You are Also 'Beloved"

Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

~~Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7~~Psalm 29 ~~Acts of the Apostles 10:34-38~~Matthew 3:13-17~~

John reluctantly allows Jesus to be baptized by him
 in the penitential waters of the Jordan River.
Jesus, though sinless, enters into our sinfulness and submits
himself to the ritual cleansing.
He willfully enters with us into our darkness.
He humbles himself so that we may be
brought to his life giving waters of salvation.

Here is my servant whom I uphold,
my chosen one with whom I am pleased,
upon whom I have put my spirit;

As Jesus approaches the banks of the river he experiences
 the smells of the area.
He feels the coolness and wetness of the water.
He hears the voice of the Father...

The voice of the LORD is over the waters,
the LORD, over vast waters.
The voice of the LORD is mighty;
the voice of the LORD is majestic. 

He sees the Holy Spirit appear above his head as the dove.
He is the beloved Son, who is with us.

God anointed Jesus of Nazareth
with the Holy Spirit and power.

The Trinity comes together over these cleansing waters,
these baptismal waters...
these waters that remove sin and cleanse the soul.

And a voice came from the heavens, saying,
“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Jesus became like us in all things except sin
so that we could become children of the light.

The Trinity comes together at the baptism of the Lord.

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit converge together to validate
and confirm the salvation for all of us.

At our baptism we are also called 'beloved' by God the Father.
We are saved by the Son through our baptism.
We are strengthened through the Holy Spirit at our baptism.

We are surrounded by blessings through our Baptism.
Peace.

Partially Cooked Bacon

 

~~~ Exodus 12:37-42 ~~~ Psalm 136 ~~~ Matthew 12:14-21 ~~~

 

If you have ever had to evacuate in an emergency

you can identify at some level with the great exodus.

I remember as a young child we had to evacuate our home

because of a dangerous chemical spill. I remember thinking how odd

it was that my parents left the partially cooked bacon

 in the skillet on the stove.

We literally all piled into the car and fled the area.

 

As a child this was huge, but we just went

to my grandmother's across town.

Although I don't recall it probably turned out to be a fun day.

The people who fled with Moses across the desert

 took only what they were able to carry with them.

They did not have a car, they were on foot.

They did not have a fun day.

They were on the move crossing the desert for the rest of their life.

 

How much do you think you could carry in your arms

if you had to flee your home right now?

Could you leave the partially cooked bacon on the stove?

 

They had rushed out of Egypt and had no opportunity
even to prepare food for the journey.

They were headed to the land of milk and honey,

but in the mean time they had very little.

As we know God provided for them along the way.

Today when I see pictures of the thousands of refugees in Syria

it paints this scene for me of the Egyptians.

 

 

Jesus spent much of his energy contradicting the Pharisees.

They remind me of those birds of prey we see

circling high above in the sky.

They watch and wait for just the opportunity to swoop

down for the catch.

 

But Jesus was never caught off guard

 he always has an answer for them.

He always forces them to confront themselves in a different light.

On this occasion he withdraws, but he continues

 to cure people along the way.

 

It must have been easy to track Jesus...

just follow the foot prints of those who had been cured.

He had his own global positioning system or 'gps'

it was his healings.

 

Jesus fulfilled, in every way, all that the Father sent to accomplish.

Isaiah speaks these beautiful words many years

before the coming of the Messiah.

 

Behold, my servant whom I have chosen,
my beloved in whom I delight;
I shall place my Spirit upon him,
and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.

God has chosen you for himself.

You are his beloved.

He does take delight in you.

Every day he Blesses you with his Spirit.

He proclaims justice for all.

Believing without Seeing

~~~ Acts 4: 32-35 ~~~ Psalm 118 ~~~ John 20: 19-31

The community of believers came together and formed what today we might call a commune. They lived in peace and harmony sharing and helping one another. They were of one heart and mind. (Acts 4:32b)

John addresses his letter to Beloved, because all of us who believe are truly the beloved of God. If we are to claim that title as our own then it follows that we must clothe ourselves in love. God’s love, John reminds us is in keeping the commandments. If we fervently keep the commandments we will live a faith filled life. The Spirit will come to testify in your heart.

We are in the upper room the disciples have sequestered themselves either out of fear of grief. Either way they are finding comfort and safety together.

Jesus appears standing before them...blessing them with peace...a peace that could only come from him. He repeats this blessing to be sure it is heard by each one of them. I am here to free you from this closed space. I am here to commission you...to send you out. And with that the Holy Spirit pours forth with his breath. Your breath comes from inside of your lungs. It is what keeps you living, but now the breath of the resurrected

Jesus is the Holy Spirit.

God the Father sent forth the Son to become human and now the Son sends out the Spirit to fall upon them as breath. We cannot live without taking in air...a breath...We cannot live spiritually without the breath of the Spirit in our soul. Many beautiful songs have been written to this effect.

But wouldn’t you know while this wonder is taking place one person is missing, Thomas. The others tried to tell him about this visit from Jesus, but he just could not grasp what they were saying.

A week later Jesus returns just for Thomas. Jesus cared enough to make another appearance so that Thomas could come to also believe. Thomas was valuable to Jesus. Jesus wants Thomas to believe. Come here Thomas touch the wounds in my hands and side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.

Jesus will not let one of those he loves be prevented from believing. He will come again...he will try to show you one more time.

“Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”

My friends, this blessing is for us...we are among those who have not seen yet believe. This blessing is for those who will come to believe in the future.

All that we have been reading these last few days has been written to help us believe with more conviction.

I believe, Lord, help my unbelief!

Beloved and Cherished

Samuel, the one who anointed Saul and David, is now dead. To escape Saul's insanity David flees to the land of the Philistines in refuge. Saul pursues David...visits a soothsayer...and learns of his fate  and of his son Jonathan's as the spirit of Samuel reveals it to him.  The sad story continues like a tragic series of falling dominoes until finally Saul and Jonathan are both killed.

David is now in mourning over the death of Saul and his son. David composes a beautiful elegy for them which he sings. Music brought comfort to Saul when David first came into his service. Now David sins to bring comfort to himself, "...Alas!...how can the warriors have fallen!"

It is striking that in spite of all the times Saul came after David he was still able to hold in his heart affection for him. "Saul and Jonathan, beloved and cherished...", verse 23.

Beloved and Cherished

Beloved and cherished are two of the most beautiful words to me. God calls Jesus his beloved son only twice; once at his baptism and again at the transfiguration. Beloved is a special term of endearment; it means dearly loved. How could David continue to think of Saul as beloved? This is some example of loving your enemies. We have difficulty loving those who reject us for whatever reason, but Saul was activiely trying to kill David.

It is unbelievable to me when a victim of a terrible crime can reach out to the person who harmed them. Without saying the words of forgiveness their actions speak for themselves. The Amish community come to mind first. After the murder of so many in their community. They did not want to harbor hatred in their hearts.

David shows forgiveness to Saul through this beautiful musical tribute. David had several opportunities to kill Saul and each time he turned and removed himself from the  situation.

David can inspire us to walk away from our enemies. David can inspire us to think differently about our enemies. I am not trying to pretend David was perfect because we know he has his flaws as well.

As a woman I want to feel cherished. Cherish means to hold dearly, to treat with affection and tenderness. When you cherish someone like a family member you can overlook all sorts of hurts.

Who do you cherish most in your life? Is it your spouse? Your children or grandchildren? Your friends? Some even cherish their home land.

For years songs have been written about the word Cherish. Kool and the Gang had a very popular song titled Cherish, before that the Association and more recently Madonna.

Beloved and Cherished together are the pillars of a lasting relationship. In David's case even if the person wants you dead.



Cherish Moments...Cherish Living

Original photo of a single white daisy.

This kaleidoscope image captures the pure beauty of being cherished and beloved.

                 

The Beloved

Today's reading is the Baptism of the Lord. "After the Lord was baptized, the heavens were opened, and the Spirit descended upon him like a dove, and the voice of the Father thundered: This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." Mt. 3: 16-17

The other time Jesus is referred to as the beloved was at the Transfiguration.
It is such an endearing statement...my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Every child longs to hear that they are loved by their parents. Many times, as parents we say words that do not project the emotional content. In some cases the words do not even match the emotion; they are simply empty words. The letters of the words are only outlined with nothing inside. Children have this uncanny ability to see through hollow words and often reject the person.

In this passage God saturates our senses with vivid details. Visually we can picture the clouds billowing apart swirling about until a clearing is revealed. We are given another more beautiful image in the Spirit descending like a dove. We can easily picture a beautiful white dove, wings outstretched, fluttering down upon Jesus. God gives us this image so that we have something tangible to identify the Spirit. God wants us to be able to accept what is taking place. He gave us eyes so that we can see and believe. sometimes the Spirit comes like a wind, but this time it is a dove.

...the voice of the Fathered thundered...thundered is such a powerful word. If you are intently watching a movie and all of a sudden there is a loud sound it is natural to be startled or even frightened. So when the invisible voice came unexpected and like thunder it must have made a huge impact.

I want to invite you to place yourself into this scene and confidently hear the Father speak these same words to you. This is my Beloved daughter/son (add your own name here too), in whom I am well pleased.

Isaiah records in chapter 42:1 the Lord saying, "Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased, upon whomI have put my spirit...". He continues in verses 6-7 with a beautiful image "I have grasped you by the hand". If we place our hand in the hand of the Father we will only want to do what pleases him as we walk together.

The original image was of a white dove amidst the clouds. I chose this kaleidoscope image because to me it captures the beauty of being a 'beloved' child of God's.

Walk hand in hand with the Lord.