Scripture: Acts 26:15‑19
It was a gentle letter which contained sad information about rejection. He had been one of our students at Anderson University School of Theology. He was handsome, bright, mature, a good communicator, devoted to Christ and his church, energetic, capable.
Upon leaving seminary, he sought placement for full time service in the church. A congregation in a large city contacted him and pursued the possibility of his serving with them, especially in light of the fact that his preparation in Christian education fit into their particular needs at the time. All went well unfil they discovered that he was Hispanic. Negotiations broke off immediately.
Later, another church made contact. On the basis of what they had heard about him, they were so eager for him to consider their pastorate that in the initial correspondence they even talked about housing arrangements and salary package. In his response he told them that he was Hispanic. Negotiations were terminated forthwith.
This same pattern continued in relation to other churches. No doubt, all of them would have been glad to have a handsome, bright, mature pastor. Surely they were delighted at the prospect of having a minister who was a good communicator, and one devoted to Christ and his church. They had reason to rejoice that an energetic, capable young man was available. Only one thing was wrong: he was Hispanic, and these primarily Anglo churches didn’t want anyone who wasn’t Anglo.
The result was that he and his family had to move in with his in‑laws. Rejection? Yes, indeed. But would he be destroyed by it? No, because he approached the matter on the basis of what in this series of programs we are calling the four R’s: Remembering our Lord who was himself rejected; Reclain‑ting one’s call; Refocusing on the future; and Regaining God’s strength. Last week we talked about the first R: remembering our Lord. This week I want to talk with you about the second R: reclaiming your call.
PAUL—CALLED TO BE AN APOSTLE
In the New Testament, the apostle Paul is a primary example of one who constantly reclaimed his divine call. From the very beginning of his Christian life, he encountered rejection not only from those outside the faith, but from inside, as well. After his conversion on the road to Damascus and his stay in the city, he wanted to meet with the church in Jerusalem. They, however, initially resisted. Acts 9:26 says that “when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples; and they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple.”’ That must have hurt deeply.
Had they not heard that after his conversion he himself preached the gospel in the synagogues of Damascus? Acts 9:22 says he had become “increasingly more powerful and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Messiah.” In fact, he became so obnoxious to them that in the course of time they “plotted to kill him” (v. 23). However, he escaped with the help of friends who “took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket” (v. 25). Wasn’t all this enough to validate the authenticity of his conversion?
Evidently the believers in Jerusalem had not heard about his ministry in Damascus. It was only when Barnabas, who knew about what had taken place, stood up for him that Jerusalem accepted Paul into their fellowship.
But this was not the end of the tension between Paul and the Jerusalem church. Later on in his ministry, he was greatly distressed when Jerusalem sent a delegation to find out what was happening in the Antioch church where he had been ministering (see Galatians 2:12).
And, in II Corinthians 11:26 he talks about the danger he experienced from false brothers and sisters.
Nevertheless, even in light of all this rejection, Paul would not allow it to get him off track. In the salutations of his letters, he refers to his divine call. In letter after letter, he repeatedly lays claim to it. Romans 1:1, “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God” (emphasis mine here and throughout this paragraph). First Corinthians 1:1, “Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God.” We find essentially the same words in II Corinthians 1:1. Galatians 1:1, “Paul an apostle—sent neither by human commission norfrom human authorities, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father.” Ephesians 1:1, “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God.” Essentially the same opening is found in Colossians 1:1. First Timothy 1:1, “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope.” Second Timothy 1:1, “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God.” And, Titus 1:1, “Paul, a servant of God and an apostle ofJesus Christ.”
Paul in Galatians 1:15 goes so far as to say that God had set him apart before he was born.
In all this we see that he had a strong sense of divine call. Who is he? Paul answers that he is one who had been set apart even before his birth for a special work. He is who he is by the will of God. Humans hadn’t given the call to him and neither could they take it away. He is who he is by the command of God.
Paul kept on keeping on regardless of his experiences of rejection because he knew who he was under God and nothing whatsoever could get him off track.
Even when facing the severest challenge of his life, he remained true to the call. When defending himself before King Agrippa prior to being sent off to Rome for trial, he tells the king about his conversion. In Acts 26:15‑19 he testifies that on the road to Damascus, he heard the Lord say: “’I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But get up and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you to serve and testify to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you. I will rescue you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending‑you to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’ After that, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the‑heavenly vision” (emphasis mine). And so to the very end, Paul did not turn his attention away from the call and vision which he had experienced on the road to Damascus. He had been called to open the spiritual eyes of people to the truth revealed in Christ so that they “may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.” This was the call he had heard and the heavenly vision he had seen. No degree of rejection could turn him away from it.
Through all his trials and tribulations whether outside or inside the church, he “was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.”
THE REJECTED HISPANIC RECLAIMED HIS CALL
At the beginning of this message I told you about the seminarian who was rejected because he was Hispanic. I did not tell you about the end of his letter. He tells about new doors which God opened in another fellowship of churches which had no hang‑ups about Hispanics ministering in Anglo churches. His testimony is this: “We still feel the hand of God,” and he signs the letter with the words, “In Christ’s service.”
How different that letter might have ended had this young man not reclaimed his call when rejection came hot and heavy. Probably with bitterness, he would have told about his abandonment of ministerial pursuits. How tragic it would have been had he decided to spend the rest of his days without fulfilling the divine call.
My friend, have you heard the call of God? Have you seen the divine vision of what it is God wants to accomplish through you? When human rejection comes, as inevitably it will, and when friends and foes alike seem to be in league against you, you can make it through if you reclaim the divine call. Since it did not originate with humans neither can they destroy it.
THE TRAGEDY OF FORGETTING THE CALL
He was a middle age man, active in the church and devoted to heading up the evangelism committee. But the time came when he lost a congregational election. Soon afterwards, he dropped out of church, turned to alcohol, and became abusive to his family. He let his experience of rejection get the best of him. He had allowed God’s call to get too entangled with human decisions and organizational ran‑Lifications. Originally he had had a vision of winning the lost to Christ, but instead of being faithful to that vision, he replaced it with a human desire to be reelected to the evangelism committee. Consequently, when he experienced human rejection, he abandoned the divine call and vision. He had forgotten that he did not have to be elected to an evangelism committee in order to win the lost to Christ.
My friend, when you experience rejection of whatever kind, I urge you, on the basis of Scripture, to reclaim your call. If you will, you can get on with the life to which God has appointed you regardless of what others may do to you. When you find yourself in tough places, my prayer is that you will always be able to testify: “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.”
PRAYER
Let us pray:
Gracious Lord, when from time to time we are tempted to turn away from the heavenly vision, work within our hearts and minds to open our eyes once again to the original brilliance of the vision. Unplug our ears that we may hear once again the original clarity of the call. So work in our hearts and minds that we will reclaim who we are by divine command, and to reclaim it day after day, moment by moment. In the name of Christ, we pray. Amen.
1. New Revised Standard version used here and throughout.
Script 2563 (GWS)
February 11, 1996
SERIES: “WHEN YOU EXPERIENCE REJECTION”
2. Reclaim Your Call
Scripture: Acts 26:15‑19
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