Ordinary Time

Ordinary Time

January 8, 2023

Scripture Reading: Matthew 3:13-17
Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?’ But Jesus answered him, ‘Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfil all righteousness.’ Then he consented. And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’

I have seen movies trying to imagine what might have been going on in Jesus’s heart and mind during his childhood and the first few years of being an adult. In the Bible he leaves the scene when he leaves the temple at the age of 12. He resurfaces when his is baptized. Matthew’s version of that event seems to indicate that what might have been unknown to him was made clear through the act of baptism. suddenly the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. He received his calling.

We all have been there. As children, we wondered what we would be when we grow up. I read all seven of the Sue Barton books in my school library, from Sue Barton Student Nurse, written in 1936, to Sue Barton Staff Nurse, written in 1952. Being a nurse became my chosen profession. When I was in high school, I worked as a nurse’s aide in a nursing home, and I loved working with the patients, but I watched what the Registered Nurses did and knew immediately that was not the job for me. I enrolled in college with the intent of becoming a speech pathologist. During my first semester, I took a mandatory Sociology course that introduced me to my vocation, Social Work, which has been my life work ever since—not a clinical Social Worker but an administrator and an advocate.

I have no doubt that the world that surrounded Jesus impacted him greatly, from holding the end of a board for his carpenter father to experiencing the results of the Roman war that destroyed Sepphoris, what Josephus calls “the ornament of the Galilee.” after Herod’s death in 4 BCE. Sepphoris was located about 4 miles from Nazareth and tradition says that it was Mary’s birthplace. Think about the impact the war in Ukraine is having on that country’s preschoolers. Mary’s parents or other relatives might have been killed when that city was destroyed. If nothing else, Jesus was well-schooled in empathy when his official ministry began.

What is God calling us to do today? Our service never ends. We may transition from what we could do as young adults to what we can do as retirees, but God’s work toward building the Beloved Community never ends.

Prayer: Help us to fulfill our calling to serve you more nearly. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.