Yesterday, with baptisms occurring during our Eucharistic liturgy, the pastor/celebrant  and a guitarist sang a Lutheran baptismal hymn, “I Was There to hear Your Borning Cry.” You can hear the hymn being sung on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6x9QhN5QnbI

The song begins with “I was there to hear your borning cry, I’ll be there when you are old.” Verse after verse reminds us of God’s encouraging presence as we make our pilgrimage through life.

The hymn and the words of Abba God over the baptized Jesus are powerful reminders that God, however, we attempt to define and describe God, is present to us from our bornings and throughout our lives. God called Jesus to John’s baptism not because he had to be purified but because he had to be strengthened for his mission. Baptism prepares us for and strengthens us for mission which Isaiah describes for us:

I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice,
I have grasped you by the hand;
I formed you, and set you
as a covenant of the people,
a light for the nations,
to open the eyes of the blind,
to bring out prisoners from confinement,
and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.

It is about justice, right order, and restoring right order. The God of our borning takes us by the hand and leads us forth. The very mission entrusted to Jesus is our mission: giving sight to the blind, setting free the oppressed, liberating prisoners, and declaring years of jubilee debt relief.

Listen to the voice at Jesus’ baptism, “You are my beloved son/daughter with whom I am well pleased.” Listen, yes do listen to these words. They are words also spoken to us. The Living God is with us. The power, strength and love of the Living God flow throughout the cosmos and dwells deep down within our hearts. Christ Power calls us to become what we already are—beloved sons and daughters of the Living God. Christ Power calls us to became all that we can be. Live in that Power and Love today.

“You are my beloved son/daughter with whom I am well pleased.”