You Are My Beloved - Sermon for Baptism of Our Lord Sunday Year A

You Are My Beloved

Baptism of Our Lord A

January 8, 2023

Christ, Preston, & Union Prairie, Lanesboro, MN

Matthew 3.13-17

My father loved bowling and he passed on that love to me. He also taught me how to bowl, the right way. One week when we must have been off school, he took me with him to his league, which typically ran past my bedtime. When we arrived, he introduced me to a friend who immediately  said, “Oh Carl, I know he’s your son; he walks just like you.” I think my chest puffed out in pride and I stood up a bit taller as I thought, “I’m Carl’s son because I walk just like him!” I also became hyper-aware of how I walked. There weren’t always such wonderful moments with my dad, but this is one I especially remember.

I wonder what was going through Jesus’ mind as he came up out of the water at his baptism and  heard, “This is my Son, the Beloved, in whom I am well pleased.” Did he stand up a little taller? Did his chest puff out just a bit? Did he think, “I’m my Father’s Son!?” For such a short story, there are several questions that come to mind. First, if John’s baptism was for repentance and forgiveness (as we heard on the Second Sunday of Advent ), how does that apply to Jesus who was allegedly sinless? Similarly, how is it that this baptism is to “fulfill all righteousness” as Jesus tells John? Isn’t Jesus already righteous? Third, for those of you who are theologically inquisitive, is this Matthew’s proof of the doctrine of the Trinity?

Let’s briefly consider these In reverse order. Regarding the trinitarian question, conversations about the nature of God came much later than Matthew’s Gospel was written, probably 300-400 years later. This wasn’t even on Matthew’s mind. And for Jesus fulfilling all righteousness, in this Gospel righteousness is important, but has a different sense than what we think. Usually we think of righteousness as being made right with God, but how would that apply to Jesus? In chapter 2, as Joseph is trying to decide what to do about his pregnant fiance, we learned that he is deemed a righteous man. As this concept is played out in the rest of Matthew's Gospel, we realize righteousness is more relational than doing the right thing or being made right with God. The meaning of righteousness is more in line with faithfulness or trust. When Abraham is “reckoned as righteous” it’s not because he has behaved well; it’s because he trusts God’s promise. Finally, though it is nowhere near a settled issue, Jesus’ baptism has more to do with Jesus standing in solidarity with the humanity whom he saves than repentance. Jesus, while being fully divine, is also fully God and through his baptism he stands with all humanity.

That brings us to the heart of the text: God’s declaration of Jesus as his beloved defines unequivocally who he is. Before he has done anything, Jesus is claimed by God as his beloved; it’s the core of his identity. Though not couched in trinitarian language, God’s claim of Jesus as his Son connotes an intimate relationship between God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Just as importantly, because we have been baptized into Christ Jesus, our identity is also as Beloved Children of God.

There’s more. As God’s Beloved, Jesus is also set apart to fulfill God’s mission to love and bless the world. This is a mission he will officially begin after undergoing temptation in the wilderness (a story we’ll read on the First Sunday in Lent). Notice something subtle, but critical: God doesn’t say to Jesus, “If you do want I call you to do, then I will love you.” Not even close. God is a “because/therefore” kind of God, not “if/then.” Instead, because Jesus is first God’s beloved, therefore he is able to respond to God’s call. Similarly, because we are God’s beloved, therefore we are able to be agents of God’s love. When we are baptized into Christ Jesus, we put on Christ and become Christ to others.

My dad died in 1989 at the age of 68. At his funeral several people told me how proud Dad was of me. That was good and important for me to hear, especially in the midst of grief. Even so, part of me was saddened that my dad never told me those things, though I knew them to be true. Many men of that generation didn’t know how to express themselves. Even so, I was determined to tell my daughters that I love them and I’m proud of them. I hope that if you hear nothing else today you hear that you are God’s beloved, no matter what you do or don’t do, no matter how much you are loved or not, that God loves you.

It’s generally accepted that John’s baptisms are not the same as the sacrament we know today. Even so, with the text and Ella’s baptism we can’t help but make connections to our own baptisms Because in our baptisms God declared us as his Beloved, worthy of love and belonging. Like Ella, we are engaged in a life-long unfolding of understanding how we live out that identity in the world. My siblings in Christ, you are God’s Beloved, called and sent to share God’s love to a broken and hurting world that needs to hear that. Amen.

My sermons often preach a little differently than written and you can find the video here.