Listen and You Will Know

Sermon

St. Paul’s Church

Sunday, January 12

Isaiah 42: 1-9; Matthew 3:14-17

Perhaps the most compelling moment of my ordination to the diaconate was the moment that Chip Stokes paused in his sermon and asked me to stand up and face him. Totally surprised, I stood and took several steps forward in order to be closer and directly in front of the pulpit. I looked at him; he looked at me, and he said, 

“Clelia, God has led you on an extraordinary journey and now calls you into an extraordinary ministry of service...I know you...I know you well....I give thanks for this day and for God’s call to you...I think it has been a long time coming....I am thankful for the privilege of sharing with you in this call....You know about power and privilege and celebrity and the all the superficialities and artificial categories of value that mark the world in which we live....You have lived among them....

You have also recognized the needs of the world and dedicated yourself as a layperson and social worker to responding to those needs....Christ now calls you into deeper servanthood and deeper love....On behalf of God’s people, I now charge you to continue to grow in Christ’s love and service and to grow in your servant ministry as a deacon....Continue to break boundaries, to  journey to places of discomfort and pain, to journey to places which challenge your own comfort level and perhaps even threaten your own self-understanding...Go to those places...Go to those places because you are needed there...Go to those places because Christ is needed there...Let those who see you, see and experience Christ, through you and  in you...Let his words resound through your ministry, “I am among you as one who serves.”

The charge was forceful and clear; the impact of its content and the way in which it was delivered have been with me ever since. The charge was and is the outward manifestation of my inner commitment to be a servant of God. A servant through whom the light of God and the power of the Holy Spirit shine forth offering compassion, love, hope and joy to those whom I serve.

Today, the day on which we celebrate the Baptism of our Lord, scripture is filled with charges – 

In Isaiah we hear the charge, “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations…”  (Isa 42:1) 

This charge from God is spoken directly to his people when he says, “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights.” 

“My servant, my chosen, whom I uphold and in whom I delight.” Nothing unclear here about what God is saying to his chosen people, Israel.

After identifying who is being charged, the charge itself is given. God says, “I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.” 

Paul D. Hanson in his Bible commentary on Isaiah 40-66 writes, “The spirit in the Old Testament is the power and wisdom of God with which those called to serve are endowed (Isa 11:2. Through the empowerment of God’s spirit, weak and ordinary human beings rise up to accomplish daunting tasks on behalf of God’s reign of justice…”

God’s charge to the Israelites is indeed a daunting one. Even more daunting -- the charge is accompanied by many mandates of what not to do. God is specific when he says, “He will not cry out or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice.” (Isa 42:2-3)

The servant is not allowed to carry out his task in anger, violence, or oppression of any kind. The Servant must serve with quiet and patient gentleness, confident that all whom he encounters will be drawn to God’s reign of justice not by human force but by the power that is embodied in compassion and righteousness. The Servant is called to live a life patterned on the nature of God. 

For Isaiah, God’s servants are the instruments through which the world comes to share the light of God’s salvation.

Today, we celebrate the Baptism of our Lord in the River Jordon by John the Baptist. In Matthew’s telling of this story we experience God speaking directly not to the Israelites but to Jesus. 

As Jesus emerged from the baptismal waters God’s charge echoed from heaven, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matt 3:16-17) 

Through this brief but direct communication between God and Jesus the divine sonship of Jesus was established – Jesus received his charge from God the Father; a charge perhaps best defined by Jesus himself in the Gospel of John, "I came so that everyone would have life, and have it in its fullest" (John 10:10).

A charge that initiated Jesus’ three short years of ministry.  A charge that brought the gift of God’s salvation to the world.

When we are baptized, we too are identified as beloved children of God. When we are baptized we receive our charge from a priest or bishop who prays, “Heavenly Father, we thank you that by water and the Holy Spirit, you have bestowed upon this your servant the forgiveness of sin, and have raised them to the new life of grace. Sustain them, O Lord, in your Holy Spirit. Give them an inquiring mind and discerning heart, the courage to will and to persevere, a spirit to know and to love you, and the gift of joy and wonder in all your works.” (BCP p. 306)

At our baptism, we are charged as God’s servants; those whom He upholds; those whom he has chosen; those in whom he delights. At our baptism God puts His Spirit upon us and charges us with the task of bringing him delight as we strive for justice and peace among all people, and as we move through life respecting the dignity of every human being.

To put it quite simply, through our baptism God charges us to be an instrument through which the light of His salvation shines in the world.

This then is our charge – to be God’s servant, whom he has chosen, whom he upholds, and in whom He delights. 

My friends, I encourage you to read and reflect on today’s readings. Let these passages be a catalyst for reflection on the nature of your response to the charge which you have received from God.

Remember, God chose you as his servant because he delights in you, and he has charged you with bringing forth His Light to the world. 

How can you best carry forth that charge? How can you be a servant through whom the light of God and the power of the Holy Spirit shine forth offering compassion, love, hope and joy to those whom you serve?

Listen and you will know.  AMEN