Sunday, April 02, 2006
Accepting Our Rejection
Accepting our rejection
We are in a series titled “Accepting our Acceptedness”. God’s acceptance of us.
Part of accepting our acceptance from God involves learning to accept rejection from everyone who isn’t God.
We can’t truly accept and experience God’s acceptance without also accepting and even embracing rejection. (Sometimes rejection from God’s people.)
As we learn and grow in grace – we are faced with situations where we need to choose between what God is leading us to and what will impress or satisfy other people.
Accepting our rejectedness sounds like a bad thing and its not fun, but it is actually a very very good thing. When we experience rejection our experience of God’s acceptance becomes much deeper. We can’t fully appreciate God’s acceptance without rejection.
But we can rest in God’s acceptance and allow ourselves to be rejected.
The Key Story
When we moved in, we realized that the key to our back door fit into my friend Tony’s front door. Because we like each other we decided to keep that way – we have keys to each other’s houses anyway. And when Tony build his garage with an upstairs guys hang-out area for us guys in the neighborhood he used the same lock so I could go up there when I wanted to.
That key is really convenient and fun, but we are not like that key. If we fit with God we don’t fit into this world.
We are either a misfit with God or we are a misfit with the world.
Misfitness
This series was response to Richard’s message on the Island of Misfit Toys which is so cool because our acceptance is so closely tied to our misfitness.
We are misfits here because we were made to fit somewhere else. We are so perfectly and precisely made for God that there is no way that we can fit anywhere else.
Friends, this world is not your home, so don’t make yourselves cozy in it.
1 Peter 2
Background
Peter is writing to Jewish and Gentile Christians encouraging them because many were physical exile and all were spiritual exiles (misfits). Nero’s persecution was in full swing and they needed some serious encouragement and guidance.
He tells them they are accepted by God
4 Welcome to the living Stone, the source of life.
The Living Stone (Jesus) was Rejected
The workmen took one look and threw it out. God set it in the place of honor. Present yourselves as building stones for the construction of a sanctuary vibrant with life, in which you serve as holy priests offering Christ-approved lives up to God.
Peter reminds them that the foundation of their acceptance was rejected by men! Our acceptance by God means that we align ourselves with the one who was rejected by men.
We trust in the foundation that has been rejected and that is now true about us too.
Look! I’m setting a stone in Zion, a cornerstone in the place of honor. Whoever trusts in this stone as a foundation will never have cause to regret it.
To you who trust him, he’s a stone to be proud of….
For the untrusting it’s… a stone to trip over, a boulder blocking the way.
Stumbling Block
Have you ever wondered why grace makes people so mad? Grace (God’s unconditional acceptance) really is a stumbling block for people. People get really mad if you talk too much about God’s love.
Some people get really snarky when you say that God’s not angry – that he loves and accepts them.
Grace really is a stumbling block when we don’t embrace rejection – when we try to be accepted by people - when we get self-righteous.
Church leadership is a great place to become self-righteous. So many people to impress.
New Understanding of License
Graceful people often times get accused of license and because self-righteous Christians can’t stand grace. When I am being self-righteous, grace makes me mad.
That is a kind of license that is very familiar to me. License is an understanding of Grace without an understanding of rejection. License happens when you enjoy the grace that has been extended to you but you don’t allow yourself to be rejected so that grace can be extended from you to others.
People who really understand God’s grace are most accepting people out there. We are the first ones to extend grace to others who are imperfect and have been rejected by people for whatever reason.
God allows us to live in a place where we are misfits so that we can extend and live grace and extend it to others. In the way that Jesus accepted rejection so that he could give us grace we accept rejection so that we can give that same grace to other people.
Galations 2:11 – this occurred before Peter wrote this letter
2:11 Later, when Peter came to Antioch, I had a face-to-face confrontation with him because he was clearly out of line.
2:12 Here's the situation. Earlier, before certain persons had come from James, Peter regularly ate with the non-Jews. But when that conservative group came from Jerusalem, he cautiously pulled back and put as much distance as he could manage between himself and his non-Jewish friends. That's how fearful he was of the conservative Jewish clique that's been pushing the old system of circumcision.
2:13Unfortunately, the rest of the Jews in the Antioch church joined in that hypocrisy so that even Barnabas was swept along in the charade.
2:14But when I saw that they were not maintaining a steady, straight course according to the Message, I spoke up to Peter in front of them all: "If you, a Jew, live like a non-Jew when you're not being observed by the watchdogs from Jerusalem, what right do you have to require non-Jews to conform to Jewish customs just to make a favorable impression on your old Jerusalem cronies?"
Peter was unable to extend grace to the gentiles because he was concerned about being rejected by the Jews.
That’s what self-righteousness is.
I’m going to act self-righteous so you won’t really know how much of a mess I am. Then Jesus (grace) becomes a stumbling block.
I can’t enjoy God’s grace when I’m obsessed with being accepted anywhere other than Jesus.
Accepting Other Rejects
This is an invitation into rejection. When we open ourselves up to and embrace rejection by the world then we are able to extend grace to the world.
Part of being aligned with a God that was rejected by men means that we now align ourselves with those who are often rejected by people – those who are sometimes rejected by us when we are feeling self-righteous.
When we are aware of the fact that we are rejected by this world then we ourselves as one of the rejects and then we can extend grace to other rejects because we are reminded that we are both accepted by God.
Not beggers telling other beggers where to find bread but rejects who love and accept and extend grace to other rejects. ¶ 12:16 PM
We are in a series titled “Accepting our Acceptedness”. God’s acceptance of us.
Part of accepting our acceptance from God involves learning to accept rejection from everyone who isn’t God.
We can’t truly accept and experience God’s acceptance without also accepting and even embracing rejection. (Sometimes rejection from God’s people.)
As we learn and grow in grace – we are faced with situations where we need to choose between what God is leading us to and what will impress or satisfy other people.
Accepting our rejectedness sounds like a bad thing and its not fun, but it is actually a very very good thing. When we experience rejection our experience of God’s acceptance becomes much deeper. We can’t fully appreciate God’s acceptance without rejection.
But we can rest in God’s acceptance and allow ourselves to be rejected.
The Key Story
When we moved in, we realized that the key to our back door fit into my friend Tony’s front door. Because we like each other we decided to keep that way – we have keys to each other’s houses anyway. And when Tony build his garage with an upstairs guys hang-out area for us guys in the neighborhood he used the same lock so I could go up there when I wanted to.
That key is really convenient and fun, but we are not like that key. If we fit with God we don’t fit into this world.
We are either a misfit with God or we are a misfit with the world.
Misfitness
This series was response to Richard’s message on the Island of Misfit Toys which is so cool because our acceptance is so closely tied to our misfitness.
We are misfits here because we were made to fit somewhere else. We are so perfectly and precisely made for God that there is no way that we can fit anywhere else.
Friends, this world is not your home, so don’t make yourselves cozy in it.
1 Peter 2
Background
Peter is writing to Jewish and Gentile Christians encouraging them because many were physical exile and all were spiritual exiles (misfits). Nero’s persecution was in full swing and they needed some serious encouragement and guidance.
He tells them they are accepted by God
4 Welcome to the living Stone, the source of life.
The Living Stone (Jesus) was Rejected
The workmen took one look and threw it out. God set it in the place of honor. Present yourselves as building stones for the construction of a sanctuary vibrant with life, in which you serve as holy priests offering Christ-approved lives up to God.
Peter reminds them that the foundation of their acceptance was rejected by men! Our acceptance by God means that we align ourselves with the one who was rejected by men.
We trust in the foundation that has been rejected and that is now true about us too.
Look! I’m setting a stone in Zion, a cornerstone in the place of honor. Whoever trusts in this stone as a foundation will never have cause to regret it.
To you who trust him, he’s a stone to be proud of….
For the untrusting it’s… a stone to trip over, a boulder blocking the way.
Stumbling Block
Have you ever wondered why grace makes people so mad? Grace (God’s unconditional acceptance) really is a stumbling block for people. People get really mad if you talk too much about God’s love.
Some people get really snarky when you say that God’s not angry – that he loves and accepts them.
Grace really is a stumbling block when we don’t embrace rejection – when we try to be accepted by people - when we get self-righteous.
Church leadership is a great place to become self-righteous. So many people to impress.
New Understanding of License
Graceful people often times get accused of license and because self-righteous Christians can’t stand grace. When I am being self-righteous, grace makes me mad.
That is a kind of license that is very familiar to me. License is an understanding of Grace without an understanding of rejection. License happens when you enjoy the grace that has been extended to you but you don’t allow yourself to be rejected so that grace can be extended from you to others.
People who really understand God’s grace are most accepting people out there. We are the first ones to extend grace to others who are imperfect and have been rejected by people for whatever reason.
God allows us to live in a place where we are misfits so that we can extend and live grace and extend it to others. In the way that Jesus accepted rejection so that he could give us grace we accept rejection so that we can give that same grace to other people.
Galations 2:11 – this occurred before Peter wrote this letter
2:11 Later, when Peter came to Antioch, I had a face-to-face confrontation with him because he was clearly out of line.
2:12 Here's the situation. Earlier, before certain persons had come from James, Peter regularly ate with the non-Jews. But when that conservative group came from Jerusalem, he cautiously pulled back and put as much distance as he could manage between himself and his non-Jewish friends. That's how fearful he was of the conservative Jewish clique that's been pushing the old system of circumcision.
2:13Unfortunately, the rest of the Jews in the Antioch church joined in that hypocrisy so that even Barnabas was swept along in the charade.
2:14But when I saw that they were not maintaining a steady, straight course according to the Message, I spoke up to Peter in front of them all: "If you, a Jew, live like a non-Jew when you're not being observed by the watchdogs from Jerusalem, what right do you have to require non-Jews to conform to Jewish customs just to make a favorable impression on your old Jerusalem cronies?"
Peter was unable to extend grace to the gentiles because he was concerned about being rejected by the Jews.
That’s what self-righteousness is.
I’m going to act self-righteous so you won’t really know how much of a mess I am. Then Jesus (grace) becomes a stumbling block.
I can’t enjoy God’s grace when I’m obsessed with being accepted anywhere other than Jesus.
Accepting Other Rejects
This is an invitation into rejection. When we open ourselves up to and embrace rejection by the world then we are able to extend grace to the world.
Part of being aligned with a God that was rejected by men means that we now align ourselves with those who are often rejected by people – those who are sometimes rejected by us when we are feeling self-righteous.
When we are aware of the fact that we are rejected by this world then we ourselves as one of the rejects and then we can extend grace to other rejects because we are reminded that we are both accepted by God.
Not beggers telling other beggers where to find bread but rejects who love and accept and extend grace to other rejects. ¶ 12:16 PM
