2026-02-08 Epiphany 5

Scripture Readings

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen!

One of my fondest memories as a kid was going to pick out a puppy! I had been begging my parents for quite some time to get another dog. I said all the usual promises that every kid does: “I’ll walk it!” “I’ll clean up the landmines!” “I promise!” Every parent knows that this means that they will end up doing all this, and also paying for it! But I had my heart set on a Yellow Labrador Retriever. In fact, I even had this Ducks Unlimited magazine that was their puppy edition, loaded with photos of the most adorable puppies on planet earth. I would strategically leave the magazine laying around the house so mom and dad could see it! Open the tea towel drawer, there was the magazine! Open the pantry, a Labrador puppy was on the shelf! My guerrilla marketing venture paid off when lo and behold, in the Western Producer, an advertisement for Yellow Labrador retrievers appeared! Only 250km away in nearby Delisle, SK! I had saved up all my paper route money. I had the cash in hand. All I needed was the final nod from head office and a ride to Delisle. The wonderful day finally came! We drove up to Delisle and in front of me was my choice of 8, pudgy little yellows Labs! Well technically 7, because the first born male was already chosen as the stud fee for a bear camp up north someplace. But I could pick any of the rest. It was so much fun playing with those adorable little fur balls! Finally, I made my mind up and settled on super cute little female who we named Brandy. Core memory unlocked!

Why did I pick that particular puppy? They were all yellow, all pretty much the same size. She wasn’t wearing a bow or anything that made her stand out from the rest of the puppy pack. It’s a very curious thing when you think about it. There was just something about her that stuck out to me. If we analyze this concept of picking and choosing we see it clearly in the Scriptures. St. Peter so eloquently writes: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1Pet 2:9). Wow! That is an incredible Bible verse. It really should be up on the wall!

St. Peter is speaking of God choosing His people. This verse piggybacks on Exodus 19:6 that says “you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” And also in Deuteronomy 7:6 “The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.” God is saying that the Old Testament people of Israel are indeed the very pick of the litter! St. Peter extends this to the New Testament people too, both Jews and Gentiles, any who will believe the promise of forgiveness, life and salvation in Christ Jesus our crucified and risen Saviour.

But this choice goes back even farther than Israel. The tribes of Jacob were the fulfillment of one of the promises God made to Abraham. You will get become a great nation with innumerable descendants, a promised land in which to dwell, and, you will be blessed to be a blessing to the world. From Noah to his son Shem to 9 generations later, we meet Abram. And in Genesis 12, we hear about how God calls him. But you know what the Scriptures don’t tell us? They don’t tell us why. Why did God pick Abraham?! He wasn’t wearing a bow to make him stand out from his kin. The Bible doesn’t tell us if he spent all winter bringing the homeless blankets and dinner. So, why Abraham? Romans chapter 9 delves into this quite a bit, but there is a nugget in 9:11 “in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of Him who calls.”

So God chooses for Himself His people based on His choice, not by works. Much like me picking my puppy, God makes His choice. He chooses for Himself His people. A people who will be redeemed and saved from the world, not because of works, not because anything particular stands out, but rather because of grace. This becomes one of the most, if not the most, humbling things ever: God has chosen you to be His beloved child and heir of eternal salvation by faith in Jesus Christ. He has chosen you to be washed in the regenerating waters of Holy Baptism. He has chosen to invite you to His table and to His eternal wedding banquet. He has chosen you to live forever in the abundant life of Christ. This is not because you’re wearing a bow to set you apart from your neighbours. Rather, it’s because of God’s rich and abundant grace, mercy and love for us, sinful warts and all. It’s another great reminder that if heaven was by works, our dogs would get it and we would not!

So God’s choice of His people from Noah, to Abraham, to Israel, to the Church, to us today, this will forever remain a mystery of God’s will. For our learned Pastors and laypeople in the congregation, this is none other than the Deus absconditus. But what doesn’t remain a mystery is the purpose of the election. The purpose of this calling is to define the identity of God’s people. It’s not like God is choosing art pieces for His gallery. Oooh, I like the Picasso! The Old Guitarist would look great in my living room. Instead He is choosing for Himself a people with a practical purpose.

Back to St. Peter: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1Pet 2:9). There are four very practical things here that define who we are in Christ and all that God wants us to do in response. A Chosen Race. A Royal Priesthood. A Holy Nation. A People.

We’ve talked about the concept of the chosen race, emphasizing God’s divine election, not based on earthly appearances or works and such. We are drawn together across all time and places and ethnicities to be His people. The royal priesthood, again piggybacking on Exodus 19:6, shows us our dual role of royally ruling with Christ without intermediaries (Rev 5:10). The priesthood was previously limited to the Levites, but now we have the ‘priesthood of all believers.’ St. Paul tells us the purpose of this in Romans 12:1 “to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” This means dedicating our lives to ‘spiritual sacrifices’ like loving our neighbours and serving them with the good deeds of repentance.

To this end, St. Peter says we are a ‘Holy Nation,’ set apart for these purposes and more. It is a high calling to live our lives differently from the unbelieving world in as much moral purity as possible. Our culture and society have basically become an open sewer of immorality and we don’t want to have any part of that. Instead, we turn to the Small Catechism and go over the 10 Commandments again. How can we embody them? How can we live them out as a living sacrifice of our consecrated community?

And finally, we are a People for His Own Possession. This tells us whose we are. God’s treasured and special people, chosen, baptized, valued and protected by Him. Malachi 3:17 tells us “They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession.” A prized inheritance. A people loyal to God’s Kingdom, not earthly empires.

But again, this is not just for fun. There is a distinct purpose for this calling: “that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1Pet 2:9). Our identity as God’s people is manifested in Mission. Churches who forget this and neglect this end up closing their doors. ‘Proclaim’ means to declare the message boldly and not shy away from Jesus and our faith publicly. If you own a store, put up a cross for people to see. Put a bible verse on the wall. If people ask you about God or church, don’t shrink away from the opportunity. “I might say something wrong” is not a valid excuse. Proclaim the excellencies of the God who has chosen you. Because the world is in darkness and everyone needs the light of Christ. These are the words of St. Paul in Acts that sum this mission up for us: “to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in {Jesus Christ}.”

This is our evangelistic mandate that flows from gratitude for God’s grace and mercy. Christ Jesus has given His life on the cross for the life of the world. He has risen from the dead, beating down death by death. He has washed us in our Baptism and filled us with forgiveness in Holy Communion. Testify to God’s excellencies through your words and lives that others may see Jesus in you. In His name. Amen!