Rejecting Jesus Series

JUST JESUS: CHAPTER BY CHAPTER THRU LUKE

REJECTING JESUS

LUKE 4:14-30

#JustJesus

INTRODUCTION … Rejection Imagination Exercise (p)

I would like you to imagine a situation as we begin this morning. Call it a thought exercise if you want. It is a normal run-of-the-mill situation that you or I might experience.

Imagine that you are sitting down for dinner at a restaurant and the person who invited you said that they will pay for the meal. They invited you out and so they will pay. It’s on them. You haven’t really known this person for very long, but they offer to buy your meal out of the goodness of their heart. They have the willingness and ability to do so. You order from the menu and the meal comes. You eat. You drink. You get to know the person a little more. You even have dessert. Wohoo! The bill comes and the person pays. That is the situation.

Now let’s throw some rejection into the mix and I am going to describe four possible scenarios at this particular dinner where rejection takes place and it changes the story a bit. The rejection will change the story. This will all make sense later, so just track with me and listen.

Scenario 1: Imagine you are sitting down for dinner at a restaurant and the person who invited you said that they will pay for the meal. You haven’t really known this person for very long, but they offer to buy your meal. You look at the menu and you decide not to order anything because you feel like you are not hungry. Your stomach is growling loudly. It is growling so much that the person at the next table over slides you some of their appetizers to aid you in your obvious hunger distress, but you are convinced that you are not hungry. You stick to your guns and you don’t eat or don’t drink anything. You don’t even have any dessert. You reject the offer of paid food because you don’t think you are hungry.

Scenario 2: Imagine if you will that you are sitting down for dinner at a restaurant and the person who invited you said that they will pay for the meal. They invited you out and so they will pay. It’s on them. You haven’t really known this person for very long, but they offer to buy your meal out of the goodness of their heart. You order from the menu and the meal comes. Just as you are about to eat, a few friends pass by the large window at the front of the restaurant and think they see you inside. They are gawking trying to figure out if it is you in there. You look across the table and realize that you’d rather not be seen eating with this person. You don’t really even want to be seen sitting in this restaurant. It is fine to be there, but not if other people you know are going to see you. You excuse yourself to go to the bathroom and exit out the back door of the restaurant.

Scenario 3: Imagine that you are sitting down for dinner at a restaurant and the person who invited you said that they will pay for the meal. They are going to pay which is great because you can’t afford the place. You can’t afford any place. You order from the menu and the meal comes. Just as your meal comes, so does the meal at the table next to you. You look at what you ordered. You look at what they ordered. You decide you don’t want what you ordered. You want what they ordered. So, you scoot your chair away from your table over to their table and order what they are having. You decide you’ll pay for it somehow.

Scenario 4: Imagine you are about to sit down for dinner at a restaurant and the person who invited you said that they will pay for the meal. They invited you out and so they will pay. You are about to sit, but you say ‘no’ because you decide you don’t like their motives. They invite you to sit, but you say ‘no’ because you don’t like what they chose to wear. They again invite you to sit, but you say ‘no’ because you can eat anywhere you don’t have to eat in this particular restaurant. They again invite you to sit and you again say ‘no’ because now you are embarrassed that you’ve said ‘no’ to much and you don’t like how that feels. You leave.

This thought exercise is meant to get you thinking about rejection and situations of rejection. Rejection is dismissal of an idea. Rejection is refusal of a proposal. Rejection is saying ‘no’ to something and choosing an alternative. Rejection can mean mistreatment or silence or no action at all depending on the situation and the people involved.