Chosen by God to bear fruit
Guideposts shares the story of Rick Hamlin, a Jewish boy in Manhattan, humiliated when he was always chosen last for teams during physical education classes. He was a hopeless bench warmer, and when he heard players muttering, “Not him,” it shattered his confidence.
After four years of not touching the basketball, Rick’s aptitude tests suggested accountant or engineer. He went on to be hired by Hughes Aircraft to design circuits for NASA”s Surveyor Program which sent unmanned spacecrafts to the moon in 1966.
Though Rick created a system for sending messages across computer networks, he still saw himself as awkward physically and socially. He started running. At first only a few blocks, but day by day and mile by mile he grew. One Sunday a friend Mark invited him to play basketball in a pickup game.
He actually got to touch the ball. For some ten years Rick played basketball and other sports as his confidence, physical prowess and friends grew. When he retired at sixty-two, he took a course called Beginners Basketball and started working with kids who were bench warmers.
This led to formation of a league called “Benchwarmers,” for athletically challenged players. “The program saved my son’s life,” one mother said. “He didn’t think he was good at anything.”
Like Rick, all of us have talents unique to us. We may not be super athletes, or space engineers, but we are uniquely gifted and chosen for a role that only we can fulfill in this world. “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last” (John 15:16).
God chose us out of love and mercy, for his glory. He chose us not because of who we are, but because of who he is. He has prepared us in advance to do the good works he wants us to do. God does not choose the qualified, he qualifies those who respond to his invitation.
If the kingdom of God were a corporation, then Jesus, the “CEO,” would screen the candidates for jobs. God would advertise job openings, people would apply, and Jesus would conduct the interviews.
But God does not work like that. At creation God commanded all Christians, who are living plants of his church (John 15:5), to produce fruits of devotion, each according to their ability and state in life.” (St Francis de Sales).
We can revel in being chosen by God. Our faith is a result of it. God’s grace makes that possible. We know we are chosen because our faith and obedience are the result. Our salvation is the result of Jesus’ sacrifice for his chosen ones.
Being chosen by God makes us humble. “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God” (1 Corinthians 1:26–29).
Throughout scripture, God selects individuals and communities to fulfill specific roles, reflecting His love and plan. Even though we have flaws and weaknesses, God sees our goodness and chooses us to become who we are and to bear fruit that will last.
God has chosen us We can continue to grow spiritually, as God perfects the cup the Master potter is shaping.
(585 words)
