustration. This is a story of people choosing reconciliation rather than vengeance. It is the story of Neve Shalom or (in Arabic) Wahat al Salam (in English) Oasis of Peace.
For more than three decades 54 Jewish, Muslim, or Christian families have lived together within the city limits of Oasis of Peace. “They share strong convictions about their own identities, but have made a determined effort...to live alongside one another and thus affect society...In the local Jewish-Arab primary school, children study one another’s faiths with natural curiosity. Students break the fast together at Ramadan, share a sukkah booth at the festival of Sukkot, and exchange small gifts at Christmas” (Deanna Armbruster, “Where Jews and Arabs Get Along” in The Christian Science Monitor (August 19, 2008), p. 9). In January of 2012 Oasis of Peace is sponsoring a peace college to help share some of the insights of peace-building which have come from their years of living and learning together (see Oasis of Peace web site). Building common ground is not easy. It takes a willingness to make oneself vulnerable to share accounts of personal pain, a willingness to acknowledge the suffering of others, and at a fundamental level a willingness to see the perceived enemy “as an equal in humanity” (CSM article). While militants bulldoze olive groves and homes to establish illegal settlements in the West Bank, and while other militants launch katyusha rockets and target civilians in Israel, and while politicians rage at the United Nations the residents of one village are working on those things that will make for a lasting peace. The spiritual descendents of Abraham in one small community have turned to God from the idol of vengeance, and they are serving a living and true God.
Section two: Why follow the God of Christ
Abraham Maslow suggested that after our base needs are covered (food and water for example) we humans seek security, belonging and self-esteem (see writings on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs). The different gods of the pantheon offer various routes to meet these needs. In the person of Jesus Yahweh has presented us a unique way of living that differs from the other gods. Why does it make sense to accept God’s election and journey the way of Christ? Here are a few reasons that come to my mind:
- Security: our own security is necessarily linked to security of others. The discipline of peace-making taught by Jesus and being lived out at the Oasis of Peace is the only way we will truly be secure. It is impossible to kill or deport or imprison all those who scare us. For security to actually happen at some point Jew and Muslim will need to sit down; aboriginal and non-aboriginal will need to sit down; violaters of the law and those affected by lawlessness will need to sit down. When we come to an attitude of befriending the enemy we will be near security, and this is without regard to the response of the other. Security is as much a frame of mind as a physical state. The way of Jesus gives us spiritual resources for the hard work of training our minds and then sitting down across the table from those who frighten us.
- Belonging: hard work is done more easily in a community, and community is the foundation of the Jesus way. Judaism and Christianity are both collective movements. A person belongs to a clan, a congregation, a spiritual community. Some branches of Christianity have privatized faith, but the biblical story is one of belonging. Do congregations and spiritual communities always behave well? No, of course not. Reconciliation will need to be practiced as often within the community as with those outside the community. In this way the congregation becomes an internal training ground for the creation of security as well as support for the external work of peace making. The way of Jesus is rooted in community life.
- Self-Esteem: terms like confidence, respect, and acceptance come to mind when I think of self-esteem. I do not know how others come to an acceptance of themselves in all of our giftedness and fallenness. Much of what I see around me suggests that many struggle to find a healthy respect of the self. Low self esteem drives some into abusive relationships. Arrogance drives some to act as if they are above the law. I think we all agree that at an intellectual level these extremes are destructive for the self and the common good. How then do we find a middle course? For me, the cross of Jesus has been part of my salvation from either extreme. When I consider Jesus and his death several lines of reflection come to me:
a) Am I, like the religious leadership, behaving arrogantly and helping to crucify an innocent person?
b) Am I, like the inadequate disciples, locked behind a door by shame and in need of a resurrection reminder that Jesus died so that I might have life, and have it more fully?
c) I also find some circumstances inviting me to ask—am I, like Jesus, being called to humbly suffer so that others might find a deeper salvation?
You see, for me, the cross of Jesus and all it represents serves as a story and place where my confidence and self-respect can receive some divine care.
We have a choice in which God we will follow. It is not only the Lord who has chosen us, so has Onstar, the myth of rugged individualism, cosmetic companies and the tailor of clothes. The living God has indeed chosen us, I hope we can see the life that awaits us in choosing him. Well, time for a story.
MEDA is a Mennonite organization of people interested in faithful stewardship of their businesses and resources. The bulletin highlights a regional gathering at Bethany Manor in November, and there is a local chapter that meets the last Wednesday of the month (ask Tammy Forrester for details if you have interest in attending). At our September we were asked to reflect on ways we had experienced God’s grace at some point during the summer. I was taken with the sharing of one accountant in our group and asked permission to repeat it today. One of his clients invited him to look over his books and suggested application of some accounting practices that would save him some money. “Cooking the books” is the term I learned for such activity. The financial implications of releasing the client were serious, but the moral implications for delving into this murky area of finances were even more serious. It was the grace of God for him, his business and his family that later in the week a new large organization approached him about doing their books. This accountant refused to worship the god mammon, and he felt God’s care in taking a difficult ethical step. We all know that things do not always turn out so rosy for God’s people, and yet I do believe that God seeks to sustain the people committed to his way.
Section three: The consequences of accepting the election
This story is particularly important as it relates to our scripture text. Part of the election process is that word of God might “sound forth” out of our lives. It is to sound forth from us in such a way that the people around us report it. Biblical commentator Jacob Elias likens this to a trumpet blast or a rock dropped in a pond that sends out waves to all parts of the lake (Elias, 46). This is, in fact, the outcome of accepting divine selection. When I think of being chosen by God it is a warm fuzzy feeling—something for me to be enjoyed by me. When I think of being elected by God I have different thoughts. Like all elected people there are responsibilities inherit in my accepting the election process. As an elected member of God’s parliament I am obligated to practice live with integrity and practice justice. As an elected member of God’s party I am obligated to let the good news sound forth out of my life in word and deed. It is wonderful and nerve racking to think that our election is to be a channel for the divine grace around us.
What is the progression of this election? We recognize that God has chosen us with all our gifts and flaws. We turn from the idols of the world and accept the election of God—in our hearts, in public baptism, in our daily devotions. We allow God’s grace to sound forth from us in word and deed. It is as simple and complex as that. May God give us hearts to accept our status as beloved children, the wisdom reciprocate God’s choice of us, and courage to allow God’s grace to shape the world around us. Amen
