Good morning and Happy Friday!
As we prepare for worship this coming Sunday, we will be taking a time for Remembrance as November 11th comes close. I find it very touching and powerful that on this same Sunday when we remember before God those who have died in wars, we will also be celebrating the baptism of David Matheson. The hope with which we turn to God in both these acts is profound and deep and it being my last Sunday with you, I cannot think of a better way to worship.
Our Scripture readings for this week include Jesus own baptism in Matthew 3: 13 – 17, in which we hear God speak “You are my son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased”.
A few years ago when Hugh and I were in France, I was struck by how in so many parts of that country you cannot go far without coming upon a war cemetery. In Flanders in Belgium, we saw many gravestones; hundreds and thousands of them, some with names and regiments, and others marked simply, “Known unto God”.
For me, those words, Known unto God, etched on the graves of unknown soldiers buried far from their homes and families, echo the hope we find in the words spoken at Jesus’ baptism. That each one of us is God’s own child, beloved and held close in God’s own heart. That there is nothing, not even the worst of all wars, that can separate us from the love of God. I believe that it is God’s prayer that we come to see and know God and each other with that same love that has been given so freely to us. It is for this that we are baptised into the death and life of Christ himself.
See you Sunday,
Grace and Peace
Karen