Worship - 11 January 2026

Summary of this week's theme

Who are you? And how would you answer that question now, compared with the person you were at eighteen? Would your younger self recognise who you have become?

I have never attended a school reunion, but I recently read an account by someone who had. Memories surfaced that she had not thought about for decades, and questions of identity followed. She went with her identical twin sister, and even years later people could not tell them apart. That confusion led her to ask deeper questions: Who am I now? Am I who I hoped to be? Am I who God wanted me to be?

Those questions resonate. I find myself asking them not only in relation to adolescence, but to ordination. Where did I imagine my life would lead? Who did I expect to become? Menorca - or even Europe - certainly did not feature in those early imaginings. As time passes, many of us begin to reflect more seriously on who we are, and who we are meant to be. Remembering our identity is not always easy; discerning our calling even less so.

Matthew’s account of Jesus’ baptism is often heard as a public declaration of who Jesus is: “This is my Son, the Beloved.” But it is also something Jesus must hear for himself. The context matters. John the Baptist has called the people to repentance, warning that fruitless lives will be judged. Into this moment steps Jesus, insisting on being baptised despite having no sins to confess. This is not about repentance, but about identity.

Jesus claims his vocation publicly and inwardly. He takes hold of his calling to fulfil God’s promises: to bring justice, to open blind eyes, and to free those imprisoned - often by sin, fear, or despair. As he begins the costly journey to “fulfil all righteousness,” he must remember who he is, especially when tested, betrayed, and led to the cross.

That declaration at the Jordan is not only for Jesus, but for us. His followers, then and now, must continually ask who he is - and who we are in relation to him. Baptism draws us into that identity. It welcomes us into God’s family, names our need for repentance, and binds us to responsibility: to seek justice, to love our neighbours, and to honour the dignity of every human being.

Baptism is not protection from suffering. As Graham Maule of the Iona Community wrote, before his death six years ago, faith is not an insurance policy - it is what carries us through.

So who are we? Baptism reminds us first of all that we are God’s beloved. From that truth, we are called to live, to grow, and to keep seeking the identity God has in mind for us - holding always before us the Christ revealed in the waters of baptism.