1-4-24 - Voice of Love

You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here. 

And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

We’ve been looking this week at the story of Jesus’ baptism, and how each element has become incorporated into our own baptismal services. We pour the water, we invoke the Holy Spirit’s anointing by applying oil to the baptized person. Where, though, does this aural affirmation come in?

We might say, “It goes without saying.” The whole act of baptism is a response to the Love of God. We see it as incorporation into the family of God. Do we need to hear God’s “I love you?” when we’re bathed in it?

Well… yes. We’re human, and limited, and we need to hear it. Jesus heard it, and it’s not like HE needed to be reminded of his Father’s love. Or did he? Was the mission he was just starting going to be so hard and lonely and dangerous, that he very much needed to be reminded how beloved he was?

Maybe God is always telling us how pleased God is with us, reminding us how beloved we are, but we aren’t tuned to that frequency. This world and its messages throws out a lot of static. (Casting Crowns has a good song about that, Voice of Truth.) Our own inner sense of inadequacy or insecurity, however we come by that, so often overrides that message of love. How can we hear it for ourselves?

One way is to tune in every day – whether it’s a quiet time of prayer in the morning, or a step off the treadmill sometime mid-day, or in reflection in the evening. If we can cultivate the daily reminder of our baptismal life and the promises God has made to us, we might find ourselves more often dwelling in our belovedness.

But we also need to remind each other. No one is called into Christian life in a vacuum. The “noise” around us will always overwhelm us if we don’t encourage and support each other. Who has been good at reminding you that you are beloved of God, delightful and pleasing to God? Who in your life might need a reminder this week?

At one point during the Episcopal baptismal service, the congregation is asked, “Will you support this person in her life in Christ?” And the answer is to be a resounding “We will!” That’s one of the times in the liturgy when we hear the voice of the beloved, God, speaking through us.

God has not stopped speaking through us. Who will hear through you today how beloved he is, she is? That's the only way the world will hear it.

© Kate Heichler, 2023. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here.  Here are the bible readings for Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.