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Columba Comments...
Short reflections written by members of our
congregation
1 March 2009
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Scripture: Isaiah 43: 1-7
Exploration
The theme for our
readings today is ‘Knowing who we are’. In the Gospel we read
the story of Jesus’ baptism by John in the River Jordan, when he
hears the words of God: ‘This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am
well pleased’. In this event we learn who Jesus was, not as others
saw him but as God saw him.
As a Jew, Jesus belonged to a people who took their identity from
God. To outsiders they often seemed an insignificant people,
especially when they lost their land and were carried off in to
Exile in Babylon. This prophet reminded them that they were a
special people because they were specially loved by God.
God had made a covenant long ago with Noah, and renewed it when he
chose Abraham to be his servant, and renewed it again when he
appeared to Moses in the burning bush, and renewed it again when he
chose David to be king. He was renewing it yet again in the
difficult circumstances of their own day.
This people were named after their ancestor Israel (Jacob) but they
were not defined by being his descendants. In the same way, though
they had lived for centuries in the land of Canaan, they were not
defined as the inhabitants of that place; and though they had been
ruled by kings descended from David, they were not defined as any
king’s subjects. What defined them was being the people chosen by
God.
That was their identity.
So the prophet speaks his word of assurance, that this identity
given by God can never fail, no matter what trials they face from
time to time:
When you pass through the waters I will be with you…
For I am the LORD your God,
the Holy one of Israel, your Saviour.
You are precious in my sight,
and honoured, and I love you…
Christians believe that God has renewed his covenant with the human
race, open now to people of any nation, so long as we love his Son
Jesus and receive our identity from him. Because of our baptism we
live ‘in Christ’ and receive our identity from him.
This is good news!
Questions for Reflection
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Where do you
derive your identity from? List some of the things or people that
make you who you are. Which of these are really important? Where
does God figure in your list?
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Think about times
in your life when you have been especially aware of God as ‘he who
created you’, the one who says ‘You are precious and I love you’.
What could help you become more fully open to receive this truth?
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Spend some time
in quiet, opening yourself to receive God’s promise in Isaiah 43:
5: ‘Do not fear for I am with you….’. How could you help someone
else to hear this promise?
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If your identity
is in your relationship to God, how do you hope this will be seen
in the way you live?
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