Matthew 3:13-17

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Then Jesus *arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized b him! 14 "ut John tried to prevent #im, sa in$, %& have need to be baptized b 'ou, and do 'ou (ome to me)* 15 "ut Jesus answerin$ said to him, %+ermit it at this time, for in this wa it is fittin$ for us to fulfill all ri$hteousness!*Then he *permitted #im! 16 -fter bein$ baptized, Jesus (ame up immediatel from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened, and [a]he saw the .pirit of God des(endin$ as a doveand [b]li$htin$ on #im, 17 and behold, a voi(e out of the heavens said, %This is [c]M beloved .on, in whom & am well-pleased!* #ave ou ever been loved despite who ou are) &/m not tal0in$ about those who mas0 their hatred for ou under the (laim that the love the sinner but hate the sin! &/m tal0in$ about that subtler sort of dis(rimination where someone tries to love ou b denying who ou are 1 that ba(0handed (ompliment that often $ets voi(ed as %& don/t thin0 of you that wa 2!* &n other words, %m stereot pes are 3uite well inta(t, than0 ou ver mu(h, &/m 4ust not $oin$ to appl them to ou!* This sort of ba(0handed (ompliment also frames the e5perien(e of those of us who are disabled and who dare to su((eed at an thin$ in our lives! The disabilit movement tal0s about this phenomenon as the %super(rip* stereot pe! The media pi(0s up on stories of people with ph si(al or mental limitations who %su((eed despite the odds* and %over(ome* their disabilit ! .ometimes this is shown throu$h the evenin$ news hi$hli$htin$ the $rand a((omplishments of disabled people li0e -aron 6otherin$ham a oun$ lifelon$ parapale$i( who does ba(0flips on his wheel(hair at the s0ate par0! .ometimes this is seen in %smaller* inspirational stories about people with disabilities who never let their disabilit %$et them down!* 'ou would not believe how man people thin0 the are (omplimentin$ me when the tell me that the for$et that & am partiall si$hted, be(ause & $et around so well and %:don/t a(t blind!* 78hatever that means). 9nmentioned in these %inspirin$* stories is the underl in$, often un(ons(ious, disablin$ assumption that ph si(al, mental, or emotional differen(e is a tra$ed that should normall render us miserable, patheti(, and worst of all in our (apitalist so(iet 1 %unprodu(tive!* .entimental heroes are made out of the disabled, be(ause we are unable to believe that people whose bodies and minds wor0 differentl (ould otherwise be real honest to $oodness borin$ people! &n the pro(ess, we (onstru(t another disablin$ barrier to parti(ipation in (ommunit b (ommuni(atin$ that those of us with different bodies (annot be a normal part of our (ommunit be(ause we are so tra$i(all different! The disabilit movement emphasizes that it is so(iet , not our bodies, that disable us! 8hile the e5perien(es of bein$ se5ual minorities, $ender minorities and the e5perien(e of bein$ disabled differ in important wa s, we share in (ommon the e5perien(e of e5(lusion from (ommunit ! &n different wa s, we have all e5perien(ed a so(iet that see0s to poli(e our bodies throu$h shamin$ us, dis(riminatin$ a$ainst us, and e5(ludin$ us from full parti(ipation in so(iet ! The underl in$ messa$e to all of this is % ou need to either be(ome li0e us, or ou (annot be one of us!* Toda /s passa$e finds Jesus and John the "aptist disa$reein$ about what it means to be in(luded in the (ommunit of God/s people1 to be(ome %one of God/s*! Jesus (omes to John the "aptist see0in$ baptism as a representative of God/s people to demonstrate God/s a((eptan(e and

love for God/s people! This 3ueer (hoi(e b Jesus to parti(ipate in a sinner/s baptism bewilders John, in the pro(ess e5posin$ John/s assumptions! 'ou see, prior to this en(ounter, John believed that dirt sinners, and those whose bodies made them rituall impure throu$h se5, menstruation, and other sorts of embodied differen(e 7i!e! bein$ human: re3uired that one be washed (lean b the waters of baptism in order to 4oin God/s people! ;nowin$ this, we (an understand wh John re(eivin$ this re3uest from a person he (learl re$ards as hol would (onfuse him! "elievin$ that baptism e5isted to fi5 bro0en people so that the (ould become worth of enterin$ God/s presen(e, he (ould not fathom wh someone li0e Jesus 1 the one person whom he did not see as tra$i(all bro0en and unworth -would need to be baptized! Jesus/s response to this, as seems to be so often his (ustom, is rather (r pti(! #is baptism is appropriate and ne(essar in order %to fulfill all ri$hteousness!* The idea here is that Jesus, throu$h his baptism, is ena(tin$ God/s will for ri$ht relationship! 8hat is happenin$ in Jesus/s baptism is the wa that thin$ should be and will be! This is the wa of ri$ht relationship with God and nei$hbor that we find in the rei$n of God -- in the 0in$dom <3ueendom of God that Jesus/s ministr opens up for us! The radi(all transformative event that happens in Jesus/s baptism (omes in the words of God from heaven! Those words where God reiterates about Jesus what God had previousl said about all of God/s people 1 %this is m beloved (hild in whom & am well pleased!* The divine p rote(hni(s of the heavens openin$ up, the .pirit des(endin$, and God spea0in$ (an ma0e this entire event seem otherworldl ! &t would be a mista0e, thou$h, if we let the spe(ta(le of Jesus/s baptism distra(t us from the truth of what God sa s to Jesus and what those words mean to us! #ere, it is important to realize that this is not a private event between God and Jesus! .ome (ommentators have erred in assumin$ that the baptism of Jesus hi$hli$hts God/s unique relationship with Jesus, as if Jesus alone was God/s beloved =hild! >ow, & do not mean to den that Jesus has a uni3ue relationship with God -- his heavenl parent whom he (alled -bba! There are other pla(es in the bible that emphasize the uni3ue identit and role of Jesus as God/s onl be$otten (hild, but that/s not what/s happenin$ in this parti(ular passa$e! .(ripture (onsistentl uses the lan$ua$e of God/s (hild 7or the son of God, as man se5ist translations unfortunatel put it: to refer to God/s people and their ro al representatives! God/s people, in whom God deli$hts, whom God has delivered from slaver to sin, addi(tion, and death, are the audien(e to whom God spea0s when the heavens open up at the baptism of Jesus! &n toda /s passa$e, when we see the heavens open up and hear God de(lare %This is m (hild, whom & love, with whom & am well pleased* we should hear God sa in$ the same to us! -lon$ with Jesus, we are God/s beloved (hildren in whom God deli$hts! -s God spea0s these words to us alon$side Jesus, we are reminded that this is not the first time that God has de(lared God/s love for God/s beloved (hildren! ?et/s turn for a moment to Jeremiah 31:@A, our other s(ripture te5t for toda , a s(ripture that would have been immediatel brou$ht to mind for the ori$inal readers of the $ospel b the words God spo0e at Jesus/s baptism! % ou are m dearest (hild, the one & love best! 8henever & mention our name, & thin0 of ou with love! M heart $oes out to ou, & will have ra(hamim!* Bn$lish reall (an/t do 4usti(e to %ra(hamim* the #ebrew word that our Bn$lish bibles usuall translate as mer( ! %Ca(hamim* shares a (ommon root with the #ebrew word for womb2it means the (ompassionate, embodied, love and safet of the womb2!the mer( a mother should naturall have for her (hild! -n embodied love! - stubborn and faithful and endurin$ mer( ! This is not a love that we have to prove ourselves 8DCT#' of! This is a love that is rooted in the deepest parts of God/s person! This is a love that does not

dis(riminate! - love that does not $row or diminish based on performan(e! - love that does not need to be impressed b obedien(e or performan(e, and that (annot be fri$htened awa b differen(e or an thin$ else in all of (reation! This is a love that does not 4ud$e! This is a love that loves us as God/s (hildren purel be(ause we are God/s beloved (hildren! % ou are m dearest (hild, the one & love best! 8henever & mention our name, & thin0 of ou with love! M heart $oes out to ou, & will have ra(hamim! Thus sa s -donai! Thus sa s our God* Ceall , we should 4ust end the sermon there! That love sa s ever thin$, if we (an onl attend to it! "ut if ou/re an thin$ li0e me, we (an $et reall $ood at i$norin$ God/s voi(e! &t/s hard to hear God/s voi(e to us, as God/s beloved, and to live in that truth, be(ause 0nowin$ we are beloved (han$es ever thin$! &f we all are God/s beloved! &f & am God/s beloved (hild and so are ou and so are ou! That should transform how we relate to ea(h other! Dur identit , value, and pla(e in the (ommunit of God/s beloved is not determined b our ph si(al appearan(e, our abilities, our se5ualit , our $ender identit , or an other variable that is a part of who we are! & am not a fi$ure to be pitied as a fat, blind, $a man! & am a (hild of the livin$ God! & do not have to do (artwheels for ou or a(t li0e the perfe(t student, (hild, parent, or =hirstian to demonstrate that & am worth of love despite who & am! & am a (hild of the livin$ God! & do not have to over(ome that identit , & do not have to be pitied in that identit , & do not need ou to overloo0 that identit ! &, Earren M(Eonald, partiall si$hted, fat, leather pervert, am a beloved (hild of the God who made me, who 0nows me, who loves me, and who EB?&G#T. in me! This is not a love &>.+&TB of m se5ualit or &>.+&TB of m visual impairment or &>.+&TB of m fetishes! This is the love that birthed MB into bein$! This is the love that dreamed me into e5isten(e as the beautiful and beloved (reation that & am! This is the love that $ives me the stren$th to live out m life in this world as the person that & was made to be! &t was this love that $ave Jesus the stren$th to live life as an out(ast whose 3uestionable parenta$e 0ept him mar$inalized! &t was this love that Jesus e5tended to other outsiders, 0nowin$ that the were also God/s beloved (hildren! &t was this love that enabled Jesus to fa(e those violentl oppressive disablin$ institutions that sou$ht to silen(e, and that in the end (ru(ified, him! -s followers of Jesus, we are (alled to first find ourselves within the love of the God who made us, who 0nows us, and who loves us as God/s beloved (hildren! 8hen we find ourselves rooted in the power of that love, we are freed from the demands of so(iet to perform to their e5pe(tations! 9ltimatel , the onl evaluation that M-TTBC. is the evaluation of the God who made us and who loves us as we are! That God does not need us to be super(rips, or the perfe(t 3ueer parents! That God does not pit us! That God deli$hts in us, as we are, as God/s beloved (hild! -s we re(o$nize that we are -?? God/s beloved (hildren, we (an wor0 to resist those barriers to parti(ipation in (ommunit that dehumanize God/s (hildren! 8e (an resist those attitudes that we en(ounter, within our selves and within our world, that (all some people more worth of admiration and love than others, that mar0 some as superheroi( and others as pitiful, that see others throu$h stereot pes and so(ial norms rather than throu$h the love of God for God/s (hildren 8e (an also wor0 to transform those institutional barriers that 0eep people from full parti(ipatin$ in so(iet ! Dutside of (hur(h, we (an all with ea(h other in wor0in$ for so(ial 4usti(e for all people, refusin$ to $et ensnared in sin$le-issue politi(s that disre$ard in4usti(e done outside of our rainbow bubble! &nside the (hur(h, we (an also wor0 for 4usti(e, 0nowin$ that this is an old relativel ina((essible buildin$ that (an disable some in our (on$re$ation!

"e ond this, we (an wor0 to insure the full parti(ipation of all people in our (on$re$ation, remainin$ vi$ilant to insure that all people and all voi(es are trul wel(ome at this table! "eloved, hear the words of God to ou2!*% ou are m dearest (hild, the one & love best! 8henever & mention our name, & thin0 of ou with love! M heart $oes out to ou, & will have ra(hamim! Thus sa s -donai! Thus sa s our God!* Ma ou 0now, now and alwa s, that ou are D>B of God/s beloved (hildren! -nd so is the person ne5t to ou! -men!