You Are Beloved. You Are Beautfiul.

 

We can feel both thankful and dissatisfied about our appearance at any given moment...

There are a whole host of reasons why that is: our self esteem, cultural influences, how we were raised…

But there is something I want you to know, ... I think your face is beautiful.

You might be thinking: You’ve never seen my face … How could you possibly know if my face is beautiful or not?

It’s because it’s one of the few things we all have that’s uniquely ours. There is beauty in that…

 

Face the world as you.

We want you to face the world with confidence. To feel that you can handle whatever this year brings you. And to do it in your own unique way - no matter what that looks like…

And just in case you need to hear it again: I think your face is beautiful.      -Riversol Canada

 

What you have just heard is a portion of a message I received in my inbox as the New Year began. I received this personally addressed note from the skin care company I use. They didn’t have to send this note. I suppose you could call it good business. But, this note touched me - it is different from other communication.  When I read the Gospel for today and realized this is the Baptism of our Lord Sunday – I figured out why the note affected me.

 I think your face is beautiful. Face the world as you.

This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased. -Mt. 3: 17

 

Baptism is a moment in our lives when we are named and marked with the cross of Christ. Most of us don’t remember our own baptisms, but, every time we participate in a baptismal service, an affirmation of faith, or (like we did this morning) give thanks for baptism, we are reminded – you are a child of God. You are beautiful. You have worth. You are loved.

 

At baptism, Jesus is marked with God’s word, God’s love, God’s pleasure. This is my Son…

As you know, after baptism Jesus goes into the desert and then starts public ministry.

With you I am well pleased. Go be ‘the you,’ I have called you to be.  And Jesus does just that.

 

The note sent to my inbox touched me because it directed positive statements personally to me; calling me by name, repeating more than once I think you are beautiful, and commending me to go out into the world and be me. The message resonated because I have heard it before -not from the business world- but from my church family. It is a message that I have strived to convey throughout my ministry. I hope you have heard loud and clear: I have called you by name. You are a child of God, you are precious, you are beautiful, you are loved. Go let your light shine, go in peace and serve the Lord, do not be afraid.

 

The note had me consider the roll of the church, the people of God, in our world today. If a business acts in goodness, to share love, and empower people -to name them and affirm them – is there need or room for the church? Or more pointedly is business demonstrating faithful living more obviously than the church?

 

In this part of the world, on the corner of Allan and Windsor St., the church -Resurrection- is needed. This is where I come, and I hope you come, to hear positive affirmations that fill you and send you out to be a hand of healing in your small corner of the world with God’s love. It is a place that I come to hear that I have worth, that I belong, that God loves with unconditional love.

 

The note and the gospel reading remind me that I am beautiful and loved, that I have worth.

This time of year, this message is super important for people to hear. Christmas into the early weeks of the New Year, exasperates the sense of loneliness many people feel and it translates into a rise in the number of suicides. In 2015, Dove surveyed close to 6500 women of various ages, in five cities around the world. The campaign ‘Choose Beautiful’ discovered that 80% of women say that all women have something beautiful about them; the campaign uncovered the sad truth that 96% said they wouldn’t use the word ‘beautiful’ to describe themselves.

 

Would you describe yourself as beautiful? A child of God? Loved? Worthy? Precious?

 

At baptisms, the congregation participates and makes promises along with the family. We promise to support and pray for the baptized in their new life in Christ.

If we think about that in terms of the scripture for today:

How many of you are God-parents?  When was the last time you did something God-parenty? Or have any of you thought about, supported, or prayed for those who have been baptized over the years?  

In a time when global surveys indicate that 33% of adults worldwide experience feelings of loneliness, there is no time like the present to fulfill the promises we make to the baptized. Consider sending a personalized note to your God-child, or a niece or nephew, or friend from church, a neighbour – call the person by name and include a repeated affirmation – you are beautiful, you are loved, you are a child of God, you are worthy, -go be you, thank you for being you.

 

Doing the math of 33%, means that 1/3 of those gathered here in worship right now– in the pews and online; 1/3 of us experience loneliness. The other math is that for every 25 women, 24 do not self-describe as beautiful (and although I do not have data for men, I assume the number would be high as well). Most of us here need to be reminded of and hear the gospel too:

This is my Son, the beloved, with whom I am well pleased.

This baptismal epiphany – and the journey we take with Jesus now through Easter- is a series of epiphanies, people being shown again and again, the lengths to which God goes to say: you are chosen. You are loved. You are worthy. You are a child of God.

 

In God’s eyes, in my eyes, you are beautiful!

Loved, go and be the unique you, you are, sharing the gospel to heal loneliness and empower people.

In Jesus’ name.

Amen.