The Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee



The First Sunday after the Epiphany, Year A, January 9, 2011, Church of the Epiphany Lebanon

“Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights” (Is. 42:1).

“Freedom of choice”: we put a high value on it, on our freedom to choose the thing we want. For some it’s the very definition of liberty, what it means to be free. Choice can be about small things (what to wear, what toothpaste to use) or about significant things (where to work, who to marry). We don’t want our choice to be constrained by anything. “Don’t fence me in” is a part of our American creed, after all. The ability to choose even figures in some definitions of what it is to be human, to be conscious of one’s self as an agent with a will for one thing rather than another. So we put a high value on choice and our ability to choose.

God’s word today in the prophecy of Isaiah, however, is not about our choice but about God’s choice. God chooses the People of Israel so that they can be a light to the nations, witnesses to those around them to the righteousness of God and his will for the world. They are to be a servant People to bring others into right relationship with God. That’s a good definition of peace, of shalom: everything in right relationship, in the right place in relationship to everything else.

God chose them, and that’s part of the message. We tend to think that we have chosen God, or even that we have rejected him; in other words, that we are the chief actors in our relationship with God. We make God into an object of our choice. We focus on ourselves and our own ability to choose, whatever that choice is. But the message of the prophecy does not focus on our choice but on God and his choice of us. It affirms that God is the chief Actor in our relationship. He’s the subject, not the object, of our belief. The initiative lies with him. His soul delights in Israel and it delights in us. The People of God did not choose him but he chose them, and he chooses us.

We can follow this thread throughout the Scriptures. In our Gospel today, in the story of Jesus’ baptism, God’s choice of the Messiah is made clear. “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17). God chose Jesus to be a Servant, just as he chose the People of Israel, in order to bring all the nations of the earth into relationship with him. God chooses to do this. He could have done otherwise but he didn’t. He chose Jesus.

The choice of Jesus is a choice for us, a choice in our favor, a choice for the human race. We are the ones who will be reconciled to God through him. A relationship that once was broken is now repaired. We who once were far off from God have now been brought near through God’s action in Christ. Or we can even go further and see the choice that is made here as Jesus’ own choice, his own acceptance of God’s will. “Not my will but yours be done” (Lk. 22:42), Jesus prays in Gethsemane as he draws near to the Cross. He decides to choose us through his obedience to God.

This thread of the Scripture leads to us because God chooses us. “They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses” (Acts 10:39-40). We too have been chosen to be witnesses to God’s choice of the human race, through Jesus’ death and resurrection which means new life for us. He’s brought into existence a community reconciled to him. Jesus is showing us the way, by choosing us to share in his death and resurrection through baptism into his name.

Today we are blessed with the presence of folks who are becoming confirmed members of the Episcopal Church, members of this parish who are re-affirming their baptismal vows on this feast of the Baptism of Christ. It’s a great day for them, and a great day for us as well, because here we are seeing God’s choice for the human race made visible and plain to everyone. Thank you for your witness, which encourages and inspires all of us. God is choosing you, calling you to be witnesses to the reality of the new life that’s possible for us and for all God’s children.


- The Rt Rev’d John Bauerschmidt, Bishop of Tennessee

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