Facing Rejection (Mark 6:1-13)
Notes
Transcript
“Peace be with you.”
“Let’s Pray. Father may your will be done. Jesus may your word be proclaimed. Spirit may your work be accomplished in us we pray. Amen.”
We come to the point in Mark where we learn that Jesus is rejected by his hometown. The majority of scholars reference this passage as one that reveals Jesus’ humanity to us and how Jesus truly came among us and live a life like ours. Jesus can empathize with all our struggles and temptations and endures them without sin.
Jesus being rejected, which might come as a surprise to many of us. How could anyone reject Jesus? It might be understandable to reject those who deserve it, but how could anyone reject the Lord Jesus who came to save sinful man? It is in the rejection of Jesus by the people of his hometown that reveals the kind of people that often judge others which leads them to reject others.
Today this passage will offer us two points of reflection:
1) Do we or have we possessed the characteristics of the kind of people that rejected Jesus? Let the Holy Spirit search your heart and reveal to you if there is any “rejection” lingering in your heart towards others.
2) How to face rejection like Jesus. Unfortunately, we will continue to encounter rejection until Jesus comes back and judges the world and make everything and everyone new. So how to we endure rejection in the meantime? Jesus gives us some helpful pointers to deal with rejection in our lives.
1. Understanding Rejection (1-6): The Kind of People who reject Jesus:
1. Understanding Rejection (1-6): The Kind of People who reject Jesus:
A. Exercise poor judgment (v. 2,3)
A. Exercise poor judgment (v. 2,3)
B. Have a History of Rejection (v.4)
B. Have a History of Rejection (v.4)
Garden (Genesis 3:1-6)
Jacob
23 The Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb; And two peoples will be separated from your body; And one people shall be stronger than the other; And the older shall serve the younger.”
Joseph (Genesis 37:18-36)
Moses
15 When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he tried to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the presence of Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well.
David
Prophets
34 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not have it!
C. Demonstrate a Lack faith (v. 5,6)
C. Demonstrate a Lack faith (v. 5,6)
Rejection stems from a lack of faith. We reject because we don’t believe that God really changes people or their hearts. We would rather believe in what we know about someone’s past then believe in what God has done in their hearts in the present.
God is the only one who knows the heart.
7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
It is understandable that we can only judge what is on the outside of a person. But what is reveal to us is that as we only see the outside we must trust God more who sees on the inside. So our discernment about someone, our judgements that we make need to be infused by Faith in God so that we might be able to see as He sees through the Holy Spirit. Not all things seem as they appear. It is on us, as God’s people, not to make our own minds up but to have our minds conform to the way God thinks and sees others. Bearing in mind that despite our rebellion and rejection, he offers us a second chance through His Son. Which means we must be a people of second chances.
After Jesus experiences rejection, he moves on and sends out his disciples to extend his ministry of calling people to repentance, casting out demons, and healing. It is in these verses that we learn how to Respond to Rejection:
4. Responding to Rejection (7-13): How to live with rejection?
4. Responding to Rejection (7-13): How to live with rejection?
A. Rejection makes us more like Jesus (v.4)
A. Rejection makes us more like Jesus (v.4)
B. Don’t face rejection alone (v.7).
B. Don’t face rejection alone (v.7).
C. Don’t let rejection keep you from moving forward (v.6,7).
C. Don’t let rejection keep you from moving forward (v.6,7).
D. Don’t let rejection rob you of your faith (v.8,9).
D. Don’t let rejection rob you of your faith (v.8,9).
E. Surround yourself with people of peace (v.10)
E. Surround yourself with people of peace (v.10)
F. Don’t carry rejection with you (v.11)/ Don’t reject those who reject you- leave them for God to judge.
F. Don’t carry rejection with you (v.11)/ Don’t reject those who reject you- leave them for God to judge.
14 “Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet. 15 “Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city.
G. Accomplish the mission (v.12-13).
G. Accomplish the mission (v.12-13).
Do let rejection keep you from doing what God has called you to do.
29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.
Closing:
Closing:
Upon studying this passage we ask the Holy Spirit to search our hearts:
1) Do we or have we possessed the characteristics of the kind of people that rejected others? If so, repent of your lack of faith and pray for God to increase your faith.
2) Has being rejected detoured you from accomplishing God’s will for you life? Has the words of men held greater influence then the Word of God you are command to live by? If so, repent of your lack of faith in God and His Word and begin living for the audience of one.
Shake off the rejection that you have experienced in your life and move on towards that which God has appointed you to do.
Surround yourself with people who see things the way God does, and partner with others so that you are not alone when you face rejection.