Matthew 3: 13-17                                                                                                       Rev. Dr. Galen E. Russell III

Isaiah 42: 1-9                                                                                                                                   January 11, 2026

“Thus says God, the Lord… who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it.”

Prayer: O God of breath and spirit may each of us feel you guiding us on our journeys of faith. Amen.

What do you want to be when you grow up? That’s mostly a question asked to little kids, right?. I remember when I was a little guy I wanted to be a baker when I grew up because the lines on the icing on the cake made by Mom’s spatula were offensive to me. So, I was going to be a baker to fix that! And of course, that dream went away. And for a while in 7th grade, I wanted to be a professional football player because I played in JFL.

And then in 8th grade, I encountered God. A thing called the Lay Witness Mission was a movement in the UCC, and a group of lay people came to our church. And I felt the peace and love of God in a way I’ve never felt before.

And a year and a half later, as a counselor in training at summer camp, by myself, around the late-night campfire, I sensed God wanted something from me in my life. So, I asked God if I was to be a minister, and I heard within my spirit and all around me, “Yes, you are. Go and do my work.” And all bets for a professional football career were off, and a new life trajectory began through high school, college, seminary, and right into the church. Boom, boom, boom, boom.

See, I was baptized as an infant. But it was 13 years later when I started to learn about what baptism meant. About what Jesus meant when he said the words that I spoke in our Baptism Renewal ceremony, You did not choose me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name” (John 15: 16 NRSVUE).

And granted, I’m still growing up on this journey, learning what these words mean because it’s a lifetime process. But, I’m here today to say that I think it means, in parts, God decided to choose you and me. To accept you. It’s totally God’s choice to make a covenant of love and grace with you. It’s God’s desire to give breath to you as you walk on this earth, and to give you a divine Spirit as you walk in the earth, sharing the spirit of life, journeying in and among earth’s people, surrounded by earth’s beauty. 

It’s all God’s decision. And seeing and feeling that God chooses you can be a life-changing insight. It’s equivalent, I think, to the meaning of baptism—which is our practice of affirming God’s decision to be in covenant with us.. Saying “yes” to God’s promise to love and grace you.  It’s the powerful, personal, primary experience of being accepted and welcomed by God that starts and continuously fuels a life of faith, and a lifelong relationship with the Divine.

I think the moment you realize that this is all God’s doing, that you literally have nothing to do with being loved and accepted, that’s the beginning of you growing up. Maturing spiritually.

It’s the beginning of you saying, “This is all God. God names and claims me as God’s own child. I belong to God.” Not ‘God belongs to me.’ Not ‘God chose me because I did the right things.’ Or I said the right words. No.  You and I belong to God. We are chosen by God. To receive God’s gift of the breath of life and the life-giving power of the Spirit.

Because it’s part of God’s unconditional love and grace, deliberately proven by God’s redemptive action through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. A love and grace for you and me that persists through any resistance, border, difficulty, bad attitude, sin, even death. God proved that life and love, breath and spirit rise through all that when Jesus was made alive on Easter.

That’s the crux of our faith. That’s who we are. People chosen to receive God’s breath of life and spirit, God’s grace and love because Jesus was made alive by God on Easter. And because God made Jesus alive, it stands to reason that God makes us alive now and when it’s our time.

As I said, I’m still learning what these words mean. Because it’s a lifetime process. But, someday, as you grow up, I invite you—remember who you are. A child of God. Remember whose you are—God’s chosen children. And the integrity and character that comes with being who you are as God’s children I think needs to shine through our lives.

Retired Presbyterian pastor Jim Lowry tells of how in his late teenage years, he would go out on a date. And just before he left, his dad would look him square in the eye and say, “Son, remember who you are.” Which meant it wasn’t about money, or education or anything else. It was about character. What Jim did, how he behaved, reflected on Jim, and on his family, and his family’s name. Jim had a responsibility to bear the Lowry name with honor (Chakoian, Christine, “Baptism of the Lord,” The Christian Century, January 2026, p. 27).

 As a Christian, I believe God’s words through Isaiah were meant to describe who Jesus was as God’s chosen one. And I believe Jesus fulfilled Isaiah’s words with honor when God said, “Here is my servant. My spirit is on him. He will bring forth justice to the nations.”

And when God spoke to the Anointed One saying, “I have called you in righteousness… to be a light to the nations, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners who sit in darkness,” I believe God spoke of Jesus and Jesus did those words honor.

So, it was no accident that Jesus chose the passage from Isaiah 61 when he read scripture in Nazareth which said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because God has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. God has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord” (Luke 4: 18-19).

So, as Jesus grew into his public ministry, I believe God named and claimed him which was demonstrated in his baptism. He started his ministry with his identity given to him by the Spirit—“This is my Son, the Beloved.”

Of course, by now you can guess that when we combine that we are chosen by God to receive God’s life and spirit with the revelation that Jesus is God’s Son, the Beloved,  it becomes a part of our faith journey as followers of Christ, to live out with honor the continuation and extension of Jesus’ ministry by being God’s light to others. Of bringing forth justice. Of opening the eyes of those without insight. Of freeing prisoners from oppressive chains. But it is so challenging!

With Mom being with us for the last three weeks, I heard many of her colloquialisms. One thing she said, frequently, in response to rowdy or fussy great-grandchildren, was a quote from one of her ancestors who said, “Someday you children will grow up, but in the meantime, it’s very trying!”

Which sadly, seems to capture what I’m feeling today. I often feel like there are too many in our society who are like children who haven’t grown up. Someday, maybe they will grow up, but in the meantime, it’s very trying! Right now, too many are missing the boat! I think. Whether it’s people behaving badly in front of law enforcement, or politicians and dictators abusing power and privilege, bombing other countries, or kidnapping leaders, without compassion destroying the already bruised reed and laughing about it. Quenching the already dimly burning wick, whether it’s a person who was detained illegally, or shot and killed by ICE without provocation, or deported without evidence… whatever. What is happening in our nation?  When will our people grow up? Way too much bad behavior is becoming normalized. I think. 

So, what do you want to be when you grow up? Someday, when we grow up, maybe we will treat everyone as chosen by God to receive God’s breath of life and love and grace and spirit. And we will see that Jesus is the Christ, God’s Beloved. And as his followers, we will extend what he was about, doing honor to fulfill our call as Christians. Followers of Christ. In relationship with our holy God. Declaring new things to come. May it be so. May God help us. Amen.