The Radical Love of Baptism
Dear Friends,
On Wednesday, we saw before our very eyes what many thought impossible, the storming of our U.S. Capitol by an angry mob, called to action by President Trump. It was quite an irony that this dark event happened on the Feast of the Epiphany, when we celebrate the arrival of the wise men in Bethlehem who followed a star from a distant land to find the Christchild, laying their gifts before him.
During the season after the Epiphany, the main symbol is light and we reflect on various Gospel stories that manifest Jesus’ identity as the Light of the World. This Sunday is the First Sunday after the Epiphany: The Baptism of Our Lord when we hear Mark’s account of Jesus’ baptism when a voice from heaven proclaims, “You are my Son, the Beloved, with you I am well pleased.” Jesus was without sin and yet he chose to be baptized in order to be completely united with the human experience, the good and the bad. His baptism exhibited his profound humility while also manifesting his authority as the Son of God. “You are my Son, the Beloved."
When we are baptized, we hear those words too. “You are my child, with you I am well pleased.” And our baptism confers upon us the authority to be Jesus’ witnesses and calls us to walk humbly through this world. Authority and humility go hand in hand. We must always use whatever authority we have for God’s glory and for the common good. In the first creation story, we hear that God creates all of us out of God’s deep desire to be in relationship with us. We are created out of love to share that love with God and with all of humankind. And yet, in the second creation story, we hear the story of our propensity for sin. Unlike Jesus who was without sin, we fall short of God’s hopes for us every day. So we reflect on Wednesday’s events and see that we are called to denounce what happened and to do that humbly, knowing that it will take all of us to move forward. Sometimes we don’t fully appreciate what we have until it is almost lost.
Normally on the Feast of the Baptism of our Lord we administer the Sacrament of Holy Baptism. This year we cannot do that because we are not able to be together in person. And maybe that isn’t such a bad thing given what happened on Wednesday. Maybe it will help us to focus on our own baptisms more. We will reaffirm our baptismal covenant and recommit to the radical way of love that Jesus calls us to. We commit to walking the path of love, with Christ’s light within us and Christ’s light before us, leading us and guiding us. But it is so easy to lose our way, and we must continually seek God’s forgiveness and that of others when our hearts and minds are overtaken by darkness. We are deeply connected, one to another.
Living into our baptismal covenant is a decision we have to make each and every day. To love God. To love our neighbors. To love ourselves.
Epiphany blessings,
Shearon+