The Beloved of God

Isaiah 42:1-9, Matthew 3:13-17
(Epiphany 2: The Baptism of Jesus)

When I was working at a Behaviour Support Centre in England, I used to visit local high schools to provide 1:1 assistance to boys who were in danger of being excluded from school. The Headmaster of one of our local schools, a Church of England operated school within the State system, was named “Mr Wellbeloved”. I have always thought that to be a fantastic name, almost Dickensian. It’s a great name for a Headmaster, don’t you think? Mister Wellbeloved. That is a family that must have had a great sense of personal esteem, and a history of being favoured by their neighbours. Mr Wellbeloved’s first name is Andrew, and according to the school’s website he is still Headmaster at that school today, six years since I was last there.

In the stories we read this morning we are told that there are many people who are beloved of God: a whole tribe of Mesdames and Messieurs Wellbeloved. They are the favourite daughters and sons of God, the truly well beloved or perhaps the very well beloved. In London people may say of them “they is well beloved, innit?”

I have always been interested that God’s voice is heard by John heralding Jesus as “my beloved son in whom I am well pleased” just as Jesus is walking out of the water. After all what had Jesus done to deserve such love, such pride in his father’s eyes to warrant this praise? He had yet to do anything distinctly Messianic. He had not yet been through the temptations and had not yet been to Cana to turn water into wine. He had yet to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour, and hadn’t healed, restored, raised or forgiven anyone. All he had done up until that point was breathe, eat, drink, and be a carpenter.

So what is God saying? God is saying “I love you son, I love you just because you’re mine.” Those are the words that every child wants to hear from her or his father, no matter how old that child. My dad still sends an occasional SMS to my brother, sister and me that says “Love my kids, proud of my kids”. We three know it is true, we laugh about it amongst ourselves and with him and mum, but we treasure it. The thing is, my dad has been saying that for years, even before he had anything to be proud of; and in spite of the many things he had to not be proud of. My dad loves me because I breathe air, and there is nothing I can do about it.

It is a great word, “beloved”; it refers to a sense of intimacy, care, and deep affection. Isaiah wrote it as “whom I uphold”, “in whom I delight”, “in whom my soul delights”, and “with whom I am well pleased”. God is the “I” in all of those verses, and the beloved is the servant of God. Apart from the stories of Jesus’ baptism the word is used in Luke 20:13 where the owner of the vineyard sends his beloved son to negotiate with the wicked tenants. In I Corinthians 4:17 Paul uses the word when he is talking about Timothy as his beloved and faithful child in the Lord, and in Ephesians 5:1 Paul commends his readers to be imitators of God as beloved children.

So how do we know that we are the beloved of God? How can we be imitators of God as beloved children? Well according to Isaiah and repeated by Luke the first sign that we are favoured by God is that we obey God. Did you get that? Obedience is the sign, which means that it actually comes second. Favour precedes obedience, or in simpler terms because we are loved then we obey. Jesus was already loved by God, and because he knew that Jesus chose to obey God. Matthew 3:15 tells us that Jesus was baptised by John because it was the right thing for him to do. Jesus acted a certain way because he desired to please God, knowing that God was already pleased with him.

The second sign of God’s favour is also seen in this episode of Jesus, and also in the story of Peter and the Gentiles in Acts 10. The descent of the Holy Spirit was a visible and practical sign of God’s favour on Jesus and upon the household of Cornelius. Peter, who had walked with Jesus, saw that God was displaying the same favour of the baptism of Jesus in water and the baptism of the disciples in fire on the day of Pentecost upon a room full of non-Jews. The favour of God is upon all whom God loves, and that is seen by their obedience and the presence of God’s Spirit.

So, we know we are not only loved by God, but we are also the Beloved of God, if we obey God and if the Holy Spirit is upon us. Does that describe you? It describes me, and I have much cause to rejoice knowing how much my God loves me and how much “in favour” of me God is. God is in me, and God is with me, but now I realise that God is for me as well.

The apostle John described himself as “the disciple that Jesus loved”. He is the only one who did that; no-one else called him that, only John. And no-one else described themself in that way. Everyone knew that Peter was really named “Simon”, and it seems that all of them came to recognise Peter as the leader in some way. That name change and status change was accepted despite the several occasions where the twelve had argued who was the greatest. Paul later described himself as being the property of God when he referred to God as “the God whose I am”; but only John claimed the status of “the one Jesus loved”. Jesus didn’t give him that title, he gave himself that title. But I think he did so knowing that it was an identity that Jesus was pleased with. I am also the disciple that Jesus loves. I know this. I have no doubt that I am God’s favourite child: I so am! I live to worship and serve God and the Spirit of God is upon me, but I also know that that is the case for many of you too.

But it is not enough to simply accept this beloved status. I can do nothing to earn it, or lose it, but what am I supposed to do with it? Well according to Isaiah, and this is also quoted by Luke, the job of the beloved is to bring justice. This is the action of obedience in response to our being so loved, and the reason why we need to be upheld. Justice, and our doing it, is what gives God delight and causes God to take delight in us.

Jesus came to save, not only from sin but the effects of sin: the effects of injustice, poverty, and sickness. Jesus death dealt with the punishment for sin, but his life was a model to show how the church is to deal with the consequences of an unfair world. This is why he is so great a king, worthy not only of our praise but of our emulation. This is what we imitate as beloved children of God: Jesus’ upholding and care of the world. What God loves we love. As we are beloved of God so we need to “belove” or “be love to” the world as God loved us. This is the care for orphans, widows, sick, lonely, afraid, and abused which is a thread from Genesis to Maps.

As an example think of Jesus and Lazarus. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead for two reasons. Reason one: because Lazarus was dead, and being dead is not good. Reason two: because Mary and Martha were sad about Lazarus being dead and sadness is not good. John wrote that Jesus wept for the sisters; he grieved with his friends even though he knew what was coming. Jesus brought hope because he had hope. Jesus knew how beloved of God he was; therefore he was able to act in obedience to the God he loved out of the love that God gave to him. We are in the same position.

The love we have from God is for ourselves first, make no mistake, but it does not stop there. The measure of God which is shaken down and flowing over is how the beloved children of God live their lives. They are so full of the love of God that they leak, overflow, and spill all over the people they are near to. God healed people who came into contact with Peter’s shadow, and with handkerchiefs that Paul had touched. If God can do things like that through stuff like that, through people like that, then what can God do through the actual hands and feet and mouths and arms of Christians who are bubbling over with the joy of salvation and a heart for the world? Jesus answers that, “greater things than these”.

We have been promised that we will be upheld, that is what the word beloved means. God promised through Isaiah that [we] will not grow faint or be crushed until [we] have established justice in the earth. We are being upheld until such time as God’s work is completed. Now I don’t think that God will then withdraw the hand and we will be allowed to faint and die, rather this promise is that God loves the work of justice and promises strength for all who will undertake it. The coastlands wait for God’s teaching, says Isaiah, and [we] have been given as a covenant to the people and the light to the nations. God has chosen us to be the fulfilment of the promise made to all of creation.

We are loved, we are accepted, we are upheld, we are favoured, and we are chosen. We are The Beloved of God: so let us be loved by God, and be love for God.

Amen.