There has been much talk these past few years over a series of novels written by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins called Left Behind. It’s the story of a group of people who are literally “left behind” when Christ returns and “raptures” all the Christians into heaven. This group must find the means to survive and also come to believe in the midst of a time of great turmoil and tyranny at end of the world. The books are based on one of many different theological interpretations about the end times, drawing their ideas and predictions from a number of different texts throughout the Bible. This particular one is called “Dispensationalism” and its idea of a rapture wherein Christ rescues the good Christians from the world is taken in part from the very Gospel text I just read.

Even the best theological theories have their flaws. This one for instance has the problem of being somewhat inconsistent with much of the Biblical record. It may fit with this Matthew text, but not much else. You see, this idea that God will come and rescue his chosen ones from this terrible world doesn’t mesh with many of the stories where God chooses someone, where God makes someone a “chosen one.” Those stories are not tales of bliss and escape, where the chosen person gets to live a long idyllic life free of troubles. No, they’re usually the exact opposite. God doesn’t choose people to escape the world. Instead, God chooses people to change it.

Think about that for a minute and think about the stories that you know. Abraham was chosen to be the father of a chosen people, the Hebrews. Ask any of Abraham’s modern day descendants, the Jews, what it means to be a chosen people, and if they are one that takes that idea seriously, they will tell you in response that it is not a privilege, it’s a responsibility. According to Genesis, God called the Hebrews to be the beacon, the light, the one nation that would call all the others back to God. You see a bit of this in our Isaiah passage, where Isaiah talks about all the nations coming to the light of God at Zion, the temple mount of Jerusalem.

What is true for a nation is also true of individuals. Think of all those stories that you know from throughout the Bible. Moses called to be the liberator of his people. David called to be king over his people. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the other prophets called to bring God’s word and God’s message into the world. The disciples called and sent to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the four corners of the world. God doesn’t promise them escape, and they know it. Nearly all of them fight God’s call. They don’t want it, because they know it’s going to be hard. It’s going to be tough. Moses has all these excuses; he’s a murderer, he can’t talk right. God’s reply? “So what?” Jeremiah says he’s too young. “So what?” Peter, when Jesus first calls him after the miraculous catch of fish, falls to his feet and cries out “Depart from me for I am a sinful man.” Again, “so what?” Each one of them knows what they’re in for and they don’t want it. But God calls them anyway and doesn’t choose just anybody for these tasks. He calls people He knows can do it.

God doesn’t choose people to escape the world, God chooses people to change it. And of that list that I just mentioned, every single one of them did just that in some way.

Suddenly this passage from Matthew means something completely different. The chosen one isn’t the one that is taken. It’s the one that is “left behind,” because they’re the one who is able and capable to do whatever task God has set before them.

The one swept away, taken away, they’re dead, just as those who were taken in the flood. There’s a reason Jesus talks about Noah here. Again, who is the chosen one here? Noah chosen to restart humanity after the flood. He has a task as well.

What about us? We are the children of God, saved through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, adopted through our baptism into Christ. We are chosen and that means God has a purpose for each one of us. A purpose that only we can fulfill. He’s given this task, whatever happens to be, because knows that each of us is uniquely suited for it. Our skills, our experiences, our knowledge, our presence, everything about us makes us perfect for whatever God has given for us to do.

Now, I can’t tell you specifics. Only you can discern that for yourself. But I can speak of generalities. As I said, God doesn’t choose us to escape the world, he chooses us to change it. There could be, in this very room, one who is being called to be the next great figure of history, the next world leader, the next peacemaker, the next activist for justice and equality in the world. Maybe, I don’t know. More likely, we are being called to change one little piece of it. Maybe it’s to make an impact on this community. Maybe it’s to give food to a hungry soul on the street. Maybe it’s just to be there for a friend in need.

Every little kindness that we do for another, for a neighbor, for a friend, for a relative, is like preaching a little Gospel. It’s a little piece of evangelism, of telling the good news of Christ. Little things do matter. You may think it nothing, a small thing, but it may grow like waves on a pond and your little thing may in fact change the world after all.

Isaiah gives us a picture of what that changed world might look like. A world without war, where weapons are beaten down and reforged into implements to grow and create life and food for others. A world of peace and harmony. God sent his son Jesus Christ into this world to create that world out this one. It’s a task he began throughout his life, bringing healing and comfort to the afflicted and outcast, then dying and rising for the life of the world and all who dwell within it. The work of changing this world is ongoing and he now entrusts it to us, his followers.

What is your part? What is God asking you to do? A grand thing? A little thing? He has faith in you to do it. He has faith that we can bring about that vision, bring about a new world. He sent Jesus for you, Jesus died and rose again for you, and now Jesus has called you to be his own. The next step is yours. Amen.