By Dr. Gilbert W. Stafford
Scripture: Mark 8:31 and Colossians 1:24
AN ACT OF MERCY REJECTED
The Christian activist, Jim Wallis tells about a march on Washington, D. C. for social justice. It was an extremely hot and humid day. Since the crowds were far greater than had been expected, food and drink were in short supply. A tender hearted Christian woman noticed an older man who appeared to be desperate for something to drink. Being hot and thirsty herself, she was just about ready to open the only drink she had. But as she looked at the dirty, ragged man, she remembered the passage in Matthew 25:40 where Jesus says that inasmuch as we do it to the least of these we do it to him. She also thought about the passage in Hebrews 13:2: "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it."1
In light of these two passages of Scripture, she decided that the right thing to do was to give the older man her only drink. Handing him a cup filled with the cool beverage, he drank a mouthful. But instead of swallowing it, he spat it out and yelled at her, "Yuck, why didn't you tell me it was Diet Coke! "2
INTRODUCTION TO THIS SERIES
What do you do when you experience rejection? Perhaps it is the rejection of despicable behavior such as just mentioned. Perhaps it is the rejection within the family or in the work place. Perhaps it is rejection by your neighbors or at church. Perhaps it is rejection by long time friends or casual acquaintances.
uring is series I want to talk with you about the four R's in our approach to rejection. The first is, when you experience rejection, remember our Lord. In the next three programs I plan to develop the other three: When you experience rejection, reclaim your call, refocus on the future, and regain God's strength. But now to the first R: Remember our Lord.
THE REJECTION OF JESUS
I am not sure that there is any more effective way for us to be in tune with the kind of rejection our Lord went through on our behalf than to suffer some form of rejection ourselves. To experience rejection ourselves reminds us of Jesus who was the supremely rejected one.
His rejection is a major theme in the New Testament. In Mark 8:31 we read: "Then ... [Jesus] began to teach ... [his disciples] that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again." The elders, chief priests and scribes represented the whole religious establishment. Their life was focused on God. Jesus, whose heart was at one with God, had a lot in common with them. In this sense, they were his kind of people. Both he and they were lovers of God, citizens of Israel, students of the scriptures, participants in the religious life of Jerusalem. And yet, these fellow religionists were the very ones whose rejection led to his death on the cross.
In several New Testament books, reference is made to Jesus as the rejected stone in God's spiritual building. In Matthew 21:42, Jesus asks "Have you never read in the scriptures: 'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone'?" (See also Mark 12:10, Luke 20:17, Acts 4:11, and 1 Peter 2:7 for the same reference.) Also in Peter's sermon to the people of Jerusalem, we find again the theme of rejection. In Acts 3:13‑15 Peter refers to "Jesus, whom you [people] handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead."
"COMPLETING WHAT IS LACKING IN CHRIST'S AFFLICTIONS"
But back now to a consideration of our own experience of rejection. How does it relate to Christ's rejection? As we have already said, our experience of rejection sensitizes us to our Lord's experience, but there is more. Paul in Colossians 1:24 says: "In my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church." I am completing what is lacking in Christ's afflictions? How could that be? Certainly Paul is not saying that Christ's suffering is insufficient for our salvation. Throughout his writings, he is abundantly clear about this matter. Christ's suffering is completely and totally sufficient as far as our salvation is concerned. In that respect, Christ's afflictions are not lacking in anything. Paul in no way calls that into question. What he is talking about here is the suffering which is necessary in order for the church to be what it is called to be. In order for the Christian witness to be alive and well in the world, Christ's sufferings are insufficient. Our suffering, also, is necessary‑‑the kind which the woman in Washington, spoken of earlier, experienced when her gift of a cold drink was so rudely spewed forth. Not only was Christ's suffering necessary in that setting, but also this woman's suffering of rejection. She completed what was "lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church."
I don't like what I am preaching here, but I preach it because I am convinced that it is true. I preach it because it really is the Christian approach to our experience of rejection. When we experience rejection, it is both the opportunity for us to remember our Lord's rejection and the opportunity to participate in his redemptive suffering in the world. We suffer rejection so that we can help show the world that the love revealed in Christ has indeed broken the strongholds of Satan. Handling rejection well is a testimony about the power of Christ which is victorious over the forces of evil.
I do not know about you, but I for one do not enjoy rejection. I find it to be one of the most difficult experiences of life. Neither did our Lord want to be rejected. That is why on the night before his crucifixion he labored hard in prayer, begging his heavenly Father to let the cup of suffering pass from him.
THE TROUBLING OF THE WATERS HAS VALUE
What most of us want is peace and tranquility in life. We like to be accepted and affirmed. We are happiest when all is going smoothly and when the important people in our lives approve of us.
And yet the hard truth is that it is in the midst of the trials and tribulations of life that we discover what we are really made of. It is during such times that we may make the most significant contributions of our lives.
I am reminded of an ancient man named Lactantius, born around 240 A.D. He was about sixty before being converted to Christ. Soon after his conversion, the persecution of Christians under the Roman emperor Diocletian began. Lactantius became a chief reporter about what happened during that awful period. Because of the persecution, he himself was forced to give up his teaching position and escape from the city where he lived. He knew well the experience of rejection. However, he also knew the value of having one's life upset from time to time. In writing about it, he likens our emotional and spiritual life to water which needs to be agitated in order to remain fresh. He writes: "For as water which is always still and motionless is unwholesome and more muddy, so the soul which is unmoved and torpid is useless .... for it will neither do nor think anything, since thought itself is nothing less than agitation of the mind; in tine, they who assert this immovableness of the soul wish to deprive the soul of life; for life is full of activity, but death is quiet. 113
Earlier in the same passage Lactantius talks about the attempt on the part of some to make everything "calm and tranquil." But he says that when we do that we are trying to accomplish something which is contrary to the ways of God in the world. The world as we know it is not all calm and tranquil. Neither will every experience we have be one of calmness and tranquility. Such was not the case for our Lord; neither will it be for those who follow him closely.
Rejection hurts; it saddens our hearts; it troubles us; it agitates the waters of our soul, to speak in the manner of Lactantius. And yet, in God's grand design, good things can come forth when the waters of the soul are troubled. No, our Lord does not teach us to enjoy rejection. Rejection has its full effect only when we genuinely do not enjoy it. The normal desire is to get to the other side of it. As the passage already referred to makes abundantly clear, God did lead Jesus to the other side of rejection. It reads: "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone." What was rejected in the human scheme of things was used by God to accomplish his grander designs in life. Jesus, the rejected one is none other than the one by whose stripes we are healed. First Peter 2:23 24: "When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed."
INVITATION
It is none other than the rejected Jesus who is our Savior. The rejected stone has become the cornerstone. Because he suffered rejection, he was able to open the gates to life eternal.
Sinner friend, have you said the yes of faith to the rejected Jesus who saves us from sin? I urge you to say that yes of faith even now.
And Christian friend, when you experience rejection, are you willing to remember with gratitude Jesus our Lord who was rejected in order that we might be saved? And, are you willing to allow your own experience of rejection to "complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church"? Remember, in your own case as well, what is rejected in the human scheme of things can be used by God to accomplish his grander designs in life. That's the painful truth. Are you willing to say "yes" to it?
PRAYER
Let us pray:
Gracious Lord, we thank you for the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. By his stripes, we are healed. We pray that the one listening who does not yet know the forgiving grace of God, will be moved to say the "yes" of faith even now. And, we pray that believers who struggle with rejection, of whatever kind, will remember their Lord and offer their experience of rejection to you so that they may "complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church." In his name, we pray. Amen.
1. New Revised Standard version used here and throughout.
AN ACT OF MERCY REJECTED
The Christian activist, Jim Wallis tells about a march on Washington, D. C. for social justice. It was an extremely hot and humid day. Since the crowds were far greater than had been expected, food and drink were in short supply. A tender hearted Christian woman noticed an older man who appeared to be desperate for something to drink. Being hot and thirsty herself, she was just about ready to open the only drink she had. But as she looked at the dirty, ragged man, she remembered the passage in Matthew 25:40 where Jesus says that inasmuch as we do it to the least of these we do it to him. She also thought about the passage in Hebrews 13:2: "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it."1
In light of these two passages of Scripture, she decided that the right thing to do was to give the older man her only drink. Handing him a cup filled with the cool beverage, he drank a mouthful. But instead of swallowing it, he spat it out and yelled at her, "Yuck, why didn't you tell me it was Diet Coke! "2
What do you do when you experience rejection? Perhaps it is the rejection of despicable behavior such as just mentioned. Perhaps it is the rejection within the family or in the work place. Perhaps it is rejection by your neighbors or at church. Perhaps it is rejection by long time friends or casual acquaintances.
uring is series I want to talk with you about the four R's in our approach to rejection. The first is, when you experience rejection, remember our Lord. In the next three programs I plan to develop the other three: When you experience rejection, reclaim your call, refocus on the future, and regain God's strength. But now to the first R: Remember our Lord.
THE REJECTION OF JESUS
I am not sure that there is any more effective way for us to be in tune with the kind of rejection our Lord went through on our behalf than to suffer some form of rejection ourselves. To experience rejection ourselves reminds us of Jesus who was the supremely rejected one.
His rejection is a major theme in the New Testament. In Mark 8:31 we read: "Then ... [Jesus] began to teach ... [his disciples] that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again." The elders, chief priests and scribes represented the whole religious establishment. Their life was focused on God. Jesus, whose heart was at one with God, had a lot in common with them. In this sense, they were his kind of people. Both he and they were lovers of God, citizens of Israel, students of the scriptures, participants in the religious life of Jerusalem. And yet, these fellow religionists were the very ones whose rejection led to his death on the cross.
In several New Testament books, reference is made to Jesus as the rejected stone in God's spiritual building. In Matthew 21:42, Jesus asks "Have you never read in the scriptures: 'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone'?" (See also Mark 12:10, Luke 20:17, Acts 4:11, and 1 Peter 2:7 for the same reference.) Also in Peter's sermon to the people of Jerusalem, we find again the theme of rejection. In Acts 3:13‑15 Peter refers to "Jesus, whom you [people] handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead."
"COMPLETING WHAT IS LACKING IN CHRIST'S AFFLICTIONS"
But back now to a consideration of our own experience of rejection. How does it relate to Christ's rejection? As we have already said, our experience of rejection sensitizes us to our Lord's experience, but there is more. Paul in Colossians 1:24 says: "In my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church." I am completing what is lacking in Christ's afflictions? How could that be? Certainly Paul is not saying that Christ's suffering is insufficient for our salvation. Throughout his writings, he is abundantly clear about this matter. Christ's suffering is completely and totally sufficient as far as our salvation is concerned. In that respect, Christ's afflictions are not lacking in anything. Paul in no way calls that into question. What he is talking about here is the suffering which is necessary in order for the church to be what it is called to be. In order for the Christian witness to be alive and well in the world, Christ's sufferings are insufficient. Our suffering, also, is necessary‑‑the kind which the woman in Washington, spoken of earlier, experienced when her gift of a cold drink was so rudely spewed forth. Not only was Christ's suffering necessary in that setting, but also this woman's suffering of rejection. She completed what was "lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church."
I don't like what I am preaching here, but I preach it because I am convinced that it is true. I preach it because it really is the Christian approach to our experience of rejection. When we experience rejection, it is both the opportunity for us to remember our Lord's rejection and the opportunity to participate in his redemptive suffering in the world. We suffer rejection so that we can help show the world that the love revealed in Christ has indeed broken the strongholds of Satan. Handling rejection well is a testimony about the power of Christ which is victorious over the forces of evil.
I do not know about you, but I for one do not enjoy rejection. I find it to be one of the most difficult experiences of life. Neither did our Lord want to be rejected. That is why on the night before his crucifixion he labored hard in prayer, begging his heavenly Father to let the cup of suffering pass from him.
THE TROUBLING OF THE WATERS HAS VALUE
What most of us want is peace and tranquility in life. We like to be accepted and affirmed. We are happiest when all is going smoothly and when the important people in our lives approve of us.
And yet the hard truth is that it is in the midst of the trials and tribulations of life that we discover what we are really made of. It is during such times that we may make the most significant contributions of our lives.
I am reminded of an ancient man named Lactantius, born around 240 A.D. He was about sixty before being converted to Christ. Soon after his conversion, the persecution of Christians under the Roman emperor Diocletian began. Lactantius became a chief reporter about what happened during that awful period. Because of the persecution, he himself was forced to give up his teaching position and escape from the city where he lived. He knew well the experience of rejection. However, he also knew the value of having one's life upset from time to time. In writing about it, he likens our emotional and spiritual life to water which needs to be agitated in order to remain fresh. He writes: "For as water which is always still and motionless is unwholesome and more muddy, so the soul which is unmoved and torpid is useless .... for it will neither do nor think anything, since thought itself is nothing less than agitation of the mind; in tine, they who assert this immovableness of the soul wish to deprive the soul of life; for life is full of activity, but death is quiet. 113
Earlier in the same passage Lactantius talks about the attempt on the part of some to make everything "calm and tranquil." But he says that when we do that we are trying to accomplish something which is contrary to the ways of God in the world. The world as we know it is not all calm and tranquil. Neither will every experience we have be one of calmness and tranquility. Such was not the case for our Lord; neither will it be for those who follow him closely.
Rejection hurts; it saddens our hearts; it troubles us; it agitates the waters of our soul, to speak in the manner of Lactantius. And yet, in God's grand design, good things can come forth when the waters of the soul are troubled. No, our Lord does not teach us to enjoy rejection. Rejection has its full effect only when we genuinely do not enjoy it. The normal desire is to get to the other side of it. As the passage already referred to makes abundantly clear, God did lead Jesus to the other side of rejection. It reads: "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone." What was rejected in the human scheme of things was used by God to accomplish his grander designs in life. Jesus, the rejected one is none other than the one by whose stripes we are healed. First Peter 2:23 24: "When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed."
INVITATION
It is none other than the rejected Jesus who is our Savior. The rejected stone has become the cornerstone. Because he suffered rejection, he was able to open the gates to life eternal.
Sinner friend, have you said the yes of faith to the rejected Jesus who saves us from sin? I urge you to say that yes of faith even now.
And Christian friend, when you experience rejection, are you willing to remember with gratitude Jesus our Lord who was rejected in order that we might be saved? And, are you willing to allow your own experience of rejection to "complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church"? Remember, in your own case as well, what is rejected in the human scheme of things can be used by God to accomplish his grander designs in life. That's the painful truth. Are you willing to say "yes" to it?
PRAYER
Let us pray:
Gracious Lord, we thank you for the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. By his stripes, we are healed. We pray that the one listening who does not yet know the forgiving grace of God, will be moved to say the "yes" of faith even now. And, we pray that believers who struggle with rejection, of whatever kind, will remember their Lord and offer their experience of rejection to you so that they may "complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church." In his name, we pray. Amen.
1. New Revised Standard version used here and throughout.
2. Told by Donald E. Messer, Contemporary Images of Christian Ministry (Nashville: Abingdon, 1989), p. 102.
3. See Thomas C. Oden, Classical Pastoral Care, Volume Three: Pastoral Care (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1987), p. 262.
Script 2562 (GWS)
February 4, 1996
SERIES: "WHEN YOU EXPERIENCE REJECTION"
1. Remember Our Lord
Scripture: Mark 8:31 and Colossians 1:24
February 4, 1996
SERIES: "WHEN YOU EXPERIENCE REJECTION"
1. Remember Our Lord
Scripture: Mark 8:31 and Colossians 1:24
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