Weekly Reflection: This Is Who We Are
We are the children of God. This is who we are. Let’s live out our baptisms.
“This isn’t who we are.”
In the aftermath of the assault on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, then-President-elect Joe Biden said these words. Politicians like to say this during events like this. They want to say that as Americans we aspire to higher goals and that what happened is uncharacteristic of who we are as Americans.
This phrase comes from a good place, but it is not true. This is who we are or at least part of who we are as a nation.
Because if you are African American like I am or Native American or Japanese American, you know that our nation has a dark side and far too many times that dark side has shown up to harm persons of color, LGBTQ Americans, and others. For some of these people seeing the images of a mostly white crowd running amok within the walls of the US Capitol, a place where I once worked, nod their heads and say “This IS Who we are.”
And yet, this is not all of what the United States is all about. If it was, then we as a nation are without hope. The words found in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution matter to us as Americans. As a nation, we strive to live up to better ideas and many times we do. But let’s not kid ourselves because we know we as humans fall short.
This is who we are. We are sinners. We are not okay.
In Mark, John the Baptist comes around preaching a baptism that led to repentance, to change their lives. One day, Jesus comes. That had to come as a shock to John because Jesus had nothing to repent of. But he baptizes his cousin anyway. When he comes up from the water, the sky splits and the Holy Spirit comes into him. It is then a voice that claims Jesus as the Son of God. It is there that he is given an identity as our savior. This is who Jesus is.
When we are baptized, we are claimed by God. This is who we are. You and I are Daughters and sons of God.
But we still sin. We fall short. We are claimed by God, but let’s not forget that we are sinners saved by the grace of God. Because we are claimed by God despite our sin, we are called to act. After Jesus was baptized, he went into the wilderness where he was tempted by the devil and then went into his ministry, because he knew who he was.
This message of being claimed by God and then being sent is important, especially in 2024. We are called into a ministry of reconciliation and Lord knows we need it. Christians are called to find ways to give space to where people can listen to one another. Our baptism compels us to move from the sidelines and join in God’s work of justice and reconciliation.
We are sinners who commit sins. This is who we are. But our baptisms show us another identity. Claimed by God, we have a role in preaching God’s love and justice to our nation and our world. God loves us and in gratitude, we are sent to proclaim the good news of Jesus.
We are the children of God. This is who we are. Let’s live out our baptisms.