Matthew 3:13-17
In the passage from Matthew’s Gospel we heard this morning, Jesus comes to the Jordan River to be baptized by John. John hesitates. John knows that something holy is unfolding and is unsure whether he is worthy to participate. But Jesus insists. He steps into the water, not above it, not apart from it, but fully within it.
And in that moment, the heavens open. The Spirit descends like a dove. A voice declares, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”
This is not just about Jesus’ personal spirituality. This is a revelation about who God is and how God chooses to act in the world. God does not save humanity from a distance. God does not bypass the waters of human life. God enters them.
This moment on the banks of the Jordan belongs alongside the words of our Statement of Faith: “He calls the worlds into being, creates man in his own image, and sets before him the ways of life and death.” In Jesus’ baptism, we see all three truths embodied at once. Creation itself participates: the river, the sky, the dove. Humanity is affirmed, the Beloved stands in solidarity with all who come seeking repentance and renewal. And a choice is made, not toward power or separation, but toward life shared with the vulnerable.
In Jesus’ baptism, we see that the image of God is not found in distance or domination, but in solidarity. It tells us that choosing life means stepping into the waters of the world as it is, its pain, its injustice, its hope, and trusting that God is present there. When the voice from heaven speaks delight over Jesus, it is also a word spoken over humanity itself: You are beloved.
If Jesus’ baptism shows us anything, it is that God’s work begins not with escape from the world, but with engagement in it. From the waters of the Jordan, Jesus does not retreat into safety or silence; he steps forward into ministry, into conflict, into the full complexity of human life. In the same way, our Statement of Faith does not begin with doctrine for doctrine’s sake, but with action, with a God who calls the worlds into being. Creation itself is God’s first act of love, and it is into that living, breathing world that we are called to respond. To understand what it means to choose life, we must begin where God begins: with the call that brings all things into existence.
The Statement of Faith gives us words that are both simple and profound: “He calls the worlds into being, creates man in his own image, and sets before him the ways of life and death.” Three clauses, three truths. Three invitations. And yet, they call us into a lifetime of reflection and action.
I hear in these words a God who refuses to be distant. A God who calls, creates, and entrusts us with the profound responsibility of life itself. This is not a God who dictates in rigid rules or abstracts our existence into moral formulas. This is a God who calls us to notice, to respond, and to participate in the ongoing work of creation, reconciliation, and justice. I hear a God who does it all with us.
Today, we must also consider the reality of our world, the ways we encounter violence, oppression, and brokenness. The Incarnation teaches us that God enters our fragile, human life. And in this light, our choices, our commitments, and our actions are sacred.
The first clause is cosmic: “He calls the worlds into being.” God speaks, and life responds. God calls the stars into formation, the oceans into motion, and the earth into balance. God calls life itself, and we, as part of that life, respond.
Creation is not a mechanism, a chain of cause and effect. It is an ongoing act of invitation. When God calls the worlds into being, God affirms that life is not inert matter but living, sacred, and relational. Each of us, as part of creation, is invited to co-create, to participate in life, to respond to God’s call.
This call is not abstract. It is incarnational. It comes to us in flesh and blood, in the life of Jesus Christ, in our neighbors, and in the needs of the world. Every act of justice, every effort to care for the vulnerable, every movement for ecological stewardship is a response to this divine call.
The second clause moves from the cosmos to the human heart: “Creates man in his own image.” Being made in God’s image is not a license for pride or domination. It is an invitation to reflect God’s love, mercy, and justice.
This was a profound revelation to me. Think about it. In the creation story, God spoke, and things happened, but when it came to creating humanity, God got their hands dirty.
Genesis tells us that God formed humanity from the dust of the earth, but that is not the most profound part. The most profound part is that after God created humanity, God breathed God’s breath into humanity. Imagine, the very breath we breathe, the first breath we take as newborns, is God’s breath.
God is present in every human being from the moment we take that first breath.
Every human being, regardless of race, gender, immigration status, or social standing, bears this image and breath. And when we fail to see it, to honor it, or to protect it, we distort creation itself.
In Minneapolis, in recent tragedies, communities have experienced the denial of this divine image, acts of violence that remind us that life is fragile, that some bodies are treated as expendable, that our systems sometimes fail the people they were designed to protect.
Being made in God’s image demands that we stand with those whose humanity is denied. It calls us to advocacy: supporting criminal justice reform, ensuring fair treatment for immigrants, protecting children from hunger and neglect, and affirming the dignity of all lives threatened by violence or discrimination.
Former Connecticut Conference Minister Rev. Ken Salidi recently said, “The UCC was not founded to be respectable. We were founded to be dangerous to injustice.”
And yet, it also calls us inward. To see God’s image in ourselves, our biases, our fears, and our impulses to harm or neglect. We all have them, I have them, and those are the things we need to bring to confession. To live faithfully is to notice, to name, and to align ourselves with the ways of life God sets before us. We cannot stand by and watch; just like God, we must get our hands dirty.
The third clause is a profound statement of human freedom and responsibility: “He sets before him the ways of life and death.” God does not coerce. God does not dictate outcomes. God sets before us the paths that bring flourishing and those that bring destruction.
Life is a gift, but it comes with a sacred responsibility. We are entrusted with choices that affect not only ourselves but our communities, our neighbors, and creation itself.
Yesterday, Nicky and I met with a woman from the local watershed association. Our house is built on a hill and, as you know, water runs downhill. We talked about ways to mitigate water by moving it around our house, and we also discussed creating rain gardens.
Rain gardens collect and filter water that falls off roofs, driveways, lawns, and other impermeable surfaces. As the water moves, it collects all the stuff we leave behind. If I spray chemicals on my lawn, they will end up in our drinking water. If my car leaks oil or gas, those products will find their way into our drinking water. The decision I made to spray my lawn could have an impact, downstream, on people I do not know.
Mayor Jacob Frey captured something essential when he said, “This is our moment to face a whole lot of hate with a whole lot of love.” Love is not passive. Love is active. Love means standing against systems of violence, speaking truth to power, advocating for the oppressed, and protecting the vulnerable. Love is being aware and asking the question, How will this decision affect others?
My theological lens emphasizes that God does not remain apart from the world. In Jesus Christ, God fully enters human life. God suffers with us, grieves with us, and calls us into participation in God’s reconciling work.
When we witness violence, oppression, or environmental devastation, the Incarnation calls us not only to lament but to act. It is a theological principle: God took on human flesh so that human life is sacred, so that our bodies, our communities, and our choices matter.
Choosing life, and by that I don’t just mean being anti-abortion, but life all across the spectrum, this choice is not optional. It is a moral, spiritual, and incarnational vocation. Whether we advocate for justice in our courts, feed the hungry, protect the planet, or speak out against violence, we participate in God’s work of creation, healing, and reconciliation.
Because I like to always offer practical ways our faith applies to our lives, here are a few ways we can live out this call.
Engage the community, support local organizations that fight violence, poverty, and systemic injustice. Show up. Speak out. Educate yourself on what is going on in the world.
Advocate for public policy that values life, all life, equity, and environmental stewardship. It is okay for your faith to engage with your politics.
Practice daily reflection, notice where your own actions either honor or harm the divine image in others. At the end of the day, ask yourself what have I done to others through my actions, or my inactions, and how will I try to do better.
Commit to reconciliation, seek forgiveness, and offer it where relationships have been fractured. For me, this is key in our spirituality. Offering forgiveness when harm has taken place is central to our spiritual life. As a reminder, hanging on the cross, Jesus asked God to forgive those who had done this to him.
Live sacramentally, recognize God’s presence in ordinary acts of care and in our communal worship. God is present in all of creation, including the people we do not like. Every choice, every effort, every act of love affirms the sacredness of life.
God calls the worlds into being. God creates us in God’s own image. God sets before us the ways of life and death.
We are free, and we are responsible. In a world marked by violence, fear, and injustice, the call to choose life is urgent and costly, but it is also deeply faithful. Choosing life means choosing justice, reconciliation, and love. It means seeing God in every human being and responding with courage, compassion, and integrity.
My prayer today is that we answer God’s call faithfully. May we embody the divine image in all our actions. May we face hate with love, darkness with light, and death with life. And may our lives, in word and deed, bear witness to the God who calls, creates, and invites us into the sacred work of living fully.
Amen.
