Beloved Brokenness

Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

Here is that pesky Spirit popping up again.  In Luke's version of Jesus' baptism, John - who had just preached a sermon calling people "You brood of Vipers" (there is a way to win friends and influence people)...and then challenged people that the inner transformation of God's beloved-ness called for an outward manifestation in sharing/economy/relationship - that John is locked up in prison.  This is such a great reminder that the Gospel and grace doesn't guarantee an easy life.  One of my favorite quotes goes, "If you were in court on the charge of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?"  That stops me cold every day.  But this beloved-ness isn't dependent upon me or my good works.  Jesus hasn't done anything yet.  Ok, he did stay back in the Temple, talk with the rabbis, amaze the religious scholars with insights, and then get a stern talking to by his mom.  But that was at least sixteen years before the moment above.  The slow, steady, savory pace of God's salvation story won't fit in our modern-day microwave and race our way through our life.  We want results and we want them yesterday.

So, Luke is a little fuzzy on who baptizes Jesus.  Did the above happen before John's imprisonment?  Did one of John's disciples baptize Jesus?  Of course, I am sure Jesus could baptism himself too - which make me shift a bit uncomfortably in terms of job security.

The point isn't who baptized...the point is this voice claiming and naming Jesus as beloved.  I recently heard the truism that baptism is the life of Jesus in a snapshot.  In this one moment, you have Jesus understanding his life in one way.  Maybe he is a carpenter...taking up the tool belt of his dear old dad Joseph.  Maybe he saw himself a particular way.  Just as you see yourself a particular way today.  Jesus wades in the water, goes down to the river to pray...and experiences a kind of death.  Under that water-like tomb (insert Good Friday image here) something happens to Jesus' understanding of himself.  Drown in that Jordan river is a sense of self that was his old life.  As Jesus breaks through the surface of the water there is new life...or resurrection...or the fact that God is not finished with us yet.  This is why I love churches where the baptismal font is front and center when you enter into the doors of the church.  I need this reminder every week (really, I need it every day).  I need to remember that I am constantly being renewed/restored/resurrected to the life God crafted and created for me.  I need to remember that I am beloved...not because I can somehow or another by my own willpower outsmart and outlast my brokenness.  I am beloved for no really good reason other than that is who God is and how God moves.  I am beloved.  And that truth can sit within me.  Or that truth can stir within me taking over how I see my calendar, wallet, relationships, and whole life.  That is the edgy part of baptism.

At baptism I have taken to looking into the eyes of the child and saying, "For you, beloved, Jesus was born, lived, died and was raised to life...and you know nothing of this yet."  Yet, I wonder if I am wrong about the last part.  Maybe that child knows more about birth, life, death and resurrection than I do.  What I am realizing more and more is that you cannot have belovedness without brokenness.  You cannot have success without struggle.  You cannot have pleasure without moments of pain.  The two inform and impact each other.  In the verse right after baptism...right after being claimed as beloved...Jesus is lead by that pesky Spirit out into the wilderness. It is an echo of Exodus, the wild place of God, where the Israelites wandered for forty years.  For forty days, Jesus is tempted, wrestles with his own blessedness.  This by the way is the image for Lent.  We need to wrestle with our belovedness...that it is not some special golden ticket...but a call to be love in this world.

I hope today you take time to sense God saying to you, "You are my beloved."  And take time to let those words sink in and saturate your soul in such a way that tomorrow you cannot see or live or experience the world in quite the same way.

Grace and peace ~~