My Dear Shepherds,

They’re an elite congregation, that flock of yours, which, I realize, may not have been obvious last Sunday. But Peter describes their highborn pedigree, beginning with . . .

You are a chosen people . . .. (1 Pet. 2:9)

Peter began that letter, “To God’s elect . . . who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father . . ..” Perhaps at the mere mention of such language, your guard just went up. Red warning lights flashed. Ah-OO-gah! Ah-OO-gah! Battle stations! Relax. I’m not going there.

In English, election is a word devoid of feeling, shaped by ballot boxes and impersonal tallies. But being God’s chosen people is a story of deep love. However we square God’s election and free will, the wonderful foundational truth goes back to God’s words to Israel:

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. The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the LORD loved you . . .. (Deut. 7:6–8)

Now, all these centuries later, God’s treasured possession is no longer “the fewest,” but a vast multitude from every tribe, nation, people, and tongue, the bride without spot or wrinkle brought by the Father to his Son, who redeemed us out of slavery and death. And these are the people God has gathered under your shepherding care.

Paul spoke of his ministry to God’s chosen people in three ways. First,

But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. (2 Thess. 2:13)

The flock we serve may not always stir our gratitude to God, but so often they certainly do. We have the best seat in the house to witness God’s sovereign work in them—his grace giving rise to their testimonies, his salvation bringing music to their worship, the miracle of their Christlike love for one another, their Spirit-induced hunger for Scripture and confidence of heaven.

Then, in writing to Timothy from prison, Paul said,

I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. (2 Tim. 2:10)

We may not be persecuted as Paul was, but all shepherds do some serious enduring for the sake of God’s people. Pastoral work takes a toll on our souls, our emotions, and our families. The conflicts, heart-breaking sicknesses and heart-boggling counseling, the sermons that sometimes take more out of us than they restore, and the wolves. Perseverance is a fact of life for all believers but especially for their shepherds, who keep watch over them night after night, year after year, all because God’s elect are worth it.

Finally, this word to Titus, another pastor . . .

Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ to further the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness—in the hope of eternal life . . .. (Titus 1:1–2)

Now there is the work that brings a spark to pastors’ eyes! To be there when the gospel first sparks faith, to lay out the sweeping epic of salvation, to teach the sacred lyrics of the Psalms, the intricacies of salvation in Romans, or our imagination-sculpting hope in Revelation, and through it all, to see the chosen become more and more like Christ—what a privilege!

Be ye glad!

Lee Eclov recently retired after 40 years of local pastoral ministry and now focuses on ministry among pastors. He writes a weekly devotional for preachers on Preaching Today.