Is. 42: 1-4, 6-7; Ps. 29:1-4, 59-10; Acts. 10:34-38; Lk. 3:15-16, 21-22

Jesus is “my chosen one” whom the Lord is well pleased.  When we speak of the baptism of the Lord, we refer to Jesus being baptized by John but we should also recognize the words of John who states “he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire”.  Through Jesus’ baptism of us we become his chosen ones.  To be chosen is to be called for a greater good into the kingdom of God.  We are chosen to fulfill a purpose in salvation history.  Jesus “my chosen one” came to free us from sin through his passion, death, and resurrection.  Do we recognize our chosen purpose? 

We are chosen to live holy lives in the practice of our faith.  To give to God our praise and worship and to allow him to work through us in the care, conversion, and covenant of his people.   Care comes through the corporal and spiritual needs of others with the understanding that if one part of the body of Christ suffers, we all share in that suffering and so we lift each other up.   Conversion by our witness in the way we live our lives that gives testimony to our faith.   Covenant by obedience to the commandments and the moral and ethical choices that place God first.   Our “right actions” are to be right before the eyes of God. 

In Jesus we find “the victory of justice” and live in covenant with him.  Jesus came to show us the way and he did it by his care for the people, calling them to conversion by offering himself up to the Father for our salvation and always being one in covenant with the Father and the Holy Spirit, three persons in one God.  The victory of justice is to always remain as one with God in the Trinity by doing the will of God.    

Justice is the right action before the eyes of God.  Peter recognizes that the right action of a follower of Jesus is to “show no partiality” based on a person’s state of life that is Jew or Gentile.  Partiality is for the separation of sin from the sinner.  Jesus comes to free us from our sinfulness through “fear” of the Lord and by “acts uprightly”.  “Fear” of the Lord is not the Old Testament view of fear of punishment but fear of separation from the Lord as revealed by Jesus.  Upright acts come through love of the Lord and neighbor.  Love desires and acts for what is in the best interest of the other. 

The love of God for his people meant that what was in their best interest was sometimes a difficult road to travel as we see the Israelites wander in the desert for forty years.  Their final destination was relatively a short distance compared to the years they spent in the desert but it allowed their souls to be purified.  Love of God often comes with cross to carry for our own salvation that we too may act uprightly and be called his chosen ones.  How do we handle our hardships of life?  Some may question God with “why God”, others may find it as a punishment coming from God, while others may simply believe it has nothing to do with God and blame it on “bad luck”.  None of these attitudes serve God’s purpose which is to prepare us for his coming, to free us from sin, and to lead others to himself. 

John points to Jesus as the chosen one who will baptize with “the Holy Spirit and fire”.  Thus, the Spirit of fire comes through Jesus to us by that same baptism of water and the Holy Spirit.  We are anointed priest, prophet and king into the priesthood of Jesus.  We are given the fire to proclaim his word in upright action and to live within the kingdom of God even as we live our earthly pilgrimage.  For this reason, we claim to be in the world but not of the world.  The Passover has been given to us and death has no power in our souls.  In time we shed our mortal bodies to rise up to immortality.  To be among the “elect” is to fulfill a purpose greater than ourselves, to lay down our lives at the feet of Jesus and let God by our God and we be his chosen ones.