“The Election That Really Matters”
Text: Mark 13:14-27 & Ephesians 1:3-10
11-3-2024
In the name of our gracious God who has elected us unto salvation, dear friends in Christ. Are you sad that the elections will be over on Tuesday? Oh, come on! I just know you love all those political ads on the radio and TV. And I know how badly you’ll miss your favorite part of those ads. So, I decided to help with your withdrawal. Ready? “I’m Pastor Don Meyer, and I approved this message.” Now don’t you feel better?
Seriously, though, I do want to talk with you today about the election. But I’m not referring to the Presidential, the Congressional, or the state and local elections. No. While all those are important, today we’re going to look more closely at the election that really matters. I’m talking about our election as Christians. I know we don’t use that term very often in this context, but the fact of the matter is that sometimes this is how the Bible refers to believers. As we just sang in the sermon hymn, the Church is called God’s “elect” because we were elected by God to be His Children. There are numerous examples of this, but we’ll focus on Mark chapter 13. Jesus is talking about the end of the world, and how all believers will be gathered up and taken to heaven. Christ says, “Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And then He will send out the angels and gather His elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.”
Okay, I can tell from the look on your face that you’re confused. So, maybe we need to look how the Bible uses the word election compared to the way we normally use that term. In one sense, the usage is very similar. What do you do when you go into a voting booth? Yes, of course, you vote. But when you vote, you are choosing a candidate, right? Well, that’s exactly what the word means in the Bible. When Jesus calls us the “elect” the Greek word means “chosen” or “selected.”
But here’s where the mental picture of a voting booth won’t work anymore. Because when it comes to your election as a Child of God there’s only one vote that counts: God’s! He elected you, that is to say, He chose you. With this election, there’s no need for a recount and no worries about missing or fraudulent absentee ballots affecting the outcome. And there’s no uncertainty. God chose you and that’s final. Oh, make no mistake, the devil, the world, and your sinful nature will try to convince you that they have a vote in this matter of your election. But they don’t. God and God alone elected you; He chose you to be His Child.
Another idea we need to get out of our heads is why God chose us. With a political campaign, the opposing candidates will try to convince you that they deserve to be elected for various reasons. Maybe it’s their intelligence, or their experience in politics, or their business savvy, or their many promises, or maybe even their good looks. Not so when God elected you to be His Child. Listen to what St. Paul says in the Epistle reading: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as He chose us {the Greek word there comes from the same root that was translated as “elected” earlier} in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, with which He has blessed us in the Beloved.”
Did you catch the magnitude of what Paul was saying? There was absolutely nothing about you or me that swayed God’s decision to choose us as His Children. How do we know that? Because, as Paul says, He chose us beforethe world was created. That blows a hole in the belief of some folks who think God chose them because they’re good, decent people. Or that God chose you because you’re morally better than others. And it wasn’t your good looks either. As one old Lutheran theologian explained, the doctrine of election confirms the Bible’s teaching that we are saved by grace alone. No other reason. Nothing in us or about us entered into God’s decision. As Paul says in verse 6, our election was totally due to God’s “glorious grace.”
The doctrine of election also puts the kibosh on all the “decision theology” that’s so prevalent in our world today. There’s a TV station that currently has a segment called “Decision 2024.” That’s because, with our political election process you make the “decision.” However, when it comes to our election as Children of God, it’s the other way around. In John 15:16, Jesus says, “You did not choose me, but I chose you.” Guess what the Greek word is there. Yep, “elected.” Oh, I know it makes people feel good to sing “I have decided to follow Jesus.” Or as another song says, “I chose Jesus as my Savior.” That’s a bunch of baloney! The fact of the matter is, it was His decision that made you a follower of Christ. I invite you read with me the explanation of the 3rd Article of the Creed on page 323 in your hymnal. “I believe that I cannotby my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.” We could never choose Jesus as our Savior or decide to follow Him. It was God’s work. He chose you. He elected you.
Sadly, too many people both inside and outside the Christian Church have this doctrine of election upside down. They think it’s November 5th and they have a ballot in front of them with all kinds of gods listed there: The Muslim god, the Jewish god, the Christian God, the Hindu god, the Buddhist god. Take your pick. And if you choose to not elect a god over your life, then you can just abstain from voting and be an atheist. Friends, the true God, the Triune God of the Bible, is not up for election. You can’t choose to vote Him in or out. As I used to tell my kids, “This family is not a democracy. It’s a benevolent dictatorship.” Well, God is a benevolent King over us whether we choose to submit to His Lordship or not. We don’t elect Him, He elects us. And our election by God is a great comfort to us Christians. Since He chose us to be His Children, He then gave us the faith to receive the blessings of being His holy and elect people. Once again, it wasn’t your faith that caused God to choose you. No. That’s putting the cart ahead of the horse. Rather, because God chose you, He gave you the faith to receive His salvation which is yours through Jesus.
I know this doctrine of election raises a question in our minds: Some people are not saved, so were they not elected? Here’s my answer. On the old Red Green show they had a skit called the “Expert’s Corner.” And the introduction to it goes, “Welcome to the Expert’s Corner where we address those 3 little words that men find so hard to say: I don’t know!” Why are some people saved and not others? “I don’t know!” It’s okay to say that when we run into a mystery about God. All we do know is what the Bible teaches. And in 1 Timothy 2:4 it says, “{God} desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” So, if someone is not saved all we know is that it’s not God’s fault. The fault lies with us sinful humans who reject His grace.
Okay. Let’s assume that some of this Biblical teaching on the doctrine of your election is actually starting to sink in. But what does it have to do with All Saints’ Day? What does it have to do with the saints in heaven who are described in the first Scripture lesson? Well, the answer is found in this doctrine of election. On this special day we remember the saints and the indescribable blessings of heaven. But we need to ask, “How did they get there?” The answer is simple. God elected them, He chose them, just like He chooses all believers to be His saints. And because He chose us, we have been wrapped in the robe of Christ’s righteousness and cleansed by His precious blood shed on the cross.
God has given us this good news of our election for our comfort and reassurance. Nobody can cancel out God’s election of you unto salvation. Because of it, you too are numbered with all the saints. Thanks be to God for choosing us to be His own and saving us so that we may spend eternity with Him in the joys of heaven along with all the saints who have gone before us. Praise God, that by faith this includes you and me. To our gracious God be all the glory now and forevermore. Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria!