Sermon Title – Rejection and how to respond to it.
Definition of REJECTION
1 a : the action of rejecting : the state of being rejected ignored, denied attention.
Theme: Rejection - The Goal: How do Deal With It
Mark 6:1-6 (NIV) - The opening caption reads / A Prophet Without Honor
6 Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. 2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.
“Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? 3 Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph,[a] Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.
4 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” 5 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them.6 He was amazed at their lack of faith.
Social rejection occurs when an individual is deliberately excluded from a social relationship or social interaction. The topic includes interpersonal rejection, peer rejection, romantic rejection, faith based rejection and family estrangement. A person can be rejected on an individual basis or by an entire group of people.
This sermon deals with the reality of Rejection and How to handle it.
1. Jesus faced rejection.
2. His disciples faced rejection.
3. We will face rejection.
So what is the best way for us to handle rejection?
INTRO:
• 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.
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.
1. The truth is we all have to face the possibility of rejection throughout the rest of our lives.
2. People get rejection letters from trade schools and from colleges.
3. They get rejection notices from banks on loans and are told they can't buy this house, this car or that boat.
4. 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 and committed to accept you, love you and be with you until one of you or both of you die.
Lets look at the rejection that Jesus faced:
Mark tells us that Jesus has gone home for a little period of time. The reason is never given for why he came back.
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.
All we know is that Jesus goes home and his disciples follow him. On the Sabbath Jesus goes to the local synagogue and begins to teach.
Mark wants us to understand that people from all over had gathered together to hear him. And why not? Everyone from Tyre and Sidon to Beer-sheba had heard the news of what he had been doing.
The buzz about Jesus' teaching, his healing people, casting out demons and even stilling the storm was big news. Who wouldn't be drawn to hear Jesus?
As they listened that Sabbath morning, Mark tells us that everyone was amazed.
They had not heard someone speak the way that Jesus was speaking. His words were full of power and authority.
His presence was electrifying. He literally lit up the room. There was an energy about him that was inviting and warm and yet at the same time invaded the very depths of a person's soul and spirit.
It seemed like everything was going well and then suddenly the tables were turned.
• What started off well ended up being this horrible and horrendous time of denial and rejection.
The town turned on Jesus. His own people turned on him.
The very same people he grew up with turned against him. The people that he had fixed their furniture, constructed the stone work around their wells, the walls of their homes and that had helped put on their roofs turned on him.
They rejected him and began questioning his identity, his worth and his abilities.
They began to wonder how in the world this little boy that they had seen walk around their town could do all the things that he could do. After all, he was just a carpenter a few months ago. He was one of their local handymen.
They once again questioned his lineage. If you notice, they don't refer to Jesus as the son of Joseph. Instead, they allude to him being Mary's son as they once again question who was Jesus' father.
• They knew the story of his birth but they didn't believe for one minute that Jesus' true father was God. They also didn't believe it was Joseph either. The gossip and slander that surrounded Jesus' birth was still well alive and well.
They actually began to wonder if Jesus was even worthy of being home or being able to speak to them.
After all, they knew the family and none of his other siblings showed any divine promise. Even if Joseph was the father, he wasn’t a levite. So how dare Jesus serve in such a capacity.
When all is said and done, the Jesus they knew was only a handyman in their minds. He didn't hold any degrees or have a high position in the Temple at Jerusalem.
Some of you can relate to not being accepted either by your family, or those you grew up with. Its been that way with me with my sisters, following my salvation.
In Jesus case:
a. Looking from the outside, one would have thought that they would have welcomed Jesus.
b. That the town would have put a banner across the road telling everyone that Jesus was home.
You would have thought that the synagogue ruler and the town elders would have given him the key to the city. That they would have had a meeting so that they could rename one of the streets after him.
But they didn't. Instead, they turned their backs on Jesus.
1. They rejected him so severely that Jesus was unable to do very many miracles around them because of their unbelief.
2. People that should have been healed and released from oppression never experienced the joy of being whole and free.
3. There are so many through the years whose rejection led to great things not happening or being delayed.
When it comes to the work of the LORD - Love and Faith are vital keys. The lack of both (love and faith) are so powerful that they can stop the work of Our Loving Heavenly Father.
Jesus' home town family, friends and neighbors' lack of faith denied them of all kinds of miracles, anointings and blessings.
Here they had God in Flesh walking around them and instead of considering themselves living in Paradise they wanted to cast Jesus out of their midst.
• At times where I have been rejected I thought about the fact that if they rejected Him who was I to complain.
We see the same thing happening to the disciples in the story that follows this one (verses 7 - 13).
Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. 7 Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits.
8 These were his instructions: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. 9 Wear sandals but not an extra shirt. 10 Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. 11 And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”
12 They went out and preached that people should repent. 13 They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.
Jesus had given his disciples the power - to cast out demons and to bring healing to those who desired it. He had given them a message of salvation to share with those who would listen.
And yet, like Jesus they face rejection after rejection.
• They faced towns and places that even though they have the power to heal, to put down evil and to share the Good News the people rejected them.
They didn't want what any of them were so willing to give away. If it meant accepting this carpenter turned rabbi or accepting his disciples they would rather retain their brokenness, their diseases, their demons and their uncleanness.
It's hard to read these stories and not shake your head in disbelief.
And yet the same is abundantly true today. It’s hard to read these stories and not be shocked at the way they treated Jesus or his disciples.
I mean, If anyone should have welcomed his disciples it should have been these towns that were oppressed by sickness, depression and evil. Who in their right mind(s) wouldn't want their town transformed?
The truth is this morning is:
I. Our World is Full of People Who Will REJECT US
No matter what you do or what you say or even how nice your are there are some people who will reject you.
They will reject what you want and they will reject what you stand for. They will reject you for merely being you.
• Not every time does it mean that they are not nice but at times it does mean that they choose not to be nice.
It is just a fact that our world is full of people who are mean and ugly folk.
1. Our world is full of people who will do their best to use you, abuse you and then toss you away.
2. They think nothing of you being a genuine human being made in the image of a loving God.
3. They don't have your best interest at heart and the only thing they want from you is what they can get from you.
No matter how saved or sanctified you are the truth is some people will never accept you or want to be in your presence.
• They don't want to talk to you, have a cup of coffee with you or listen to what you have to say.
• They don't want to hear you talk about Jesus, about your family or yourself.
• They don't want anything to do with you. Period. Simple. End of conversation.
Some people will never be on your side. They will never cheer you on.
They will never stand behind you. They will never help pave the way for you to be the person God wants you to be.
No matter how gifted, how anointed or how Spirit-filled you are the truth is some people will simply reject you.
There may be a million and one reasons why they have chosen to reject you or your message but it really doesn't change the outcome - they don't want you, they don't want to be around you and as far as they are concerned all they want to do is to close the door in front of you and for you to leave them alone and get away from their presence as soon as possible.
Jesus - God in Flesh faced rejection. Not just once but many times in his life.
John 1:11 tells us - He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him
His disciples even though they came in the power of the Holy Spirit faced rejection.
But why?
That's the question that sometimes just bugs us. We don't like it when we are rejected. We don’t like the way it makes us feel.
We want to know why? However, if we are not careful we can allow ourselves to be paralyzed by all kinds of questions.
+Why wouldn't they want us?
+Why did they choose to suddenly not want us anymore after all these years?
+Is there something wrong with us?
+How can they not want what we have to offer?
+What is wrong with them?
+Are they out of their minds?
Sometimes we are at fault. Sometimes there is nothing wrong with them or their minds. Sometimes there is something wrong with us or the way we convey our message.
But a great deal of the time there is not something wrong with us as was in the case of Jesus and His Disciples. When we are not at fault or there is nothing wrong with who we are, or our message then:
John 15:18 If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me first. 19If you were of the world, it would love you as its own. Instead, the world hates you, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world
Max Lucado in his book God came near shared this illustration - In 1858 the Illinois legislature--using an obscure statute--sent Stephen A. Douglas to the U.S. Senate instead of Abraham Lincoln, in spite of the fact Lincoln had won the popular vote. When a sympathetic friend asked Lincoln how he felt, he said, "Like the boy who stubbed his toe: I am too big to cry and too badly hurt to laugh."
Sometimes when we are rejected that’s exactly how we feel, and rejection can last for a life time.
Black sheep of the family, rejected for our size, for some physical characteristic. For our nationality, our faith, even in relactionships. Our own family.
This morning we dealt with the fact that we are all rejected. And my prayer is that we can bring that hurt to the altar.
Because next week we will learn how to walk away from it.
But what the Lord wants to do this morning is to allow us to acknowledge that we have been rejected, that that rejection has hurt us, and perhaps even stifled us from being who God called us to be.
It begins with being on the cross next to Jesus, and recognizing the need to forgive someone.
