Be it marriage or basketball teams or professional associations, human beings have an innate need to belong. We are constantly looking for places where we fit in and can share relationships with other likeminded people.
When I was a teenager, I was part of a surfing community and a music scene. After college it was advertising groups and religious communities I identified with. The world is full of different social groups, civic organizations, political affiliations, even street gangs who will welcome us with open arms. Such groups offer us a place where we can let other people know who we are. They help us cultivate relationships where we can learn new things to help us evolve as better human beings. As good as it can be, there are also some downsides. Rejection from such groups can impact the way a person defines their self-worth. The fear of not being welcomed or belonging to a part of something can drive a person to compromise one’s values and virtues just so he or she can fit in. As such, our need to belong leads us to question who we are and what we’re worth in the world. And it often causes us to look for answers in all the wrong places. But here's the way I see it. It’s not your religious beliefs, political ideologies, career choice, or financial status that define you or give you value as a human being. It’s what God has done for you that makes you worthy. God’s people have found themselves in place where they don’t belong. Exiled to a foreign country, they have lost their home, their identity, and all the things that they thought gave them self-worth. More heartbreaking than that, they fear they’ve lost God’s providence, as if God has abandoned or forgotten them. Yet through the prophet Isaiah, God gives these people words of hope and promise. Words that let them know just who they are, and to whom they belong. (Read Isaiah 43 here)
Now, God’s people have been dragged off to Babylon, which according to the previous chapter in Isaiah, is based largely on their arrogance and disobedience. They sit there fearing extinction, afraid of what is to come.
They are bloodied, bruised, beaten and beleaguered. Their only possessions are guilt, shame, and the fears they brought with them. They have lost sight of their faith and the promises that it was built upon. Yet to them God declares, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” These are not just words of comfort and assurance to God’s people. They are also words of welcome and belonging given to us all. This should be good news to anyone who has ever felt abandoned by God because of something you did or didn’t do. Maybe you’re sitting there right now believing you’re not good enough for God’s mercy. Or worthy enough to be in God’s good graces. If you have ever felt this way, then look carefully at what God is saying to you in these words. “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” It shouldn’t be a shock to hear me say the world is a dark and troubled place, and that we often find ourselves easily distracted or pulled away from what we are called to do. But scripture gives us the assurance that no matter how far we stray, we are never beyond the boundaries of God’s love. God takes away our fear, our worries, guilt, and shame, by redeeming us back to where we belong...in God’s heart. According to ancient Hebrew, to redeem is to be in a relationship with someone. God redeems these exiled people because of a covenant that was made with their ancestors. Since covenants cannot be broken, God remains in a relationship with the exiles, no matter what. The Bible tells us that in Christ, God has made a covenant with the rest of us – drawing us into the same loving relationship. Because of what God has done, we belong to God. We are God’s people, God’s family, God’s community. And because of what Christ has done for us, we too are called home to reclaim our true worth. “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” May these words penetrate your heart and understanding. God wants to be in a relationship with you. God knows who you are, and what you’ve done. And still names you and claims you…precious, honored, and loved. Some of you might be old enough to remember the TV show Cheers, a sitcom about an intimate community inside a Boston bar. It was a place, like the theme song pointed out, “where everybody knows your name.” Whenever this one particular character would come in, the entire bar would shout his name, “Norm!” There’s something good and sacred about belonging to a place where people know you and call you by name. As Janelle Hiroshige notes, “Knowing someone’s name implies a relationship. It opens the door for acts of care and kindness. When you hear that someone is in trouble, and you know their name, you might be inclined to act.” I find great comfort in knowing God cares enough to know me. It tells me that I am worthy of being loved. And it empowers me to face my fears knowing all of Heaven will act on my behalf. Because God has claimed me and named me, I have a constant sense of hope in my heart, knowing wherever I go, or whatever challenge I face, God is there with me, leading me through water and fire that try to overwhelm me in the space between. “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” As we enter another year - with COVID present - it’s easy to feel defeated and to doubt God’s presence. You might be experiencing a sense of abandonment from God as you are exiled in your own home, afraid to go outside or to be around others. Just as God spoke those words then, God also speaks to us today. Yet we cannot forget or overlook the truth that God doesn’t promise the people that they will avoid hardship or difficult times. But God does promise to be present always. This tells me that no matter what you’re dealing with God’s words remain true. Whenever you face a difficult challenge in life remember the words of God who said, “Do not fear. I have redeemed you.” When political and social unrest overwhelms our country remember the words of God who said, “Do not fear. I have called you by name.” When diseases like COVID, poverty and injustice plague our communities, remember the words of God who said, “Do not fear. You are mine.” We are God’s children. We do not belong to this world. We belong to the one who formed and made everything in it…including you and me. Our sense of belonging comes not from the acceptance of our peers or our social status in our communities. It comes from the One who names us and claims us and never lets us go. What makes us worthy is not our gender, skin color, education, or nationality. Our worth is based solely on God’s gracious love for each one of us. In the same way, God doesn’t care about who you marry, or what you’ve achieved, any more than how much money you make or the size of our congregations. God only cares to be in a relationship with you and me. This truth was made evident when God came to be with us, in the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ – our Emmanuel, God-with-us. In Christ God has redeemed us; named us and claimed us. All of us. Through Christ, God has gathered us from the north and south, east and west – transcending our differences and transforming our biases with divine love. We are called to walk with Christ, as a visible presence of that love; welcoming all and giving everyone a place to belong. As the church, the sacred body of Christ, we must resist exclusion and division because of skin color, sexual orientation, or political or theological differences. We are all God’s children. Each and every one of us has been named Precious. Honored. Loved. The God who names us and claims us, is the God who blesses us and sends us out into Anamesa, where there are still lost and broken people searching and crying out in need. We belong to God’s family, and as such we are called to care for one another as if we are caring for God. Therefore, let us go out into the world as bearers of God’s light and love; sowing seeds of peace where there is division. Bringing hope where there is only hopelessness. And causing joy to spring forth wherever sadness is found. Let us go into that sacred space between faith and doubt, living into our name as God’s beloved sons and daughters, brothers and sisters to Christ himself – so that everyone we meet can know their worth in God’s eyes. And find their place of belonging...at home in God’s heart. Works Cited Bartlett, David L and Barbara Brown Taylor, eds. Feasting on the Word Year C, Vol. 1 (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2009). Hiroshige, Janelle. By Name. episcopalchurch.org, January 3, 2022 (accessed on January 7, 2022).
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