Valois United Church

January 13, 2008

Isaiah 42:1-9
Psalm 29

Matthew 3:13-17

Down by the Jordan, John has finished preaching and has gone to the waters to baptize. The line stretches out from the banks of the river, people sweating in the sun.

One man approaches him. John looks at his cousin. “Whoa,” he says, “I know I’ve been the one preaching, but you should be baptizing me, Jesus. I’ll get in line - you start baptizing.”

“No, John,” comes the reply, “this is the right thing to do. Trust me.”

And John leads him out into the water, and lowers him into the waters.

You are watching closely, and as Jesus approaches the riverbank, something happens. But you don’t know what it is. Just .... something in the air, and you feel a tingle in your scalp. You look around, and everyone else is oblivious, except the one just baptized. He bows his head, pauses in reflection, raises his head and heads away from the river, alone.

John watches him go. Everyone else just waits for their turn in the waters. And John turns to the next person, leads him into the water and continues.

What you don’t know, what you don’t hear, what Jesus hears that you don’t, is the words: "This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased."

When we jump to today, and we hear that God’s voice spoke in this way to Jesus, we are not surprised.

But wait a minute:
What exactly has he done, that God is pleased with?
Nothing. Rien. Nada.

To the best of our knowledge, when God declares “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased,"
Jesus has not preached any sermons,
he has not healed anyone who is sick
he has not spoken out for those who were downtrodden
he has not shown anyone that God’s way is the way of love,
instead of the way of rules.

So far as we know, he has probably been making wheels, and tables and whatever else carpenters in his day made, just like Joseph did.

“This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased."

What had he done? Nothing.
What would he do? Well, he certainly had potential.
Who was he? The child of God, freshly baptized.

And freshly blessed.

And why baptized?

Most people don’t think that Jesus needed to be cleansed in the waters of repentance.
So why be baptized?
Why would Jesus have told John that it was the right thing to do?

Well, one reason is that it is one of the ways in which Jesus lines his life up with ours.
It helps us to understand that, as Paul writes in his letters, that we are fellow heirs with Christ.
We, through our baptisms, line ourselves up with Jesus, link up with Jesus, and know that we, like him,
that we are children of God.

One minister had this image come to mind on reading this text of the show in which Oprah apparently started giving out cars to people in the audience. “You have a new car,” she said, pointing. “And you, and you and you and you.....” pointing to several others. I didn’t see it - in fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen an Oprah show, but I can imagine the excitement in the crowd! “You and you and you.... have new cars!”

Well, on this day we remember that God pointed at Jesus, and said to him, “You are my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased."
“You are my Child, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased."
And we, Paul affirms, are fellow heirs.

So today, we need to hear God’s voice saying to us:
“You are my child, and I love you, and I am well pleased with you."

Claire, when she was encouraging involvement in the Bazaar, had this hand that pointed out “and you and you and you and you....” And maybe you felt some responsibility that day.

So today, we need to hear God’s voice saying to us:
“You are my child, and I love you, and I am well pleased with you."
And you, and you and you and you.....

And as we hear those words, we should be more excited that if we had just won a new car. We have been reminded that we are fellow-heirs, that we are children of God.

“You are my child, and I love you, and I am well pleased with you."
But wait a minute....
We can each ask “what have I done to deserve such a declaration?”

In our prayer of confession each week, we declare that we’ve messed up. What have we done to deserve such a declaration?

Well, we don’t.
I don’t. You don’t. Sorry, you don’t deserve it. And nor do I.
But it’s not about deserving it.
It is about God declaring it anyhow.

Even though we do not qualify, just like Jesus had not preached yet,
God declares his love for us anyhow.
Even though we have not touched lives in as positive ways as we might have, just like Jesus had not started healing yet,
God declares his love for us anyhow.
Even though we have not always shown God’s love to everyone around us,
just as Jesus had not started showing the Gospel of love,
God declares his love for us anyhow.

For me. And you, and you and you and you.....
That’s just the way it is.

And the baptism?
Signed, sealed, delivered....

It is an outward sign, so that we can see an expression of God’s love for us, God’s acceptance of us, and God’s hope for us.

It is grace.
It is challenge
to live as God’s beloved children.