Chosen To Serve, 1 Peter 2:1-10, Rev. Silas Rodgers “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light’ 1 Peter 2:10 Let’s pretend! As we leave the sanctuary this morning, each one of us will be handed an envelope. It is not addressed to us personally. It is addressed to “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people,” this congregation, this address. When we open the envelope, the message is short & simple, “As one of my royal, holy people, chosen to declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light, would you this week, in some way seek out someone whom you feel is least likely to know Jesus Christ, as Lord & Saviour & go tell him or her what it means to you to be chosen to proclaim the mighty acts of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvellous light” Well, we don’t need to pretend any longer. In fact, you will not be given such an envelope as you leave here this morning  However, I would ask you this morning to reflect upon what to means to us & to each of us, all of us to be chosen by God Just before Christ went to his death he told his disciples, “You did not choose me, but I chose you” This is one of the mysteries of God’s love. Why did he choose the people he did. And why does he choose us? There didn’t seem to be anything special or extraordinary about those early disciples whom Jesus called to follow him & to be with him. They were common people, fisherman, tax-collectors, etc. Rugged, hard-working individuals. We’re not told that they had to have any special training or education in order to follow him. In fact, those first men so dear to Jesus were a strange bunch, they were dull, quick tempered, often misrepresenting him, sometimes acting like sulky children.. But still, Jesus chose them. Why does he choose us? Are we any better? No. But he calls us nevertheless. Perhaps he sees in us things , qualities or gifts that we don’t see ourselves. And perhaps he calls us because he loves us and he wants us to love him, & he is counting on us to continue to spread the message of his love to all, and to continue his work of service. As our creed says, “ he calls us to be the church.. To love & serve others. (Illus. Shepherd) God calls us, because God loves. He has chosen you. He has touched you. Touched your heart; & through you he has touched others. Another mystery is that God uses us to touch others, using a poor frail instrument, a preacher, a teacher, a parent or a friend- as the transmitter through which his voice speaks.. In the apostle Paul’s view, people had not chosen God. Their Xn witness was possible only because God had selected them, a tiny handful, to embody his kingdom in Europe. Listen to Paul saying joyfully to the Thess. “But we must always give thanks to God for you, brothers & sisters, beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the first fruits for salvation through sanctification by the spirit & through belief in the truth. For this purpose he called you through our proclamation of the good news, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thess 2:14-15) Have you not known persons who have felt somehow they were selected for a special purpose? Sometimes we think they exaggerate this sense of vocation, but at other times we agree. Why did the early church, a far from impressive, but mediocre collection on a side street, feel that they had been chosen to be a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, that they might declare the wonderful deeds of him who had called them out of darkness into his marvellous light? They sensed this divine calling.. It was God who did the seeking, who did the calling.. & the people responded! And in like manner God calls us not because we are worthy or adequate, but because we are his own. How false & how un-Xn is the view that because we have been favoured in life, we must be God’s favourites & therefore must be superior to others in character of capacity & achievement. We speak of the ancient Israelites as God’s chosen people. Was it because they deserved it? The best of their spiritual leaders did not think so. There is a wonderful sentence in the story of Moses. “God has set his love upon you not because... but because the Lord loves you. There is no sound reason who God should love us, but he does. And he calls us not because we are his favourites- but he chooses us that we may be his servants, his colleagues, his partners. The chosen people had to learn that through blood, sweat & tears, they were to be his suffering servants. During World War 11, England needed to increase its production of coal, so Winston Churchill called together the labor leaders to enlist their support. He told them to picture in their minds a parade that he knew would be held in Piccadilly Circus after the war. First, he said, would come the sailors who had kept the vital sea lanes open. Then would come the solders who had come home from Dunkirk & then gone on to defeat Rommel in Africa, then would come the pilots who had driven the Luftwaffe from the sky. Last of all, he said, would come a long line of sweat-stained, soot-streaked men in minor’s caps. Someone would cry from the crowd, “And where were you during the critical days of our struggle”? And from ten thousand throats would come the answer, “we were deep in the earth with our faces to the coal.” Not all the jobs in a church are prominent & glamorous. But it’s often the people with their “faces to the coal” who help the church acomplish its mission.. When Christ called Peter & Andrew & the rest, he called them not to comfort & security, but to danger, adventure, & martyrdom. We are called, elected to serve, we are predestined for working membership in the kingdom of heaven on earth. You did not choose me, but I chose you & appointed you that you should go & bear fruit & that your fruit should abide” We are called, elected to love. “Love one another as I have loved you” You are called to be his friend- no longer slaves, but intimate friends.. You are called not for privilege, but for partnership. This means that we are ambassadors, sent out into the world; You & I are to be advertisements for him & his way of living. You are as Paul would say, “predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son” You are called. But will you serve? You have this freedom. You have this responsibility. God chooses us, but we must choose him. As a preacher once said, “The elect are whosoever will, & the non elect are the whosoever won’t” This is what Peter meant when he wrote, after speaking of the fruits of the spirit, e.g virtue, knowledge, godliness, brotherly love, etc, “Therefore brothers & sisters, be all the more eager to confirm your call & election, for if you do this, you will never stumble. For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord & Saviour Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you” (Ch 2:1-11) And as our text says, “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light”.