Identity: Loved

Jan 1, 2017 by: Sam Hestorff| Series: Identity
Scripture: Matthew 3:1–17

I have a confession . . . there are times that I really struggle with figuring out what I'm meant to do and who I am meant to be on this journey of life . . . my guess is that most of you have the same struggle.
And there is something about this time of year that our struggle becomes real.
As we reflect on what we've done and where we've been over the past year, it brings to life those places where we've failed and just didn't hit the mark. We look at others and wonder why everything came into place for them and why it didn’t for us.
We also reflect on those places where we've succeeded and we're very proud of what we've done.
And each year, we ask ourselves the question . . . is this what I'm supposed to be doing?
And so we make resolutions that essentially say . . . I want to be a better version of me.
But I think that the only way to be a better version of you . . . is to know who you are. If you don’t know who you are then life becomes a series of broken resolutions as we try to compare our lives to those around us.
So instead of asking ourselves “what works?” perhaps we should be asking, “what is true?”
I can't help but think that Jesus struggled with this too. I know that the gospel accounts of his life and ministry don't really detail too many periods of internal angst for Jesus but I have to believe that there were times in his life where he had questions about who he was in the larger picture.
You see, one of the things that makes Christianity unique is that at Christmas we declare that God is with us . . . that God stepped in to human skin and lived a human life.
And no matter how we try to hang words around it, we long for a God who knows what it's like to be us, because human life is hard and we struggle to know who we really are and really meant to be.
In today's passage, Jesus walks down a dusty Galilean road, right at the beginning of his ministry to the banks of the Jordan River and I can't help but think that Jesus was asking these same questions we're asking.
READ TEXT: Matthew 3:1-17
Here is John the Baptist, this rugged, un-kept, smelly and dirty, bug eating prophet, and he is standing in middle of the Jordan River shouting “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near”. And it says that, the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him.
We’ve seen those people; holding up those signs and shouting on their bull horns as people walk by, “repent for the kingdom of heaven is near” but nobody really listens to those people. If they do, it seems to be more about mocking or arguing – or because it’s a freak show.
So . . . why are they going out to him? Why is there any credibility to what is taking place in this story?
Because these are Jews and Jews consistently practiced ritual cleansing for the purpose of purification. In fact, many would have experienced ritual cleansing at least once a year around what is known to us as Rosh-hash-ana . . . the Jewish new year.
Rash-hash-ana is a time that the people of God renew their covenant with God by reviewing the mistakes they had made over the past year and resolve to make improvements for the coming year;
"I want to be a better version of me".
The ultimate goal is that God would not judge them for their sins and make the coming year miserable because of their sins . . . but rather forgive them for their sins and bless them in the coming year.
There are a lot of symbolic things that happen during this time but one of those things revolves around cleansing water. It is symbolic of “out with the old and in with the new” through cleansing, kind of like a New Year’s resolutions.
Now, High Priests would always begin this time with their own baptism on behalf of the people. They represent the people of God renewing their covenant with God because they are the only ones who can go on behalf of God’s people. They are baptized so that God will bless His people.
And their baptism is always followed by 40 days of quite reflection and contemplation. At the end of the forty days – the high priest can begin their ministry with the people. They have a fresh slate – “out with the old and in with the new”

So with this understanding, let’s go back to our narrative.
Here is John in the middle of the river shouting “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand”. It is probably Rash-hash-ana and he is telling the people “get right with God – confess your sins and be cleansed” . . . So, this isn’t all that unusual.
But in the midst of preaching these words, Jesus shows up and begins to make his way into the waters to be baptized and immediately John recognizes him and asks, why are you getting baptized? I'm pretty sure that you should be baptizing me.
And Jesus says . . . “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.”
With these words, Jesus identifies himself as the high priest who is coming on behalf of the people – to be blessed by God and to mark the beginning of his ministry.
Jesus waded into the muddy water and asked John to dunk him under and to bless him.
That's all so strange and so beautiful. What kind of a God starts a message to the world by getting dunked under the water like everybody else . . . only to come up dripping, sputtering, rubbing the silt out of his eyes?
A God who knows what it's like to be us, who wonders like we do: "Who am I and what am I meant to do with my life?"
Just as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens opened and the Spirit of God descended on Jesus like a dove . . . And Jesus and everyone else standing there in the sticky mud of the Jordan river bank, heard the voice from heaven answering his question.
This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased
Jesus is not only being blessed by God – as the high priests were blessed – he is proclaiming Jesus to be the Son of God and that he is Loved.
And with this understand of who he would, Jesus is set on the course to not only be the great high priest but also the ultimate sacrifice.
Jesus is showing, “all of your repentance and the cleansing you desire and the new life you are longing for, I’m going to make that possible.”
Next week, we'll continue this story and see that Jesus is immediately led to the wilderness by the Spirit for forty days – just as the high priests did.
And there he would be tempted – just as you and I are in our faith journey - but he overcomes temptation and renews his covenant and resolutions with God and is obedient to his calling – a call to be a servant, a call to become flesh and blood and to dwell with us, and a call which would lead him to the cross for the forgiveness of sins for those who believe in him.
And or those who believe, we too are given the spirit of God who dwells within us and gives us a new name . . . loved.
And so on this first day of a new year, I invite you to pause . . . even for just a moment, to notice the divine spark of life and love placed in each of us through Jesus and begin to discover who we are – who we really are.
And once we know who we really are, we're bound to do audacious things, like . . . serving the least of these . . . or love someone we couldn't love before . . . or forgive, even ourselves. Not because we have to but because that’s just who we are.
Knowing who we are, who we really are and who God has created us to be is where we begin today.
And the question we should be asking as we reflect on our past year is not did I succeed but rather, am I still loved . . . and the answer is always a resounding “yes.”
As we share in communion with one another this morning, you're invited to touch this water and remember, as Jesus did that day in the muddy water of the Jordan river, what God really thinks of you; that you are loved.

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