Easter 6 B: On Being Chosen

Posted by DJL on May 4, 2015 in Dear Partner | 3 comments

Dear Partner in Preaching,

Serious question: Did Jefferson miss the boat? Thomas Jefferson, that is. And I should admit right up front that I am a huge Jefferson fan. But as much as I like the poetic cadence of the Declaration of Independence’s inalienable rights of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” I’ve always wondered if Jefferson unintentionally set us on the wrong direction from the start.

(And – just to be clear – this isn’t the usual Christian comparison between happiness and joy, with the inevitable triumph of lasting joy over fleeting happiness. Maybe there’s something to that comparison, but I think happiness is still pretty good and can understand why Jefferson lifted it up.)

What I mean instead is simply that ever since Thomas Jefferson, we have been taught to think happiness is something we should pursue. But can we? I wonder…

For starters, what is happiness, exactly? When do we know we’ve found it? And how do we go about it pursuing it? Moreover, noting that we are notoriously bad at predicting what will make us happy, it occurs to me that perhaps that’s because happiness isn’t, finally, something you can pursue and catch and possess in the first place. Rather, perhaps happiness is the by-product of worthy activities. Perhaps happiness is the feeling you get from a job well done, or from achieving a goal, or from being honest and trustworthy, or from helping someone out. In this sense, happiness is less a commodity to be pursued and possessed than it is a by-product of noble efforts or, even more, simply a gift to be received.

And I think the same is true – perhaps even more so – when it comes to joy, the close cousin of happiness that Jesus talks about in today’s reading. One of the helpful mantras of the yoga world is the invitation and imperative to “choose joy.” I regularly remind myself of just how many times I actually do indeed have a choice about how I view something, react to something, focus on one thing or another, knowing that each of these things can be an instance of “choosing joy” over frustration, anger, hopelessness, and more.

At the same time, and in light of Jesus’ teaching here, it seems like joy is also and simultaneously beyond our choosing and comes to us, often at unawares, as sheer gift. Jesus commands his disciples to remain and abide in him and his love for them. True enough. But he also just plain loves them…enough to give his life for them (and us!). Moreover, he is pretty clear that, whatever they may have thought, they didn’t actually choose him, or decide to follow him, or consciously become his disciples. Rather, he chose them. He chose them.

Which will be critically important to the disciples in the hours to come. Keep in mind that this conversation takes place on the eve of Jesus’ crucifixion. In just a few hours he will be arrested, tried, convicted, and executed as an enemy of the state. He endures all of this in order to demonstrate the love he has for his disciples and, indeed, the profound love God has for the whole world. But that action will not only witness to Jesus’ love for the disciples, it will also leave them feeling bereft, alone, and frightened. Which is why Jesus both urges them to abide in him and reminds them that what is more important is that they know he will abide in them. And so he tells them that they did not choose him; rather, he chose them.

This matters, I think, because if it’s finally up to us – to choose Jesus, to remain in him, to obey his commandments, to pursue happiness, or to choose joy, then we are lost. We simply don’t do it. Maybe we can’t. We can try, and there is something valiant and noble and important about trying. But when push comes to shove, whether you’re telling someone to “accept Jesus” or “choose joy,” you may be giving good advice, but you’re not proclaiming the Gospel.

So this week, Dear Partner, just preach the Gospel. The good news that God chose us. That God loves us. That God plans to use us to make this world God loves a better place. That can be hard to remember, especially after the events in Baltimore, Nepal, Nigeria…and more than likely any number of households in our own community.

Not that God’s choosing us is a panacea, as if none of the difficulties of this life matter. Rather, knowing that God has chosen us, loves us, and will use us gives us the courage to face the challenges and renews our strength to do something about them. Ultimately, we cannot fix, let alone redeem, this world. That’s why that’s God’s work. But knowing that God has promised to do so can provide us with the strength and energy to work to make the little corner of the world we live in a better place.

You probably know the (likely apocryphal) story of when someone asked Luther what he would do if the world were going to end tomorrow. He replied that he would plant a tree today. The future is God’s, a gift given, like joy, to God’s beloved children. Let us live this week in that word and promise so that, while we are invited to abide and obey and choose and all of that is certainly good advice, we also hear and receive the good news that God has chosen us…once and for all.

Thank you for sharing this good word, Dear Partner, as there are people in your congregations aching for this word of grace and who will hear it no where else. What you do matters, more than ever at a time like this.

Yours in Christ,
David