Episodes
Sunday Jan 11, 2015
Being Beloved
Sunday Jan 11, 2015
Sunday Jan 11, 2015
Being Beloved
A homily preached by Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli at Foundry UMC, January 11, 2015, the Baptism of the Lord.
Texts: Genesis 1:1-5, Mark 1:4-11
In the beginning, the earth was formless and chaotic, tohu wabohu, empty and desolate. And the Spirit moved across the waters and God spoke. And there was light. And it was good. Creation began.
The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ is also in the empty and desolate place, in the wilderness. And the voice of John the baptizer cries out: repent and be forgiven! And Jesus comes to that place of brokenness, moves into the waters of chaos, steps into the thin place where sin and grace meet, and once again the Spirit moves and God speaks. As Jesus is baptized, his true identity is affirmed and confirmed; the light of the world has come to guide us, to heal us, to help us be truly and fully human. New creation begins. And the words spoken by God to initiate this new life are words of love: “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
At the beginning of this new calendar year, having just journeyed through another “holiday season” I wonder whether anyone here is feeling like they are in the wilderness, or feeling a little empty after all the activity, or trying to recover from something that happened, or simply trying to get things back to normal, to settle the chaos and regain some equilibrium. Travel and families—while great blessings—can also wear us out and knock us off balance! It’s amazing the layers of emotion and experience that emerge through these days… Some of us may be entering into this new year bearing deep grief and concern about loved ones or situations in our lives; some of us begin this year with a renewed sense of excitement and anticipation; some will have made new year’s resolutions, determined to make a new start, to begin again, to try to change life for the better.
And today, bringing our resolutions and our baggage, our hurts and our hopes, we stand at the banks of the Jordan River, that historically powerful place of crossing from the wilderness into the promised land, that flowing symbol of passage from one life into another, and we are given the opportunity to remember our Baptism and to ponder its meaning. We are invited to open ourselves to the Spirit who moves across the waters with the power to calm chaos, and to hear the voice of God speaking words that heal and strengthen our hearts: “You are my daughter, you are my son, the beloved; with you I am well pleased.” God speaks these words to you, just as they were spoken to Jesus, at baptism.
The United Methodist Book of Worship says that, “The Baptismal Covenant is God’s word to us, proclaiming our adoption by grace…” Through Baptism, we are adopted by God and brought into the Christian family, made sisters and brothers with Christ and one another, incorporated into God’s own life, enfolded into God’s love. This doesn’t mean that you are outside of God’s love prior to Baptism—but rather, that at Baptism, like Jesus, your truest identity is affirmed and confirmed, namely, that you are a beloved child of God. Regardless of and superseding any other reality in your life, you are God’s child, the Beloved.
Over the years, I have discovered how difficult it is to believe this, how hard it can be to truly and fully receive the love of God. Part of that is surely due to our well-learned defenses; having been disappointed, hurt, ignored, betrayed, abandoned, or rejected by those dear to us, mighty walls get built around our hearts. Grief and anger can also get in the way. The rules we learn in the world that tell us we have to earn love keep us focused on our own activity rather than on God’s freely given gift. And yet another obstacle to receiving God’s love is our own sense of unworthiness, our awareness of our own failures and sin which can make us feel beyond God’s reach. Through the seasons of Christmas and Epiphany, we are reminded that God is determined to reach us, determined to get through to us, determined to touch our hearts with grace and with love. Jesus comes to us and takes on our flesh, is baptized into our life so that we might be baptized into God’s life and receive the fullness of God’s love. But, even so, it is hard to believe.
For the past number of years, one of my spiritual disciplines includes spending eight days in silent retreat. I make my retreat at the Jesuit Center in Wernersville, PA, and am assigned a spiritual director who provides 30 minutes of guidance each day for my prayer with the scriptures. On one of my earliest retreats, I arrived with a pre-planned agenda for the week. I knew what outcomes I wanted and the areas on which I should focus. God had other plans… After days of wearing myself out trying to make my agenda work, I was given an extraordinary message. As I took my daily hike, all of a sudden and out of nowhere moments in my life for which I felt deepest regret appeared in my mind’s eye, I saw the sins I had committed, the broken places I held as heavy baggage, the weight of which I believed I had to carry forever as penance. And a voice spoke into each and every scene and broken place: “There I loved you. And then I was loving you. I loved you then and then and even in that place. In that moment I loved you.” The words of God’s love poured into all the broken places of my life. And all at once I realized that, though I had preached of the love and mercy of God for years, I was still walking around believing that God’s love couldn’t penetrate those places within my own life for which I felt the most shame.
We know that the flow of water—even a trickle if it flows long enough—can carve through solid rock. Sometimes, the baptismal water’s flow takes years to cut through our pain or regret or self-determined plans. It is one reason why this annual encounter at the Jordan River with Jesus and John is so important. Because it reminds us that the waters of our Baptism keep flowing across the days and the years, washing away layers of hurt and guilt that can encrust themselves on our lives like barnacles, seeping deep within to nurture seeds of new life. Some might call this God’s sanctifying grace… And if we remember and are aware, if we remain open to receive it, if we remain in the flow of God’s grace, then the love of God will refresh us, will lift the burdens that weary our souls, will encourage our best aspirations and give new strength to our lives. It may happen little by little; it may happen with the force of a flood; but however it works in your life, the flow of God’s loving, saving grace will continue to form and cleanse and renew and comfort and empower you—often in ways that God alone may know is needed. All we have to do is try to be open to receive God’s mercy, God’s love, God’s embrace.
Today you and I have the opportunity remember our baptism and to give thanks—and for those who are not baptized, to ponder its meaning and consider how God may be moving in your life.
// In just a moment, you will be invited reach into the water and pick up a stone. For the Baptized let it remind you of the baptismal grace you receive, that covers and cleanses and continues to bless you. And for others feel free to take a stone as a reminder of whatever message the Spirit carries for you this day. Carry that stone with you or place it somewhere you will see it each day. Let it be a reminder to you of the truth of your life, confirmed by the words God speaks to you today and every day: “You are my child, my beloved. With you I am well pleased.”
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