Why Did the Lord Choose Them…?
Why Did the Lord Choose Them…?
We notice in the story of the Nativity that the good news reached certain shepherds, and also the Magi. Perhaps some may ask: why these in particular, among all people?
This question leads us to the subject of election…
Why did God choose some people and not others? What are the doctrinal and spiritual reasons that lie behind this choosing?
Why did the Lord choose them…?
Why did the Lord choose these Magi rather than others? And why, when He passed by the sea, did He choose from among the fishermen Peter and Andrew in particular? And why did He say that there were many widows in Israel, yet Elijah was not sent except to the widow of Zarephath of Sidon…?
In order to answer these questions, we must place before us the words of the Apostle Paul:
“Whom He foreknew, He also predestined… moreover whom He predestined, these He also called” (Rom. 8:29–30).
God, by His foreknowledge, knew what these people would become, what they would do, in complete freedom and choice… and therefore He predestined and called them…
Yet when I speak to you about the chosen of the Lord, I must clarify:
I do not mean by choosing the type of work, but rather its depth…
I do not mean those whom the Lord chose for great positions such as the apostles, prophets, and great shepherds, but those whom He chose and who presented ideal examples according to His heart…
History is filled with persons whose positions were small, yet they were deeper before God than those seated in the front rows…
Take for example Simon the Tanner (or the Cobbler), who lived in the time of Pope Abram Ibn Zaraa. God chose him, rather than all those of rank, so that through his hands the miracle of moving the Mokattam Mountain would take place…
Another example is Saint Abba Rewis, who was not clergy at all, nor was he a monk. He was merely a camel driver. Yet the Lord chose him in a spiritual state greater than that of the chief priests of his days.
A third example is Saint Abba Abraam, Bishop of Fayoum. He was merely a bishop, but his spiritual stature and his special relationship with God were deeper than many metropolitans.
Therefore, I told you that what matters is the depth of the work, not its type…
The Lord’s choosing of Simon the Cobbler, of Abba Rewis, and of Abba Abraam was not a choosing for presidencies, but for spiritual depths in life, which are undoubtedly open to everyone… if he so desires…
What matters, then, is not a person’s position, whether great or small… nor whether his responsibilities are significant or slight… but rather the depth… the depth of life, the depth of the message, and the depth of the relationship with God, whether or not the person attains a high rank.
Thus we see that there are even children whom the Lord chose, whom He foreknew…
In reality, God grants opportunity to everyone, as in the Parable of the Sower who cast the seed on rocky ground, and on ground filled with thorns, as well as on the good ground… He is “the One who calls all to salvation for the sake of the promise of the good things to come.”
Yet some seized the opportunity and the calling deeply, took it seriously and with spiritual fervor. Therefore the Lord worked in them more than in others, because they surrendered to His work with consent and responsiveness. These He foreknew, and so He also called…
We see wondrous examples of God’s foreknowledge:
Among them is Jeremiah the prophet, to whom the Lord said, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations” (Jer. 1:5). The Lord knew him before he was born.
The same was said about our father Jacob. The Lord said to Rebekah his mother, “Two nations are in your womb… and the older shall serve the younger” (Gen. 25:23). God chose this younger one while he was still in his mother’s womb.
The same can be said about John the Baptist, of whom it was said, “He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb” (Luke 1:15).
We may ask: how did God choose these from their mothers’ wombs? The answer is: “Whom He foreknew, He also predestined.”
God knew the hearts of these, how they would walk, before they were born…
As for you, offer your heart to God in utmost love, in utmost depth, and with complete will. God, who searches the hearts and minds, knows what He will do with you and for what work He will choose you…
Do not protest and say to the Lord, “If You had filled me with the Holy Spirit like John, You would have seen wonders from me.” Many began in the Spirit and ended in the flesh. Nicolaus was one of the seven deacons full of the Holy Spirit, and in the end he became a heretic…
Walk, then, with complete faithfulness in every work the Lord chooses for you or chooses you for. Then you will hear the Lord’s words:
“You were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.”
The foundation of choosing, then, is faithfulness in the work, no matter how small.
The hero of the story may not be a king, emperor, or leader. He may be a servant or a simple employee, yet he perfected his role greatly; therefore they choose him for heroism in other stories, because he was faithful in his work.
Some people sometimes cling to leadership and to the chief seats, considering them evidence of God’s choosing for them. It seems to such a person that his faithfulness appears only in serious responsibilities… Yet Mar Isaac says:
“He who is not merciful while possessing one dirham… is a liar if he says he will be merciful when he possesses a thousand dinars.”
Therefore, be faithful in the little you have, and thus you become worthy of God’s choosing and of being set over much… Saint Eulogius the Stonecutter was a wondrous example of generosity in his poverty. Abba Daniel bore witness to him.
God desires from man the depth of the work, not its type, nor its quantity. For this depth alone He chooses him…
When God saw that Abba Abraam was very deep in the work of mercy, and had a heart full of compassion for the poor and needy, He completed for him the work of mercy by granting him the gift of healing, to be a wide field for his mercy. Thus, when He found him faithful in little, He set him over much.
Moreover, God in His choosing may not choose a person for leadership and shepherding, but may choose him merely for example and model.
Saint Abba Anthony the Great was chosen by the Lord. History does not mention that he received any priestly rank. Yet the Lord wanted him to be an example of ascetic life and a father of this path. Do we dare say that Abba Anthony was less than those of ranks in his generation or in other generations? Certainly not.
Thus God knows the work for which He chooses you. Your position is to prepare your heart for God’s choosing and to be faithful in the little He appoints you over, so that He may set you over much. And if He does not set you over much in type, He will set you over much in depth.
The first work in which a person must be faithful is himself. He who is not faithful concerning himself—his spiritual life and his eternity—how can he be faithful over the souls of others?
Do not think that those who will enter history are only commanders of hundreds or thousands, or leaders of peoples… God has chosen persons whose entire work was that they led themselves well.
An example of this is the holy anchorite fathers. The Lord chose them for a great work, which was each one’s care for himself, until he rose to a spiritual level in which he became a living example for generations and a model of a way of life…
God may choose persons to be faithful in a particular point which they offer to humanity. He chose Abraham to be faithful in obedience—the obedience of faith—though in his days he held no societal position. He chose Joseph to present an example of chastity. He chose the martyrs to present an example of love for God and courage.
How many are the persons whom the Lord chose, not for leadership, but for example—to be a model even in one single point… and this is sufficient.
There are persons whom the Lord chose, yet people do not know them.
They are very well known to God, yet unknown to people. This does not prevent them from being among the chosen. For example, when Saint Macarius the Great was attacked by a thought of pride, God sent him to two married women in Alexandria and told him that they were at the same spiritual level as he! Who knows these two women? No one… What is their position in history? Nothing… Yet God knows them well…
God is not concerned with your outward status—your position, responsibilities, fame, or the idea of people or history about you. What concerns Him above all is your depth. This depth is the foundation of your choosing.
Therefore, your view of choosing must change.
Choosing is not that the Lord chooses you for a certain mission, as much as that God chooses you for your person. God’s choosing of you is not measured by the responsibilities He entrusts to you, but by the love He grants you and by His thought toward you…
God does not look at the work, but at the spirit, the depth, and the faithfulness with which it is done. You may be faithful in your work and think that He has not set you over much… You look and see nothing—why?
Because you should not be faithful in order to reach a goal, but because faithfulness is part of your character and nature, from which you cannot deviate, even if you gain nothing—believing that the much over which the Lord will set you is the enjoyment of the unending eternity.
Article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III – Al-Keraza Magazine – Year Seven (Issue Fifty-Two) – 24-12-1976
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