Epiphany I (A) Claimed by God

 Epiphany I (A) Claimed by God
January 9, 2011
By Rev.  Ernest F. Campbell

In today’s Gospel as Jesus comes up out of the water He is claimed by God as His beloved son. “This is my son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

To my way of thinking that one-sentence, verbal embrace, becomes the rock-solid foundation for Jesus’ life and ministry. Knowing whose you are, makes wherever you are a place of faith and hope. 

One simple illustration will explain what I mean. When our son Dave was a little boy, he was driven by the spirit of adventure. When we took him along on our shopping trips, Dave would see the display racks of clothing as an intriguing jungle of high-adventure, just begging to be explored. In our defense, after three girls, we were still discovering that boys are different. With Dave it was a steep learning curve. I should also tell you that Dave was quick and stealthy. He could disappear from our side into the jungle-of-clothing-racks faster than Margaret could say, “Where is Dave?” 

Not long into our frantic search, we would hear a familiar announcement coming over the store’s PA system: “Will the parents of David Campbell please come and pick him up at Store Security.” I once said to Margaret (out of the side of my mouth), “Why don’t we finish shopping and then pick him up?”

You may want to subtract “parenting points” from us for thinking that, but just knowing where David could be located was very comforting.

Now, if David were here, he would tell you that he was never lost. I believe he would tell you that because he knew….in his bones…. that we were on our way to claim him.

The reason this memory came to mind is because it focuses on one of life’s most important questions. The security person would have to ask it. In order to act…in order to find the parents of a lost child…. they would need to know the answer to this vital, obligatory question.

“Who’s little boy, are you?” Knowing whose you are, makes wherever you are a place of faith and hope. David knew, “Someone who loves me and cares about me will be looking for me.”

More than once.

When we can count on that in our bones, we have been blessed with one of life’s most precious gifts.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus gets it! In fact, all four Gospels report that Jesus in His baptism experience realizes that in some wonderful, unique and mysterious way, He is God’s son – God’s family. “This is my son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” I firmly believe that this…one sentence, verbal embrace…. becomes the rock-solid foundation for Jesus’ life and ministry. Now, here’s the eye-opening, spiritual awakening, life-changing, wonderous, good news, of Jesus’ baptism: the gift of God’s embrace is for everyone …. Without restriction, without merit, without limit, without requirement.

If someone stopped us on the street and asked, where do you belong, where do you fit into the picture of life? (It’s like the Security Person’s question to our son, “Who’s child, are you?”). we could say, “I AM A BELOVED MEMBER OF GOD’S FAMILY."

Most likely we would say where we lived, while silently knowing that we are, in addition to that happy circumstance, a beloved member of God’s family.

Let’s think about that.

To be the Beloved of God. what an awesome gift. What an incredible knowledge. What a welcome call – to live out our lives as the Beloved of God. this awesome gift is the highpoint of our baptism liturgy. A priest picked me up in his arms and traced the sign of the cross on my forehead and said, “You, Ernest Francis, are marked, as Christ’s own forever.”

You, (say your own name), are marked as Christ’s own forever. When I anoint parishioners with oil for healing, I will often remind them that I am retracing the cross that was traced on their forehead at baptism. Here’s the way the Venerated Richard Cluett put it in a sermon on the subject of baptism. 

“God in Jesus of Nazareth has come to join us in this mortal life where you and I, each of us, live, plod-through, slog-through, and walk-through every day. He who is without sin has come to stand with those who do sin. He is the one who deems each of us worthy to be baptized with the baptism by which He has been baptized, and to be empowered by the Holy Spirit, and to be marked as God’s own forever.”

That’s who we are and where we belong. Martin Luther would say, “When life was looking pretty grim and temptations were begging his attention, you are baptized! He would slap his forehead and say, YOU ARE BAPTIZED!!!

Here’s a little nugget I found in my preparation for this sermon. “The empowerment from above that we pray for has at its end that our testimony will be sure, our commitment sound, our lives permeated by the love God offers us even in our imperfection. 

The purpose of the church is the slow sanctification of the whole world. Starting with you and me. some of you may have seen the celebrant sign themselves with the sign of the cross at the words, “Sanctify us also to your service.” Make us an extension of your Holiness. (Feel free to cross yourself if it helps your understanding.)

What God revealed in Jesus is His passionate longing for humanity and for every human being. There is no limit to God’s longing. There is no limit to the time of God’s endurance or to God’s forbearance. There is no limit to the lengths God will go to claim or reclaim one of His own. 

Example) When a camper took a wrong turn, we took off our packs and set out to find him…. with adrenalin-fueled responsible-determination to find him. After the camper was found he asked me at lunch, “Have you ever been lost?”

Our New Testament professor in seminary would say, “The wrath of God is His refusal to allow us to refuse Him.”

Let us go forth into the world rejoicing in the power of knowing that we are CLAIMED BY GOD!

Thanks be to God!