A Sermon Preached by Rev. Jean Niven Lenk

¹³ Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. ¹⁴John would have prevented him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?’ ¹⁵But Jesus answered him, ‘Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfil all righteousness.’ Then he consented. ¹⁶And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. ¹⁷And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’

"My Beloved ”

A Baptisimal Meditation Preached by
The Rev. Jean Niven Lenk

at the

First Congregational Church of Stoughton

United Church of Christ

What a joy it is to welcome this morning the Snyder family and to witness the baptism of little Phoenix Joseph.

Sue and Joe, I think I can pretty safely say that PJ is your beloved little boy, right?

And Michael, Caroline, Bill and Bonnie – I don’t think I’m going too far out on a limb to say that PJ is your beloved little grandson.

Roberta, PJ is your beloved great grandson, isn’t he?

And Marni and Patrick, am I correct in saying that PJ is your beloved godson?

And here’s another statement I can make with confidence: PJ is God’s beloved child.

Today, we celebrate not just PJ’s baptism. On the Christian calendar, today is the day we celebration Jesus’ baptism. And at his baptism, Jesus experiences a deep and all-embracing oneness with God, and an overwhelming sense of being beloved. God’s voice booms out of the heavens with the message, “I love you; I accept you; you are mine,” and this love between Jesus and God through the Holy Spirit becomes the animating force in his life, expressing itself in Jesus’ self-giving ministry.

Although he may not yet be able to express it, I do hope that PJ too experiences, at some deep place in his little heart, that same sense of acceptance and being loved by God – not just today, but throughout his life. Every time I perform the sacrament of baptism – whether it is for a baby like PJ, or an older child, or adult – every time I perform a baptism, I am overwhelmed with the sense that God's love is not something distant, immutable or abstract, but rather that it is something real, alive, tender and completely present in that very moment. Our baptism is the eternal instant when the heavens part and a dove descends to remind us that we are beloved, and we are invited into a new relationship with the Divine and a new way of being in the world.

Now, most of us were baptized as young children. But our baptism, no matter at what age, would have no meaning if we grew up we did not live into our baptism every day. At each one of our baptisms, God has said over us – just as God said over Jesus almost 2000 years ago, and just as God is saying over PJ this morning – God has said to each one of us “You are my beloved.” We need to live every day knowing that absolute truth; that we are beloved by God, that God calls each of us “My beloved.”
That experience of infinite and unconditional love in our life is something we can bask in, revel in, live in with joy and security and confidence.

Today, as we remember and celebrate Jesus’ baptism, it is also a time for us to remember and celebrate our own baptism with a renewal of our covenantal vows; a time for us to remember our acceptance into Christ’s church, our participation in God’s forgiveness; for us to remember the day we were reborn into full Christian faith and life.

And so today, at the start of this new calendar year, let us refresh our awareness of belonging to Christ; and be reminded of God’s unconditional, unmerited love; and may we know deep in here that through our baptism, we are claimed and named by God, who calls each one of us “My Beloved.”