Loading...
I have a little belated Christmas gift for you today. As you receive it, I’d like you to simply hold it and look at it for a few moments. Notice its brightness, the way it reflects the light. Its beauty. Notice how it feels in your hand.
Now, as you hold it, imagine yourself being held in God’s hand in this same way; and listen to God’s word to each of us today – the God who holds each of us in this way, sees our beauty, our ability to reflect the light of God ‐‐ be aware of the presence of our God who accepts us, flaws and all.
"Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you...
Because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you, I give people in return for you, nations in exchange for your life.
Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you;
everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made."
Elsewhere in scripture we hear similar words as God addresses the people: “I have carved you in the palm of my hand and hidden you in the shadow of my embrace.” “I look at you with infinite tenderness and care for you with a care more intimate than that of a mother for her child.”
These are words spoken to those who are beloved – beloved of God. To the people of Israel and to us. And as Jesus came up from the waters of baptism, he heard words like these – words from his father: “You are my son, the beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
We also need to hear those words: You are my beloved son; you are my beloved daughter.
Much of what we hear in our world is loud and often brash. Crashing into our consciousness with the volume turned up all the way. Blasting its way through the background noise that surrounds us. The words we hear today (words of God) are spoken softly and gently. Spoken as much to our souls as to our ears. They are God’s word of encouragement; of acceptance; of empowerment.
The community who heard those words spoken by through the prophet Isaiah, felt forsaken, brutalized and conquered – as prisoners of a foreign power during their devastating time of the Babylonian exile. There is a gulf between the harsh reality of their life and the promise of God’s presence with them. They feel disconnected. But these words of love and intimacy – these words of belonging and care are a re‐connection. They are not fluffy sentimentality, they are the truth of a deep and abiding relationship between the creator and the created. These people are precious in God’s sight. They are beloved.
As Jesus heard the words of his father at his baptism, he was coming up out of the water and entering the public phase of his earthly ministry. Baptism, as John makes it clear, was for the forgiveness of sins. But Jesus does not go into the water as a sinner in need of washing. He goes in as one who identifies with all of the brokenness, the incompleteness, the failure, the fault and the just plain problems that are part of what it is to be human. With what the others on that riverbank had brought with them as they had flocked to John.
One commentator says Jesus has come not only to reveal divinity to us, but to reveal us to ourselves. Not only is he truly God. He is truly human. His utter acceptance of our humanity, his drinking of our cup fully, his sharing of our wounded condition is at the heart of his mission to heal us.
Jesus comes out of the river empowered. The Spirit descends like a dove. The Father speaks. “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
Like Jesus, we are God’s beloved. What does it mean to be beloved? Just for fun I once tossed that question out to my friends on Facebook. A friend in Scotland replied that for her it meant ‘dear to the heart – to connect with the divine at a heart level.’ A Spokane friend wrote that it means accepting love from the other. My daughter in Chicago wrote that it means being cherished, adding, ‘like you cherish me.’ Another Spokane friend said it means ‘acceptance in the deepest way.’ How would you describe what it means for you to be beloved?
I doubt that we often think much about being beloved of God. Much of the time, we are more aware of our inadequacies, our faults, our unworthiness, our failures. Those things that the people who John baptized brought to the river with them. Those things are very real for all of us, but the root of the good news – the root of our connectedness to God and with Jesus is that relationship of being beloved. Being cherished. Even on Ash Wednesday, perhaps the most solemn and penitential liturgy of the whole year, we begin, ‘Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have made...’ Another way of hearing that is ‘you love everything you have made – including us’ – even with all of our imperfections.
The heart of this is belonging. Belonging to God. Years ago someone taught me a simple mantra that I have used on sleepless nights, at times of great anxiety or despair, or just through an ordinary day. It is simply, “I belong to God.” That puts a lot into perspective. It reminds me of the most significant relationship in my life. It helps me release those anxieties to the one who loves me just as I am – the one who says, ‘I have called you by name, you are mine.’ Sometimes I hold something in my hand as I do this – something that reminds me of the light of God – even a smooth piece of bright glass like you received this morning.
Jesus was empowered by his baptism – by the affirmation of his Father and the descent of the Holy Spirit. We are empowered by our baptisms as well – coming out of the water with the spirit’s gift and a new sense of belonging that sends us forth. Next Sunday we will welcome some children through baptism as well as celebrating the renewal of baptismal vows and receiving two people as members., We will all renew our baptismal covenant, remembering the promises and empowerment of our own baptisms. When the children are baptized, we’ll celebrate that new sense of belonging to Jesus with words, anointing and signing with the cross as the bishop says: “ You are sealed by the Holy Spirit in Baptism and marked as Christ’s own forever. “
Forever. Through thick and thin. In good times and in bad. Forever.
God says to each of us: You are my beloved son. You are my beloved daughter. I have called you by name, you are mine. Because you are precious in my sight, and honored, I love you.
