By Fr Antony Christy, SDB –
The Christian sense of Election!
11th Sunday in Ordinary time – June 18, 2023
Exodus 19: 2-6; Romans 5: 6-11; Matthew 9:36 – 10:8
Election Theology is a strong strand of faith interpretation for the Abrahamic Religions, sprouting without doubt from the Judaic belief and conviction. One of the fundamental self-understanding of the people of Israel in the Old Testament, even until today, is their identity as Chosen People, the People of Yahweh. This is what we know as Election Theology – does it have it place in the Christian thought? Certainly, yes! But with a reinterpretation that was strongly offered by Jesus himself. At times this reinterpretation of Jesus, got him into trouble, serious trouble. Let us understand that part of Jesus’ Experience, first.
Jesus was undeterred in his conviction that he belonged to the Father, and it was the Father who sent him and even that he and the Father were one! Can we think of a stronger version of election theology? But what was the difference that his reinterpretation made? One of the original experiences or native experiences of the people of Israel and Judah, which gave them the identity as the Chosen people of God, was the closeness of God and the covenant from the times of Noah, Abraham and Moses. The people thought of themselves as chosen, but the problem began when they began to use that self-understanding in comparison with the others, when they started discriminating and despising the others! The despise of the others, went to their head and they began to take credit to themselves for the status of being chosen people of God – so much so that even when they asked for mercy they justified themselves as being better than the others who were pagans and sinners according to them! This is where Jesus differed! What was Jesus’ reinterpretation of the Election Theology? We can understand that from the three messages that the Word presents us this Sunday:
Affirmation 1: We are Chosen!
We are a chosen race, royal priesthood, as Peter affirmed in his letter (Cf. 1 Peter 2:9). He made this affirmation from the traditional belief of the people, from the Old Testament, from the passages similar to what we listen to today. I made you a kingdom of priests, holy nation! It was a fact established by God, who called the people unto Godself. Chosenness was part of the identity of the people of God and justly so. No one can deny that fact, and Jesus on his part, never compromised on that truth – that we are chosen. He infact continued that teaching and wished that it continued as a teaching – in fact, he chose the twelve to represent the chosen race and today in the Gospel we have the names of the 12. Jesus affirms too that we are chosen. There is no doubt about the fact. But Jesus dared to differ on the point that we are chosen, not exclusively, not to to exclude the others judgmentally, but inclusively, as children of God chosen to spread that chosenness! Every person is a child of God and every child of God is chosen! We as disciples of Christ are made aware of our chosenness and we in turn have to spread that chosenness – that is already a reinterpretation.
Affirmation 2: We are Chosen, it makes us Humble!
The second aspect that did not go well with Jesus was the fact that chosenness made people haughty and arrogant. Instead, Jesus was uncompromisingly convinced that our consciousness of being chosen has to make us humble, because we are painfully aware of the fact of how unworthy we are of the election we enjoy in the sight of God. God has chosen us, not because we are worthy, but because God is merciful and kind. In the second reading Paul reminds us through his letter to the Romans – even when we were sinners Christ died for us, even when we were sinners God loved us and chose to renew God’s covenant with us in Christ. This chosenness, cannot make us proud or snobbish, but humble and recognizant of our unworthiness. This recognizance will determine our lifestyle, our mode of relating to others, our way of looking at life, our judgement of things that happen and our interpretation of the accomplishments that we are capable of.
Affirmation 3: We are Chosen, for Holiness.
When this conviction of chosenness and recognition of unworthiness are equally strong, there is a beautiful byproduct that we can see – Holiness. That is the Christian Holiness, a combination of joy in being the chosen people of God and the responsibility that our unworthiness places within us. We are unworthy, but the Lord has chosen us and hence we strive to grow in our daily life to God’s likeness, that we gradually grow toward holiness. This is the reinterpretation of the Election Theology that Jesus offers us. In the Gospel when Jesus says, go proclaim that the Reign of God is near, heal the sick, liberate the possessed and announce the Goodnews, he says: Go, although you are unworthy, in the goodness of God freely you have been chosen, freely make everyone else “chosen”! Make them feel loved, cared for, forgiven, liberated, saved, … make them feel chosen!
Fr Antony Christy is a Salesian Priest from 2005, who has a Masters in Philosophy (specialisation in Religion) and a Masters in Theology (Specialisation in Catechetics). He has completed his doctoral research in Theology at Salesian Pontifical University, Rome. Walking with the Young towards a World of Peace and Dialogue is the passion that fires him on.