THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD

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For most people the Christmas season ended a couple of weeks ago. Decorations are packed away, and some of the kids’ toys are already broken. We’re into a new year, and trying to reconstruct a daily routine.

But liturgically the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord marks the end of the Christmas season and the transition to “Ordinary Time.”

 Matthew’s simple account of the baptism today ends with the heavenly voice introducing “my beloved Son.” Recalling his coming—which we’ve celebrated in the Christmas season—we’re invited to welcome the Beloved One into our midst once more. As a community we will pledge ourselves—through each Sunday celebration which follows—to listen and respond to Christ’s proclamation of the Good News.

One of the major themes of this season and the whole Gospel is God reaches out beyond every boundary to draw people into God’s embrace.   The sacrament of baptism communicates God’s presence and God’s faithfulness. Baptism is simultaneously a sign of the love that flows from God’s heart and reaches beyond all boundaries.

In our first reading Isaiah speaks a word of hope“ I, the Lord, have called you to serve the cause of right; I have taken you by the hand and formed you; I have appointed you as covenant of the people and light of the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to free captives from prison, and those who live in darkness from the dungeon.” In this passage, the prophet writes to God’s people toward the end of the Babylonian exile. The people have strayed from God and been taken into exile, and now the prophet speaks a word of hope into this darkness of exile. Even in the midst of suffering, forcibly taken from their land, God declares God’s people beloved, chosen, and called by name.

In the New Testament text, Peter is preaching to the centurion Cornelius in the Acts of the Apostles. According to custom and law, Jewish people were not allowed to enter the houses of gentiles. But God sent a vision to Peter of unclean animals and said, “What God has cleansed, do not call unclean.” Now, Peter preaches to Cornelius’ household about the ministry of Jesus: “They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear.” This is restoration and renewal. This is radical inclusion. There is no human outside the reach of God’s love. Jesus died and rose again for all to be gathered unto God – not only the Jews but also those of every nation. Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in Christ.

Even the great preacher John the Baptist hesitates to step into the role that God has called him to. Matthew’s Gospel recounts, John   hesitates, citing his own unworthiness when compared with Jesus. ‘It is I who need baptism from you’ he said ‘and yet you come to me!’ But Jesus answers him and instructs John to baptize him, “ it is fitting that we should, in this way, do all that righteousness demands.” Truly, this is the right thing to do, for when Jesus comes out of the water the heavens split open and a voice from heaven declares, “ This is my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on him”

What do these themes mean for today? In the sacrament of baptism, God declares, “This is my Child, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” God has given a path that is paved with love, renewal, belonging, and acceptance. God reaches to those that doubt their belonging, and those who doubt their worth and declares that they have a place in the Kingdom of God.

 The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord is a feast to rededicate ourselves to God, at the beginning of a New Year. It is a feast encouraging us to be agents of love and light to the world. If you haven’t made a New Year’s resolution here’s a simple one: let all that we say and do manifest that basic truth that God is with us.