What if baptism isn’t about being set apart from the mess of the world—but sent more deeply into it?
In this sermon on Jesus’ baptism in Matthew 3:13–17, we stand again at the muddy banks of the Jordan, where Jesus steps quietly into line with everyone else. Before the miracles, before the teaching, before the cross, Jesus is named Beloved—soaking wet, anonymous, and vulnerable.
Drawing on personal story, Rowan Williams’ theology of baptism, and the church’s practice of ordination and shared vocation, this sermon explores baptism as a holy paradox: God’s unshakable claim of love and God’s call into deep solidarity with a hurting world. Here, belovedness is not earned, calling is never solitary, and leadership is not about distance or privilege, but about standing faithfully in the mud with others.
Whether you are remembering your baptism, discerning a call, or simply longing to hear a word of grace that does not depend on achievement, this sermon invites you to listen again for the voice that names what is already true:
You are beloved—and you are not sent alone.
