By the Rev. Robert Blezard
Revised Common Lectionary reflection for Baptism of Our Lord Sunday, Year A
January 11, 2026
Key verse: The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty. -Psalm 29:4
A colleague tells the story of an American friend who became bored during a cloistered prayer retreat in Britain and was caught sneaking out of the monastery on a Sunday afternoon.
“It’s all right,” the man explained to the abbot. “I got a word from the Lord that it would be OK to just take a little break and visit the shops in town.”
“How very unfortunate,” the abbot replied solemnly, “that the Lord was unaware the shops are closed on Sunday.”
The story raises questions that go to the heart of how we steward our lives of faith. What is the voice of God? What has God spoken into our lives already? Can we distinguish the voice of God from the ones arising from our own desires? Or from those speaking to us from the cacophony of voices seeking our attention in the worlds of politics, entertainment and, yes, religion?
The lessons for the Baptism of the Lord Sunday give a preacher ample material to work with.
In Matthew’s spare account of Jesus’ baptism, God’s voice calls from heaven, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased” (verse 3:17). Jesus’ baptism, though officiated by John, is distinct from the baptizer’s earlier rituals, performed, as he tells us earlier in Matthew, “with water for the repentance of sins” (V. 2:11). For the sinless Jesus, who has no need to repent, the Holy Spirit shows up and God’s voice from heaven announces the significance.
The sacrament of Holy Baptism draws together John’s baptism of repentance with Jesus’s spiritual baptism. For instance, the ELCA Rite of Holy Baptism asks a candidate to renounce the ways of evil and concludes with the affirmation, “Child of God, you have been sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the Cross of Christ forever” (Evangelical Lutheran Worship, p. 231).
Because we are baptized people, God’s voice has already spoken into us, for Lutherans and many other Christians even before we can talk. It is the responsibility of sponsors and the church-at-large to help us understand and hear the voice of God that spoke over us and live that out. A sermon might remind congregants of their baptism and challenge them to understand and live out the meaning of God’s declaration that we are children of the Divine One.
The voice of God heard at baptism has continuity with how God’s voice is depicted and heard throughout the Bible. From the beginning, in Genesis 1, God speaks the created order into existence. God speaks, and there is light (v. 1:3), there is sky (v. 1:6), there are plants (v. 1:12), animals (v. 1:21) and people (v. 1:26). So, when God declares us children, the words carry the Almighty’s full creative energy. Wow!
This week’s reading of Psalm 29 handily describes the power and majesty of God’s voice in seven affirmations. God’s voice reigns supreme in a cosmos where false idols and lesser “heavenly beings” (v. 1) may compete for the ear of God’s people.
Though Psalm 29 describes the ferocity of God’s voice – thundering over the waves (v. 3), breaking the cedars of Lebanon (v. 5), flashing forth flames of fire and shaking the wilderness (v8) – a wise preacher would note that the voice of God is no less formidable when it is heard in stillness and quiet.
This was the kind of divine voice Elijah heard in 1 Kings 19:12, “a sound of sheer silence.” It may be the kind of voice of God most of us hear in our everyday lives and prayer, as mystics through the ages have told us. “In the silence of the heart, God speaks,” declares Mother Theresa, adding, “If you face God in prayer and silence, God will speak to you” (from her book In the Heart of the World: Thoughts, Stories and Prayers , New World Library, 2010.)
A good sermon might inspire congregants to explore and practice contemplative prayer as a way to enter into silence and open themselves to the voice of God speaking to them. The works of Thomas Merton might be helpful, as well as contemporary theologian/mystic Richard Rohr, who taught:
“There is a deeper voice of God, which we must learn to hear and obey. It will sound like the voice of risk, of trust, of surrender, of soul, of common sense, of destiny, of love, of an intimate stranger, of our deepest self. It will always feel gratuitous, and it is this very freedom that scares us. God never leads by guilt or shame! God leads by loving the soul at ever-deeper levels, not by shaming at superficial levels” (from A Spring Within Us, CAC Publishing, 2016, p. 141).
In worship
Incorporate into the prayers and liturgy references to God’s voice and how we hear it. For example, a prayer of the day might be something like this:
Holy God, at Jesus’ baptism your voice cried out, declaring him your beloved son. At our baptism, your voice called us your children. Open the ears of our hearts to discern your voice giving us help, hope, comfort and affirmation. Through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever. Amen.
Or this:
Almighty God, your all-powerful voice spoke creation into being and echoes through the universe. Your voice still speaks, giving us wisdom, hope, comfort and direction. Help us always to open our hearts to listen for your voice and to trust it. Through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever. Amen.
With youth and children
Baptism of Our Lord Sunday offers a good opportunity to refresh youth and children on the meaning of their own baptism.
With older youth, review with them the rite of Holy Baptism (pp. 227-231 in Evangelical Lutheran Worship). Explore the meaning of each of the prayers and declarations. Invite them to share how they apply to their daily lives.
For younger children, gather them around the baptismal font (which should be filled with water). Explain why we receive baptism, what God does for us in baptism and how it changes our lives forever. Invite them to put their hand in the water.
Another possibility: Youth and children often possess uncanny spiritual sensitivity, the kind of awareness that often fades as they grow into adulthood. Invite the young saints into a discussion: How does God talk to us? What might God say? Have they ever heard God’s voice? End the discussion with some ideas of how Psalm 29 describes the powerful voice of God; how we hear God’s voice in the words of the prophets (like Isaiah); or at our baptism, like Jesus’.
Previous reflections for Baptism of Jesus, Year A
2023 – Inferiority complexities at the baptism of Jesus
2020 – Jesus H2O
2017 – Walk wet and share the Good News
2013 – A discipleship elevator speech?
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