Sean Penn,
Pink, and Pitbull: an actor, a singer, and a rap star. Those are the names I
saw last night, as I happened to glance at the book a young man next to me on
the airplane was reading. And by the way, it was a book, not a tablet or
e-reader.
I told him I
was curious about what kind of book would contain those three names, and he
showed me the cover. Honestly, it was late at night and I don’t remember the
title, but I think it was by Kathy Gifford and listed brief descriptions about
celebrities, no doubt the ones she’s met.
What interested
me though, was that these people all had names that were easily recognized, and
an image of who they were, at least in some circles of the population.
So how are we
recognized? Last week was the Feast of the Holy Name, and we talked about
names. If you were here, the question was about what each of us could do so
when people heard our names, they would hear the name of Jesus.
This week the
question is about you. Because really, it’s all about you, isn’t it? What’s your name? Who are you? How are you known
and loved? And today is the feast of how we are known and loved by God.
Sure, we have a
more formal title. Today is The Baptism of our Lord, and the first Sunday after
the Epiphany, or the showing of Jesus to the world.
But more than
that, this day reminds us not only who we are but also whose we are. We might call this “belonging day” or “who claims
you” day.
Who claims you? Well, yes. Because sometimes we human beings
are bit like lost luggage, waiting forlornly outside the baggage claim office
for someone to recognize us and collect us.
When Jesus was
baptized, he heard a voice say, “This is my Son, the Beloved, in whom I am well
pleased. He was claimed as God’s: recognized, named, and clasped forever into
the heart of a loving God as one of God’s own.
This is how we
all are at birth, but in our own baptism, we are recognized, named, and clasped
forever into the heart of a loving God, as one of God’s own. We too are God’s
beloved.
And when we
come together here, at church and elsewhere, we come as a motley collection of
God’s beloved people. We may not wholly like one another all the time, but we
are called to love one another and spread that love in here and out there
(gesturing at the outside).
When you first
came here, whether you walked in years ago, or last year, or last month, or
yesterday, whether you were or are baptized or not, you came because you are
God’s beloved and God called you here. God called you here now, at this time,
in this place. And, God longs for you to know God better every day and to do
what you are called to do as God’s beloved.
Because today
is the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord, we repeat our baptismal vows to remind
us what we promised and that we are beloved by God. If you are old enough to
remember, when you were baptized the priest made the sign of the cross on your
forehead with holy oil and said these words. First your name, and then, “You
are sealed by the Holy Spirit in Baptism and marked as Christ’s own for ever.”
(BCP 308)
This is when
God claims us, in the community that loves us, as God’s own Beloved. There is
no better name to be known by than “My Beloved.” That is the name God calls us
by, now, today, and for ever. “My Beloved” is the name God gives us in baptism
because there is nothing better than to be known by name and claimed by God as
“My Beloved.” AMEN.
The Rev Nicolette Papanek
©2017
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