Who are we and what are we doing here?

Scripture:

Isaiah 42:1-4

Matthew 3:13-17

Preached 01/19/2014

 

Matthew spent 20 years trying to figure it out.  Not the scriptural Matthew from whose Gospel we read, but a Matthew of our own time.  Matthew had been adopted as an infant, and he had always been on a quest to find his biological parents.  And when he was 29 years old, he finally did.  He contacted his biological mother, and asked about his biological father.  And the news about his biological father was just about the worst news you could ever receive.

Matthew’s biological mother told him that his biological father was the notorious murderous mad man, Charles Manson.  Even though he’s not been able to get a DNA test done, Matthew has accepted what his biological mother told him.  In fact, Matthew thinks that Charles Manson being his father is, more than just possible, it’s probable.  Matthew bears a striking physical resemblance to Manson.  He shares other characteristics, including being an aspiring musician.  And, on the darker side, he says he also suffers from mental disturbances which he relates to the man he believes is his biological father.

Despite Manson’s history, and the mental disturbances he may have passed on to Matthew, Matthew says that if Manson really is his father, he’d like to meet him before it’s too late.  “If he is my father,” Matthew says “then it would be nice to have laid eyes on him and been person to person with him once in my lifetime.”

On one hand, Matthew’s desire to meet the man he believes is his father is very hard to understand.  Why would he want to know and identify with a murderer, when he could choose to have nothing to do with that possible part of his genetics?  On the other hand though, it’s natural that he longs to know who he is and why he’s alive.  The answer to these questions—who he is and why he’s alive—could help him understand why he is the way that he is.

And honestly, aren’t these questions we all ponder?  They’re very deep questions, ones that get at the very core of our being  Who are we?  Why are we here? I imagine that even Jesus pondered these questions.  And I imagine also that it took him quite a while to come up with the answers to them. 

In our gospel reading this morning, we have Matthew’s account of Jesus baptism.  Jesus is an adult at his baptism.  He’s likely around 30 years old, and the last time we heard from him in the gospel is when he was 12.  He took some serious time off there, and I like to think that at least some of it was pondering those big questions of identity and purpose.  After all, though he was fully divine, he was also fully human.  I think it would take a human brain at the very least those 18 or so years to wrap itself around the idea that it was part of God incarnate.

And so Jesus, who as of yet hasn’t done anything the Gospel writers think worthy of mentioning for 18 years, appears to John to be baptized.  And after some discussion, John agrees to baptize him.  And after that baptism, the really exciting stuff happens.  It’s called a theophany, if you want the fancy term for it.  The theophany, or God breaking through, happens, and we hear God’s voice and we see God’s Spirit, and God proclaims the answer to one of those big questions.  Who is Jesus?  God’s voice proclaims that he is God’s son, God’s beloved.  We don’t really know how much Jesus understood his identity before this moment, but we can pretty safely be assured that he got it fairly well after this.

What about us, though?  I can say with certainty that God has never sent a Spirit formed dove to me and proclaimed anything of this sort.  And I’m just guessing here, but I’m guessing none of us has had a moment quite like this.  Maybe it’s why we spend so much time wondering about it, pondering it, exploring it.  Who are we?  Well, even without that theophanic moment, we do have something else.  We do have our own baptisms.  And in our baptisms, we re-enact that moment in Christ’s life. We are reminded that we too are a child of God. 

When Matthew found out that he was very likely the child of Charles Manson, what he got was some answers, and a whole lot of problems.  What we get, when we realize that we are God’s children, is some answers, and a whole lot of blessings.  Because as God’s children, we are also God’s beloved, and Jesus was.  And that, no matter who are parents are, no matter what we have done in our lives, we share those identities with Jesus.  At our very core, we are God’s beloved children.

It’s hard to accept, sometimes, with the different identities the world wants to put on us.  The world will tell us, that instead of beloved, we’re not good enough, maybe not smart or strong or hard-working enough.  Or we’re too controlling or to free-spirited, or we’re too old or too young, and just plain old not good enough.  And none of that is true.  Yes, we all make mistakes, and do wrong things or don’t do the right things that need to be doing.  But that is not what ultimately defines us. Our truest and deepest identity, and really the only thing that ultimately defines us and matters is that we are all children of God.  We are God’s beloved, and with us, God is well pleased.  That’s who we are. 

So why are we here?  The question is actually deeply tied to the first question of who we are.  As our scripture sets forth from us, the reason we’re here comes directly from our identity as God’s children as well.  Remember, before his baptism and his naming as God’s beloved Son, Jesus hadn’t really done much.  He’d been born, and he’d gone to the temple.  That’s about all we have.  It seems like he didn’t really have a sense of his purpose, the true reason he was alive on earth, until God’s voice and Spirit broke through telling him of his ultimate identity.  But after this moment, we have Jesus doing a whole lot.  He teaches, he calls, he challenges, he heals, he even raises from the dead.  He found a purpose, and a life in his identity, and we can too.

Since we obviously don’t have time to read all the Gospel accounts of the rest of Jesus life here this morning, Isaiah can give us some help.  What Jim read for us this morning was the first of the servant songs, poetic pieces of Isaiah describing what it means to follow God on earth.  And as children of God, these are kind of like instructions on how to follow our heavenly parent’s will for our lives.  And, very simply put, our purpose as God’s children, the reason that we’re here, is to make things right.  Jesus did this in a very big way, and obviously we can’t do what he did.  But we can still attempt to make things right.  We can speak in that gentle voice Isaiah describes to those who are hurting, and need words of loving comfort.  We can show mercy to those who are in need, those bruised reeds and dimly burning wicks among us.  We can faithfully work for justice, righting what we see as wrong in front of us.

The world is hungry for this kind of purpose driven life of the children of God.  The world needs love, comfort, mercy, and work for what is right.  And this is our purpose.  This is who we are, and who we were born to be.  We don’t have to do anything for God to be pleased with us.  That’s our reformed theology, that there is nothing we can do to earn God’s pleasure in us.  It’s just a gift, given freely out of love.  God delights in who we are.  God loves who we are.  And we can choose to respond to this, as Jesus did, in a life a gratitude, and God’s love lived out in service to others.  Or we can choose not to.

And of course, as we welcome new members into this small part of the family of God, and as we look ahead at a future that will need to include change and growth if this congregation is to stay alive, I think it’s clear that my hope and prayer is that we all find energy and strength to serve in our shared identity as God’s beloved children.  But for right now, for this week, let’s just take it a little slower.  Let’s just stick with what our lectionary gives us.  You are God’s beloved child.  With you, God is well pleased.  Thanks be to God for each and every one of you.  Amen.