Sermon for January 13, 2019 
Read Isaiah 43:1-7 and Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 What is your name? When asked that question, how do you respond?
My full legal name with titles is Rev. Cara Sutton Milne. Sutton is my mother's maiden name. But I don't think I've ever responded with all of that when asked my name. For me, my name is Cara. That is who I am. The rest are titles attached to my name, important titles, but titles nonetheless.
What we are called makes a difference. It impacts who we are, and how we see ourselves. I respond differently to people who call me Ms. Milne than I do to people who call me Pastor Cara. As we grow, if we are called "smart," it makes a difference; if we are called "stupid," it makes a difference. What we are called makes a difference.
I wonder what it meant for Jesus. Before this moment on the Jordan he doesn't have this affirmation from God. He was fully divine, but fully human too. I think sometimes we forget the fully human part. And because he was fully human I wonder if Jesus was nervous going into his baptism.After all, he knew from a young age that he was called to do much - to achieve much and that must be hard to face.
Yes, but he begins his ministry as an adult by being named. "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased." He is named. Son and Beloved. That shapes who he is. And what a joyous way to be shaped. Son and Beloved!
In baptisms, we too are called by name. And we believe that God calls us by name too, and that our name is joined forever to God's name, just as all who are baptized have their names called, have their names joined forever to God's name.
Now the truth of the matter is that none of us knows what life will hold in the future. We pray that our lives will be full of joy and health and peace, but we also know that, because we are human, we will also face pain and loss and sorrow. We know, as the prophet Isaiah knew, that faith does not protect us from the realities of life. We will, like all human beings, pass through the waters of life's hardships. We will cross the rivers of life's pains, and we will walk through the fire of being a human being. But we also know that God knows our name, that God created us, formed us, redeemed us, and calls us by name. God will never forget us, will never leave us alone, will come to us and will be with us at every turn. So, as Isaiah tells us, God says to all of us:
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.
When you pass through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you.
When you walk through the fire, the flame shall not consume you.
I have called you by name, and you are mine.
Baptismal water flows over us today. In our passage from Isaiah, we’re reminded that even as we pass through raging waters, God is with us. Overflowing rivers will not drown God’s people. And why? Because the word of the Lord through Isaiah says, “Fear not: for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name, and you are mine.” Of course water here is an image. Earthly water and fire – another image in today’s passage – can do us bodily harm, but when we dig deeper and hear what God is saying, we realize that God is reminding us that no earthly thing can keep us from the love and comfort of God. Even if natural water or fire overwhelms our bodies, God’s spirit is with us. God’s love comforts and heals.
When we think about it, our fears are not just about the stock market, natural disasters or the possibility of violence in the streets. Those are symptoms of a deeper fear that we are frail and temporary creatures set in an uncertain space. The philosopher Pascal expressed it well when he said, "When I consider the short duration of my life, swallowed up in the eternity before and after, this little space which I fill and even can see, engulfed in the infinite immensity of spaces of which I am ignorant and which know me not, I am afraid...."
And that is why the prophet Isaiah can say with great confidence, "'Do not be afraid,' says the Lord," because Isaiah knew that the Lord who spoke those words is not some distant deity, some impersonal force loose in the universe, a god pulling the strings of history. God is more like a mother who listens in the night for the cries of her children. "'Do not be afraid,' says the Lord. 'I created you. I formed you. I have redeemed you. I have called you by name. You are mine.'"
In the gospel passage, water is used both figuratively and literally. John the Baptist offers the people of that time a baptism of repentance. The Jews are drawn to the waters of the Jordan to be cleansed of their unfaithfulness to God’s law. They are drawn by John’s words. Many may be drawn by the simplicity of his message. This is how you can live lives faithful to God’s law: tax collectors, don’t cheat; soldiers, don’t threaten or extort; all of you, share what you have with the poor. John offered them a chance to be renewed. And this was a very good thing. The Jordan’s water cleansed both body and soul.
The God of Israel, the God whose story is told in this scripture, always calls us by name: Adam, Eve, Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Samuel, Mary. This is the God we see in the face of Jesus Christ. The God who walks along the shore and calls by name: "Peter, Andrew, John, follow me." The God who calls out over the waters "You are my Son, the Beloved. With you I am well pleased."
This is the God who knows your name, who knows the number of the hairs on your head, the God who remembers you and does not forget you, the God who, even when the winds howl and the seas roar, listens for your voice, knows your cry, and says to each of us, "Do not be afraid. I know you. I have called you by name. I am coming to help you. You are mine. And here comes my Spirit, my Spirit to sustain and guide as you go about doing what I put you on earth to do."
Here is the deal. God chooses to bring us into the world. God's grace claims us and reclaims us over and over again. We don't need to get all mixed up over whether or not we are adequate or worthy. With the exception of Jesus, we all fall short of who we can be. None of us are really worthy. And God’s grace saves us anyway.
An ancient Christian catechism describes baptism as a "visible sign of invisible grace." By the grace of God, we are surrounded and upheld every day. The great Protestant Martin Luther was plagued at times by a sense of unworthiness and despair. To drive back those demons, he kept an inscription over his desk that read, "Remember, you have been baptized." Often, he would touch his forehead and remind himself, "Martin, you have been baptized."
When I read that story, I always touch my own forehead, reminding myself that I too have been baptized: cleansed and forgiven, claimed and sanctified, sealed by God's own Spirit and given my new, everlasting identity in Christ. I recommend that you take a moment, touch your own forehead, and remind yourself that you are a child of God. Baptized or not yet baptized, you are a beloved child of God.
Imagine how different the world would look if we truly lived into the reality that we are beloved by God. How would it change the way we saw ourselves? How might we see our neighbors differently? How might it impact how we treat the stranger in our midst, our enemies, even the creation which God has entrusted to our care?
So as you go into the world this week, remember that you are a child of God. And you are beloved.
