First Sunday after the Epiphany--The Baptism of our Lord

1st Sunday after the Epiphany-Yr B January 11, 2015 I recently read a review of a book titled Alone Together: Why we expect more from technology and less from each other. It was written in 2011 by a woman named Sherry Turkle, who is a professor from MIT and an internet scholar. In her book, Turkle shares research and her experiences as a mother and a friend. She quotes children and adults who hesitate to use the phone because it seems awkward and intrusive; it is much easier, they say, to dash off a text or an email. At the same time, Turkle points out, because of the convenience, people expect an immediate response. She describes the anxiety of teenagers when they do not get an immediate reply to their text messages. One girl talks about needing her cell phone for ‘emergencies;’ it turns out what she means by ‘emergency’ is having a feeling without being able to share it. In her research, Turkle has discovered that people today report feeling simultaneously more connected and lonelier than ever before. We look to social media and to others to find affirmation, and while we may garner hundreds of “likes” on Facebook, we still hunger for something deeper, something more. Today we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River by John the Baptist. It is the beginning of Jesus’s public ministry, and it is also the hint of that something more that we hunger for. As Jesus comes up dripping out of the water, God speaks to him saying, “You are my beloved son. With you I am well pleased.” These words are intimately loving, poignantly powerful. In and through his baptism, Jesus is being claimed by God as God’s beloved. This isn’t just the affirmation that we try to glut ourselves with in our modern lives. Because to get affirmation, we often have to change ourselves to fit in, to be acceptable to our peer group. What Jesus receives from God in his baptism is real and true acceptance—of all that he is and all that he will be. Wrapped in these words of acceptance are the blessings of identity, worth, and unwavering regard for Jesus from the Creator of the Universe. So Jesus’s baptism isn’t just the beginning of his public ministry, it informs every single thing that he does from that point on. When he heals the sick, feeds the hungry, casts out the unclean spirits, it is out of this place of acceptance by God. And his actions toward those whom he encounters convey this radical acceptance of them from God, too.i Back several years ago, Bishop Gray started preaching and teaching about the importance of baptism, and as a part of that, he developed a liturgical piece to go along with it. He’s done it at Council before (some of you may have experience there); I believe he’s even done it here. He takes a bowl of water and invites people to come to the altar rail and he makes the sign of the cross on their foreheads with the water and says to each person, “Remember your baptism.” I have always found this to be powerful, to feel the water once again on my forehead, and what I heard him saying to me in that is the echo of God’s call to each of us in our baptism: “You are my beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” In and through our baptism, God offers us God’s unwavering acceptance of all that we are, all that we will be. It is poingnant, powerful, and profound, and it is so important that we remember, not just for ourselves but for those whom we live with, at home, at church, at work, in the world, even on social media. We are baptized, as Paul reminds the community in Ephesus into Jesus Christ, something so much greater than ourselves and our own belonging in God. It is important to remember, as that water touches our heads, that just as we are God’s beloved, so is the person kneeling next to us, even when we disagree with them or don’t even like them. This is our call as Christians—to remember our own belovedness and to follow Jesus in living that out in the world, sharing the good news of their belovedness with all whom we encounter and offering that gift of healing and acceptance. So today, we are going to remember. After this homily, we will renew our baptismal vows, the promises we make to be in relationship with God our beloved and to live that acceptance out in the world. I will invite you to come to the altar rail, where I will anoint you with holy water, an outward and visible sign to you that you are God’s beloved, accepted and loved by God. We will be fed with the body of Christ at God’s table, reminded that we belong, not just to God, but to each other, and we will go out into the world to share that love and acceptance. In closing, I share with you a blessing written by the artist and poet Jan Richardson. Beginning with Beloved A Blessing Begin here: Beloved. Is there any other word needs saying, any other blessing could compare with this name, this knowing? Beloved. Comes like a mercy to the ear that has never heard it. Comes like a river to the body that has never seen such grace. Beloved. Comes holy to the heart aching to be new. Comes healing to the soul wanting to begin again. Beloved. Keep saying it and though it may sound strange at first, watch how it becomes part of you, how it becomes you, as if you never could have known yourself anything else, as if you could ever have been other than this: Beloved.ii (Words at the anointing: You are God’s beloved. With you God is well pleased.) i. These ideas about acceptance versus affirmation were informed and inspired by the blog post written by David Lose at www.davidlose.net. ii. www.paintedprayerbook.com