Brush It Off And Move On - Dealing With Rejection

Scripture: Mark 6:1 - 13 (Call to worship - Psalm 48)

Theme: Rejection - How do Deal With It

Title: Brush It Off and Move On - Dealing with Rejection

This sermon deals with the reality of Rejection and How to handle it. Jesus faced rejection. His disciples faced rejection. We will face rejection. What is the best way for us to handle rejection?

INTRO:

Grace and peace from God our Father and for Jesus Christ our Redeemer who came to take away the sin of the world and bring us the fullness of His Holy Spirit!

What a joy it is to be with all of you this Sunday morning!

One of the greatest desires that any of us have is the need to be loved, accepted and needed. It's because we were created in love, to be loved and to share love. Our Heavenly Father, the Good God of Creation created us out of love for the Bible tells us that God is love. We were created to be loved and to share that love with God, with ourselves, with other humans and with all of creation.

In light of that, one of the greatest fears that any of us humans can experience or face is the fear of rejection. So many times, rejection is the opposite of being loved, received and accepted. Rejection is one of the most difficult things that any of us can experience in this life or for that matter in the next.

No one wants anyone or anything ( a team, a business etc...) to reject them when they desperately wanted that person or that thing to accept them, receive them and include them. None of us like the feeling that we experience when what we wanted so bad lets us know that it does not want us back.

And yet, rejection is something that we have all experienced and will experience in the future. Rejection is sadly a part of the human experience. It begins in our childhood. We get laughed at or ridiculed. We're not chosen by this certain team or that group. We're not invited to sit at this table or allowed to hang out with this crowd. We're not invited to go to this party or this social event.

Rejection doesn't end when we graduate from either middle school or high school. The truth is we all have to face the possibility of rejection throughout the rest of our lives. People get rejection letters from trade schools and from colleges. They get rejection notices from banks on loans and are told they can't buy this house, this car or that boat. They receive rejection emails or messages from prospective employers. It is said that today only 2% of all resumes get accepted and of that number of course only 1 is offered the job.

We all know people who have faced rejection because of their skin color, the way they look or the culture that they come from. Perhaps, one of the most difficult rejection is the one people face from a spouse who suddenly and at times very abruptly wants out - they want a divorce. They no longer want you in their life. They no longer want to share space with you.

Tragically, this is the same person who previously stood in front of a church or a government official and committed to accept you, love you and be with you until one of you or both of you die. Now, they suddenly decide to trade you off for a newer model or at least what they think is a better model. You no longer are a real person but just an object to move out of the way.

You are not tall enough. You are not pretty enough. You are not smart enough. You are not young or old enough. You don't speak well enough. You don't carry yourself the right way. You don't come from right background. You don't have enough money. It really doesn't matter what the rationale is, the fact is you have been rejected.

And it not only happens to just a portion of our population. It happens at some point to everyone. In our passage this morning that everyone included Jesus and his disciples. That is what our two stories share with us this morning. Jesus faced rejection and did his best to prepare his disciples to face rejection.

Mark tells us that Jesus has gone home for a little period of time. Perhaps, he needed some time off. Perhaps he needed to do a little work to have some money to go out on the next trip. That is what many rabbis did at that time. They would work, save up some money which they would then use to travel and teach. Perhaps he just wanted to show his disciples where he grew up, the people he grew up with and to meet his mom and the rest of the family.