Life of the Beloved: Being the Beloved & Taken
Memory Verse: John 15:16
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit — fruit that will last — and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.
It had been a troublesome year for Nathanael and Philip. The quest was a familiar one. Since age five, they had spent their childhood attending the local synagogue school, learning Hebrew and memorizing the Torah, the first five books of the Bible. By age 13, they knew God’s Word like the back of their hands. They recited the Neviim, the books of the Prophets. And the Kituvin, the poetic writings, all of which comprised the Hebrew Scriptures, the Tanauch. Their families celebrated their accomplishments with elaborate bar mitzvahs!
Nathanael and Philip showed great promise. They were all-stars, along with Peter and Andrew, in their hometown of Bethsaida. They continued studying the wisdom and authoritative interpretation of the Torah. And after a few more years, they were encouraged to extend their training with a rabbi in a multi-year yeshiva – a learning community experience – to become a talmid, or disciple. This is where they would begin to hone their abilities to interpret God’s Word as it relates to all the practical issues of daily life. This was different than being just a student. A student wants to know what the teacher knows in order to get an “A”, or at least to complete the class. But a talmid wants to be like the teacher, to become what the teacher is. That meant that students were passionately devoted to their rabbi and noted everything he did or said. The rabbi-talmid relationship was a very intense, personal system of education. The rabbi lived and taught his understanding of the Scripture. The talmid listened and watched and imitated, so as to become like the rabbi. Eventually the disciples would become teachers, passing on a lifestyle to their own disciples.
As you can probably imagine, this is where it got tricky… Philip and Nathanael had to choose which Rabbi they would submit their application for further education. Some rabbis were very conservative; other rabbis were progressive. And since a rabbi’s interpretation of God’s Word was forever binding on his disciples, great care had to be taken by the applicant. Once you accepted the “the yoke of the rabbi”, you had to make sure it was an interpretive approach that you could identify with and live out! You wouldn’t want to get the dust of a weird rabbi all over you!
And the other side of it was this… A rabbi would only choose a very elect few. He carefully chose the highly promising men from all the wannabes who asked to be his disciples. The rabbi would only select those who he thought could fully measure up to his standard and eventually become just like him. He didn’t want to invest in anyone who did not have the potential. It was like junior high all over again! Would the rabbi pick me for the Torah Trivia Team?!
Philip and Nathanael spent hours and hours studying up on the rabbis, eventually applying. But, ultimately, they were rejected. No rabbi took them under his wing. No rabbi wanted to be yoked together with them. No rabbi uttered the cherished words of acceptance every potential disciple longed to hear: “Follow me.” It was embarrassing. It was dejecting. No one chose them. With their heads hung low, they went back home to their families.
And then one day, a Rabbi named Jesus came to town. He walked straight up to Philip, and looked him square in the eyes, as if He had known Him since childhood. Jesus said the two words that Philip had been waiting to hear his whole life, “Follow me.” Immediately, Philip ran to town and found his best friend, Nathanael. “The Messiah found ME. He chose ME! Come and see for yourself!” Again, Jesus found them. He looked Nathanael in the eyes, and said, “Ah, a genuine son of Israel – a man of complete integrity.” And He chose Nathanael to follow Him, too.
Good morning, beloved ones! We are beginning a new sermon series today based on my all-time favorite book, Life of the Beloved, by Henri Nouwen. I’ve spent a lot of time over the last days trying to figure out what it is that draws me to this book year-after-year, day-after-day. And the only explanation I have is simply this: Life of the Beloved taps into my deepest longing to be loved. This is a truth I need to be reminded of, not just yearly, not just monthly, but daily. It’s answers the age-old question, “WHO AM I?!”
It wasn’t too long into the COVID where I felt like I was in the midst of an identity crisis. I had gone from being a single person to a married person, from living alone to living with a man and his incredible dog. Wait, I said that backwards. I went from living alone to living with an incredible man and his dog! I had gone from traveling 180 days the previous year to life coming to an absolute halt. Everything about my worldly identity had changed! But one thing had not changed. And it took picking up this trusty companion to be reminded that not only am I a child of God, but I am the beloved child of God. Yes, I am a pastor. Yes, I am a global missions director. Yes, I am a wife. Yes, I am a mom. Yes, I am a daughter. But there is more than that. The core of who I am is - I am the beloved.
Henri Nouwen writes this in his book: “From the moment we claim the truth of being the beloved, we are faced with the call to become who we are.” Becoming the beloved is the great spiritual journey we have to make. And for the next five weeks, we are going to take this spiritual journey together!
One of the biggest challenges of my life is to let this truth of being beloved become evident in everything I think, say, and do. It’s easy for my soul to falter back to a state of restlessness, as I struggle to discover the fullness of love, and yearn for complete truth. It’s easy to be overpowered by the outside world that tell us that we’re no good, that we’ll never overcome our mistakes or personal failures, or that we’ll never be good enough.
But when our deepest truth becomes that we are the Beloved, and when our greatest joy and peace come from fully claiming this truth, light and love become visible and tangible in the everyday movements of our lives, in the ways we work and play, eat and drink, talk and love.
Last week, Derek spoke to us about Sanctification. Throughout the spiritual journey of our lives, the Spirit molds us and makes into who He wants us to be, as we walk onward to perfection. Nouwen would say this is a journey of being taken, blessed, broken, and given. Coincidentally, Carl or I say those same words on Sunday mornings as we participate in the sacrament of Holy Communion. “On the night in which He gave Himself up for us, He tookthe bread, He gave thanks to God (blessed the bread), He broke the bread, He gave it to His disciples and said, ‘Take, eat. This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’” These words also summarize our lives as Christians, because as disciples of Christ, we are called to imitate Christ, to be just like the Rabbi. If He is the Bread of Life, we are called to become bread for the world: bread that is taken, blessed, broken, and given.
During this sermon series, we’ll specifically explore these four words, and the first step in becoming the beloved is to acknowledge we are taken by God. Taken is a tough word for me. My mind wanders to Liam Neeson and the movies he filmed about rescuing his taken daughter! Thankfully, Henri Nouwen offers us an alternative word – chosen.
While I’ve shared with you Nathanael & Philip’s story of being chosen by our Lord and Savior, I thought I would also share with you a personal story. I’ve gone back and forth about sharing, but ultimately, God said yes. So, this is a story of how God reminded me that I am His beloved chosen one.
It wasn’t too long into adulthood when I knew I could never have children of my own. I was sad. I was upset. I was hurt. I was angry. Like Philip & Nathanael, I wondered, wasn’t I good enough? Why didn’t God choose me to be a parent?
By 2012, I had been working in Haiti for several years. And whenever I found myself in a community called Darivager, I would look down and see the same young boy following me, guiding me to the next site, and watching my every step. His smile was as bright as the sun, and whenever he was beside me, I felt a peaceful presence. Little did I know, his mother had taken him, and his five younger siblings, to Darivager when she could no longer feed them or take care of them. After a year, she returned to pick up his five siblings, but left Mackenson at the children’s home. I cannot imagine the heartache he felt, seeing his mother choose his five siblings and not him. The feelings of rejection, of not feeling worthy, of being unlovable, were devastating for him.
So, you can imagine, on the day he walked up to me, and said to me for the first time, “Hi Mom, I love you,” I melted into a thousand pieces. Mackenson chose me to be his mom. And I took him into my life to be my beloved son. It turns out, God did choose me to be a parent. Just not the way I thought it would be.
God used this as a teaching moment for my life. There is something about the word chosenthat makes me feel incredibly special. As His chosen ones, we recognize God has noticed our uniqueness and has expressed a desire to know us, to come closer to us, to love us. His arms are opened wide, waiting to welcome us into His beloved embrace.
He says to us, through the words of Isaiah 43 and the Gospel-writers:
I have called you by name, from the very beginning. You are mine. And I am yours. You are my Beloved, on you my favor rests. I have molded you in the depths of the earth and knitted you together in your mother’s womb. I have carved you in the palms of my hands and hidden you in the shadow of my embrace. I look at you with infinite tenderness and care for you with a care more intimate than any other relationship on earth. I have counted every hair on your head and guided you at every step. Wherever you go, I go with you. Wherever you rest, I keep watch. I will give you food that will satisfy all your hunger and drink that will quench your thirst. I will not hide from you. You know me as your own, as I know you as my own. You belong to me. Wherever you are, I will be. Nothing will separate us. We are one.
We’ve all experienced times in our lives when we were not chosen. Maybe it was for a job promotion. Perhaps a special award. Maybe we weren’t picked for the soccer team or voted student body president. Philip and Nathanael had been rejected by other rabbis. Someone else likely had a better application. But in the moment when Jesus said to Philip, “Follow me,” we can feel the joy and love exuding from Philip’s heart as he shares the news with his friend. Isn’t it the same when God calls US His beloved? Through the atoning and sacrificial act of Jesus’s death and resurrection, God, too, chooses US as His beloved children. We weren’t required to submit an application. We didn’t have to try; we already are His beloved.
Which leads me to a second realization: just because I am special and chosen doesn’t mean that others are rejected. Being chosen as the Beloved is something completely different. Instead of excluding others, it includes others. Instead of rejecting others as less valuable, it accepts others in their own uniqueness. We were each made in the image of God, and as such, we each have something to offer to the body of Christ.
But like Nathanael and Philip, after being rejected by the world’s standards, it is hard to wrap our minds around being chosen by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. But believe it, friends, we are chosen by God to be His beloved, to be His disciples. And as we are chosen, so is every other human created and stamped with His image. We simply have to believe and claim it as our truth.
God has invited ALL to His table of love and grace! ALL! EVERYONE: Sinners. Those who have been made to feel they are unworthy. Those who are different from the self-ordained “righteous ones.” Those of all races, all cultures, all languages, all tax brackets…! We are ALL beloved. We are ALL chosen. NO ONE IS LEFT OUT!!!!!
Yes, this is what 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 9 reminds us, “…You are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.” The most royal priest of all died on a cross, His hands and side pierced by the misunderstanding and hatred of people just like us, and yet some of His last dying words were, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” And to a dying thief, He said, “Today you shall be with me in paradise." Isn't that the same as Him saying, “You are chosen to be the beloved?!” The more we claim our belovedness, the more we claim the light, AND the more radiant we will become.
Let us pray:
Good and gracious God,
You have chosen us, picked us out, for special awareness of Your love.
Not because we are better than other people;
not because we are good or strong or clever;
but because Your love is free, persistent, merciful.
You have chosen us and set us apart to be signs of Your love,
to proclaim it, to live in the strength of it,
to make other people aware that they are chosen, too.
Lead us into more life and deeper wonder;
so that You can take who we are,
break us open,
and bless us
and give us to the world.
We pray this in the name of the Beloved Son,
The King of Kings and the Lord of Lords,
Amen.
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