you are our child

Thursday March 1st, Mark 1: 10 As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased." The voice of God is also heard on the mountain when Jesus is transfigured and in the heavens when Jesus is born. It marks the transitions in the life of Jesus from birth, to ministry to the movement down the mountain as Jesus moves toward Jerusalem and the cross. In Mark’s Gospel the heavens are ripped apart in the process, never to be put back together in the same way again. God is loose in the world and will not be put back. In our lives, we may not hear the voice of God speak “you are my child” but we hear the community of God say those words. In our congregation, when someone is baptized, they are brought into the midst of the congregation and with the laying on of hands, are blessed and welcomed by the congregation. It is the collective voice of God. You are our child, whom we love; with you we are well pleased, and with you we will journey through life together, brothers and sisters in Christ.