CITIZENSHIP OF GOD

 Sermon preached by the Rev. Michael Anderson Bullock

[Isaiah 42:1-9; Acts 10:34-43; Matthew 3:13-17]

This past Tuesday, January 13th, 2026, at about 11 o’clock in the morning, at the American embassy in Guatemala City, Guatemala, the American citizenship of Prudencia Fitzgerald Ayala Bullock was formally and legally confirmed.  At this news, her only grandfather burst into tears of relief and joy.  Her passport is in process.

Our granddaughter, Pru, is a wonder of this internetted world.  Whereas, for instance, our Lord Jesus never traveled more than sixty miles from his birthplace, our little hummingbird, Pru, is Guatemalan by birth, which is what her birth certificate makes clear.  And through her mother, Pru also has inherited the rights of a Salvadoran legal resident.  And of course, her father is an American; and notwithstanding government leaders regularly threatening to erase a person’s citizenship from a position of cruel retribution, Pru’s confirmation of her father’s heritage and rights have been established – at least that’s what the law of the land currently stipulates.

Citizenship, as defined, is a legal membership in a country, granting rights and duties.  It is typically acquired at birth (either by place or parentage) or later through naturalization.  In the United States, the process to apply for citizenship entails meeting requirements like age, residency (usually 3-5 years as a permanent resident), good character, English/civics knowledge, and taking an Oath of Allegiance, which then formally and legally affords certain benefits, such as the right to live in the United States and to have passport access.

In the historic and traditional life of the Church, Baptism has been seen as an act of citizenship.1  In the early church, Baptism was not only an act of citizenship in the Kingdom of God, but it also involved what was in the eyes of the Roman Empire treasonable affirmation ...“in the name of  the Lord Jesus.”  

In the early church, Christians faced the requirement of Rome to be a licensed religion, with an imperial certificate in their meeting place.  To gain that certificate required an affirmation of subjection to the Empire.  A public verbal confession was mandatory.  That confession was: “Caesar is Lord.”   “The acclamation Kurios Kaiser would seem to have been a popular one in the civic cult of the Roman Empire, and Christians were no doubt conscious of the consequences implicit in denying “Caesar as Lord” when in worship they regularly spoke the proclamation, Kurios Iesous”  In fact, the confession, “Jesus is Lord”, was the baptismal confession of the early church.2

In the annals of the early church, the story of Polycarp makes the clear and consequential baptismal point.3  A student of John the Apostle, a renowned follower of Christ, and the Bishop of Smyrna (in modern day Turkey), Polycarp was an elderly man in his eighties who knew his life was in danger.  A group of Christians had just been executed in the arena on account of their faith.  The Romans were executing any self-proclaimed Christians, and pagans were betraying those they knew to be followers of the Way.  After the recent executions, the crowd in the arena had chanted for Polycarp’s death.  But Polycarp refused to leave Rome.

The Roman proconsul had been looking for Polycarp for days. After arresting and torturing one of Polycarp’s servants, they finally learned where the Bishop was staying.  The soldiers came into the house, but instead of fleeing, Polycarp calmly stated, “God’s will be done.”

As Polycarp faced martyrdom for refusing that Empire’s confession, the imperial magistrate, doing his best to persuade the aged Christian, asked him, “What harm is there in saying ‘Caesar is Lord?’”

Pledging oneself to God and the God-life in the name of Jesus in Baptism stands for citizenship and the rights and duties of being linked to the person, life, and power of the Lord Jesus. To pray (as Jesus taught us to pray) that God’s will “be done on earth as in heaven” means that Christians not only face the world as citizens of the Kingdom of God but also as ambassadors thereof.4

I trust you noticed the “Notes on the Liturgy”, the box at the beginning of today’s worship booklet.  It reminds us of two crucial aspects of Christian baptism.

The first and essential element (quoting the Prayer Book) is that “Baptism is “full initiation by water and the Holy Spirit into Christ’s Body the Church.  And that “the bond which God establishes in Baptism is indissoluble.”5

This is to say that God uses “superglue” in establishing his indissoluble baptismal bond with us; and in God’s mercy and love, the Holy One won’t ever divorce us nor accept our separation from him – no matter what!

The second element of the “Notes” pertains to today’s marking of Baptism.  Fifty years ago, at the introduction of the present Prayer Book, this point (stating that Baptism is “especially appropriate” at certain times of the liturgical year – this rubric created a good deal of heartburn among many people.  The heartburn that this rubric caused came by way of reinstating the spiritual tradition that baptisms (save for emergencies) were not a private matter but one that involves the entire Christian community – seen and unseen.  So, the convenient practice for a few family members to gather around the baptismal font at 4:30 on a Saturday afternoon for private baptism was overshadowed by celebrating baptism on the threshold occasions of Jesus’ life: namely, Easter’s liberating resurrection; Pentecost’s transforming gift of the Spirit; All Saints’ proclamation of our inheritance in Christ; and finally in the example of Jesus’ own baptism.

In terms of focusing on the Baptism of Jesus (which we do today), an interesting and perplexing question arises.  If Jesus is God’s Son – and thereby sinless, why did he submit to John’s baptism?  Evidently, this same question was also on John the Baptist’s mind, as Matthew so clearly conveys the pregnant interchange between John’s sense of hesitation and Jesus’ reply.  As Jesus entered the waters of the Jordan, John held up his hand in protest, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”  A bit obliquely, Jesus replies, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.”6

Well, there’s your answer!  Everyone clear?  Next question!

So, here’s where I am headed in this sermon.  What does Jesus’ baptism have to do with “fulfilling all righteousness” and what does this “fulfilled righteousness” have to do with being citizens of God’s kingdom, living God’s life in Christ?

At its heart, the confusing issue surrounding why the sinless Jesus was baptized has mostly to do with our casual focusing on baptism as a cleansing from sin.  Clarity can be gained if we remember that in its primary meaning, “sin” is not a moral category.  “Sin” is not essentially about how we have missed the target that is life with God.  Yes, of course we have missed that target, but the reason we have missed the God-life target  is because (to use the words of the Confession of Sin) we have “opposed [God’s] will in our lives.”7  At its heart, sin is the breaking of the Communion relationship that is God’s will for all people.  The consequence of abrogating God’s will is like a flower blossom being cut from its roots.  Separation from God is death.  

In terms of the “sinless one”, Jesus accepts John’s baptism to confirm publicly his acceptance of and commitment to God’s love and life: to the reality of God’s Communion.  To me, this is the meaning and impact of the voice from heaven, saying as Jesus rose from the waters: “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”8   Jesus chose God’s Communion; and as we will come to learn, the point of this proclamation is fully revealed on the cross: namely, that Jesus would rather die than break Communion with the Father.  “Jesus is Lord.”

So, in a very real and poignant way, Jesus’ baptism demonstrates what Christmas starts.  “The Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us… full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son of the Father.”9

Put in a very crude way, Jesus (“Emmanuel, God with us”) dove into the exact same waters in which you and I live and move and have our being to demonstrate how to swim in those challenging waters and receive the Good News that in Christ we are also the “Beloved” of God.  Fulfilling the “righteousness” of God is receiving the transforming gift of being in “right relationship” with God.  This is to say that the will of God is the offering of indissoluble Communion and life with the Creator of heaven and earth.  So it is that Jesus is who we follow and grow into.

The Orthodox tradition refers to this maturing growth as theosis.  The promise from God is that what you see in Jesus the Christ is what we get to become.  “By him, and with him, and in him”10, our baptisms guarantee our heritage as members of Jesus’ Body.  We are indissoluble citizens of God’s life and realm.  Communion is the right of our citizenship as Baptized followers of the Lord Jesus.  Thereby, gratitude is the basis and context for the living our lives.

But as with any honest form of citizenship, belonging to God with all its rights and privileges also entails certain duties.  The duties of God’s citizens are enumerated in the baptismal vows we make, the practice of which helps us in our development and maturation as God’s “Beloved”.  And as we practice in the example of Jesus loving God and our neighbor as ourselves, we not only fulfill our essential obligation as citizens (that is, being in “right relationship” with God and neighbor ); but we fulfill all righteousness in representing the One to whom we belong.  We are, thereby, ambassadors of God’s Christ to the world, demonstrating personally and publicly the Communion life.

Our granddaughter, Pru, has been given a precious gift: citizenship in this nation with its protections and opportunities -- no matter what.  Yet, especially in the face of citizenship being selfishly manipulated and corrupted, she will need to learn how to honor the gift and to express its reality through being a good citizen and an ambassador of true freedom and faithful life.  And when she is baptized, her citizenship will be confirmed with God, with Christ Jesus as her guide and “beloved” companion.  Let no one even think of tearing that apart.  And may nothing come between her and the inheritance of all the baptized – of indissolubly being connected to the Lord of All.  Amen.

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1.  R. J. Rushdoony. “Chalcedon Position Paper No. 37”, February 1983.  I use this article for the historical background and context of the sermon

2. Acts 8:36-38; Phil. 2:9-11

3. “Stories of the Martyrs: Polycarp of Smyrna.” August 23, 2021

4.   Ibid.

5.  Book of Common Prayer. Holy Baptism: “Concerning the Service”, p. 298 and “Additional Directions”: p. 312.

6.  Matthew 3:14-15.

7.  Enriching Our Worship. “Confession of Sin”, p.56.

8.  Matthew 3:17.

9.   John 1:14.

10.  Book of Common Prayer. p. 363.