Rev. Debbie Cato
Matthew
3:11-17
Fairfield Community Church
January 22,2023,
God of
mercy, you promised never to break your covenant with us. In the midst of the mass
of words in our daily lives, speak your eternal Word to us, that we may respond
to your gracious promises with faithfulness, service and love. Amen.
You Are My Beloved
We have
gone from Jesus the baby, to Jesus the refugee, to Jesus 30 years-old, being baptized
by his cousin, John the Baptist. Time
flies! Luke has Jesus in the temple at 12 years –
old, learning from the rabbis but that is the only glimpse we get of Jesus
between infancy and adulthood. We have
to assume the growing up years are not important. What’s important is that the Christ child is
born, and Jesus begins his ministry.
I’m always surprised to remember that Jesus begins his ministry by being baptized in the Jordan River by John who calls for all sinners to repent. Jesus was not a sinner. He was sinless. Yet, he insists on being baptized. Even after John protests.
“John says, “He’s coming! He’s more powerful than me! He will give you God’s wind and God’s fire, not just water! He’ll sort you out – he’ll clear out the mess – he’ll clean us until only the good wheat is left.””[1]
We are expecting a great leader, perhaps the living God himself, sweeping in with a great explosion, a blaze of light and transforming everything in a single blow.[2]
Instead we get Jesus. The Jesus we have only met so far in Matthew’s gospel. A baby with a price on his head. Helpless. A refugee. Homeless. A Jesus who comes and stands humbly before John, asking for baptism, sharing the remorseful mood of the rest of Judaea, Jerusalem, and Galilee. A Jesus who seems to be identifying himself, not with a God who sweeps all before him in judgement, but with the people who are themselves facing that judgement and needing to repent.[3]
John, of course, is horrified! He seems to know that Jesus is the one he was waiting for; but then why would he be coming for baptism? Why would Jesus want John to baptize him? What happened to the agenda that John expected? What happened to the wind and the fire?
N.T. Wright says that “Jesus’ reply tells us something vital about the whole gospel story that is going to unfold before our surprising gaze. Yes, Jesus is coming to fulfil God’s plan, the promises which God made ages go and has never forgotten. Yes, these are promises which will blow God’s wind, God’s spirit, through the world, which will bring God’s fire of God’s just judgment on evil wherever it occurs and which will rescue God’s repentant people once and for all from every kind of exile to which they have been driven. But if Jesus is going to do this, this is how he must do it; by humbly identifying himself with God’s people, by taking their place, sharing their repentance, living their life, and ultimately dying their death.”[4]
When Jesus comes up out of the water after John baptizes him, God’s Spirit descends on Jesus and his voice says, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”
Here is the good news. The same voice speaks to everyone who follows Jesus in repentance and faith and is baptized. To everyone who is baptized, rather an infant or young child, baptized through the faith of their parents, or an older child, young adult, or adult, baptized by their own faith, God says, “You are my beloved. With you I am well pleased.”
When you were baptized, whatever your age and whoever made the vows for you, the waters washed away the sins and evil of the world and brought you new life in Christ. It claimed you as a beloved child of God. Created by God in his image. Claimed by God. And, loved by God beyond anything that we can imagine or grasp. Nothing we can do will ever separate us from the love of God. And because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, we are forgiven for our sins and receive eternal life. That is good news!
In baptism, we are called to a new way of life as Christ’s disciples, sharing the good news of the gospel with all the world.
Baptism is a sign and seal of the
covenant of grace made by God through Jesus and extended to us. After all, it
is only through the grace of God that we receive faith and forgiveness. In baptism, God claims us as beloved children
and members of Christ’s body, the church, washing us clean from sin as we
renounce the power of evil and seek the will and way of God.
Nadia
Bolz-Weber says, “You belong to God and are beloved by God and in his kingdom,
there is forgiveness of sin. You may
think that your failings are inescapable, but that is a lie because no offense
is inescapable or unforgiveable. Jesus defeated sin and death. I’m pretty sure
forgiving your sin isn’t going to be that hard for him. So friends, I invite
you to enjoy your forgiveness –it will not be taken away as a
punishment and it will not be granted as a reward, it is your inheritance as a
freed child of God’s kingdom. ”[5]
But with all this comes
responsibility too. If we are claimed as
beloved
children and members of Christ’s
body, the church, we must live as
Christ’s body. We must continue to read the gospel to see
what this means. To learn how Jesus
lived, what he taught, how he wanted his followers to live and be. Being Christ’s body – being followers of
Christ means we must be Christ-like. We
must be different than those who are not Christ-followers. Different than the
world tells us to be.
As we continue to read the gospel,
we will find that Jesus is kind and loving and he teaches peace and
justice. He focuses on those that others ignore or look
down on or take advantage of. The poor,
the persecuted, the neglected. He passes
on the love and grace of God to all he meets. As followers of Jesus we are to do the
same. Rather than worship the powers of
this world we are to worship God alone and trust in his promises for our
future, knowing that the Holy Spirit that fills us will guide our steps if we
trust and listen for God’s voice in our life.
We are his beloved. God’s beloved. Think what that means. Think about how much you love your children,
your family, your spouse, your partner.
Think what you would and will do for them. Think of how full your heart feels when you
think about spending time with them.
Being with them.
Then imagine – if you can – that
God loves us far more than that! Because
only God loves completely unconditionally.
God loves us exactly how we are.
Exactly how he created us As
imperfect and full of sin as we are, God loves us. And he will never stop. We are his beloved. You are his beloved. With you he is well pleased.
In a few minutes I will baptize
Henry Clausen through his parents’ affirmation of faith. I hope you will remember your baptismal vows
as I baptize Henry. Whether you were a
baby and have no recollection or whether you were older and can remember being
baptized, these are the vows you took and the words that were spoken. This is how your life in Christ began. Either through the faith of your family or
your own faith.
You are my beloved with whom I am
well pleased. This is our baptismal legacy. Think what kind of world it would be if we
lived into our legacy. Amen.
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