.jpg)
St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church, Owings Mills MD
January 11, 2026
Year A: The First Sunday after the Epiphany
Isaiah 42:1-9
Psalm 29
Acts 10:34-43
Matthew 3:13-17
God’s Indissoluble Bond of Love
I don’t know about you, but it’s been a long time since Sue and I have attended a New Year’s Eve Party.
Instead, for us, New Year’s Eve is pretty much like any other night.
I’m an early riser, so I never stay up to watch the Times Square countdown.
I will say that this year my sleep was interrupted by the midnight fireworks – so I was drowsily and none too happily alerted that a new year had begun.
Didn’t these people know that January 1 is the Feast of the Holy Name and we had a service at 9:00 am!?!
I guess not.
Even though in reality it’s just another day, many of us invest at least some meaning in the end of one year and the start of another.
There are all those “Best of” lists: books, movies, music, ... sermons.
Of course, some of us make New Year’s resolutions.
And for a week or two, the gyms are a little more crowded, and the bars maybe a little less so.
But the truth is that, starting a new year doesn’t make much difference in our lives and certainly not in the world.
All the challenges and horrors of the old year are still very much with us.
This is always true, of course, but maybe it’s even more true this year.
Our divisions seem as deep as ever.
We can watch the same videos of the tragic killing of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis – we can see the same images and draw wildly different conclusions.
Maybe that’s always been true.
What’s definitely true is that our world is clearly entering a new era.
Old norms of speech and behavior have been discarded.
Old alliances are being strained, even dismantled.
The postwar order – the only order most have us have ever known – is ending.
And something new, or perhaps something very old, is beginning.
Some of us think this change is long overdue and welcome.
While others of us worry, what kind of world awaits us when so much that we have known and trusted and even taken for granted is passing away?
So, maybe it’s more important than ever for us to remember the one bond that can never be broken, no matter the change of year, no matter the change of season, no matter war or peace.
Maybe it’s more important than ever for us to remember that, in baptism, God makes an indissoluble bond of love with us.
No matter what we do or don’t do, no matter what happens in the world around us, God just won’t ever let go of us.
In baptism, God makes an indissoluble bond of love with us.
Today, on the First Sunday after the Epiphany, we always hear the story of Jesus’ baptism.
In somewhat different ways, all four gospels tell us about Jesus’ baptism.
Today we heard Matthew’s version, which presents the story as both a personal experience for Jesus – he sees God’s Spirit descending upon him like a dove – and also as a public event – God announces to anyone listening:
“This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”
At our Wednesday Bible Study, we talked about a couple of interesting questions:
When did Jesus fully grasp who he was?
When did he fully understand his mission?
It could be that, in some sense, Jesus knew all along.
Or maybe there came a time when Mary sat him down and told him the story of his miraculous birth, the angel, the shepherds, the Magi.
“Son, there are some things I need to tell you.”
Or maybe it was a gradual awakening and understanding.
Or maybe it was not until the first Easter morning when he left the tomb.
We don’t really know, but if you and I have ever met, then you know that I think it’s at his baptism that Jesus learns who he really is, whose he is, and what he is meant to do.
And in the Gospels of Mark, Matthew, and Luke, right after Jesus’ baptism, he is sent into the wilderness to undergo forty days and nights of testing.
And then Jesus begins his work of love, healing, teaching, sacrifice.
And I would suggest that it’s at our baptism that we learn who we really are, whose we are, and what we are meant to do.
We are sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked as Christ’s own forever.
And knowing that God has made an indissoluble bond of love with us, we can, with God’s help, do the ongoing work of love, healing, teaching, sacrifice.
I would also say that in this most uncertain time, the church is more important than ever – this church is more important than ever for us.
Yes, of course, we can pray anywhere and discover God at Wegmans or Royal Farms, or out on the NCR Trail.
And, yes, you could certainly be baptized elsewhere, maybe in the Chesapeake or even the kitchen sink.
But it’s here that we that we gather around the font and pray with and for the newly baptized.
It’s here that we gather with people, all different kinds of people, yes, people who watch the same video and see things we don’t see – all different kinds of people and we pray together, serve together, love one another.
The church is more important than ever – this church is more important than ever.
And it needs our support.
I’m always reluctant to talk about pledging because, obviously, I have some self-interest. But there are a still some very faithful parishioners – people who I know love this place – who have not yet pledged.
The money is important, but it’s the commitment – our commitment to this place – that matters most.
In this uncertain time, our church is more important than ever – and there’s nobody else to take care of this beautiful community, this beautiful place – just us – so we really need everyone “all in.”
And today we hold our first focus group meetings, to look more deeply at the needs of our church, to dream a bit about our future, and to reflect on what God might be calling us to do.
In religious language, the process we’re beginning today is called discernment – and prayerful discernment is always worthwhile, always good, no matter the outcome.
So, I hope that you’ll participate in at least one of these sessions and share your thoughts on our plans, on our future.
So, by nature, I am a somewhat anxious person.
I try to keep a lid on it, but it’s true.
Of course, I worry about lots of things, but I am not frightened of the future.
I’m not frightened because we have one another. We have this amazing community of love, healing, teaching, sacrifice.
I’m not frightened because just as Jesus was baptized, I was baptized – we were baptized.
And in the water of baptism, God has made an indissoluble bond of love with me, an indissoluble bond of love with us all.
God just won’t let go of us.
No matter the year, no matter the season, no matter what.
Amen.
Posts
