Chosen by God—or not

A Reflection for the Feast of St. Matthias, Apostle

Find today’s readings here.

I’ve often struggled with the theological idea of “election”—the idea that only some people are chosen by God. It comes up over and over: “Many are called but few are chosen,” for example. Today’s readings give us another instance: After the betrayal and death of Judas, the apostles nominate two potential successors to join their ranks. They pray and cast lots, and “the lot fell upon Matthias.” But what about the other man, “Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus”? What happened to him?

Justus, we know from the first reading, had been with Jesus throughout his ministry, from Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan all the way through the crucifixion. He isn’t mentioned in Scripture again, although some accounts hold that he became a bishop and a martyr, even drinking poison and surviving; he is venerated as a saint (St. Justus of Eleutheropolis) by Catholics and Orthodox Christians. These traditions give a more encouraging end to the story than the one I found in another source: “Justus was rejected by God,” a sola scriptura claim made solely on the basis of the outcome of the lots cast. Ouch.

It seems clear to me that the reason I care so much about these “non-elect” is that I see something of myself in them. Certainly I feel my own vocation (to the laity, to motherhood, to Vatican journalism) very strongly, but I’m troubled by the idea that God would “reject” someone who had followed him for years, someone he had clearly “called” if not chosen. What do we do with this?

As is often the case, I don’t have a satisfactory answer. But today’s Gospel gives me some consolation, for the sake of Justus and anyone else who has ever felt rejected or not chosen by God.

“If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love,
just as I have kept my Father’s commandments
and remain in his love.

I have told you this so that my joy might be in you
and your joy might be complete.
This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.
No one has greater love than this,
to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

Jesus promises, in short, that if we lay down our lives for our friends, we will remain in his love and our joy will be complete. Justus did lay down his life for his friend, Jesus. He followed Jesus from the time of Jesus’ baptism through his crucifixion. For Justus and the disciples, that meant an itinerant lifestyle, the sacrificing of home and work and time with loved ones—in short, all the things that make up our ordinary lives. Justus laid those down to follow Jesus. And if the tradition is to be believed, he continued to do so until the end of his own life, when he was killed for his faith.

The way I see it, Justus’s story is not one that ends with rejection. It’s a story of what Jesus describes as the greatest love—laying down one’s life for one’s friends. It’s a story that ends with Justus’s joy being complete. That doesn’t sound like being “rejected by God” to me.

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