Election?

 This sermon was preached at Christ Chapel on the campus of Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary on November 4th, 2014.  The text for the sermon was Acts 13:1-12.

Imagine with me, if you will, what it must have been like in that one particular worship service in Antioch that day.  Picture around the table Barnabas, Simeon, Lucius, Manean, and Saul, along with the others that have gathered for prayer and to worship the Lord.  Imagine with me what it might have smelled like in that early house church.  Was the stench of dirt and sweat hanging off of these men and women who are gathered overpowering?  Was it possible to smell the cooking meals of houses around them - roasting meat and baking bread?    Imagine with me what their leitourgia might have looked like.  Were the homeless and poor gathered in the house with them?  Were these women and men that have gathered to fast tempted by the smells of meals around them?  Imagine with me their reaction to the Holy Spirit calling, no, electing Saul and Barnabas for a mission.  Were they surprised to hear the Spirit’s voice?  Or did they accept the voice of the Spirit readily and eager to assist in the sending of Saul and Barnabas?

This service which begins Saul and Barnabas’ mission to the larger world is perhaps extra-ordinary in that there was nothing going on in this house that had not happened before and has not happened many times since then.  The people of God are gathered around, doing the work of the people, praying to God.  It is in this moment of worship and service that the Spirit speaks, electing these two men to go out into the world and bring more and more people into the kingdom of God.

Isn’t that what God’s election process is all about?  God choosing people to work to bring  about the kingdom? God calling them to serve others?  God inviting them to begin a long and perilous journey which ultimately will lead to persecution?  God working through them to reveal the glory of God?  God’s election process has always been about choosing those the world thinks are “unqualified” and using them to redeem the world (if only in bits and pieces).

It’s easy to forget that, I think especially when over the past several weeks we have been inundated with ads trying to tell us which candidate is better than all the others.  With those up for election trying to tell us about their qualifications, their track records, their reasons why they will do the best for us, the voter.  For these candidates, election isn’t about being chosen by God to humble themselves and follow where the Spirit is going to lead them.  Instead, they understand election to mean the gaining of power for personal gain and profit - or perhaps I’m just being a little too cynical of our government after binge watching Netflix’ House of Cards this past weekend.  

However, we forget that election isn’t actually about the individual’s choice in the matter.  No where in scripture does God ask the opinion of the women and men if they wanted to be elected.   Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, Rahab, David, Amos, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ruth, Mary, Peter, Paul, John, Lydia, the list goes on throughout scripture and history, these women and men are elected by God to live into the kingdom.  And none of them have it easy.  And yet, these people answer the call, carrying out the roles that God has elected them to, not because it will lead to a comfortable life, but because they know that God’s election is about more than them; God’s election of an individual or a group of people is for the sake of the whole world.

I think it’s also easy to forget that we are elected by God too.  Not just those of us who are training to be rostered clergy, but every single Christian.  We are all elected in our baptisms to be a means through which God works in the world.  We are just one more group of people in a long tradition of “unqualified” leaders through whom God is redeeming the world.  We are the one of the means by which God has chosen to reveal Godself to the world.  

God has picked us, as a people, and invites us to follow where God is calling.  And perhaps it won’t ever look like blinding a magician and false prophet in order to win converts - however tempting that might seem at times.  But perhaps it might look like that service at the beginning of the passage from Acts.

Imagine with me, if you will, a group gathered throughout a chapel, a group filled with teachers, staff, and students.  They are hungry, counting down the minutes until it is time for lunch.  Perhaps you can hear a stomach or two rumbling.  The air in the room is cool, has a slightly musty stony smell.  The floor is cold to the touch. The lighting is neither dark nor bright.  They have spent time lifting up their voices in song and prayer.  They take some time in silence, opening themselves up to God’s call, eager to hear where God is inviting them to go.  Waiting for the Spirit to whisper in the midst of their own leitourgia, “Set this one aside, lay hands on her, send her out into the world, I have elected her.”