The people were filled with expectation. They could feel in their bones that something extraordinary was about to happen. They were going to be baptized with the Holy Spirit and with fire, with the Divine Breath itself, and with a deep, fierce Love. With eager anticipation, one by one, they walked into the river to be baptized by John. When all were baptized, heaven opened and the Spirit rained on all those assembled, soaking them in Love. And each of them heard a voice from out of nowhere saying in a most intimate and tender way, “you are my Beloved, my chosen one; you are my joy and my delight.”
You might argue that only Jesus heard these words, that only Jesus experienced the descent of the Holy Spirit as he was praying. And, according to the Gospel we just read you would be right. But I believe the Gospel mirrors our life and invites us to see ourselves reflected in the story of Jesus. His story is our story; his concerns our concerns. How he handles his life rests on those two gifts made explicit at his baptism. They are deep and abiding Wisdom and Love.
All of us have these gifts. They are embedded in our soul’s DNA. They can be, and often are, obscured by life’s residue of self-enhancing and self-protective choices that are unwise and unloving, but still active.Jesus’ Baptism experience washed away that residue of temptation to worldly power and status he faced in the desert, and it allowed him to close the door forever on any and all ego driven ambition. He never succumbed to such materialistic attractions, but his desert experience gives evidence of his humanity and tells us that he, too, faced temptations and overcame them.
He emerged from the waters of baptism cleansed of those drives and soaked in love. Then he heard what all of us are meant to hear: “you are my beloved, my joy and my delight.” Those words and that experience empowered him to live from that place of deep Wisdom and unconditional love in everything he did throughout his life. Baptism is meant to do the same for us.
Baptism is an outward sign of an intrinsic reality—we are all loved and chosen. Each of us is beloved by God in a special and unique way, as though we are God’s only daughter or only son. This is the mystic’s secret—this feeling of being special to God, of being God’s favorite, God’s Beloved—while recognizing that every other person in the world is God’s Beloved in the same way and at the same time. There is no partiality in God. “This is the message God sent to the people of Israel,” says Peter, “the good news of peace proclaimed through Jesus Christ who is Savior of all,” the incredible news that God shows no partiality at all!
Any person of whatever cultural background in the whole world who does what is right is acceptable to God, Peter tells us. But we can go even further than that. When Jesus tells us to love our enemies and be good to those who hate us, it’s because there aren’t any exceptions to God’s love. None. Loving Wisdom sees the unwashed, un-healed encrustations of worldly residue hiding the Divine image of each person and continues to love them, to choose them, to call them Beloved. To the people who believe they are the “chosen” people, the only people God favors and will save, Peter delivers this message. God plays no favorites. And this “good news” signifies “peace” he says. All are loved and all will be saved rather than destroyed. It is a message especially poignant in today’s political and religious climate. Living this message will require a completely different way of seeing and relating to people unlike us, and to cultures unlike our own.
Remember, the Gospel mirrors life. In Acts, Luke reminds us that once Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power through his baptism that he “went about doing good works and healing all who were in the grip of every kind of pain and darkness. We are called and appointed to do the same. When we take the time to say a kind word or extend a hand in those small and seemingly inconsequential places in our lives, we offer love. When we make the attempt to listen to someone expressing a different point of view from our own with curiosity and a desire to understand, we offer love. When we make a connection, soul to soul, staying calm and open when another is angry or hurting, we bring light into darkness. In small ways like these, or in larger ones that require a courageous stance for love in the face of fear and hatred, we have our own unique role in offering the healing balm of love. This is what the fire and the “power” of baptism are for—they’re for light, for love, for mercy, for the ability to be a compassionate presence in the midst of someone else’s, or the world’s, darkness.
I have appointed you, God says through Isaiah, “as promise and pledge that my good news of love for everyone will be spread throughout the world. You are the messenger and the message! I have endowed you with my Spirit that you may live justly and mercifully, doing good works and meeting the challenge of love with courage and humility. I have formed you for this service and am with you every moment.
You are my Beloved daughter. You are my Beloved son. I love you as if you are my only child. I have taken you by the hand and have led you into a world that appears dark. But remember, the heavens themselves are open to you! Where you go, I am there. This is the promise I made to you at baptism. So be my light as you walk the face of the earth. Be my voice of justice and my hand of mercy. Where you go, there I am. Where you rest, I am there. Within you, all around you, I am with you always. I have your hand in mine forever and I will never let it go.
This is such a wonderful message to bring into the new year! Thank you for encouraging us to accept that we are Beloved, like Christ. And to listen to the Spirit who calls us to share our light and recognize the light hidden behind other people’s “encrusted” darkness.