I Peter 2:2-10: We Are the Chosen

So, in these days when many people feel abandoned and left out, we can find great comfort, strength and hopefully inspiration in the fact that we have been chosen! May we all strive to live up to all that means in all things. 

Introduction

(Read once to be introduced to the series. After that skip this to go right to the good stuff!) 

Welcome to my Devotions Series. This series features devotions based on the Scriptures of the Common Lectionary. The series is being prepared for eventual print publication.

By going to my Main Article List you can also find the complete collection posted on Gather, including the additional readings not posted to any groups. New Scriptures selections will be posted every Monday through Thursday to my main page and to my groups.

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Lectionary Series Year A: Fifth Sunday of Easter
I Peter 2:2-10 (Read it on Bible Gateway)
We Are The Chosen
One of the major themes that runs through Scripture is the whole concept of being Chosen. All the great men and women of the Faith throughout Scripture were ones chosen by God, singled out for great purpose and great design. God chose them often for the faith already in their hearts, sometimes because of the faith that would grow within them along the journey, sometimes simply because they were willing to seek such faith with open heart and open mind. If we go back to the stories of any of our favorite Biblical Heroes or Heroines we can usually find the chapter where God's call comes to them, forever after setting them on a path of distinction.

But the theme of being chosen is not limited just to the individual in Scripture. In the Hebrew Testament, time and again, the Jewish People are referred to as the Chosen People of God, meaning that they as a people, as a nation, hold a special status with God. This dates back to God's covenant with Abraham that from him would come a people and a nation and that the promises and status with God that had been extended to Abraham would also be extended to his descendents. So from a Scriptural perspective the Jews are the Chosen People of God. This is Biblical and nothing in Scripture counters or supplants that.

However, the story of God's Chosen doesn't end there for those of us who are Christians. The Christian Testament tells the story of a New Covenant between God and humanity. The Christian Testament first focuses on the life, death and resurrection of God's perfect Chosen One, Jesus Christ, the Messiah for Christians. By our belief, Jesus becomes the ultimate chosen, the Son of God, God Incarnate, the Divine Made Flesh for the purpose of bringing us God's Word through his teaching, God's compassion through his healing and love, and ultimately God's salvation through his sacrifice. This passage quotes the Psalm, which Jesus himself used to refer to his Chosen status (see Matthew 21:42 for Jesus' reference, and Psalm 118:22 for the original). Jesus is the stone the builders rejected, which has become the capstone (or cornerstone), thus the most important stone of the entire building (see Devotions: Psalm 118:19-29).

Just as the chosen status of Abraham extended to his descendents, so to the chosen status of Christ extends to his spiritual descendents, thus the family of Believers, meaning Christians. Through this belief and through this blessing, we become the adopted children of the family of God, we thus also become God's Chosen People. The passage in Peter also focuses very much on affirming our status in that most blessed group. Thus we are the ones who once were not a people, but now are, those who once had not received mercy, but now have received it in abundance.

Peter goes on to make several other powerful and profound points about what it means to be Chosen in this passage.

First, we are reminded, by the aforementioned Psalm quote, as well as a parallel quote from Isaiah 28:16, in verse 6, that who and what God chooses often are those who are rejected by others. That was certainly true with Christ as those who rejected him and all he taught were the ones who condemned him to crucifixion. So, we should also be aware that God may choose us for some task or role that others, including ourselves, may not believe ourselves capable of.

Second, as those so set aside, we enjoy a number of benefits that we should not take for granted. If we're believers, then at some point we had that initial taste of the goodness of the Lord mentioned in verse 3. Thus we should do our best to live up to the admonition in verse 2, that we continue to seek that nurturing, that 'spiritual milk' so that we may indeed thrive and continue to grow in our salvation. We should remember how profound it is that we have been given this mercy by God that we have been adopted into this divine family and thus we should always give thanks.

Third, and finally, as those chosen, we carry also a responsibility. We are not just to be the receivers of God's gifts, but as it goes into in verses 4 and 9, we are now to be part of this priesthood of believers that live lives that give honor and glory to God, serve others, and proclaim our praise of God in all we do. In the Christian tradition, and really this goes all the way back to the Gospels, predating any denominations, all believers are seen as 'priests' meaning, that the Word of God, or the access to God is not limited to a select few, but to all who believe. We can all go to God in prayer, we can all share God's teachings and love, because we have received it.
Ordained clergy in most Christian traditions, truly, are seen as set aside for a specific ministry, just as we saw the Disciples were in the passage from Acts earlier (see Devotions: Acts 6:1-9, 7:2a, 51-60). That specialized ministry is the ministry, as some denominations put it, of Word and Sacrament, or, of preaching and leading specialized worship, such as weddings, communion, etc. However, we are all called, as this passage emphasizes, to "declare the praises of God who has called us out of darkness."

So, in these days when many people feel abandoned and left out, we can find great comfort, strength and hopefully inspiration in the fact that we have been chosen! May we all strive to live up to all that means in all things.

For the complete listing of our Devotions, see our Devotions Archive