LUKE 3:15-16, 21-22
AS MANY OF YOU KNOW, MY
WIFE AND I HAVE NINETEEN GRANDCHILDREN. THE OLDEST IS NINETEEN AND
THE YOUNGEST IS FOUR. THEY ARE ALL UNIQUE; SOME MORE UNIQUE THAN
OTHERS. I'VE BAPTIZED ALL BUT THREE OF THEM – ONE WAS BORN BEFORE
I WAS A DEACON AND TWO WERE BORN OVERSEAS. IN ANY EVENT, IT'S BEEN A
GREAT PRIVILEGE TO WATCH THEM GROW UP.
IN ONE OF THESE FAMILIES
THERE IS A FIVE YEAR OLD WHO IS THE YOUNGEST OF THE CREW. IF YOU
WERE TO ASK ANY OF HIS OLDER SIBLINGS WHICH CHILD THE PARENTS LIKE
THE BEST, THEY WOULD ALL AGREE THAT IT'S HIM. AND IF YOU WERE TO ASK
HIM WHO HIS PARENTS LIKED THE BEST, HE WOULD AGREE – HE WOULD HAVE
NO HESITATION IN SAYING IT WAS HIM.
THERE ARE TWO REASONS FOR
THIS; FIRST, WHEN YOU ARE SMALL, YOU ARE CUTER THAN WHEN YOU GET
OLDER, AND YOU ATTRACT MORE POSITIVE ATTENTION. PLUS OBJECTIVELY YOU
REQUIRE A LOT MORE MAINTENANCE FROM MOM AND DAD TO STAY CLEAN AND OUT
OF TROUBLE COMPARED TO YOUR OLDER SIBLINGS, SO IT APPEARS THAT THEY
ARE GIVING YOU MORE ATTENTION. BUT THE OTHER REASON IS THAT WHEN YOU
ARE LITTLE, YOUR THOUGHT PROCESSES AREN'T VERY COMPLICATED. YOU
DON'T OVER-ANALYZE THINGS, YOU DON'T HOLD GRUDGES, YOU AREN'T
FRUSTRATED BECAUSE YOU CAN'T HAVE SOMETHING YOU THINK YOU NEED – AT
LEAST NOT FOR VERY LONG. AND AS A RESULT, YOU HAVE FEW INTERNAL
BARRIERS TO ALLOWING YOURSELF TO BE LOVED.
I KNOW NOT EVERY PERSON
HAS HAD A GREAT CHILDHOOD; BUT I SUSPECT THAT MOST OF US AT SOME
POINT DURING OUR CHILDHOOD KNEW ABSOLUTELY AND WITHOUT QUESTION THAT
WE WERE LOVED.
IN THE GOSPEL STORY WE'VE
JUST HEARD, JESUS UNDERGOES THE BAPTISM OF JOHN AND IMMEDIATELY
RECEIVES THE ASSURANCE THAT HE IS BELOVED, THAT HE IS PLEASING TO HIS
FATHER. NOTICE THAT HE HASN'T DONE ANYTHING YET; HE'S WORKED AS A
CARPENTER, HE'S LOOKED AFTER HIS MOTHER, HE, LIKE HUNDREDS OF OTHERS
HAS BEEN A FOLLOWER OF JOHN THE BAPTIST – HIS LIFE IS NOT OBVIOUSLY
ANY DIFFERENT FROM OTHER MEN LIKE HIM. HE HASN'T PREACHED, HE HASN'T
WORKED MIRACLES, HE HASN'T COLLECTED APOSTLES – AND HE HASN'T
SUFFERED AND DIED AND ROSE FROM THE DEAD. BUT IT IS AT THIS POINT,
BEFORE HE'S DONE ANYTHING, THAT HE IS ASSURED THAT HE IS LOVED BY THE
FATHER.
WHEN A LITTLE CHILD KNOWS
HE IS LOVED UNCONDITIONALLY, HE CAN BE A LITTLE BRATTY. BUT THAT'S
JUST BECAUSE HE SENSES THAT HE CAN PUSH THE BOUNDARIES A LITTLE.
KNOWING YOU ARE LOVED MAKES YOU BOLD; YOU HAVE AN ANCHOR IN THE ONE
WHO LOVES YOU. BECAUSE SHE IS LOVED, A LITTLE GIRL TAKES HER FIRST
STEPS, SAMPLES UNFAMILIAR FOODS, GOES TO SLEEP IN THE SCARY DARKNESS
OF HER BEDROOM. BEING LOVED GIVES YOU POWER. IT ISN'T JUST TRUE OF
LITTLE KIDS, EITHER; IT'S TRUE FOR YOUNG COUPLES WHO UNDER THE
INFLUENCE OF BEING LOVED GET MARRIED AND TURN THEIR WHOLE LIVES
UPSIDE DOWN; MOST OF US WHO ARE MARRIED CAN THINK OF THINGS WE DID
BECAUSE WE WERE EMPOWERED BY LOVE, THINGS WE'D NEVER DO OTHERWISE.
AND JESUS IS OBVIOUSLY
GIVEN GREAT POWER BECAUSE HE KNOWS HE IS LOVED. THE LOVE OF THE
FATHER WAS MANIFEST IN BODILY FORM, IT SAYS, BY THE HOLY SPIRIT
DESCENDING UPON HIM IN THE FORM OF A DOVE. JESUS WAS GOD FROM THE
MOMENT OF HIS CONCEPTION, BUT IT WAS AT HIS BAPTISM THAT HE RECEIVED
THE POWER THAT HE WAS TO MANIFEST DURING THE NEXT THREE YEARS. AND
THAT POWER CAME BECAUSE HE WAS ASSURED THAT HE WAS BELOVED, THAT HE
PLEASED HIS FATHER.
A LOT OF US THINK OF
BAPTISM AS THE SACRAMENT THAT REMOVES ORIGINAL SIN. BUT IT'S SO MUCH
MORE THAN THAT; IN THE FORMAL CEREMONY THERE IS THE CLOTHING WITH A
WHITE GARMENT. THIS IS A SYMBOL OF THE INVITATION TO THE HEAVENLY
BANQUET; BUT IT IS ALSO A SYMBOL OF OUR ADOPTION AS CHILDREN OF
JESUS' FATHER. OUR GARMENTS ARE WASHED IN THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB, AND
BECOME WHITE AS SNOW, AS IT SAYS IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION. WE ALSO
RECEIVE A LIGHTED CANDLE AT BAPTISM. THE LIGHT IS TAKEN FROM THE
PASCHAL CANDLE, WHICH SYMBOLIZES THE LIGHT OF CHRIST WHICH COMES INTO
THE WORLD. AND IT IS PASSED ON TO US. AND FINALLY WE ARE ANOINTED
WITH OIL – CHRISMED – AGAIN REINFORCING THE IDEA THAT WITH
BAPTISM WE BECOME IDENTIFIED WITH CHRIST.
OVER THE NEXT FEW
SUNDAYS WE WILL BE SEEING THE CONSEQUENCES OF THAT MOMENT WHEN JESUS
WAS ASSURED OF HIS FATHER'S LOVE. HE WILL SAY ASTOUNDING THINGS, HE
WILL WORK MIRACLES, HE WILL GATHER DISCIPLES WHO ARE DRAWN TO HIM
BECAUSE THEY CAN SEE THAT HE HAS SOMETHING THEY WANT; HE HAS THE
WORDS OF ETERNAL LIFE.
KNOWING THAT YOU ARE
LOVED GIVES YOU POWER. KNOWING THAT YOU ARE UNRESERVEDLY LOVED BY
THE FATHER OF JESUS CHRIST GIVES YOU IMMENSE POWER IF YOU WISH TO
TAKE IT. EVERY ONE WHO HAS BEEN BAPTIZED IS MEANT TO PLAY A UNIQUE
ROLE IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, WHICH AS JESUS TOLD US, IS NOT OFF IN
THE FUTURE BUT IS AMONG US. THAT SHOULD NOT BE FRIGHTENING, BUT
SHOULD BRING US GREAT JOY, BECAUSE WE HAVE BEEN INVITED TO USE OUR
GIFTS TO CHANGE THE WORLD, TO WORK ALONGSIDE OF JESUS OUR BROTHER TO
MAKE GOD'S WILL A REALITY ON EARTH, AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.
WHEN YOU RECEIVE THE
EUCHARIST, WHEN YOU SAY YOUR MORNING OR EVENING PRAYERS, WHEN YOU
SPEND A FEW MOMENTS DRAWING BACK FROM THE WORLD AND CATCHING YOUR
BREATH BEFORE YOU PLUNGE IN AGAIN, LISTEN CLOSELY, AND YOU ALSO WILL
HEAR THOSE WORDS: “YOU ARE MY BELOVED, IN YOU I AM WELL PLEASED.
