For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love … - Ephesians 1:4

Today’s Scripture Reading (January 27, 2015): Ephesians 1

When we choose, we are making a complex group of decisions between two things in an effort to discern which it is that is best. For instance, if it is a political vote that is placed before us, then there are a number of considerations that must be evaluated. Maybe the first, and the scariest, of our consideration is to which political party that we feel that we owe allegiance. N. T. Wright argues that this is maybe just an American concern, that simply by a declaration of whether a person self identifies as either a Democrat or a Republican can define the way that a person will vote on a range of issues. According to Wright, the rest of the world simply does not react that way. Maybe it is just a way to simplify our decision making. But we also evaluate things on the basis of the economic impact that the decision will make on our lives. It centers sometimes on our view of ecology. Decisions are made according to our social agenda – and our religious agenda. And when we have finally chosen the one, we act and we hope.

I believe that we have often misread these words of Paul as he speaks about choosing us “before the creation of the world.” Too often the Christian belief seems to echo the false understanding of the Judaism, this belief in a dichotomy, a choice; and on one side stands the ones that God has chosen, and on the other those he has not. In Judaism this dichotomy is reflected in the idea of Jews (the chosen ones) and Gentiles (the unchosen ones). Lost in this dichotomy seems to be the words of God to Abraham, the first of the Jewish Patriarchs after the flood. And God said to Abraham that “all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:3). God chose the world, all of creation, to receive his blessing – and then he chose Abraham and his descendants to be the vessel by which God would bless the nations. In the same way, some believe that only some of us bear the mark of God, but the reality of Abraham has never changed. The Christian Church is simply to be the vessel chosen, alongside of the Jews, by which the world will be blessed.

We need to hear the words of Paul and understand that God has chosen us, before the creation of the world, in the very act of creation. He chose to place something of himself in this universe – and to call that something good. If he had not chosen us, he would have never created the world in the first place. But the choice is not between two groups of people; this cannot be about a choice between the Jews and the Gentiles, and it also cannot be about the predestination of some people to heaven and others to hell. Before the creation of the world, God chose creation over whatever the alternatives might have been. And God saw everything that he had created and called it good. And God blessed what it was that he had created. He gave the task of taking this blessing to the world first to the Jews (and they have still been given this task.) Then he added the Christian Church to this task. But it might be that in reality the whole race of humans have been chosen, before the creation of the world, to care for the world that God so loves.        

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Ephesians 2