Loving God, help us to be aware of your voice today as we gather in the name of Jesus, and allow the power of your Word to sink deep into our souls, even as we continue to grow in faith through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

    A number of years ago now, a movie came out which I cannot recommend to anybody due to its content.  The name of the movie was Dogma, and it featured a couple of angels who had been sentenced to live out their days in Wisconsin.  It also featured Alanis Morissette cast in the role of God.  While there are many things in the movie for people to object to, there are also a few things that are quite biblically accurate.  One of these things is the voice of God.

    There is one scene in the movie that has stuck with me where God shows up on earth and speaks with full force.  You can almost see the sound waves emanating out from Alanis Morissette as the trees are bent and the angels cover their ears, and any human eardrums that are left unprotected burst on the spot.

    While I don’t believe that the real God would ever do this, the power of God’s voice is well attested to in the Scriptures.  Our Psalm today has the voice of the Lord doing all kinds of things: stripping the forests bare, bursting forth in lightning, breaking the cedar trees and shaking the wilderness (Ps. 29).  It is easy to see where such ideas would come from, for right from the beginning in Genesis, God speaks and creation happens.  God only has to say, “Let there be light,” and there is light (Gen. 1:3).  God speaks the world into being.  This is why there are always angels and messengers and prophets who speak God’s word, for the actual voice of God would be too much for human ears.

    As a result, we get people like the prophet Isaiah saying things like, “Thus says God, the Lord” (Isa. 42:5).  We get people like Peter in the Acts of the Apostles, who is sent to speak God’s message to Cornelius and his family.  And then, in today’s gospel, we get a voice from heaven speaking the words of Scripture: “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased” (Mt. 3:17).  There is power in those words from heaven in so many different ways!

    For one thing, this brief message has a lot to say about Jesus’ identity.  There is the literal meaning of the words: Jesus is the beloved Son of God, and God is pleased with him.  There is also the deeper meaning that comes from the Scripture passages being quoted.  One of those passages refers to a king, and one refers to God’s servant (Ps. 2:7; Isa. 42:1).  Jesus, too, will be both a servant and a king.

    At the same time, this brief gospel and the voice from heaven illustrate the verse that says, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you” (Jas. 4:10).  In coming to John in order to be baptized, Jesus has, indeed, humbled himself.  He had no need to repent and be baptized.  Yet, he humbled himself in order to share fully in our humanity, and to set an example of the right thing to do.  For most human beings, repentance is the appropriate attitude when approaching God.  And so, Jesus humbles himself by being baptized, and as a result is lifted up – affirmed as pleasing to God, and God’s beloved Son.

    At times I have heard Jesus described as one of the most “integrated” human beings who has ever lived.  In other words, Jesus does not suffer from self-esteem issues.  He knows who he is, yet he willingly humbles himself.  He experiences all kinds of opposition and abuse, yet he continues to act in love and to know that he is God’s beloved Son.  It is only when Jesus is actually on the cross that he feels forsaken and abandoned by God.

    It would seem that these words spoken by the voice from heaven sink deep into Jesus’ soul and are then lived out as Jesus begins his ministry here on this earth.  His life, death and resurrection do, indeed, reveal that he is a servant, a king, and the beloved Son of God.  The question, then, for us becomes if we will allow the voice of God to have the same sort of power in our lives.

    Keep in mind, though, that we are not talking about hearing voices, and we are not talking about being blasted into submission by the power of God’s voice.  God chooses not to force us into anything, and thus speaks to us in other ways – like through the Scriptures and through Word and Sacrament and through other people.  And so, we are invited to listen closely for what God has to say to us, and to allow the love of God to sink deep into our hearts, and to hear in the baptism of Jesus what God also has to say to us.

    Can you imagine a message from God coming to us at our own baptism?  Can you imagine God saying to you as you are baptized: “You are my beloved child.  I am well pleased with you.”?  What would be the basis for such a message?  Would we be totally dreaming and pretending to be Jesus, or would God actually say something like this to us?

    According to the Scriptures, this is not so far-fetched.  Over and over again we read about those who are born of water and the Spirit in baptism becoming children of God.  This is made possible through Jesus, as we open ourselves to him and receive him in faith (Jn. 1:12-13).  At the same time, those who belong to God through baptism are referred to as chosen and holy and beloved (Col. 3:12).  And so, God does, indeed, say to us when we are baptized, “You are my beloved child.”  Allow those words to sink into every fibre of your being, for unlike Jesus, many of us do end up with self-esteem issues!

    But then, what about that other part, where God might be pleased with us?  Once again, when we turn to the Scriptures, we find whole lists of things that are pleasing to God.  Certainly, to live in holiness and in love is pleasing to God (1 Th. 4:1-12).  To “show hospitality to strangers” and to “be content with what you have” is pleasing to God (Heb. 13:2, 5).  To honour marriage and avoid adultery is pleasing to God (Heb. 13:4).  To “do good and to share what you have” is pleasing to God (Heb. 13:16).  And finally, to have faith is pleasing to God (Heb. 11:5-6).

    In Jesus’ case, he did all of these things perfectly and humbled himself for the sake of our salvation.  It is easy to see why God would be well pleased with him.  In our case, we become pleasing to God when our faith is in Jesus Christ and we are united with him in baptism.  In other words, we are not pleasing to God because we do everything perfectly, but because we have put on Christ in baptism and are growing into his righteous life through the power of the Holy Spirit at work in our lives.

    And so, God really does say to us when we are baptized, “You are my beloved child, with whom I am well pleased.”  Let us then allow that pronouncement to have the same power in our lives as it did in the life of Jesus, as we continue to grow up into Christ, becoming the people whom God created us to be.  For we are chosen, holy and beloved, all because of Jesus.  Thanks be to God!  Amen.

Baptism of Our Lord (A)                            Matthew 3:13-17
January 12, 2014                                Psalm 29
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church                        Isaiah 42:1-9
Pastor Lynne Hutchison                            Acts 10:34-43

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