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The Rev. Laura Matarazzo
January 7, 2007 -  First Sunday after the Epiphany

What better way to start the New Year than to recall our baptism or, for those among us who are not baptized, to reflect upon its meaning and power. It is the sacrament that births us into the body of Christ and into the Church of God. What better way to be renewed than to remember the waters in which we are cleansed from sin and reborn; sealed by the Holy Spirit, marked as Christ’s own forever; and, like Jesus, named BELOVED by God. What better way to begin 2007 than by remembering that each one of us is a beloved child of the living God! 

Jesus’ baptism reminds us of our own and although it is a one-time event, its power and authority reach far beyond it, like circles radiating infinitely around us. This one-time event ushers in an ongoing relationship with God that continually restores and renews us; a relationship that presents us, at every moment, with the potential for God’s will to be done, for God’s goodness to be manifest in us. Our baptism is an outward and visible sign to us that we are never alone in this human endeavor, but faithfully accompanied by our Creator God, by our redeeming Christ, and by God’s life-giving Spirit. 

God says so, through the prophet Isaiah. LISTEN!

“… thus says the Lord, he who created you, he who formed you…DO NOT FEAR, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you….Because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you…everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” 

We will be tried and tested by life’s unavoidable challenges. From the holy waters of baptism we move into a world that threatens to overwhelm us with different kinds of water, if you will: …the flood of despair, storms of rage and violence, waves of doubt, torrents of tears and rivers of sorrow. The baptism by fire of which John speaks reminds us that we will be saved in fiery trials as well…burning temptation, hot anger, scorching radiation, the flames of car bombs and the parched landscape of war-ravaged earth. 

Listen! God has already saved you for Godself. He will not let you go. He calls you by name and claims you as his own, you whom he has created for his own glory. God’s glory lies in the fulfillment of God’s loving will and so God will use you for his holy purposes. Our response is to commit ourselves to that loving will, to be available to that just and merciful motive, to expect God to act in and through us. 

Last Sunday, Chris preached a sermon about former Presidents Ford and Nixon, about Ford’s pardon of Nixon, and about reconciliation. I commend it to you and you will find it in the kiosk in the back of the church. I am compelled to reprise part of it here because reconciliation is at the heart of our baptism and at the heart of our relationship with God. I believe reconciliation worthy of a New Year’s resolution or a theme of life for the coming year. 

In his sermon, Chris said,

“St. Paul explained [reconciliation] as an act of God through Christ in which, while God hates sin, while sin is still the enemy of God, yet God acts to overcome it. No admission of guilt is required, no confession necessary. Because God in Christ is the actor, the motivator, all human beings do is accept reconciliation.”  

From the start, when we are baptized into the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, God reconciles us to him. That is, brings us into relationship with him and keeps us, in spite of our inevitable sins against him. When we accept God’s never-failing love and its reconciling power, then we can be agents of reconciliation. We are called to this by our baptism. Every promise we make in our baptismal covenant—especially the promises to seek and serve Christ in all persons, and to strive for justice and peace among all people, and to respect the dignity of every human being—all of these commit us to the reconciling love of God in Christ. 

To be reconciled means to be in relationship. Every one of us knows the experience of ruptured relationship. We all have known times when betrayal, distrust, fear, insecurity, jealousy, downright stubbornness and hardheartedness have prevented us from being in full and loving communion with others. We all know how living in conflict or being in a state of alienation oppresses and distorts God’s love in us and prevents our growth as individuals and as communities. 

God calls us to be reconciled with one another and God’s love makes it possible. Witness the Amish community who some months ago forgave the murderer of their children…invited his widow and children into their midst…made a loving place in their community for those he left behind. They sought to be reconciled rather than to live divided and be impoverished by holding fast to anger, injury, pain and guilt. The depth and breadth of their commitment to the love of Christ is beyond most of our imagining. They sustained life-giving relationship in the face of overwhelming loss and grief. It IS possible! 

In an entirely different venue but one in which we all have much store: this week, we heard Nancy Pelosi declare her party’s commitment to relationship when she said she will take on the mantle of Speaker of the House “in the spirit of partnership, not partisanship.” Pray God it may be so. 

Reconciliation liberates us from the stifling oppression of self-righteousness and the poverty of polarity. It means that the multitude of gifts and graces of those who might otherwise be adversaries are joined for the common good. We pray for this in our homes, in our communities, in our church, in our nation, and in our world. 

Generation after generation God lovingly offers us this life-giving potential. Generation after generation, we are reborn in Christ through our baptism, redeemed, brought back; restored, gathered from whatever far corner of the universe to which we have strayed…called back by that voice that flashes forth flames of fire…or whispers in the stillness…“you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you.”  

For the renewal of our faith in 2007, for reconciliation among families and communities of faith, for the forging of creative partnerships in our government, and for the healing of the nations, we pray in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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