The Baptism of the Lord
Year A

Beloved of God

Readings: Isaiah 423:1-9; Psalm 29; Acts 10:34-43; Matthew 3:13-17

John foretells the imminent arrival of the Coming One.  Then Jesus, that very one, appears at the Jordan River to be baptized by him.  John objects.  “I need to be baptized by you, and you come to me?”

“Let it be,” Jesus replies to him.  “Baptize me.  God wants total obedience of us.  This is God’s will.”  There in the waters of repentance the heavenly world and the earthly reality meet.  By his baptism, Jesus identifies himself with us in all of our sinfulness.  God, in turn, reveals him to the crowd as the Chosen One.  “This is my Son, the Beloved, in whom I am well pleased.” 

Baptism is not just the beginning of ministry for Jesus; it marks the beginning of ministry for each of us.  At the heart of our Christian faith is the fact that by baptism each of us is brought into loving relationship with a loving Lord.  At our baptism God is there, saying, "You are my beloved."   

For Jesus baptism was an encounter with the Holy Spirit. In the waters of baptism, he experienced something, something that made a difference in his life.  It was a watershed moment.  It was the moment in which he was chosen and set aside by God.  It is, if you will, Jesus’ ordination.  It was followed by his full commitment to the ministry to which God was calling him.  He lived as God’s beloved. 

Most of us are baptised as young children.  My baptism was as an infant.  It was on May 24^th, a Sunday afternoon.  I was a few weeks old, so I don’t remember the day.  But I can recount it to you, because my parents and sponsors made certain that I heard the story.  They told me about the service. They gathered in the little church in Byng on a beautiful sunny day.  There were my older siblings, my parents and sponsors, my aunt and uncle and a good friend of the family, Aunt Alice Francis.  My father performed the baptism.  I was sprinkled with water.  My brother was immersed and my mother put her foot down about the rest of us.  She wasn’t going to have us drowned.  A party followed the baptism and, since it was the long weekend, there were fireworks down by the river.  I have pictures that were taken that day in the little church.  I have my baptismal certificate and the tiny silver cross that my Godmother gave me.  More than that, I have the recognition that something momentous happened in my life that day.  That is because my parents brought me up in the faith.  As I came to understand God’s significance in my life, I assumed the responsibility for my own spiritual life.  I began to take my baptismal covenant seriously. 

Being baptised as children would make no sense and have no meaning if as we grew up we did not put our baptism into effect.  Our baptism as children would be nonsense if we did not decide for ourselves as we grew up that the decision made for us by our parents and sponsors was what we wanted for ourselves.  Baptism is something to be lived every day.  When we were baptised God said over us as he said over Jesus, “This is my beloved.”  We need to live every day knowing that by baptism we are the beloved of God. 

Being beloved of God carries with it an enormous responsibility.  It is in the Scripture readings.  It is in the Baptismal Covenant that we will renew later in the service. 

"Will you continue in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of the bread, and in the prayers?"  I will say, and hopefully you will all answer, “We will with God’s help.”  We get our spiritual nurturing by meeting as a community for fellowship and prayer.  We hear the Word spoken and preached.  We share bread and wine as we remember God's great gift to us. 

"Will you persevere in resisting evil and, whenever you fall into sin repent and return to the Lord?"  We will continue.  A friend of mine has argued with me over the years about the need to confess our sins and to seek absolution.  "You confess your sins every Sunday and then you go out and sin again," he said to me.  "It just gives you permission to be a sinner.  All those 'good' Christians coming sanctimoniously to church, getting down on their knees and repenting, and then going out of church with permission to do the same thing over again! What is the sense of all that!” 

I reminded him that confession is good for the soul.  It is part and parcel of our human nature to need reminders that we fall short of the grace that God so freely bestows on us.  We need to know that no matter how many times we fail, God is there reaching out to us.  But we need to know that it is our responsibility to live the Christian life.  We can't simply say 'the devil made me do it'.  And above all, if, we are to be forgiving we need to know that we are forgiven. 

I will ask you, "Will you continue by word and example the good news of God in Christ?"  Most of us are not good at 'wearing' our faith.  It is ‘unanglican’.  It is not something we talk about too freely.  Truly talking is not the most important evangelistic tool that we have.  It is by living the Christian life that we share the good news.  “Preach the gospel,” says St. Francis.  “Use words if necessary.” 

"Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbour as yourself?" We are redeemed and reconciled by the Spirit. We are called to follow Jesus.  We have the task Isaiah put before the people of Israel.  We are called to be light to the nations, to open blind eyes, to bring prisoners out of bondage, and to feed and clothe the poor and hungry.    It is our call as part of the human race.  It is our responsibility as Christians. 

This parish has responded wonderfully to those in need.  We have outdone ourselves with FaithWorks.  There was a generous outpouring of help to the needy over Christmas.  We have taken on a new outreach project, the Affinity program of the DAM.  You will hear more about that as the year goes on.  The past weeks have given us ample opportunity to answer our call to love our neighbour.  We are part of a world in mourning.  And as a Christian community we have responded.  We have opened our hearts and our pocketbooks.  The stories of generosity are wonderful to hear.  A colleague was telling me about a homeless person whom she helps from time to time by paying him for odd jobs around the church.  He worked one morning last week.  She gave him $50.00.  He handed back $20.00.  “I need $30.00,” he said.  “Could you give the rest for disaster relief? Those poor people need it more than I do.” The world is responding with humanity and kindness.  Those who are wondering where God was when this terrible disaster happened simply don’t understand what Emmanuel, God-with-us, means.  God works in and through every one of us. 

The last question I will ask you is, "Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?"  How inclusive are we as a community?  Are we advocates for the poor and those in need?  The vocation of the Christian life and witness is to shed light on issues of justice.  It is the great commandment once again.  We are called to love God and to love neighbour. 

In our baptism we were brought into intimate relationship with a loving Lord.  You are God’s beloved child.  Claim that.  Bask in it.  Live in the joy and confidence of it.  Experience it in your life.  It is this very revelation that ought to assure you that your commitment is valid.  Our primary vocation, our baptismal ministry, is to serve God.  The consequence of our baptism is that we emulate Christ, through witness in word and deed, and through communicating the love of God to all.