Now when it comes to this reading if you were feeling uninspired, don’t worry I was too. But I had to write a sermon, so when it came to writing this I definitely procrastinated. I thought what if I wait, maybe something will come to me, I thought what if I just show up and throw up a HailMary, and it seems to work pretty well for Aaron Rodgers. Sadly my mom was against this.
Now the first topic found in the reading is that of offense. When we hear the verses of the people being offended by Jesus’s teachings, we of course think of how we would never be offended in that situation, of course we would have open ears and open minds, and never judge him. But, really think about it - some kid you have seen grow up from a small boy, only a carpenter’s son, is here telling you your version of religion is wrong in many ways, and not only that but, he is trying to reform your religious beliefs to the correct thing. The thing is, I’m doing this sermon, but that doesn’t mean I’m undermining anyone’s religion, instead I’m just doing one sermon. This is all I’m doing - sorry Pastor Rick, you will have to find someone else next time because one is probably enough for me. But weneed to truly recognize that we are no better than those people in the lesson and the only reason we think we would be better is become we know the end of the story and we know how great Jesus was and is.
If we are honest with ourselves, we are also sometimes offended by Jesus, and we certainly continue to offend others with our religion. To explain what I mean about being offended by Jesus, I will use an analogy by George McDonald with a little modernization by myself. Let’s say you own a little cottage, the cottage is nothing special but it works. Once we accept Jesus, it is like accepting one of those home improvement show host to come fix up the cottage. Of course we are fine with the redecorating, maybe some new wallpaper, hardwood floors and the fixing of the roof and plumbing, but then he knocks down walls, and starts adding new wings to the cottage, replaces your carpet with tile, and then it’s really isn’t your little cottage anymore. You are shocked by this, for this isn’t what you asked for – you only wanted to change a few things. It is this same reason that we can never stop being offended by Jesus and his teaching. He is trying to get us to perfection, yet this perfection is more than we asked for. We would prefer just the good that comes with Christianity - a better life, a life of good morals, helping others when it is convenient in our schedules - that is our ideal earthly perfection. We think we know best and are offended by Jesus telling us that we have to change more than we want to.
The truth is when we serve Jesus the world will be offended by us. Sometimes even religious people who will call themselves Christianswill take offense to some things you say. Jesus warns us about that and the rejection we may face in our lives. The sad thing is rejection is an everyday, everywhere occurrence. We will always experience this no matter the point of life we find ourselves at. We will be rejected by: teams, family members, friends, work and many more. Church is the place where many look to as a safe place without the fear of rejection. Churches are supposed to be inclusive and of course this is more than letting them in the door, or letting them sit with you at lunch, or watch some TV with you and the rest of the family. We are to accept everyone, to let them play on the team, to be true friends whatever that means to you. We are to look out for each other and not just when you are feeling rejected, but also when you are feeling superior. For it is much easier to accept someone when you feel totally alone but it is important to do it all the time. Jesus tells us to love and serve everyone, even if it makes us uncomfortable.
When we add religion, rejection becomes a higher probability. Society’s beliefs are why we can find rejection, because society sees salvation as something that can be achieved by bettering ourselves and making ourselves happy. If you are feeling bad about yourself, buy a new dress. Or go on a trip. Jesus says that we make ourselves better by reaching out to others and looking outside our own lives. Society portraysChristians as almost stupid for believing the best of life comes only from outside ourselves. The reading didn’t give us one place that will reject the disciples because Jesus knew that we will be rejected all over the place. The only place we will not find rejection is God.
We not only have felt the sting of rejection, but we have also rejected others from our lives. So often when rejection comes up we only think of ourselves as the victim. How many times have we rejected others in big or small ways, just like the people rejected Jesus. We mustaccept that we did reject others and ask God to help us to right our mistakes and to help us avoid them in the future.
When I got the scripture reading for today I at first didn’t really want to talk about rejection because of its depressing nature, however I decided I had to because just because something is depressing to think about does not mean it is not relevant. Our challenge is to lead people to Christ by not rejecting others and including others, even if the people we are reaching out to look different or sound different or their lifestyles or opinions make us uncomfortable. We want people to be interested in learning about Jesus and becoming Christians, and allow them the chance to find God in their search for meaning after rejection. So that’s my challenge for you and for myself -to find it easier to stop the easy temptation of rejecting and start accepting. Yes, it sounds impossible and I won’t lie to you - it basically is, that is if we rely only on ourselves. We must rely on God.