The Beloved of God

The new year brings about new promises, and is a time of reclaiming what could be and what might be. I love a good opportunity to make a small change in my habits or routine to be more intentional about how I spend my time. My new years’ habits tend to focus on one or two small things that I can actually do through the year. For 2023 I kept a log of the books I was reading, which snowballed into reading 50 books. They were mostly fun and light books, but the goal all year long gave me a lot of joy. For 2024, I’m trying to find a new way to log how much I draw/paint in hopes of practicing creative things that I love.

If I could pick one resolution for myself and for the whole congregation though, it would be one that is much harder to track with an app or a checklist. I’d reclaim our own belovedness in God. The idea that God calls us Beloved, that the God of the universe looks at each and every one of us and calls us loved is incredible. To remember this identity is to remember that we don’t have to run to anything else to find our identity or fill our hearts. No material items, job titles, or awards are as important as this truth. This is the good news of Christ we have patiently waited for!

And so, as we consider our new year, and our new year’s resolutions, consider this: You are the Beloved of God. Ethan will be preaching more on this and the Baptism of Jesus on Sunday, but as you go through your week, consider the words of this poem:

“The Bravest Thing We Can Do”

By Sarah Speed

Trust your belovedness.

Let it be a protest,

An act of resistance,

A song of celebration

Trust your belovedness in a world

That is rarely satisfied.

Wear it like a badge of honor.

Speak it confidently as your last name.

Tattoo it to your heart.

When outside forces

Chip away at your sense of self,

When life asks you

To hand over the keys,

Remember the water.

Remember creation.

Remember how it was good,

So very good.

Let that truth hum through your veins.

Sing it so loud that it drowns out the weariness of the world,

For the bravest thing we can ever do

Is to trust that we belong here.

Rev. Caitlin Childers Brown

Pastor And Minister of Service & Community