Pastor's Message

February 2004

Predestination or Choice

I was recently on the edge of a discussion group of pastors where the topic of “predestination” was being discussed. Two of the pastors became quite animated. One felt that the other pastor had made an incorrect interpretation of Scripture and accused him of heresy in his thinking. The other became quite agitated as he denied it.

Although I understood the Theological concept of predestination, I wanted to look into this a bit further. The definition I found for this word was, “…being determined in advance; especially the doctrine which is usually associated with Calvin that God has foreordained every event throughout eternity including the final salvation of mankind.” OK, the United Church of Christ, especially St. Paul's UCC, is in the reformed tradition and we claim John Calvin as one of our foremost early theologians and writers, so this is part of our faith and doctrine, even if we don’t talk about it much.

But I wanted to see what Scripture says. Psalm 139 (verse 15-16) tells us “When I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth, your eyes beheld my unformed substance. In your book were written all the days that were formed for me, when none of them as yet existed.” This is a rather awesome thought –God knows about all our days, even before we are born! It seems particularly true for a prophet, as Jeremiah says when he describes how God called him to his ministry (1:5), “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Job even says that there is no use trying to fight against God’s will (23:13-14), “What he desires, that he does. For he will complete what he appoints for me.”

So it isn’t too hard to come to the conclusion that if God knows all our days, God also knows our last days, whether we will spend them with God in eternity, or not. Some might say that if we are “predestined” for salvation, even if we live a bad life, God will redeem us in the end. Others might argue that there is no point trying to live a good life, because if we are condemned, we will spend eternity in Hell. But that kind of argument is not only very cerebral and intimidating to most of us, but it leaves out one very important element of our human fabric – free will. Or in other words, God lets us “take it or leave it.” As I read Scripture, I often come back to John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” Now this is very inclusive. Words like “the world” and “everyone” leads me to think that God is offering the gift of Eternal Life to a very broad group of people! It is a gift to every one of us.

But because we have free will, we can accept the gift, or refuse it. That is our choice. Now who in the world would choose to refuse this gift from God? Nobody in their right mind would actively refuse such a wonderful gift. And yet, how many choices do we make by not making choices, by not paying attention, by being distracted by other things, by just walking away. It is like leaving the ballpark in the 8th inning because your team is so far behind that you get discouraged, only to find out later that your team won in the 12th inning! And then you moan, “If only I had not walked away.” But life will go on if you miss those last 4 innings of the exciting game. Don’t take a chance on walking away from God’s gift. Life will not go on.

So the choice is ours. What choice will you make? Everyone reading this newsletter, at some point in their life, has chosen to follow Christ. Some have walked out of the ballpark by not attending church regularly. Some have left early by not bothering to come for Holy Communion. Some have dropped out by being here physically, but they don’t “have their head in the game.” I believe that everyone is “predestined” for eternal life with God. That is what God wants. But we are free to refuse that gift. Instead of refusing God’s gift of salvation, use your free will to accept that gift now, and resolve to use the Lenten season to plant that gift firmly in your heart.

Lent is coming up in just a few weeks (Ash Wednesday is February 25th). Lent has always been a time for renewal for Christians. Think about it this year. Will you renew your faith this Lenten Season? Will you bring yourself back into the church, physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually? Begin by planning to attend the special service on Ash Wednesday and watch the next newsletter for more suggestions on how to renew your faith throughout the Lenten Season.