Matthew 4:12-23
Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

"Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali, on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned."

From that time Jesus began to proclaim, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fish for people." Immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him. Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.

In Matthew’s face-paced version of events, immediately following Jesus’ baptism by John in the Jordan River, Jesus’ next adventure took place in the wilderness where he fasted for 40 days and was tempted by the devil. Three times, Jesus rejected the offer of power and privilege which the devil presented. Three times, Jesus declared his faith in God alone. Matthew states that the devil left him and angels attached themselves to Jesus.

Following his dramatic baptism and victory over the devil, Jesus sets about to begin his public ministry. And he picks a strange place to start. He starts his ministry in the land of “Zebulun and Naphtali.” It’s a strange place to start because the land of Zebulun and Naphtali is conquered land. It’s people are oppressed. Colloquially, we could call it “Loser-ville.” I think it is safe to say everyone in Jesus’ day knew it as “Loser-ville.”

You see, Loser-ville was once a land of great promise. More accurately, it was once a land of God’s promise. It was land that God had sworn to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, had shown to Moses. It was Canaanite land that God pledged to the Hebrew tribes of Jospeh’s sons, Zebulun and Naphtali.

However, 700 years before Jesus first steps foot on the land, the land fell under foreign occupation by the Assyrians. The current residents of the area of Zebulun and Naphtali were occupied and oppressed. The people resided in a land that was promised them; however, it was a land they could not possess. After 700 years of living under occupation, most residents had long since given up on many of God’s promises.

And it is here, in Loser-ville, where Jesus chooses to make his inaugural address, stating, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

The Biblical notion of repentance means “to turn around 180 degrees.” When Jesus speaks to the residents of Loser-ville who have lived through hundreds of generations of oppression, he is calling on them to make a complete change of behavior, attitude, and faith – to turn in the completely opposite direction, to turn their downcast gaze towards the God whose promises are still valid and soon to be realized.

The call for repentance was a call to expectation. Hey losers, expect to be healed. Expect to be free. Expect redemption. Hey losers, expect equality. Expect justice. Expect good news. Expect God’s love. Expect salvation.

Jesus beginning his ministry in Loser-ville does more than symbolize the truth of God’s promises; his ministry actually makes God’s promises come true.

All this makes me wonder where our “Loser-villes” are today. Where are the places in our world where people have lived under oppression for so long that they no longer know where to look to receive God’s promises? Where are the places where people no longer even expect justice, equality, love, and good news? Where are the places where people have been told over generations that they don’t deserve any of that?

Certainly we are called to go and announce God’s promises to places of such as Fondwa, Haiti, where opportunities for hope, opportunity, and safety are limited. Likewise, I recall the racially-divided slums of South Africa as places of political oppression in desperate need of good news.

But we don’t have to hop on an airplane to find places where people have lived under oppression for so long that they no longer know where to look to receive God’s promises. What about the part of Indianapolis that the Indianapolis Police refer to as “The Swamp” (that name's actually worse than “Loserville”). I see it in our local school where it is clear some kids have no one to read to them at home – kindergarten students who are already set up for a life of educational failure and limited opportunities. I see it in the people who turn to opioids abuse or meth to numb their boredom or emotional distress. I see it in the people who treat other ethnic, socioeconomic, or racial groups with outright hatred or casual indifference. And I see it in the lives of those who have physical or mental disabilities–people who need champions for their rights and their dignity.

There is no place on Earth where God’s promise is invalid. There is no inch of soil anywhere on this planet where God’s promises cannot take root and grow into something beautiful and transformative. The seeds have already been planted. Our attitude and actions make a huge difference in whether these seeds will grow.

Jesus’ ministry in inaugurated in Loser-ville and is full of acts of healing “that repair imperial damage and enact God’s life-giving empire in restoring people’s lives. They anticipate the completion of God’s working that creates a world, envisioned by Isaiah, in which all people [regardless of race or nationality] enjoy abundant good food and physical wholeness, where ‘the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.’”

There is hope for the losers in the world. And I thank God for that fact that I am a loser. If I had everything together. If I was confident; if I was self-sufficient; if I had no need of forgiveness; if I was blind to the painful injustices of our world…then I would have no need for a Savior.

But I am a loser. And it is in this very identity of imperfection where Jesus comes to me, calls me to repentance, offers a healing touch, and sends me out to do the same for others.

I don’t tell you this enough, but you are a loser, too. And that is wonderful news because a loser is exactly the type of person Jesus is drawn to.

So embrace your fear, your imperfection, your feelings of inadequacy, your need of healing. Embrace these things and repent – turn around and gaze into the healing presence of a God who is in control, whose promises are eternal, and who will always have a word of hope for us losers.

Amen.

Matthew 3:13-17

Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

When my wife Lindsey and I attended the baptism of our nephew, Matt, it was a day of mixed emotions.

You see, Matt’s parents decided to raise him in the Catholic Church. Given that Lindsey and I, along with my in-laws figured to be the only non-Catholic attendees to the service, I wondered whether we would be allowed to stand at the font with Matt, or if we would be banished to the furthermost pew. I wondered if I would have any strong theological disagreement with whatever the priest would say during the baptism.

But most of all, and again I’m just being honest, I was sad that the decision to raise Matt Catholic meant both that Lindz and I would not be Matt’s godparents. Also it meant that I would not be able to baptize Matt myself.

When I was baptized, the man who presided over the service and who poured the water over my head was my uncle, who was a Lutheran pastor. In fact he baptized both my dad and me on the same day. I like that I can say that that I was baptized by someone in my family. I’m proud that my uncle was the first one who officially welcomed me into the church and the faith.

I was a seminary student when I first learned that I would soon become an uncle for the first time. I immediately made the connection, thinking, “My uncle was a pastor and he baptized me; now I’ll be a pastor and can baptize my nephew.” I wanted to be the first one to welcome him into the church and the faith. I wanted to establish a faith relationship with the little guy. Years down the road I want Matt to see me, be reminded of his baptism, and to know that God loves him and has claimed him as his own child.

Unfortunately, when Matt’s parents were making important decisions about their child’s faith, they didn’t put my needs front and center!

Of course, in the end, the baptism was a wonderful event. We were not banished to the dark corner of the church, but instead were welcomed to stand at the font for the baptism and even invited to stand near the altar for the blessing. There were laughter, smiles, approximately a thousand combined pictures taken, and a liturgy that was beautiful and profound.

What really matters is that there was a lot of love in that church; a lot of love surrounding Matt and his parents. The whole family was welcomed and supported. It was a triumphant entry into God’s kingdom.

And that’s what baptism is all about – it’s all about love.

We learn about this love in today’s scripture. Jesus comes to the Jordan River so that he can be baptized. He walks into the river. John is at his side and guides Jesus under the water. The water covers his head. Jesus is then brought back up. As his face breaks the surface of the water he is embraced by the Holy Spirit and he receives a revelation which tears apart the heavens. He is told that he is loved. The first thing that happens after Jesus has been baptized is God claims him as a son and says out loud, “I love you.”

In baptism, Jesus learns who he is and whose he is; and this will guide his ministry from that moment on. Every miracle he performs, every healing that takes place, every word from his lips, even his death on a cross, is a testament to the fact that God loves him, has claimed him as his Son, and has given him the power of the Holy Spirit. God’s love enables him to live a selfless life of service to those in need.

Like you and me, Jesus needed to know that someone loved him. Like you and me, he needed the gifts that are bestowed at baptism so that he could live a life of service to others. If Jesus did not know that God loved him, there would have been no healings, no miracles, and no salvation.

In baptism we too were claimed as God’s beloved. Our sacrament of baptism is not an initiation ritual granting entry into an exclusive club; rather, it is a ritual in which we are claimed, called, and commissioned to live lives of service to God and others.

Baptism is a relationship based on God’s love for us. In baptism, God’s permanent and unconditional love is explicitly made known to the one being baptized. It’s a relationship that will never experience a breakup or a painful divorce. God will never leave us. When parents bring their children to be baptized, they are saying, “We love you.” We love you so much that we want you to grow up surrounded by as much love as possible. We especially want you to know that God loves you and will always love you.

With regards to my nephew’s baptism, I initially lost sight of my role in his life. My desire to baptize him myself was selfish. I lost sight of the fact the most important relationship in baptism is between God and the one being baptized. My responsibility is to daily remember my baptism and let it inform every decision I make; so too, my responsibility is to remind my nephew that he has been claimed, called and commissioned to live a life of service to others and to God.

Matt doesn’t look at me and recall his baptism, but I try to make sure he looks at me and is reminded that God loves him.

May we all take the time each day to remember our baptism; to remember that God loves us and claims us as His sons and daughters. May we remember who we are and whose we are. May God’s love move us to live lives of thankfulness and service in Jesus’ name.

Amen.

"Only Losers Need A Savior" – Matthew 4:12-23

"Matt's Baptism" – Matthew 3:13-17