We all like to be told, “Good job.” It’s even better to be told, “You’re a really great person.” Deep in our hearts, we all long to hear the words that Jesus heard as he broke through the waters of the Jordan at his Baptism: “You are my beloved child of whom I am well pleased.” Our truest identity is beloved son or daughter of God. Knowing our true identity tells us not only who we are, but also what our mission is. In Isaiah, God tells the servant leader, “I have formed you . . . as a light for the nations.”

Nothing could be more common than water. It’s available in plastic bottles everywhere we go, offered by the glass for free on most restaurant tables. It comes out of the tap in our homes and we take that privilege for granted—except in those rare moments when it’s just not there for some municipal reason. The typical American family of four uses 400 gallons of water a day for drinking, cooking, showering, laundering, lawn maintenance. Also, one-third of our national water usage gets flushed away in our bathrooms, to the tune of $5 billion every year.

As he preached he said, “The real action comes next: The star in this drama, to whom I’m a mere stagehand, will change your life. I’m baptizing you here in the river, turning your old life in for a Kingdom life. His Baptism—a holy Baptism by the Holy Spirit—will change you from the inside out.” At this time, Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. The moment he came out of the water, he saw the sky split open and God’s Spirit, looking like a dove, come down on him. Along with the Spirit, a voice: “You are my Son, chosen and marked by my love, pride of my life” (from Mark 1).

It was a long and circuitous journey that somehow (I call it grace) brought the family surrounding the baptismal font back to the church. Judgmental words and self-righteous pomposity had driven them away. Simple acts of kindness and welcome eventually led them back with their three sons, ages 6, 4, and 2, to gather around the font flowing with the waters of rebirth. Their three Baptisms would mark the beginning of a new life of faith for the family, a recommitment by the parents who, when all is noted, had never really left their belief behind, just its locus.

As we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus when God poured down the Holy Spirit, we ask that God bless us with the grace of forgiveness.

January is a big month for health club memberships. With the new year underway, a lot of the people in the pews may be struggling with “resolutions” they made at the beginning of the year. It’s tempting to believe that unless I can change my looks, my weight, my behavior, I am worth nothing. God tells us differently: “You are my beloved child in whom I am well pleased.”

Jesus rises from the waters; the world rises with him.