Memorial Day has evolved in our national life as a time to remember especially those who have died in military service. We think of them as having died to protect the freedoms we cherish, and, surely, foremost among these is the freedom to think and act for ourselves, and to shape our lives as we and we alone choose. The paradox here is that many of those in the military whom we remember did not have a choice about serving. They gave up their freedom of choice in order to safeguard ours, and so we honor them, recognizing the debt we owe them.

Clearly, the freedom to choose is one of our highest values. It matters to us to choose where we will live, what we will eat, what we will wear, how we will spend our time, and with whom we will associate. For many of us, what we will drive is a big deal. Jean and I are currently thinking about getting a newer car-and you better believe it won't be just any car off a dealer's lot! It will have particular styling and color, and the right kind of seats, and burn the right kind of gas or perhaps other kind of power, and will have the bells and whistles we want, but not the ones we don't care about, and it will be the right price, or as close to that as we can get. And my guess is that most of you choose your cars in a similar way. The truth is, most of us are invested in calling the shots and shaping our lives in a way we choose. We have more choices open to us than has ever been true before in human history, so it's not surprising we have come to think that choice is the name of the game and the key to the good life. Frequently, I hear of parents who say that religious education is not important for their children, because what matters is letting the children make their own religious choices when they are old enough. To me that comes very close to saying that the God we worship is our choice; we find a God who "works" for us, as if God had no say in the matter. If God has to meet "our" specifications, it's not surprising if we do not find the power we seek in our religious life and do not take it all that seriously.

So I hope you heard those words of Jesus in today's gospel reading: "You did not choose me but I chose you." I don't believe there is any more important word in scripture for our generation. Our relationship with God isn't just one of the many choices we get to make as we shape our lives. That relationship is only possible because the eternal God has reached out to us in love and chosen us to be God's people. Yes, we can say yes or no to God's initiative. But if we say yes, it will not be our place to shape the relationship to our own liking. Rather, we are called to allow God to shape us. As we pray in the John Wesley Covenant Service, "I am no longer my own but thine." It is still up to us to make the choices, but when we understand that God has chosen us, we choose not just according to our own will, but in keeping with our understanding of what God wants for us. And Jesus makes clear what one dimension of God's desire for us is: "I have appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last." To accept our chosenness by God is to take seriously how God wants us to matter and be fruitful in our lives.

Now, the chances are that a number of possibilities come to mind, as we think about living fruitfully. We think about family relationships and friendships, where we may share the fruit of love with others and have some positive influence on their lives. We may consider how, in our community involvements, we may contribute to the common well-being and be a force for good. Perhaps our work-life may be a venue through which we serve human need, or we may have a gift for creating new knowledge or music or art. Whatever form it may take, God has commissioned every one of us to bear fruit that helps fulfil God's purposes for human life and allows our lives to matter. That's the highest reason for our being here on this earth.

But our observance of Memorial Day suggests a more specific question: What can you and I do to make this a world in which men and women won't need to lose their lives in war? How can we bear the fruit of peacemaking and reconciliation in order to help heal the world's brokenness and alienation? Today we feel the need for this healing as intensely as at any point in human history, as terrorism intensifies and regional conflicts threaten to spill over, and gang violence multiplies in our own back yards. The danger around us is real, and it desperately needs to be addressed. But because the challenge is so huge, we find it intimidating, and we despair what difference we can make. The fruit of peacemaking and healing is so obviously needed-but what can just one person do?

My wife Jean was asked to preach at another church last month, and for her sermon she came up with a wonderful quote that I want to borrow and share with you. It's by Edward Lorenz about what he calls "Chaos Theory." The quote is: "When a butterfly flutters its wings in one part of the world, it can eventually cause a hurricane in another." I believe each of us has more impact in our world than we think. What we stand for and give ourselves to is noticed by others even when we're not aware of it. And whatever fruit we share not only blesses those on the receiving end but bears witness to those who know us.

I personally believe that one place where fruit is most urgently needed is in addressing the extreme poverty and hopelessness of so many of the world's people. When people are in desperate circumstances, they are often moved to take desperate measures to try to help themselves. Many of the recruits to Al Qaeda and the Palestinian Intifada and rebel movements in Colombia and Indonesia and the Philippines are persons in poverty who see no other hope. So, whatever we can do to help them to a better life can be a step on behalf of peacemaking. Most of the mission outreach of the United Methodist Church today is targeted toward providing education and social services and job training and health services for people in poverty. Organizations such as the Heifer Project provide breeding animals to poor people to help them on the road to self-sufficiency.

One of the most promising movements toward getting Third World people out of poverty is what's called micro-credit. Poor people who want to start a small business such as a vegetable farm or a tailoring shop are given a small low-interest loan, often less than $100, which they use as seed money. When they pay back the loan, they have established credit and are eligible for larger loans as they build their business. Often a small amount is all it takes to get started. But only a micro-credit lending organization will make a small, unsecured loan of this type with an interest rate small enough to be affordable to a poor person. Training in literacy and business skills is also offered along with loans. Today in Haiti, one country served by this program, over 9000 borrowers are not only building self-sufficiency, but are learning to read and write as they grow their businesses. And where do the funds for micro-credit lending come from? They come from people like us who are willing to share our abundance so they can have a chance to improve their lot. As I seek to use my money fruitfully, I find this is one of the best investments I can make. The fruit I share in the form of money is literally blessing someone in Haiti toward a better life.

But, compared to what an individual can do, a nation's power to impact lives is so much greater. And surely, nations as well as individuals are called by God to bear fruit. We as Americans have historically understood ourselves as a people under God-a people who trusted that our destiny and well-being was tied in to God's will and purpose in the world. We are fighting right now to keep the phrase "one nation under God" in our Pledge of Allegiance, and "God Bless America" banners and bumper stickers have mushroomed everywhere in the aftermath of 9/11. So, it's very fitting for us to be asking now, what fruit are we as a nation under God being called to bear at this point in history? As we all know, the attacks of 9/11 and the terrorist threats have put us very much in a defensive mode recently, for we've had to pay attention to our own security. And security is an ongoing concern for us. But now that our military victory has been achieved in Iraq, we may have time to take a fresh look at how we will relate to the world. We've proved, once again, the might of our military power and our unrivaled capacity to shape world events. The question is, how will we choose to use this power?

There are voices among us who say, let's use it to strengthen our narrow, self-interest even more. Our own security and well-being are all that matter, so let's take out other potential troublemakers and build ever more potent weapons of mass destruction and get control of more natural resources for our benefit. Taking care of ourselves on our terms is the name of the game. But if we take seriously being a nation under God, we can't look just to ourselves. We trust God cares for our well-being, but, by the same token, God cares for the well-being of the whole human family. And we, who have been given such power to shape our world, are surely being called to use that power in a fruitful way that blesses all God's children.

I believe the most significant form of power our nation can exercise today is not military, but rather is diplomatic and economic and educational. As the world's most powerful nation, we have impressive clout for shaping agreements to make peace and resolve conflicts, and we ought to be using that power to greater advantage. We have the economic resources and clout to attack poverty and foster development and create more favorable economic conditions for less developed nations. And we have immense resources of knowledge and technical expertise to share with those in the world who lack them. Now, in some measure, we are already doing some of these things. But given our power and resources, there is so much more we could do. And not incidentally, doing so would serve our own interests, as well. As I mentioned before, anything that addresses situations of human poverty and hopelessness will work to undercut the breeding grounds of terrorism and aggression and make ours a safer world.

This business of being chosen by God to bear fruit may often seem a mixed blessing. Our natural desire is to produce fruit in keeping with our own ideas of a good life, and so we resist the thought that God's view of a fruitful life might be better than ours. But, if God truly is God, the Creator of life itself, then we know we need to listen up. In John's gospel, Jesus tells us this is the path to the good life for us. "I have said these things to you," Jesus says, "so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete."

A woman named Lolly Hellman wrote a letter to the Los Angeles Times last summer about an unexpected experience she had in fruitfulness. Unemployed and depressed, she was on her way to a job interview one day when she had to stop for a long red light. As she looked out her window, she saw a homeless man on the curb reading a book and petting his huge German Shepherd dog. On an impulse, she rolled down her window and asked the man if he liked the book. He said he thought it was great. Then somehow she was moved, despite her own limited funds, to take out a $5 bill, give it to him, and wish him good health. In turn, the man asked her if she would like a kiss from his dog, and she said, "Yes." The dog came over to her car, jumped up, and gave her a lick that completely covered her face from ear to ear. The woman went on to her job interview with a smile on her face that wouldn't leave. The interviewer noted that as a sign of a great attitude, and when she got home there was a message from him offering her the job.

We have so much reason to be grateful, friends, that God has chosen us and we do not have to sort out how to create a good life all on our own. In following God's clues for a fruitful life, we find blessing-for ourselves, for others, and for this world of ours that God so loves.