Claimed by God
Isaiah 43:1-7 with Luke 3:21-22
Friends, it is a joy to be back together in person today. In the church season we are moving away from Advent and Christmastime, and into the life of Jesus Christ. Jesus’ ministry begins at his baptism. We too are baptized, claimed by God, and sent out into the world to serve. Today we will remember our baptisms with joy.
My focus text for this morning is Isaiah. Isaiah 43 is written by the second generation of Isaiah writers, after the people have gone into Babylon. Before we hear this good news, we need to know the bad. The people have been torn down and they have suffered. Marauders have run through their land, killed many friends and family members, destroyed their homes, and carted the remaining people off to Babylon. The prophets have declared that this is an act of God, punishment for the people’s sinful ways.
Just before today’s reading the prophet says, “Who gave up Jacob to the spoiler, and Israel to the robbers? Was it not the Lord, against whom we have sinned, in whose ways they would not walk, and whose law they would not obey? So, he poured upon him the heat of his anger and the fury of war; it set him on fire all around, but he did not understand; it burned him, but he did not take it to heart.” Wow! Clearly God was angry and took it out on the people in violence. Violence as a wake-up call is certainly problematic when we consider the person and power of God.
After such a dark word, it causes a bit of whiplash to move into today’s text. “But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” Now, God is full of love and redemption. What follows is line upon line about God redeeming the people from their suffering. Though they suffer now, they will eventually return to Israel and be blessed. God will bring the children in, from north and south, east and west, and everyone will come together again in glory and peace.
When we turn the lens of this text and read it as we look at ourselves, the message is a very powerful one of love and belonging. Imagine God looks to you and says, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” When I hear this, I think of a claiming, a voluntary claiming. What does it mean to you to be claimed by God? Chosen, loved, special. Not a forced relationship, not a matter of guilt or obligation, but a choice. God chooses you. God stands with you. God claims you as God’s very own. It is a powerful reframing of our worth.
When we pass through waters, God is there. We read this on baptism Sunday because of those waters but of course Isaiah speaks of the waters of the flood, not baptism. When we are drowning, God is there. When we pass through fire, burnt, refined, cleansed, God is there. “Do not fear, for I am with you.”
This is not a promise that we will not suffer. Flood, fire, exile in Babylon, this is suffering. But this is a promise that God will be with us in our suffering. We are never alone, because God claims us, loves us, and refuses to abandon us to our suffering. We survive because we belong to God.
In his baptism in the Jordan, Jesus too realized that he belonged to God. The way Luke tells the story, it’s not a special moment for anyone else. Everyone is there, feeling the renewal of this movement, and Jesus is just some guy in line. Even John the Baptist doesn’t know him. He simply asks his name, hears his call to be baptized, and dunks him like everyone else.
When Jesus rises out of the water he has a vision, a vision that only he can see. The heavens open, and the Holy Spirit lights upon him like a dove. Jesus hears a voice, claiming him, calling him, declaring his value and status as loved. “You are my Son, the Beloved, with you I am well pleased.” Its not a small thing for Jesus, this message from heaven. Rather it is the very impetus to begin his ministry. Before his baptism he was a carpenter, a tradesman. Now he is claimed as God’s own, and will begin his life as a prophet, a messiah.
In Jesus, we too are claimed. We no longer believe that God punishes us like the Israelites. Though we may face our own exiles and Babylons, they are not from God’s wrath. Instead, in Jesus we are simply claimed and loved. No more whiplash like Isaiah, just the good stuff. “Do not fear, I am with you, you are precious, I love you.” These are the words God says to us each morning.
My friends, all around us the world tells us that we are not good enough. Too fat, too thin, too old, too young. We don’t have enough money in our bank account or enough followers on social media. We don’t measure up if our core identity is in social status, job, success, wins, beauty, etc etc etc. But if our core identity is in our beloved state, in our chosenness by God, then we have all we need in this world.
Today, as you go out from this service, I want you to feel your status as claimed by God. Baptized or not, you are marked as God’s own. You are beloved, you are chosen, just the way you are, not the way the world tells you you should be. This is a powerful message of acceptance in our world of New Year resolutions and constant calls to better ourselves.
I have set up the font today with glass stones for you to take. I encourage you to come to the waters, baptized or not, and take a stone for your pocket. You can come as we sing this next hymn, or during communion, or even after the worship service is over. But come, take a stone, put it in your coat pocket so that every morning as you go out the door you remember. “I am claimed, I am loved, I do not need to be afraid, for God is with me, today, tomorrow, forever.”
This hymn we are going to sing is for baptizing a baby, but that doesn’t make it any less applicable to you. You are a child of blessing. You are a child of promise. You are loved. God chooses you. What a joy. Amen.
