Beloved

As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people. But Herod the ruler, who had been rebuked by him because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and because of all the evil things that Herod had done, added to them all by shutting up John in prison.

Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” Luke 3:15-22 (NRSV)

There are people in this world we never see, folks who we look away from, human beings we ignore since they are not one of us. We choose to favor those who look like us and fail to see the goodness and beauty in the stranger. In our society, folks who are too big or too small, too broken or too loud - in so many ways we judge and turn away from others. They too are the beloved of God, they too are uniquely made and in whom God is pleased.

Jesus came to the river to see and hear John. His words werr both profound and startling. Most folks immediately understood the truthfulness and honesty in John. Jesus, too, came to be baptized with many others. From the heavens, words of love and honor were spoken. Yet we forget that those words, from a loving and wondrous Creator, are for all of us, all of Creation. We are loved and well pleasing beyond our understanding.

Today, I ask God to help me receive the Creator's words of love and to see others with the heart of God. May we be always turning to include and welcome, always seeing with the loving eyes of our Creator.