For Sunday, January 12, 2014 – Matthew 3:13-17
Our “better self” knows what is needed—even when it is something that the “better self” does not need. Jesus comes to John to be baptized by him. Both of them know he does not “need” to be baptized, and yet Jesus, guided by a higher mind for a higher purpose—in a continual process of manifestation, of epiphany—submits himself to the way he is being given, submits himself to being a public witness for the sake of others. When John protests, Jesus replies, “Let it be so.” We hear echoes of his mother’s own courage and acceptance. “Let it be with me according to your purpose,” she says in the face of her mysterious encounter with the Spirit of God. Has Jesus grown up hearing this motherly mantra, which now carries him into his baptismal rebirth, this new becoming? “Let it be…”
On this first Sunday of Epiphany, I wonder, what are the guiding themes threading through our own lives—the wisdom, whether bright or shadowed, that has been imprinted into our deepest selves, where our longings and hopes reside. “Don’t expect a free handout” might be one. “You are valued just as you are (as long as you are who we want you to be)” might be another. “Where do you come up with such strange ideas?” and “You can’t win the prize if you don’t run the race,” and “Don’t just sit there; do something.” Once in a rattled time of transition, a dream brought me this message from a plain-spoken emissary: “You don’t need to find anything. Everything you truly need will find its way to you.” This voice has guided me through many transitions since. What guiding messages lie at the roots of your being?
Jesus had “let it be” and now, something more: a voice—as ephemeral and as ordinary as seeing a dove—affirming him as beloved. We are guided, for better or for worse, by many claims to wisdom, but it is in search of this One Voice of Love that we wander like lonely troubadours, singing for our supper from a multitude of people and activities that ultimately are unable to sustain us. In search of the One Voice, our journey with Jesus now begins.
