1.
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our
Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. The
message from God’s Word this morning is taken from Isaiah 43:1-7 and is
entitled, “Fear Not, You’re Mine!” Dear
brothers and sisters in Christ!
2.
Early
every year at this time the church celebrates the Baptism of our Lord. Many people have just taken down Christmas
decorations, returned from holiday traveling, and resumed the routine of school
and work. Only a couple weeks into the New Year, many may be battling with New
Year’s resolutions they’ve made and not yet fulfilled. For many across our
country, days are cold and dreary this time of the year. Counselors and
psychologists say they see increased signs of depression and anxiety just after
the first of the year. What better time
for us as Christians to clarify what’s our real identity in life? Our identity
isn’t found in the “new me” because
of the weight I lost as a result of my New Year’s resolutions. Our identity
isn’t wrapped up with holidays of Christmas & New Year’s, as great as they
were. Our identity isn’t connected to what gifts we gave or received at
Christmas. As wonderful as they are, our identity also isn’t only found in our
connections with family and friends we visited during the holidays. Rather, our
identity is with God, who came to identify himself with us. In the Baptism of
our Lord, Jesus identifies himself with us because his baptism was to fulfill
all righteousness on his way to the cross. Christ wasn’t baptized for his
benefit, since he’s without sin. Instead, he was baptized for our benefit as he
connects himself to us.
3.
In
our Epistle lesson from Romans 6,
Paul makes clear our true identity. “We
were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as
Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk
in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we
shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. . . . If we have
died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. . . . You also
must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus”
(6:4–5, 8, 11). Again and again Paul connects our identity to Christ’s through
his death, resurrection, and new life.
In our Gospel lesson from
Luke, we read that the people were trying to identify themselves with John. But
John is quick to point them to Christ, the more powerful one. At the Baptism of
Jesus, God the Father and God the Holy Spirit identify with God the Son. The
Spirit doesn’t just appear but actually descends on Jesus. Likewise, the Father
connects himself to his Son: “You are my
beloved Son; with you I am well pleased” (Lk 3:22). Father, Son, and Spirit
are connected to one another in the unity of the Trinity. Finally in our Old Testament reading we see
God identifying himself with us his people reminding us to Fear Not, for we are
His! God says to us through Isaiah the
prophet in Isaiah 43:1, “I have redeemed
you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” As Christians our true identity in Christ
isn’t because of who you are or what you’ve done. For no one can earn their way into heaven by
their own works. It’s always because of who God is and what he’s done for you.
In the Baptism of Jesus, God identifies himself with us and in him we have our
identity. He does it all as an action of his grace in our lives.
4.
More
than 2,700 years ago, God inspired His prophet Isaiah to record a most
comforting message in Isaiah 43:1-7, “ “1But
now thus says the LORD, he who
created you, O Jacob, he who
formed you, O Israel: “Fear
not, for I have redeemed you; I
have called you by name, you are mine.
2When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall
not overwhelm you; when you
walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. 3For I am the LORD your
God, the Holy One of Israel,
your Savior. I give Egypt as
your ransom, Cush and Seba in
exchange for you. 4Because you
are precious in my eyes, and
honored, and I love you, I give
men in return for you, peoples
in exchange for your life. 5Fear
not, for I am with you; I will
bring your offspring from the east, and
from the west I will gather you. 6I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the
earth, 7everyone who is called
by my name, whom I created for
my glory, whom I formed and
made.”
5.
Notice
how Isaiah refers to God as the one who created Jacob. That is, who created mankind. Having God as our Creator reminds us that we
definitely belong to him because he’s given us life and breath. This statement is as clear–cut as it could
be. God addresses the nation Israel
in this entire section, and I don’t think you could misunderstand Him unless
you deliberately wanted to misunderstand.
He speaks of their origin: “the Lord that created thee.” God took a
sad specimen like old Jacob, whose name means “crooked or deceiver” and made a nation out of him. God took the dust of the ground, breathed
into it the spirit of life, and it became a living human being. And that human
being rebelled, but now God makes sons of God out of those who will trust in
Jesus as their Lord and Savior. I don’t accept the evolutionary theory that I
evolved from a monkey. I came from something worse than a monkey! I came from a
rebellious sinner who on the physical side had been taken from the ground. That
first man passed on to me a sinful nature. But God has given me a new nature
through my baptism into Christ.
6.
The
Lord’s promise through Isaiah must have seemed incredible. Instead of walking
on the Lord’s path, instead of following His way, the Israelites walked “in a way that [was] not good, following
their own devices” (Is 65:2). The Lord’s path was one of light and safety
and certainty. Rather than walking on His path in the light of His Word, Israel
chose to leave His path and walk in the darkness of self-centered sin. By
wandering off the Lord’s path, they had wandered into great danger. Off the
path, in the darkness of sin, prowled Satan, “seeking someone to devour” (1Pt 5:8). Off the path, “on every side the wicked prowl, as vileness
is exalted among the children of man” (Ps 12:8).
7.
For
more than 800 years, the Lord sent His prophets out to call His people back to
Him, back to His path, back to the light. But they wanted it their way,
wandering away from the Lord’s way, doing what was “right” in their own eyes,
loving other gods who were incapable of love, and ignoring the one true God,
who is love. As stubborn and stiff-necked as these people were, they remained
God’s people, a people called out of darkness. So in love, God sent them
walking into exile (587 BC) far from the temple, far from His promised place of
presence. They may have thought He had left them to walk alone, but He remained
their God and they remained His people. He loved them despite their sin, and
through His prophet Isaiah, He promised them they would not walk alone through
the trials and tribulations they faced. They would not walk alone as they left
captivity in Babylon and returned to Jerusalem (538 BC). He would walk with
them, because He had redeemed them and called them by name. They were His.
8.
Often,
we’re like these ancient Israelites. We want it our way instead of God’s way.
We want to walk our walk instead of His. But, the Lord is patient. God promises
to walk with you as you walk through the hazards of this life. He promises you,
His called and chosen people, that you shall never walk alone. He promises to
be with you as you endure fierce storms and fiery trials. This is a sure and
certain promise for you.
9.
You
can be certain of this promise because the Lord has redeemed you. He’s
purchased and won you with His Son’s holy, precious blood poured out for you on
His cross. He’s bought you with “His
innocent suffering and death” that you may “be His own and live under Him in
His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and
blessedness” (Small Catechism, Sec. Article). You are of great value to God
because your redemption cost Him dearly. As a consequence, when you endure the
fiery trials of this life, He promises you will never be lost (Is 43:2b).
10.
You
can be certain of this promise because the Lord has called you by name. He’s washed
you clean in the waters of Holy Baptism and given you His name (Mt 28:19). You’ve
been baptized into Him; therefore, you are His.
God says to you, “Fear Not, You’re
Mine!”
11.
But,
as Christians we can expect to suffer much in this life. St Luke wrote, “Through many tribulations we must enter the
kingdom of God” (Ac 14:22). Satan will assault you and afflict you in body
and soul. He will cast uncertainty on God’s certain promises. He will attempt
to lead you off the Lord’s lighted path into certain danger and destruction by
urging you to do what is right in your own eyes and to walk your own walk in
the darkness of sin. In this hostile
world filled with sin-wrought suffering, when you stray from the Lord’s lighted
path and attempt to walk in dark danger, God will never abandon you or give up
on you. He will walk with you to the gates of heaven. He promises to take the
same stormy circumstances in life that Satan plans to use for evil and use them
instead for your eternal good (Rm 8:28; Is 43:1b–3a). So fear not my friends, God has called you by
name, you’re his. Amen.
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