Claimed By God - Luke 3:15-17, 21-22
It’s an Atlantic Beach
morning ritual. If we are going down to
the beach, I head out first. Our family
week at Atlantic Beach is the week of July 4th. Everyone knows how crowded the beach can get
the week of the Fourth. I will head down
to the sand anytime between 7:30 and 8:30 in the morning and set up our
umbrellas and chairs. Heading out that
early, there is usually plenty of space to choose from, as many folks are still
lying in bed, sound asleep. By getting
out that early, we claim a small area to be able to enjoy through the day, or
at least until we are ready to head back to the air conditioning of our
unit. On the other hand, if we are
planning on spending the day at the pool, Anita heads down first and claims our
space poolside, preferably at a table with an umbrella where I can sit and read
in between trips to the water.
There are a lot of things
that folks seek to stake their claim on—to say, “this belongs to me, no one else.” The
Weather Channel has a show called “Prospectors” which follow several groups
of prospectors as they work their claims, mining for precious gems. They can become very protective of their
territory, wanting to make sure no one else is trying to mine their tract of
land. Cattle ranchers are known to
“claim” their livestock by either branding them or tagging them to make sure
that no neighboring rancher could work them into their livestock. There is also the 2001 Volkswagen Jetta
commercial where the husband is talking to his wife on the phone, waiting for a
salesperson, and seeing another customer heading toward the car with a
salesman, stakes his claim on the car by licking the door handle. People try to stake their claim on all sorts
of things. Sadly, there are even some
who will attempt to stake a claim on a church pew, either making visitors
uncomfortable, our outright asking them to move, if they have chosen to sit
there.
John had chosen a spot in
the wilderness alongside the Jordan River.
John was proclaiming the people’s need to repent of their sins and
prepare for the One that God was sending into their midst. As folks would come to him, repentant of
their sin, he would take them into the Jordan River, submerge them in the
water, baptizing them for the forgiveness of their sins.
Many who listened to John
preach, and witness the number of folks who were coming to him, recognizing his
special connection to God, began to question whether or not he might not be the
Messiah for whom they had been waiting.
That was not a title that John had any desire to claim. He quickly responded to the rumors by saying,
“Hey, I only baptize you with water.
What I am doing is purely a symbolic ritual. The One who is coming after me, He is the One
you are waiting for, the One you are expecting.
You think that I am special, but I am not even worthy to untie His
sandals, I am not even worthy enough to be His servant. I might use water, but He is going to truly
cleanse those He baptizes, because He is going to baptize, not with water, but
with the fire of the Holy Spirit.”
It was not too long after
John spoke these words that the One whom John spoke of came and entered the
waters of the Jordan. John’s cousin,
Jesus, stood before him, seeking to be baptized. When Jesus rises from the water, He hears the
words of the Father falling upon His ears from Heaven, “You are my Son, the
Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
Luke and Matthew differ
on whether or not only Jesus heard the words, or whether the entirety of those
gathered by the River heard the words, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I
am well pleased.” It really doesn’t
matter, though, these words were the Father’s claim upon His Son. In a sense, it was the affirmation of the
ministry that Jesus on which Jesus was preparing to embark—if there was any
question, any uncertainty for Jesus, it was clearly answered there in the midst
of the River. Even if there wasn’t any
uncertainty, it was the affirmation that Jesus belonged to God, and nothing else
could lay claim on Him. That claim would
soon be proved as satan, in the wilderness with Jesus, sought to claim Jesus as
His own, tempting Jesus to bow before him, yet Jesus, having heard the claim of
God upon His life and ministry, and having been filled with the power of the
Holy Spirit, resisted each temptation.
Later when many, including His own family, tried to silence Jesus, He
remained faithful to the claim that God had placed upon Him, and continued to
heal, to teach, to offer forgiveness, and to reflect God’s love upon all He
met. Not even the cross, nor the tomb
could lay claim on this One whom God had claimed.
What does this mean for
us, then? It means everything.
Remember the promise of
John that the baptism we receive through Jesus is not simply a baptism of
water, but a baptism of fire and the Spirit.
Here then these words of Paul, “For all who are led by the Spirit of God
are children of God. For you did not
receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a
spirit of adoption. When we cry,
“Abba! Father!” it is that very Spirit
bearing witness with our spirt that we are children of God, and if children,
then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ….”[i]
Did you hear that my
brothers and sisters? Did you hear what
Paul said? I don’t mean hear with your
ears, I mean hear with your mind and your heart. Paul said that we are heirs with Christ. Paul said that we are the adopted children of
God. Paul said that we are brothers and
sisters to Jesus, the Son of God, Himself.
Paul said that we are sons and daughters of the Father.
Do you know what that
means? That means that the words to
Jesus as He came up out of the waters at His Baptism become the words of God to
us through our baptism. It means that through
our Baptism, whether we were baptized as infants, teenagers, or adults, God
says to us, “You are my son, beloved,” and “You are my daughter, beloved.” It means that God has claimed us, we are His,
we belong to God and God alone. No one
else can lay claim on us, on our lives, on our souls.
God will not let anyone
take from Him what He has claimed as His own.
Nothing in this world can steal You away from God. Nothing in this world can claim you any
longer. Your enemies have no claim on
you. Your friends have no claim on
you. Your employer has no claim on
you. Your family has no claim on
you. Gangs have no claim on you. Social cliques have no claim on you. Addictions have no claim on you. Your past has no claim on you. Diseases such as arthritis, MS, cancer,
Alzheimer’s, or SCIDs have no claim on you.
Mental illness has no claim on you.
Grief and loss have no claim on you.
Even death itself has no claim on you.
God has claimed each of you, each of us, as His own. We are His.
He has said to us, “You are My son…You are My daughter…You are My
beloved…You are Mine.” “Nothing can
separate us from the love of God found through Jesus Christ our Lord.”[ii] Praise be to God!
This morning, as we
remember the Baptism of Christ and God’s claim upon Him, we are invited to
reaffirm our own faith and remember our own baptism and remember that claim
that God has placed upon each of us, claiming us as His sons and
daughters. After we reaffirm our faith,
pray God’s blessings upon the water, and begin singing our final hymn, you are
invited to come forward, touch the waters, and remember your baptism, remember
God’s claim upon your life. In the
water, you will find a stone. You are
invited to take the stone with you.
Place it somewhere you will encounter it every day…maybe on your dresser
or chest of drawers, maybe where you keep your car or house keys, maybe in your
pocket. Each time you see it, each time
you feel it, may it remind you that God has claimed you, and that nothing can
take you from Him! If you have never
been baptized, you are still invited to come, touch the water, take a stone,
know of God’s love for you and His desire for you to acknowledge that He is
your Parent, and for you to know His claim upon your life as a son or
daughter…and if following today’s service, you are at the point of making that
decision, I welcome you to talk with me after the service that we might
schedule a time to discuss the steps toward baptism.
In the Name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Comments
Post a Comment