You Are Chosen. Now Act Like It.
Text: Deuteronomy 7:6-12 (ESV)
6th Sunday after Trinity – 12th of
July, 2026
Introduction: The Mirror of the Word
Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and
from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
There is a story told of a man who looked into a mirror. He
saw the dirt on his face, the knots in his hair, the stain on his shirt. He
acknowledged the mess, nodded his head in agreement with the mirror, and then
walked away. He did absolutely nothing about it. He saw the truth, agreed with
it, but went on living as if he hadn't seen it at all.
Today, we look into the mirror of God’s Word. We look at a
text that shows us who we are, who God is, and what we are to do about it. And,
unlike the man in the story, we are not meant to walk away unchanged.
Our text for this Sixth Sunday after Trinity is from the
book of Deuteronomy, chapter 7, verses 6 through 12. It is a text that crashes
against us with the force of an ocean wave. It is a text of profound comfort
and terrifying responsibility. It is a text that shows us the unconditional
love of God, and then immediately hands us a list of commands. This is the
rhythm of the Christian life: Law, Gospel, and then the Imperative.
Let us hear the Word of the Lord.
“For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord
your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all
the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more
in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose
you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the Lord loves
you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has
brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery,
from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord your God
is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who
love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, and repays to
their face those who hate him, by destroying them. He will not be slack with
the one who hates him. He will repay him to his face. You shall therefore be
careful to do the commandment and the statutes and the rules that I command you
today.”
Part 1: The Law – The Mirror of Our Reality
We begin with the Law. First, we must ask: What is a
"holy" people? What does it mean to be “treasured”?
In the ancient world, when a king conquered a nation, he
would take the best treasures—the gold, the jewels, the skilled artisans—for
himself. They were his prized possessions.
In this text, God says, “You are my treasured
possession.” But wait. This is where the Law hits us hard. Because
when we look at ourselves, do we feel like gold? Do we feel like precious
jewels? Not usually. We feel like clay jars, cracked and brittle.
If this passage were only Law, it would crush us. Because if
God only loves the holy, if God only keeps company with the perfect, we are
doomed. We look at ourselves and we see our sins. We see the way we snap at our
children, the way we hoard our money, the way we ignore the beggar on the
street, the way we nurse our grudges. We are not holy. We have failed.
The Law is the mirror that shows us our dirt. It shows us
our condition. We are not the "fewest" in number in the sense of
being humble; we are the least in terms of merit. We have no claim on God. If
we were standing before God on our own merits, we would not be His treasured
possession; we would be His condemned prisoners.
That is the Law. It strips us of our pride. It smashes our
illusions of self-righteousness. It says: “You are not chosen because
you are good. You are not saved because you are strong. Look at the mirror. You
are a sinner.”
Part 2: The Gospel – The Mystery of Grace
But we do not stop at the mirror. Thank God, we do not stop
at the mirror.
Look at verse 7. Why did God choose Israel? He says, “It
was not because you were more in number... but it is because the Lord loves
you.”
That is the most irrational, beautiful, and profound thing
ever written. Why does God love? Because He chooses to love.
His love is not a reaction to our beauty; His love is the source of our beauty.
The reason God loves you is found in God, not in you. The reason He saves you
is because He promised He would.
He made an oath to Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob. He made a promise to a dead man (Abraham) that he would have descendants
as numerous as the stars. He made a covenant with a liar (Jacob) that he would
be blessed. And God keeps His promises.
This is the Gospel: God loves you because He is a faithful
God. He does not love you because you are impressive. He loves you because He
has sworn to love you. He set His affection on you before the foundations of
the world.
And this Gospel is fully revealed in Jesus Christ. Where do
we see this most clearly? On the Cross.
Israel was redeemed from slavery in Egypt by a mighty hand.
But we—you and I—are redeemed from the slavery of sin, death, and the devil by
the pierced hand of Jesus.
When Jesus died on the cross, He fulfilled the Law
perfectly. He was the Holy One. He was the truly “treasured possession” of the
Father. And yet, He was treated like the worst sinner. He was cast out so that
we could be brought in. The oath God swore to Abraham was fulfilled in Christ.
Paul tells us in Galatians, “If you are Christ’s, then you are
Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.”
Because of Jesus, the Law’s mirror is shattered. The dirt is
washed away. You are no longer a slave. You are a child. You are chosen. Not
because of your works, but because of His work. This is the pure Gospel: You
are forgiven. You are loved. You belong to God.
When I preach this, I am not telling you to do anything to
be saved. I am telling you that you ARE saved. You ARE holy in Christ. The robe
of righteousness is draped over your shoulders, even now. That is the
foundation. That is the rock. That is the Gospel.
Part 3: The Imperative – The Fruit of Faith
Now, if that is the Gospel, why does the text immediately
turn around in verse 11 and say, “You shall therefore be careful to do
the commandment and the statutes and the rules that I command you today”?
Isn’t that a contradiction? No. It is the rhythm of grace.
It is what we call the Imperative.
In the Bible, this is the pattern: First, Indicative (who
you are in Christ), then Imperative (how you shall live
because of who you are).
The Law says, “Do this and live.”
The Gospel says, “Christ lived and died, therefore you live.”
The Imperative says, “Because you are alive, now live like it.”
Look at the phrase in verse 12: “And because you
listen to these rules and keep and do them...”
Many people read this and think, “Ah, see? If I do good, God
will bless me. It’s a transaction.” But that is a misunderstanding of the Law.
In the Old Testament, these laws were given to a people already
redeemed. God saved them from Egypt first, and then He
gave them the Law at Sinai. The Law was never meant to be the ladder to heaven;
it was meant to be the fence around the garden to keep them safe.
And for us, the Imperative is the grateful response of a
redeemed heart.
Imagine you are drowning in the ocean. You are going under
for the third time. Suddenly, a lifeguard jumps in, fights the waves, and drags
you to shore. You are gasping on the sand, alive. He saved you. You didn’t pay
him. You didn’t earn it. He did it because he was good.
Now, while you are lying on the sand, he looks at you and
says, “Okay, now get up. I need you to help me look for other people in the
water. I need you to go tell people about the rocks near the jetty.”
Is that a requirement to pay back your
debt? No! You could never pay him back for your life. But because he gave you
life, because you love him, you get up. You say, “Yes, sir!” The imperative—the
command to obey—flows from the gratitude of the rescue.
That is what this text is calling us to. We have been
rescued from the house of slavery—our slavery to sin, our slavery to fear, our
slavery to death. God has brought us out with a mighty hand through the
resurrection of Jesus.
So, how do we live?
We keep the commandments. We love our neighbors. We forgive
the unforgivable. We give generously. We speak kindly. We live purely.
But be careful! When I say this, I am not
pointing you back to the Law to save you. I am pointing you to the Law as
a guide. The Law tells us how to love God and love neighbor. It is
the map for the journey. If you love the One who saved you, you will want to
follow the map.
This Imperative is the "good works" we are called
to do. And here is a deep truth: God promises to keep His
covenant with those who love Him and keep His commandments, to a thousand
generations.
Does God’s love for you depend on your obedience? No. But
your experience of His love, and the overflow of
His blessings into your life, often do. When you obey, you are walking in the
flow of His blessing. Disobedience is not losing your salvation; it is stepping
out of the stream of life. It is choosing to eat junk food when you are a child
of the King who has a feast prepared for you.
Conclusion: The Happy Conclusion
So, beloved congregation, where does this leave us?
- Law: We
are sinners. We deserve nothing. The mirror shows us our filth.
- Gospel: Christ
came to the filthy. He washed us. He chose us. Not because of us, but
because of His oath, His promise, His love. We are His treasured
possession.
- Imperative: Because
we are His treasured possession, we are to act like it. We are to be
careful to do what He says. Not to earn His favor, but because we already
have it.
Let me give you a simple image to remember for this week:
You are a rescued drowning victim standing on the shore.
- The
Law is the rope that pulled you in—it showed you that you were drowning.
- The
Gospel is the Lifeguard—Jesus Christ—who grabbed you and pulled you to
safety.
- The
Imperative is the new life you live on the shore. You don't sit there
waiting to drown again. You get up. You help. You love. You obey.
God has set His love upon you. He has sworn an oath to you.
He will not break it. So, go into this week with confidence. You are secure.
But let that security make you brave. Let it make you loving. Let it make you
obedient.
May we live as the treasured possession we are, to the glory
of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep
your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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