“Hearing Voices”
January 9, 2022
Dear brothers and sisters, grace and
peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ, Amen.
Who all is planning on watching the
College Football National Championship tomorrow night? I’m not actually going
to ask what team you’re rooting for tomorrow, because that not only is not the
point of today’s message, but would probably cause a rivalry, which is
definitely not the point of today. Instead, think about this for a moment: a
lot of the reason we watch sports is to root for a certain team. We’re
interested in seeing a certain team win because we identify with it. Rooting
for a certain team becomes our identity, because it is what we regard as
being important, even more important than anything else.
If we also think about it, there
are a lot of other things which form our identity, and which we identify with.
Where we grew up, where we live, where we go to school, what we do, or used to
do, for a living, what we hold to be important, all these things form our
identity, and give us a sense of who we think we are. If anyone asks us the
question, “Who are you?”, or even, “Who do you think you are?”, there are a lot
of different ways we can identify ourselves. We can talk about the town or
state we live in, what our background is, where we go or have gone for school, what
we do, what our affiliations are, or, again, what sports teams we root for. We
also want to belong, to belong to a certain group or crowd, so we emphasize
certain things we identify with in order to fit in or be accepted. Unfortunately,
it can happen where what we identify with, what we hold to be important, can become
a source of division. We can forget who we really are, especially as we try to
identify ourselves in many different ways, and we can believe ourselves to be
more superior to anyone else because of our identity. When that happens, we
actually lose sight of who we really are, and what is actually important for us
to identify ourself with and how we are to be defined.
As it happens, there is only one
identity, one way which we can identify ourselves, which transcends and is more
important than any other ones: being baptized, and being a child of God.
Because we are baptized, we belong: we belong to the Church, to the family of
God. We fit in to the family of God, to the Church, and we are all united
together as one family, because God has caused us to be so. And He has done so
by our being baptized. The voice of God, as we hear read in the Bible today,
tells us this plainly and clearly.
Today we remember the Baptism of
Jesus, and the reason He was baptized. The reason He was baptized, was, of
course, not the exact same reason why we are baptized. He did not need to be
freed from sin, because He had no sin. Instead, He was baptized to demonstrate
who He really was. He was the one about whom Isaiah had prophesied a long time
before, which we hear about in our First Reading, the servant who was going to
come to do God’s work. He was going to come not in a flashy display of power,
but instead in humility and gentleness, down to the level of those whom He came
to serve. He came to identify with us, to become like us and be honored to
become like us. As Isaiah 42:3 says, “A bruised reed he will not break, a smoldering
wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice.” He
was going to come not to force those who had turned away from God, or who had
been turned away from God, by threatening them, but by reaching out to them
with kindness and love. He was not going to come to punish those who were
wounded and suffering, but instead to bring true justice, by restoring who had
been wounded, who had been mistreated or abused, and who were suffering to
health, happiness, and hope. He was going to come to demonstrate that not only
one particular group of people, or one nation, were to be regarded as God’s
children, but that everyone who believed in God were His children. As Isaiah
42:6 says, “I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of
your hand. I will keep you and make you to be a covenant for the people and a
light for the Gentiles.” And that is exactly what Jesus did. He came to
identify with us, and with everything we are. He came not as a fully glorious
divine being, but as a human being just like us, coming down to our level and
making Himself accessible to everyone. He came to bring people to God, not by
threatening them, but by reaching out to them to relieve their suffering, heal
their wounds and illnesses, rescue them from the power of the devil, and forgive
their sins. When He was baptized, this was God’s way of confirming that He was
the one Isaiah, and all the prophets before Him, had claimed He was. He came to
share our life, our experiences, even sharing our struggles and suffering, to
be able to help us in every need. He ultimately came to suffer and die, to take
the punishment for our sins on Himself, so our sins could be forgiven, and to
rise again, to give us eternal life. Because He suffered the punishment for our
sins, He has made us clean, because of the sacrifice of Jesus; because God
accepts us as clean because, and only because, of the sacrifice of Jesus, God
is well pleased with us. The Holy Spirit came upon Jesus when He was baptized
to anoint Him in power – the power to heal the sick, forgive sin, raise people
from the dead, to show compassion and comfort to everyone suffering, and to
bring hope. Furthermore, as Isaiah had prophesied in Isaiah 42:7, Jesus came to
free us: He came to free us from being blinded by everything which was
keeping us from seeing God, and from recognizing who we really are. He came to
rescue us from the prisons in which we trap ourselves, especially the prisons
of our identity, of our past, and of our experiences, especially our negative
experiences: the ways in which we trap ourselves by thinking that where we’re
from, what we do, or what we’ve done, any way in which we try to define
ourselves, or others may define us, is all we are. He came to free us
from confusing the opinions of others with the opinions of God: instead, He has
made it clear what God’s opinion of us is – He loves us and we are His
children. He came to free us by making us realize that we are something more:
we are children of God. We are Christians.
As St. Peter testifies in Acts
10:34, “God does not show favoritism, but God accepts men from every nation who
fear him and do what is right.” Fearing God means believing that He does what
He promises to help and save us, and doing what is right means believing that
what God offers us through Jesus in Baptism is true. It is why we are able to
be called Christian, and the one and only identity we are to carry. We are
called Christians because Christ identifies with us, and we identify with
Christ: we are united to Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, and so we are
promised that God forgives our sins, helps us in all our sufferings, makes us
become more like Him through our sufferings, and gives us life with Him forever
after death. Jesus also identifies with us: He is proud to be like us, and He
is proud to say that we are His family. This is a great comfort for us as we do
struggle and suffer in life, but also know and believe that, because Jesus also
struggled and suffered, He understands us, He understands the life we live, He
understands our struggles, and He shows compassion to us, not only by suffering
with us, but by bringing us through all of our sufferings to healing and victory.
The same voice which spoke to Jesus from heaven at His Baptism is the same
voice which speaks to us today. The same voice which calls Jesus His Son, with
whom He is well pleased, is the same voice which tells us that we are all God’s
children, and so God is well pleased with each and every one of us. Because God
is pleased with Jesus, He is also pleased with us. Baptism is also the
confirmation of the unbreakable covenant, or promise, that each one of us are
connected with Jesus in a bond which can never be broken for any reason. Even
if we were to turn away from Jesus, that bond, that connection can still never
be broken. Jesus remains connected with us, no matter what happens. Nothing,
not even any way we may think about ourselves, or others may think of us, can
separate us from Jesus.
So, if anyone asks us the
question, “Who are you?” there is actually an easy answer: “I am a child of
God.” If anyone asks us “Who do you think you are?” there is also any easy
answer:
“I am a Christian. I am someone who is loved,
accepted, and saved by God. And, I not only think this, but I know this, I
believe this, I can say all this is true, because I am baptized!” If any voices
try to challenge us and ask, “How do you know this?” we can say, with absolute
confidence, “Because God has told me so. He has told me so in His Word. God has
promised me that everything He says is true. If He says I am His child, then I
am His child. If He says He loves me, then He loves me. If He says there is
hope for me, then there is hope for me. If He says my sins are forgiven, then
they are forgiven. If He says I am clean, then I am clean. If He says He is
well pleased with me, then He is well pleased with me. If He says I am a
Christian, then I am a Christian. If He says I am saved, then I am saved. He
promises me all this because Jesus died and rose again for me. And He further promises
me all this because I am baptized. I also believe that I am something far more
than what I may think I am, or others may think I am. I will not let myself be
defined by what I used to be, what I do, or by anything else. I will not
confuse people’s opinions of me with God’s opinion of me. I will not be trapped
this way any more. I will let anything that has been done to me in the past
define who I am. I will also not let other people define me: any other voice
which tries to tell me who they think I am, is not the voice of God. God says
that I am His child, and because of that, I am worth everything to Him, and
that is enough. I know who I am, and God knows who I am.”
Unfortunately, there are many
voices which may sound like God, because they claim to speak for God. So today,
we have to make clear what the voice of God truly says, and what it does not
say. And, I want to speak directly to anyone who has felt turned away from God,
or from the family of God, from the Church, by certain voices which have
claimed to speak for Him. Any voice that tells you that you are not a Christian
is not the voice of God. Any voice which tells you that because of your past,
what you have done, you cannot call yourself a child of God, is not the voice
of God. Any voice which tells you that God is not pleased with you is not the
voice of God. Any voice which tells you that God’s love for you is conditional,
that is, God loves you only if you do certain things or are a certain way, is
not the voice of God. Any voice that tells you that you deserve the hurt or
abuse someone did to you is not the voice of God. Any voice which tells you
that no one can help you as you struggle or suffer, and that God is somehow
punishing you by leaving you alone in your sufferings, is not the voice of God.
Any voice which tells you that you are not truly a Christian, whether because
you do not agree with certain ideas, or follow certain rules, is not the voice
of God. Any voice which tells you that you are lost and there is no hope for
you is not the voice of God. Most of all, any voice which tells you that you are
not welcome and do not belong, or fit in, to the Church, in the family of God,
because of who you are, or for any other reason, is definitely not the voice of
God. On the other hand, any voice which tells you that you are welcome, you are
accepted, you belong, you are saved by Jesus, and so you are accepted because
of Jesus, and you are a child of God, is the voice of God. Any voice which
tells you that God’s love for you is unconditional is the voice of God. Any
voice which tells you that there is hope and healing for you, especially from
your past or any hurt that was done to you, is the voice of God. Any voice
which tells you that you are a child of God only because of everything Jesus
has done, and not because of anything you have done, is the voice of God. Any
voice which tells you that you are a child of God because, and only because,
you have been saved by Jesus’ death on the cross and His resurrection, with no
other requirements necessary, is the voice of God. No matter who you are, Jesus
still identifies with you, and He is proud to call you His brother or sister.
No matter who you are, or what you have done, God calls you His child, and He
is proud to call you His child, because He is well pleased with you. This is
the true voice of God – which we can believe.
And then, the question is, after
we hear the true voice of God, with what voice do we ourselves speak on His
behalf? We always have to keep in mind that, just as Jesus was anointed for a
special identity and mission in His Baptism, we also have been anointed for a
special identity and mission. Just as Jesus received the power of the Holy
Spirit, we also receive the power of the Holy Spirit. So, are we really living
according to the Holy Spirit’s power? Are we following where the Holy Spirit
leads us? Are we being faithful to the identity and mission which we are given
in Baptism? Do we believe, and do we encourage each other to believe, that we
are loved and accepted by God, and that we are accepted by Him in Baptism? Do
we speak with the same gentle, compassionate voice that Jesus speaks to us
with? Do we see only one identity among us, that of being Christian? Do we
identify with each other by acknowledging each other as children of God? Are we
giving each other hope and encouragement? Do we show compassion to each other
as we struggle and suffer, by showing understanding and helping and supporting
each other in our struggles and sufferings? Do we show that same compassion
even to others, even strangers, who are struggling and suffering? Are we
listening to each other, to each other’s stories and struggles? This is what we
are given power for in Baptism – the power to, as Jesus did, bring hope,
healing, peace, and unity, as we are all united with Jesus and with each other
in Baptism. Let us live in this power, let this be our true purpose, our true
reason for being, and let this be our only true identity – we are Christians,
and that is all that is important.
Now may the peace of God, which
passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord,
Amen.
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