Chosen for Mission

In the book of Exodus, God reminds Israel of what He has done for them: “I bore you up on eagle’s wings and brought you to myself.” Israel did not make itself God’s people. Israel did not earn this calling by its own greatness, strength, or holiness. God chose Abraham. He called Moses. He formed Israel as His own possession.

But God’s choice is never merely possession. It is also mission.

Israel was chosen to be “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” This was not because Israel was better than the other nations, but because God intended to bless the nations through Israel. Their election was a gift, but it was also a calling. They were set apart for holiness so that the world might come to know the living God.

This same pattern is fulfilled in Christ.

Just as Israel’s election was wholly unmerited, the atoning sacrifice of Christ is also wholly unmerited. Saint Paul writes, “God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.”

That is worth stopping over. Who would you die for? Perhaps, with great courage, we might die for our family. Perhaps for a dear friend. Perhaps for someone especially good or noble. But would we die for an enemy? Would we die for someone who mocked us, cursed us, ignored us, or actively worked against us?

Christ did.

He did not wait for us to become worthy. He did not wait for us to clean ourselves up first. While we were still sinners, while we were helpless to save ourselves, while we were enemies, Christ died for us. We are reconciled to God not by our strength, but through the death of the Son.

And yet, just like Israel, we are saved for a purpose.

Grace is not merely rescue. It is also a calling.

In the Gospel, Jesus looks upon the crowds and sees that they are troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. His heart is moved with pity for them. Then He says to His disciples, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few.”

That is the movement of Christian life. We are loved first. We are rescued first. We are reconciled first. Then we are sent.

This mission begins in a particular way with the twelve apostles. Jesus gives them authority to drive out unclean spirits and to cure every disease and illness. But they were not chosen because they were obviously worthy or impressive.

Matthew was a tax collector, despised by many of his own people. Several of the apostles were fishermen, ordinary men without status or religious prestige. Peter himself knew his own unworthiness. When he first encountered the power of Christ, he said, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.”

And yet Christ called him.

That is how God works. He does not call the worthy because they have earned a place in His plan. He calls the weak, the sinful, the inadequate, and the unprepared, and then He makes them His own.

We have each received a great gift, a pearl of great price. We did not deserve it. We did not purchase it. We did not earn it. We received it freely.

And because we have received without cost, we are called to give without cost.

Our treasure is not the kind that rusts, decays, or can be stolen. Our treasure is spiritual: the truth of Christ, the love of God, the forgiveness of sins, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and the promise of eternal life. This is the treasure of the kingdom.

But it is not a treasure meant to be hoarded.

Love, by its nature, gives itself away. Perfect love does not turn inward and clutch its gifts in fear. It moves outward. It seeks the good of the other. It desires that others may share in the joy it has received.

That is why the Church must proclaim the Gospel. That is why we are sent to the nations. That is why we call others to repent and believe. Not because we are better than they are, but because we have been loved while we were still sinners.

You are called to love.

You were not called because your love was already perfect. You were called so that, by grace, you might learn to love more deeply.

You were chosen, not because you had already become holy, but so that God could make you holy.

And you were given the treasure of Christ, not to keep it hidden, but to share it with the world.

God’s choice is never merely possession. It is also mission.