On Being Chosen

The notion of being chosen is one of the most baffling concepts, particularly because of the obnoxious way it has traditionally been treated by Christian theology, implying that God plays favorites. That is not the meaning of the phrase however, and perceptive readers could have guessed that, for it is so evidently contradictory to everything Jesus teaches, as in e.g. the parable of the prodigal son. Here is a critical passage from A Course in Miracles, which may shed some light. Notice that the "I" person is Jesus.

God and His creations remain in surety, and therefore know that no miscreation exists. Truth cannot deal with errors that you want. I was a man who remembered spirit and its knowledge. As a man I did not attempt to counteract error with knowledge, but to correct error from the bottom up. I demonstrated both the powerlessness of the body and the power of the mind. By uniting my will with that of my Creator, I naturally remembered spirit and its real purpose. I cannot unite your will with God's for you, but I can erase all misperceptions from your mind if you will bring it under my guidance. Only your misperceptions stand in your way. Without them your choice is certain. Sane perception induces sane choosing. I cannot choose for you, but I can help you make your own right choice. "Many are called but few are chosen" should be, "All are called but few choose to listen." Therefore, they do not choose right. The "chosen ones" are merely those who choose right sooner. Right minds can do this now, and they will find rest unto their souls. God knows you only in peace, and this is your reality. (ACIM:T-3.IV.7)

It comes up in Thomas as Logion 23, It is very interesting to see how Pursah's comments to Gary, which I discussed in my book, are a close parallel to what the Course says about this issue. The logic is that there is a reciprocity here, which really means we have to opt in. Jesus makes this clear in the Course in a variety of ways that it is all about our choice to want to find another way. Until we do that, we stick to the counsel of our ego, and we throw Jesus out as far as we can throw him. Only when we find out our way may not be working as advertised, are we able to give ourselves the option to find "another way." This is very logical. As long as we think that what we're doing works, there is no incentive to try something else. So Jesus, or the Holy Spirit do not force themselves on us. They are available to us by our invitation only. Conversely our invitation means a willingness to listen. So we choose ourselves whenever we take the earphones off and stop listening to the pre-recorded music of the ego, so we can start listening to the Voice for God.
Accordingly what this saying means is that Jesus "chooses" the ones who listen, and by choosing to do so they will literally unite, for joining with Jesus is to choose for the oneness of the sonship, instead of for the multiplicity of our separate identities. So we will indeed stand with him as a single one. Logion 13 emphasizes the same idea in a different way,  by indicating that even among the apostles not all are ready to hear the whole story. So again, it is our preparedness to hear, in which we choose ourselves to be available for the message which is always there, and never changes.