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Dignity
and Service
January
12/13, 2008
Fr.
George Smiga
Matthew
3:13-17
A
few years ago, the African American poet, Maya Angelou, was
offered a guest professorship at Wake Forest University .
In the first day of her class, she spent the entire class
period, learning the student's names by spelling them out
and having the students explain their origins. In the second
class period, she reviewed the names again and in the third
class period, she repeated the process. After the third time
around, she asked the class, “Why do you think that I have
devoted twenty per cent of valuable class time simply to learn
your names?” There was a deafening silence, so Ms. Angelou
answered her own question. “Your name is a sign of your dignity.
Calling someone by name is recognizing someone, not simply
as human, but as a person. You bestow dignity on another person
when you call them by name.”
Our
value, if it is to become real, must be claimed. If our dignity
is to have power, we must hear our true name. This is what
is happening to Jesus in today's gospel. What is the significance
of this scene, which we call the Baptism of the Lord? It is
the moment in Jesus' life when he recognizes his own dignity.
It is the moment in his life when he hears his true name.
The
baptism of Jesus marks a specific change, a watershed, in
Jesus' life. At that moment Jesus realizes that he is more
than the son of Mary, more than a faithful Jew, more than
a son of the carpenter. He is God's beloved son. This is the
name that is given to him from the heavens. Now, of course,
Jesus was always God's beloved son. But in his humanity, his
dignity needed to be claimed. This is what we celebrate today
on the Baptism of the Lord.
Just
as Jesus needed to claim his own dignity, we need to do the
same. We are valuable. By faith and Baptism, we have become
daughters and sons of God in Christ. That is who we are, but
unless we claim that dignity, it will never have power. Unless
we own our true identity, we will never be able to understand
who we truly are. If we go through life just doing one thing
after the other, it is easy to let the circumstances of life
define who we are. We can allow our failures and mistakes
to tell us that we are worthless, that we are expendable,
that we are of little value. But that's not true. God has
made us and saved us. God has made us God's own. We will only
know that identity when we claim our true name.
And
the minute we do that, it leads us to mission. The minute
we are able to say to our selves, “I am a beloved daughter
or son,” in that minute, we have good news. We have good news
to spread to the world. Jesus' baptism does not only mark
the moment where he claims his true identity and dignity,
it is also the beginning of his public ministry. For in Jesus'
life, as in ours, when we claim our identity, we become empowered
for mission. Dignity leads to service.
So
that is who we are. We are God's beloved children. But we
need to claim that identity in order to know our dignity,
in order to serve. We need to claim that identity regularly.
Here's what I need to do. I need to wake up each morning and
say, “My name is George and I am a beloved son of God. I am
not worthless. I am precious. I am not without purpose. I
am called. I am not forgotten. I am loved. God delights in
the fact that I have another day to live.” That's what I need
to do each day and you need to do the same. You need to wake
up each morning and say this is my name and I am a child of
God. Once we do that, once we claim that identity, a question
follows: Lord, what do you want me to do today? That's the
way to begin each morning, claiming your identity and asking
God how you are called to serve.
I
assure you, if we could begin our day in that way, we would
live a radically different life. We would not lead a life
of emptiness, but of dignity; not a life of aimlessness, but
of purpose; not a life of confusion, but of joy. The difference
comes from claiming who we are. The difference comes from
hearing our true name.
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