January 9, 2005

Beloved of God

by Julianne Stokstad

Here we are, at the beginning, a new time for this church. I am so excited, filled with a great joy and a deep peace. Yet at the same time, I must confess beginnings are scary for me. There is so much unknown. But I know a few things. I am your pastor. I am here to love you, to pray for and with you, to teach you, and when needed to challenge you. And I know we will be ministers together in this church and to the world. I know some of your hopes and expectations but not all by a long shot. I am not a mind reader. During the next months, as we go through this time of getting to know each other, another thing I know is that we are not alone. God and God’s amazing love and bountiful grace are with us, blessing us especially during this beginning time of transition.

Our gospel today is about a beginning too. Jesus’ baptism is one of the few events found in all four of the gospels showing its great importance in his life and ministry. His baptism is reminiscent of the call prophets received from God marking the beginning of their ministry. Baptism is one of our two sacraments in this church.

Several things stood out for me as I focused on this passage this week. First is the humility and vulnerability Jesus showed in his insistence he wanted to be baptized by John like all the other repentant sinners gathered at the river Jordan. Jesus didn’t need to set himself up higher than anybody else. John asked why Jesus came to him when it was he who needed to be baptized by Jesus. I believe it was Jesus’ humility and vulnerability that provided an opening for God’s revelation to him. Pure love and grace came to a vulnerable human.

Second, this baptism John did was just the beginning of a journey. There was more to come. John the Baptist said to those he baptized, “I baptize you with water, but one who is more powerful than I . . . will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” We know Jesus as the powerful one and the baptism he brings is knowing pure holy unconditional love from God.

Third, Jesus’ baptism tells us something about God. As the dove of the Holy Spirit descended upon him, a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” God’s pleasure and delight, God’s incredible blessing came to Jesus before he had done anything. So it wasn’t the wonderful works Jesus did that pleased God, it was just who Jesus was, God’s beloved. With this blessing of unconditional love, Jesus was empowered to begin his ministry. With this kind of love, each of us can be empowered and transformed minister to our broken world. And with this love the world can be transformed. This I know.

Yogi Berra said “You can learn a lot by looking around.” Looking around we can easily see there is a lot of trouble, pain and grief. We do live in a broken and hurting world. We worry and plan for the threats we fear---terrorists, wars, plagues catastrophes of all kinds. You might doubt our world can be transformed especially in light of the recent tsunami. The scope of devastation and suffering it has caused is almost impossible to grasp. In the face of such a terrible disaster, we humans try to find some explanation, try to find someone to blame. And so God’s name is being brought up in some circles. If our God is so loving, as our scripture tells, then how could this happen?

A column by Joan Ryan in the San Francisco Chronicle last Thursday(1-6-05, section B, page 1) caught my attention this week, She interviewed followers of different religions to get different perspectives on how God could allow such a thing. A lecturer in Islam at the University of California said “All those who die in a natural catastrophe die in a state of martyrdom. They are not accountable for their sins in life and directly go to paradise. For all those left behind, it is a reminder of God’s power and our own mortality." A Sikh said, “Nobody can question Him. But it is not random. There is a purpose." A Catholic priest interviewed rejected any notion that the purpose is punishment for sins, as some fundamentalists will always claim. “God did not cause the tsunami. It is nature taking its course.” A Hindu said "we believe that every person has a predestined date of death. The souls of those who died are still alive and will be reborn. There are many things out of our control. What is in our control is to do good things during our lives.”

A Baptist minister said the tsunami is not an expression of God any more than famine or war or street violence. But we find ourselves questioning God in this tragedy because so many people died at once. It is the wrong question to ask why didn’t God stop the tsunami. What we should be asking in the wake of any tragedy isn’t ‘Where is God?’ but ‘Where are we?’

I believe it is very important for us to recognize our connection and to reach out. We are helping to provide resources that bring hope for recovery. God’s love is found in our response to this disaster. Richard Rohr in his book Hope Against Darkness links our response in love to baptism. He writes, “it is the unique baptism that Jesus says we must all be baptized with. It is larger than any religion or any denomination. It is taught by the Spirit itself.”(p.4) Rohr is not speaking of the baptism with water, but the baptism of the fire of unconditional love of

Baptism can bring about the change that happens to us when we recognize and receive God’s unconditional love. When we receive, really receive and understand that love, we are changed. Things change. One thing that happens is that we accept the responsibility to care for God’s world, to reach out to people as though they were members of our immediate family. We understand that we are all God’s children and God loves all of us. Receiving the fire of God’s love we are called to respond. Call this baptism. Call it by whatever name you want. But recognize it.

Let me tell you a story about recognition of this kind of baptism. Before I left my church, there was a flurry of baptisms, adult, children and babies. I recall especially the baptisms of two young girls. We’d planned it for several months. I’d gone over to their homes and talked with each girl about what was going to happen and what it meant to the church and also what it meant to them. When the Sunday came, they were very excited and they were beautiful baptisms. I don’t know what exactly they experienced because as we say baptism is an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace. We don’t expect to see the dove coming down. Soon after, a young mother whose family had just begun coming to church came up to me. Her oldest son who was 10 or 11 said he wanted to be baptized. So I arranged to go over to their home to talk to him. I arrived one Sunday afternoon. It is a truly unforgettable memory for me. As the whole family sat around the kitchen table with me eating warm freshly made oatmeal raisin cookies and drinking cold milk, I asked him why he wanted to be baptized. He cocked his head thoughtfully and then said because I want what they have. And I asked him what that was. He wanted the love, the inclusion, the sense of God’s presence and I was greatly moved by his sincerity. He saw the dove of the Holy Spirit descending upon these girls.

He got it. And from what I have heard, there are many of you here who also have “got it”. I have heard about the ways in which you have given back the love you receive from God. I see the Spirit here in the choir. It is wonderful for a small church to have a choir. I see Spirit in the great respect and love you have for each other. I see Spirit here in the vitality of the Mission program, in EDFK, in awareness of mission giving put before you each month. How very much I look forward to learning more about the ways you express God’s love and how you remember your baptism.

What I mean when I say, “remember your baptism” is remembering that we, like Jesus, are the beloved of God and called into service. We are called to continue his ministry of compassion, forgiveness, reconciliation and love.

I hope on this rainy day you will lift your face up and let the rain fall on you for a moment. And as your feel the rain, I want you to remember your baptism and God’s amazing love for you. I hope you will laugh with delight receiving the blessing of this love. That’s what it is all about and indeed we are very blessed, beloved of God.

Amen