One of the mantras of every new year is that you are in charge of your circumstances. It is the premise that enables new year’s resolutions - want to lose weight? You’re in charge. Want to organize your house and get rid of clutter? You’re in charge. Want to make more friends? You’re in charge.
When we inevitably fail at keeping our resolutions, the blame also falls squarely on us. We weren’t disciplined enough, or dedicated enough, or strong enough. And it’s all too easy to slide from “I failed to meet this goal” to “I am a failure”.
I think many of us, consciously or unconsciously, bring this perspective to our life of faith, too. You want to be more holy? You’re in charge. You want to please God? You’re in charge. You want to get to heaven? You’re in charge.
We see God as a strict taskmaster who takes great delight in recording our faults and punishing us accordingly. We see God as watching us struggle with arms folded, only reaching out to help when we’ve sufficiently helped ourselves. We see God as perpetually disappointed in us as we add our failures to an ever-growing list.
But this is not the God of Scripture. In reading today’s passage from Isaiah 43, I was struck by the number of times “I” (referring to God) is present. This list records what God has done and what God will continue to do for the covenant people. Rather than being in charge of what happens to them, a picture is painted of the loving assurances and bold actions which they will receive from God.
The prophet Isaiah writes for God’s chosen people who, at the hands of the Babylonians, saw their homes and Temple destroyed. Many of them found themselves marched off to Babylon, away from everything familiar. Anxiety and fear were ever-present. There were so many unknowns. In speaking of this situation, psalm 137 asks, “How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?” Would the people ever return to their homeland? Had God abandoned them? Were their failings and sinfulness and breaking of the covenant finally enough for God to say, “Forget it. I’m done with you”?
The words that God speaks are clear: do not be afraid, you are mine. The people have not been abandoned, or forgotten, but rather receive the assurance of God’s presence even in the midst of fire and raging water. Though they are scattered, God will go to great lengths to gather these beloved people back together. The precious people formed and made by God are not on their own.
Though these words were written at a specific time and in a specific place, their promises hold true for us, as well. Instead of a list of all the things we have to do, or all the things we’re in charge of, there is a list of all that God has done and will continue to do for us, God’s beloved.
These promises are particularly resonant in the context of baptism, the water and words that declare that we are beloved and belong to God. Particularly for Lutherans, baptism is not something we enact for ourselves. It is not about establishing for ourselves a personal relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is not just a symbolic act that signals for the community our decision to follow Jesus. It is not a ritual we repeat each time we find ourselves straying from God.
Instead, baptism is all about God’s loving action for us. In baptism, God says, “I have redeemed you.” In baptism, God says, “I have called you by name.” In baptism, God promises, “I will be with you.”
When we find ourselves in the clutches of sin, God says, “Give them up.” When we feel that we are far from God with no way to get back, God says, “bring my sons from far away and my daughters from the end of the earth.”
Baptism is a promise that nothing will stop God from calling us God’s own. The one who created us will not abandon us when things get tough. The one who formed us will not allow our sinfulness and failures to define us, instead calling us “precious in my sight”, “honored”, “beloved.” Nothing, not even death, can sever this relationship. Nothing, not even death, can call into question God’s faithfulness to us and delight in us.
These are powerful promises! What changes for you when you hear that, actually, it’s not up to you? What changes when you have the assurance that you are beloved, redeemed, and precious in God’s sight?
When we stop needing to worry about our status in God’s eyes, we can instead turn our attention and efforts toward the needs of our neighbors.
When we recognize the ways in which salvation is taking place right here, right now, and not just in some far-off location called heaven, we can shift our efforts to participate in God’s redeeming love for the whole world.
When we have the assurance that we are precious in God’s sight and dearly loved, we can also remember that this status is true for everyone else formed and made by God.
God’s work in us and for us in the waters of baptism are a powerful gift. Baptism joins us to God, and to one another. Baptism assures of us of who and whose we are. Though we are baptized once, the promises are forever. When we return to these waters, we do so to trace the cross marked on us on our baptism day, when we were sealed with the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever.
Filled with the Spirit, we are sent to share this good news: God loves you! God is with you! In the midst of disappointment, danger, and sin, God will not abandon you. You are not defined by your disappointments or failures, but by God’s never-ending love. Thanks be to God. Amen.
When we inevitably fail at keeping our resolutions, the blame also falls squarely on us. We weren’t disciplined enough, or dedicated enough, or strong enough. And it’s all too easy to slide from “I failed to meet this goal” to “I am a failure”.
I think many of us, consciously or unconsciously, bring this perspective to our life of faith, too. You want to be more holy? You’re in charge. You want to please God? You’re in charge. You want to get to heaven? You’re in charge.
We see God as a strict taskmaster who takes great delight in recording our faults and punishing us accordingly. We see God as watching us struggle with arms folded, only reaching out to help when we’ve sufficiently helped ourselves. We see God as perpetually disappointed in us as we add our failures to an ever-growing list.
But this is not the God of Scripture. In reading today’s passage from Isaiah 43, I was struck by the number of times “I” (referring to God) is present. This list records what God has done and what God will continue to do for the covenant people. Rather than being in charge of what happens to them, a picture is painted of the loving assurances and bold actions which they will receive from God.
The prophet Isaiah writes for God’s chosen people who, at the hands of the Babylonians, saw their homes and Temple destroyed. Many of them found themselves marched off to Babylon, away from everything familiar. Anxiety and fear were ever-present. There were so many unknowns. In speaking of this situation, psalm 137 asks, “How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?” Would the people ever return to their homeland? Had God abandoned them? Were their failings and sinfulness and breaking of the covenant finally enough for God to say, “Forget it. I’m done with you”?
The words that God speaks are clear: do not be afraid, you are mine. The people have not been abandoned, or forgotten, but rather receive the assurance of God’s presence even in the midst of fire and raging water. Though they are scattered, God will go to great lengths to gather these beloved people back together. The precious people formed and made by God are not on their own.
Though these words were written at a specific time and in a specific place, their promises hold true for us, as well. Instead of a list of all the things we have to do, or all the things we’re in charge of, there is a list of all that God has done and will continue to do for us, God’s beloved.
These promises are particularly resonant in the context of baptism, the water and words that declare that we are beloved and belong to God. Particularly for Lutherans, baptism is not something we enact for ourselves. It is not about establishing for ourselves a personal relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is not just a symbolic act that signals for the community our decision to follow Jesus. It is not a ritual we repeat each time we find ourselves straying from God.
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When we find ourselves in the clutches of sin, God says, “Give them up.” When we feel that we are far from God with no way to get back, God says, “bring my sons from far away and my daughters from the end of the earth.”
Baptism is a promise that nothing will stop God from calling us God’s own. The one who created us will not abandon us when things get tough. The one who formed us will not allow our sinfulness and failures to define us, instead calling us “precious in my sight”, “honored”, “beloved.” Nothing, not even death, can sever this relationship. Nothing, not even death, can call into question God’s faithfulness to us and delight in us.
These are powerful promises! What changes for you when you hear that, actually, it’s not up to you? What changes when you have the assurance that you are beloved, redeemed, and precious in God’s sight?
When we stop needing to worry about our status in God’s eyes, we can instead turn our attention and efforts toward the needs of our neighbors.
When we recognize the ways in which salvation is taking place right here, right now, and not just in some far-off location called heaven, we can shift our efforts to participate in God’s redeeming love for the whole world.
When we have the assurance that we are precious in God’s sight and dearly loved, we can also remember that this status is true for everyone else formed and made by God.
God’s work in us and for us in the waters of baptism are a powerful gift. Baptism joins us to God, and to one another. Baptism assures of us of who and whose we are. Though we are baptized once, the promises are forever. When we return to these waters, we do so to trace the cross marked on us on our baptism day, when we were sealed with the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever.
Filled with the Spirit, we are sent to share this good news: God loves you! God is with you! In the midst of disappointment, danger, and sin, God will not abandon you. You are not defined by your disappointments or failures, but by God’s never-ending love. Thanks be to God. Amen.
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