Responding to God's Radically Inclusive Love
Helen Weber-McReynolds, R.W.C.P.
January 15, 2023
Feast of Baptism & MLK Birthday
Isaiah 42: 1-7; Ps. 40; Acts 10: 34-38, 44-48; Matthew 3: 13-4:1
 
           I hope at least once in your life you have each had the experience of taking a deep dive into a lake or ocean, swimming for a nice long way underwater, and then coming back up to the surface for a huge breath of air. If you have, I hope the sun was shining brightly, so that when you came up from the darkness of the deep water, the light dazzled your eyes, and the water sparkled like diamonds everywhere all around you. I hope you made some huge splashes and felt the sun’s heat and the water’s cold, and felt at that moment really, truly, completely alive.
           To me, this is the idea behind baptism—surfacing from the dark and cold to begin a new, vibrant, re-energized life. To follow God with new passion and conviction. To leave behind destructive embedded beliefs and start fresh, celebrating God’s love by passing it on to everyone in your life. To greet a God whose love you know is secure and unlimited, like the God Isaiah spoke of in our first reading, when he said: “I am God. I have called you to wholeness. I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you. I have set you among my people to bind them to me. I have made you as a lighthouse to all nations, to open eyes that are blind, to free prisoners, to release dungeon-dwellers, and to empty despair of its captives.” This is the new life God calls us to—not just for one baptism, but every day as we recommit ourselves to help someone a little more, to listen a little better, to insist on justice a little more, or a lot more, and to try to deepen our relationship with God constantly.
           The story of Peter and Cornelius is one of my favorites of all the stories in the whole Bible, because it conveys so vividly the excitement the members of the early church felt when inviting other people into the radically inclusive love of Jesus. We have just the conclusion of this story for our second reading today. I encourage you to go back and read the whole chapter 10 in Acts. When we read about Peter and the other disciples going into Cornelius’ non-Jewish family’s house and passing on to them Jesus’ teachings, you can just feel the power of the Holy Spirit vibrating through everyone present. Peter himself had a major epiphany in that moment, realizing that, “God indeed shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who is humble before God and does what is right is acceptable to God.” He realized the Gospel was for Gentiles as well as Jews, for everyone who would accept it, and, for sure, that no one could withhold water for baptism for these people who had received the Holy Spirit.
           Martin Luther King, Jr. understood this radical inclusivity of God’s love very well. He was deeply convicted of the belief that racism and discrimination of all kinds is antithetical to Christianity. He knew and that God calls everyone, and that it is up to us to build the Beloved Community that God has established already and not yet. As Dr. King said in his I Have a Dream speech, “Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of (person)hood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children…. And when this happens, and when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black (people) and white (people), Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last. Free at last. Thank God almighty, we are free at last.”
           It sounds like baptism was a big epiphany moment for Jesus as well. From Matthew’s gospel we learn that when Jesus came to the surface after his submersion in the Jordan, he felt a tremendous affirmation, that he was God’s beloved, God’s own, with whom God was well pleased. It was such a profound experience that he had to go out into the wilderness for a long time of prayer and silence to figure out what to do next. He knew that being baptized with all the diverse folks who were coming out to the desert to hear John teach was the right thing to do. And afterwards he could feel the strength of God’s Spirit also, and a deep peace, as gentle as a dove. But what would the next step be?
           What is the next step for us? How do we continue our spirit-filled, re-energized baptized life? We are God’s beloved, God’s own as well. God promises to support us in every effort we take on to make the world better. Do we need some silence to help us figure out where to concentrate our efforts? Are we dazzled and disoriented by God’s profound acceptance? Or are we ready to take action right now?

Mary's pondering
Helen Weber-McReynolds, RCWP
January 1, 2023
Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God and  World Day of Peace
Numbers 6: 22-27; Ps. 4; Col. 3: 12-17; Luke 2: 13-19
 
            You are awakened by the first few rays of morning light coming under the eaves of the barn. Joseph and the baby are still asleep. The floor is hard, though Joseph did his best to provide a soft bed of straw last night. The weather is cold, but the body heat of the cattle and sheep in this crude, small building have helped take off some of the chill. Thank God you and Joseph were able to find it, after you could not find anywhere else to stay last night. With the baby coming quickly, you were desperate.
           And now the baby you carried all those months is here, and he is so beautiful. The only bed you had to lay him in was a feed trough there in the barn. But lying there, so peaceful, so perfect, you are proud and hopeful.
           The delivery was nothing like you had planned. You were caught short, the baby coming suddenly while you and Joseph were still traveling. Your whole betrothal and then this unexpected early pregnancy have been so sudden and unplanned—how did you come to this moment? What does it mean for the future?
           You have been raised by your parents, Anna and Joachim, to understand that, as a member of God’s people, you have a responsibility to help bring awareness of God’s profound love to the world- to help spread justice and loving-kindness, especially to the poor, the migrant, the widow, and the orphan. All your life, you have rejoiced in God’s love and reveled in the beauty of God’s creation, treasuring your moments wandering the olive groves, wading by the lakeshore, and gazing at the stars in the sky at night. Though you never had the advantage of formal education, you have soaked up as much oral history of your religious tradition and memorized as much Hebrew scripture as possible. You know by heart the prayer of your ancestor, Hannah, and you love the parts about God lifting up the lowly and feeding the hungry the most. You have devoted yourself to prayer and Jewish teachings. You are determined to serve God. Your whole life has been one long “Yes” to God.
           But you live in a land now occupied by the Roman Empire, where violence, cruelty, rape, and taxation enforce submission and poverty. The urgency of God’s message to help find justice for your oppressed community seems greater than ever. Rebellion seems to simmer just below the surface always.
You and Joseph have looked forward to marriage and starting a family. When God seemed to offer a less conventional plan, you still said “Yes.” You knew you were in danger, but you were not afraid. You have faith in the limitless love of God. After many months of prayer and reflection, with the support of your cousin Elizabeth, you have been inspired to believe that God has something very special in mind for your son and your little family. Just last night, some shepherds came to the door, saying they had a message from God that the baby born there had been sent by God to be the savior of his people, descended from the great king David. What does all this mean? What does the future hold for you, for Joseph, and, most of all, for Jesus?
         With faith in God, you understand that the future will unfold as it will. But you resolve to help your son prepare the best you can. You say “Yes” to modeling God’s love for him, to teaching him God’s word, and to showing him every day how much God loves everyone. God has given you a precious, special son. Your life’s work will be helping him to live in God’s image.
         The baby is starting to stir a little now. As you lift him from the manger, you whisper a prayer asking for God’s help in doing what is asked of you. This child is love and will be love. From this day on, you will teach him only peace.