Do you know what this book is? It is called the “Book of Gospels”, but I am here to tell you that this book is a love story. A cover to cover, dramatic, deep and heartfelt love story. And today’s readings are one of those key chapters in this love story where we realize the depth of the love, the “no matter what” love that God has for us.

And it is not one of those Hallmark stories that ends when the show is over. This isn’t Hollywood, it is ever lasting, and we are in the story! Let’s take a look at how we fit in.

Our love story starts in the first reading from Isaiah. Isaiah is conveying a prophetic message from God to the people about the “servant” God will send. God says, “Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased,” (we will hear that again in the Gospel). God goes on, “I have grasped you by the hand; I formed you and set you as a covenant of the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring prisoners out of confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.” 

God loves us so much that he will send his Son to be a light for us, to open our blinded eyes, to set us free from the world’s snares, to bring us out of darkness. God knows that we need help in this dark world, help to get through this life… so he sends us his Son.

Then in the Gospel we read about John the Baptist responding to the people’s question if he is in fact the long-awaited Messiah. He responds with the familiar words, “I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” And sure enough, here is Jesus coming to John to be baptized. It says, “After all the people had been baptized and Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in a bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.’” 

Just as was promised by God through Isaiah, Jesus, his servant, comes to us. And so, his public ministry of love begins. 

We too were baptized, our start in this love story. But for many of us, Baptism happened many years ago and now maybe we are living in some darkness or maybe we are blind to God’s action in our lives. Maybe we have even forgotten the covenant He made with us – the covenant that says believing in Him and living as he calls us to brings us to, that day when God says to us, “With you I am well pleased.” 

Well, that’s exactly why he sent his Son! He didn’t just send his Son 2,000 years ago, he sends Him to us every day of our lives. The problem is that the world gets in our way of remembering. We are restless in our work, our families, our trying to get ahead. We struggle and we get frustrated when we view life as if we are on our own. In Isaiah this morning God said, “I have grasped you by the hand.” That is what Jesus does for us, he repeatedly pulls us up when we are falling. He pulls us up so we see His light, he pulls us up to help us see clearly what is truly important in life. He grasps our hand and pulls us to Himself. 

As His daughters and sons, we strive to know God and to understand his will. We walk a journey both to Him and with Him. With Him we walk to the life he has for us, to a life not confined by what the world says we are or what the world says we can’t be. As we walk with Him, he grasps our hand and pulls us through life’s challenges and heartbreaks because he loves us that much.

He knows we are not perfect. We fail and fall down. We get rejected, judged, excluded, or maybe we reject, judge, and exclude… and yet he remains at our side. He walks ever patiently, ever lovingly, in love with each of us individually. 

And when our walk is through, He is ready to present us to His Father and say, “Yes Father they are worthy. They have fallen at times, but they have loved, they have turned to me in prayer, they have grasped my hand. Yes, they are worthy.” 

And our Father in heaven will say, “You are my beloved daughter. You are my beloved son. In you I am well pleased.” 

This is our love story.