Sermon Ponderings: When God Chooses His Team

I’ll be preaching from Ephesians 1:1-14 this Sunday (August 3) and continue to be drawn to the themes of grace and chosen-ness which Paul says are the good fortune (“spiritual blessings”) of those of us in Christ. Remember those days in elementary school and junior high when the PE teacher would have two exceptionally athletic kids choose teams. They would each start with the jocks, picking less and less able athletes in turn. Finally, those last remaining souls, their heads hung low in shame and feelings of worthlessness, were chosen only because the PE coach required it. Otherwise, no one wanted them on the team. They were slow, uncoordinated or mentally challenged. I remember seeing this process unfold and, in my own adolescent way, felt like the whole process was unhealthy and damaging.

But as I read Paul I imagine a line of people stretching before God and God looking up and down the line and choosing based not on status, wealth, or even intellect or raw talent. Instead he chooses “according to the good pleasure of his will.” And we find that his good pleasure is to accept us as his children “unto the adoption of Jesus Christ” (v. 5). God looks at us and says, “Be my children,” regardless of our past or present condition. In life we have all felt what it is like to be at the end of the pickings. We all have moments when we feel inadequate, not up to the task, left out or even unwanted. But, “to the praise of the glory of [God’s] grace,” Jesus, because of his act of love and sacrifice on the cross, “hath made us accepted in the beloved” (v. 6).

Those are my ponderings leading up to this Sunday at Greenhill United Methodist Church. Please give me your thoughts and meditations on this passage, as we prepare our hearts and minds to hear God’s Word in worship.