Our New Birthright

January 15, 2023

Hope Lutheran Church

Rev. Mary Erickson

Matthew 3:13-17

Our New Birthright

Friends, may grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Wong Kim Ark was born in San Francisco in 1873. His parents were from China but had permanently relocated in the United States. Wong Kim Ark became a cook when he grew up and he worked in several restaurants.

When he was 21 years old he decided to make a trip to China so he could visit relatives. Before he set sail, he got a copy made of his birth certificate. This was to facilitate his reentry through customs. He wanted this documentation in place because in 1882, when he was 9 years old, the United States had passed the Chinese Exclusion Act. This act barred citizens of China entering the US.

Wong Kim Ark visited his family and returned to the US a few months later. His ship docked in the San Francisco harbor and he went through the customs point. He presented his US birth certificate to the customs agent. The agent took one look at him and declared the birth certificate a phony. He had Wong Kim Ark imprisoned.

While in prison, Wong Kim Ark sued for his release under the protection of our constitution’s 14th amendment. His case went all the way up to the Supreme Court. The court’s decision became the groundbreaking precedent for the power of our birthright as US citizens. The 14th amendment states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.”

We have a birthright. Every person on this planet has a birthright – to their country, to their family lineage.

And biblically, we have received a birthright. We have a birthright through God’s actions at creation, and we have a new birthright through the sacrament of baptism. Both of these birthrights permanently anchor us within our holy and God-given identity.

Let’s consider creation first. Genesis 1 tells us that humanity was created in the image and likeness of God:

“So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27)

God looked at all that God had made and deemed it very good. As created beings, we have been made with an inherent value that cannot be denied. And somehow, we bear the image and likeness of God. What that means exactly we don’t know, but there was nothing else in the created order which received this creative intent, according to the biblical writer of this chapter.

Humanity alone bears this divine image and likeness. And moreover, we see that this likeness carries with all of us throughout the diversity of our individual selves. Both genders receive this mark. It’s not just certain somebodies who have been bestowed with this characteristic. It’s ALL of us.

Now we know that there are an infinite number of ways that we can categorize and downgrade people. In 1787, slaves were given the value of three-fifths of a person for counting a state’s population. Slavery was justified and Native Americans were denied their land by judging that people of color were somehow less human than people of European decent. In another area, the pay scale for women has long lagged behind that of men, even to this day.

And these are just a few examples. We can label and degrade the humanity of ourselves and others in so very many ways. Intelligence, financial value, accent, physique, gender identity, disabilities – there are so many ways we measure value.

But our birthright as God’s creatures tells us differently! Which view is right? Which voice will you listen to?

Friends, do not deny your birthright! And do not overlook the birthright of your neighbor. Each and every one of us was created in the image and likeness of God. When God our creator looks at us, God deems us to be very good. This is our true identity.

We have our God-given birthright through creation. And secondly, through baptism we have received our new birthright.

Today we lift up the baptism of our Lord. Before he began his public ministry, Jesus went to the Jordan River and received John’s baptism. As he rose from the waters, the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove and landed on him. Then a voice declared from the heavens: This is My Son, The Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

This moment and this voice pronounced Jesus’ identity. He is the Son of God; he is beloved; he is pleasing to God.

As Jesus progressed through his ministry, all that he does and says emerge from this moment. He is loved; God delights in him; he bears the divine stamp. This moment in the Jordan River and his awareness of his divinely pronounced identity empowers and directs all that will come.