September 22, 2023
Unworthy
“You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. This I command you, that you love one another.” John 15:16-17 (NASB)
I had four years of Army Junior ROTC training, as I entered the U.S. Army. I started as a Private First Class in Army Basic Training, but I was like every other soldier. You had to perform. No rank would guarantee completion, so I worked hard. At the end of the training cycle, I won the Gauntlet Award. This was given to the soldier who performed better in all areas than his peers. I was proud when Brigadier General Dozier handed me the award at graduation. My dad and mom were there to witness it. My dad wore his officer uniform. This was probably a mistake as every soldier on base was an enlisted soldier (for him to salute). I am an average guy, but I made the extra effort, and I was rewarded. I started the same way everyone else did. My drill instructors saw something different in me when they chose me for the award. I felt I wasn’t any better than the others I trained with those thirteen weeks.
“You did not choose Me but I chose you,” In this portion, God’s choosing. He preselects those whom He calls to Himself. Discipleship is God’s idea, not by design or decision of the individual. The disciples were not called Jesus’s friends by their choosing but by Jesus' choice. “Just as Israel’s election by God was not only in order to enjoy the privileges of that covenant relationship but also to fulfil a vocation in the world, so Jesus’ choice of his followers to be his friends entails not only enjoyment of the relationship’s intimacy but also a mission within the world—so that you might go and bear fruit and your fruit might remain.”[1] He chose His disciples like a teacher chooses his favorite student. Then He chose them for a mission. His Father would guide their requests to accomplish the mission. Jesus told them, “whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.” This friendship the disciples would experience would involve a brotherly love for all, not just one they would have liked or loved. This decision was of will over preference. “Earlier in the evening, Jesus had given a new commandment: ‘Love one another.’ Now He repeated it. This is the summation of all the precepts and all the commandments that He has left with us. It begins with a love for God and a love for Jesus, and it extends to loving one another. We learn this love from Jesus: no one has greater love than the one who lays down his life for his friends. In love, the servant of Jesus becomes His friend.”[2]
“Once upon a time, there was a frog, except he was not really a frog. He was a prince. He only looked and felt like a frog. The wicked witch had cast a spell on him, and only the kiss of a beautiful maiden could save him. (Since when do cute girls kiss frogs!) So there he sat—an unkissed prince in frog form. But miracles do happen, and one day a beautiful maiden gave him a great big smack! Crash! Boom! Zap! Suddenly he was a handsome prince. And of course they lived happily ever after. What is the task of the church? Kissing frogs, of course—and allowing ourselves to be kissed! We are to make one another kings and queens! The principle of promotion is beautiful!”[3] The promotion we have each day is we belong to a very small group of those who have trusted Christ as Savior. But Jesus chose us first to carry out His mission!
[1] Lincoln, A. T. (2005). The Gospel according to Saint John (p. 407). Continuum.
[2] Foster, L. (1987). John: Unlocking the Scriptures for You (p. 165). Standard.
[3] Hughes, R. K. (1999). John: that you may believe (pp. 364–365). Crossway Books.