The Power of Being Chosen
Do you remember the elementary school playground? Do you remember gym class? Both of them shared one of the most terrifying moments known to humankind: the picking of teams. I know you remember it. We all do. We want to play basketball; well, we’ve got to pick teams. We want to play soccer; we’ve got to pick teams. We want to play dodgeball; we’ve got to pick teams. All of sudden in the only time of your school day that was supposed to be purely fun, a break from work, a release from having to sit at your desk and learn, you were now faced with the very public judgment of your status amongst your peers. What started out as an attempt to play was now rife with myriad social dynamics. First the captains. If the teacher didn’t pick the captains, then it was usually decided by whoever asserted themselves first or pleaded the loudest. Sometimes there was the democratic taking of turns of to decide who got to be captain that day. Billy got to be captain yesterday, so today it’s Susie’s turn. Though, this was rare. Many times, it was just one of those unspoken rules that everyone quietly agreed to that the more athletic kids always got to be captain. After all they usually cared the most about the game in the first place.
Once the captains were decided, then everyone else lined up waiting to hear their fate. We all know how this went. The skill level in any sport at 8 or 9 was a completely relative thing. Everyone might think Judy was really good at basketball, but that usually just meant she could actually dribble the ball and run at the same time. Or Timmy was good at soccer, but that usually meant he could kick the ball in the direction he intended without falling on his butt. Everyone was still learning how to function in their bodies let alone master a skill in a sport, but there were some who were picked fast because they were a little more competent at the particular game than others. Still, even skill level was not always the most important thing. You’d like to think the integrity of the game was at stake and each captain was most concerned about developing a balanced team that was going function well and be best positioned to win. Don’t be silly. Friendship or popularity always mattered more. No one was going to pick the person they didn’t like no matter how good they were at the sport. You always knew the captains were going to pick their buddies first. It moved from best friends, to friends, to tolerable people, to there are no other options so I guess I have to take so and so.
If you were ever picked last, you never forgot that feeling. It was the worst. Even though you were technically included in the game you had been essentially rejected. It’s our greatest fear realized. We are terrified of rejection. It hurts so badly. It is an existential death. A death of who we hoped to be in someone else’s eyes...a death of relationship or maybe just even the potential of relationship. Even if you were never the last picked on the playground or in gym class, we all still know some form of rejection in our lives. We all have some story of someone or some group whose approval mattered greatly to us and yet we never quite matched up in their eyes or perhaps they didn’t even know we existed.
But I have something to tell you. You are chosen. The God of the universe, the most important, magnificent, and powerful being, chose you in Jesus Christ before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:3-14). That means you are forever chosen first. You are the first pick. He chose you to be his before he even began to make anything else. He had you in his mind. He has loved you before the dawn of time. That is who you are. Jesus always purposed to come for you, to forgive you, to lay down his life for you, to adopt you as his child. And the power of being chosen by him is nothing short of new life.
You may doubt this. You may wonder, “How can you be so sure, Sean?” I know because you are reading this right now. This is not a mistake or an accident. He wanted me to tell you today, perhaps it is a reminder, perhaps it is for the first time...regardless, he sent me to tell you to give you new life today. After all faith comes through hearing (Romans 10:17), so “hear” the truth: God has chosen you first in Jesus Christ and nothing can change that. Amen.
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