Luke 10:25-37
Do you know what I believe is the number one thing that plagues America today? It is not poverty, crime, drugs, abortion or any number of other things that may pop into our heads, but it is the sting of rejection. There are millions of Americans feeling unloved and unlovable because of repeated rejection. Think back to the first time someone called you stupid or fat or ugly… that sting is still there in the pit of your stomach. Now imagine, feeling that way all the time. That is how millions of people are walking around ever single day. Being rejected is hard. It proves that we cared about a person that hurt us.
When I was in middle school there was a large group of people with the WWJD bracelets. To someone who wasn’t going to church at the time these bracelets were no more than a fashion fad. WWJD? What would Jesus do? As bearers of the good news, isn’t that the question we should ask ourselves all the time? But in this instance and in most I believe the answer to what would Jesus do is love out loud. How we love one another whether members of the same religious affiliation, gender, sexual orientation or anything else says
volumes about how much we love God. Being rejected or betrayed by people of faith as a person of faith hurts the worst, I think. There is nothing like the betrayal of someone you trusted in Christ.
They we will know we are Christians by our love but in a recent discussion with a friend of mine something was said that is so true about how the world sees us and it is not our love. I asked Annalisa why she didn’t even want to come to church. Her response was, “Because Christians claim to be this army fighting for the
good side, but they are the only army I have ever seen that shoot their own wounded.” I sat there a little stunned and realized how true that statement is. We are lacking grace and love towards one another’s struggles. We answer with snide remarks to their pain. We throw scripture in their face instead of just walking with them in their time of need. And then we turn around and talk about them behind their back to other Christians using the phrase prayer request to curb our guilt for gossiping. We lie to promote our own agenda. We mislead to get our way. We accuse people of things to make ourselves look better.
God’s heart does indeed break with the things that break our hearts and the dejected hearts. He sees the tears of despair and the pain of rejection. And I would ask us are we willing to see those tears? God’s arms are reaching out with burning compassion, for us, and for them. Are our arms reaching out to hold someone who needs it?
1 Corinthians 13:13 says now these three things remain faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. When was the last time we thought love was the greatest thing. 1 Peter says above all love each other deeply
because love covers a multitude of sin. Love deeply. LOVE DEEPLY. I think that love is what will eventually stop rejection. When we truly love God and neighbor we will stop doing hurtful things. I recently had a really interesting interaction with some people that I honestly believed were on my side. However, I was misled. I felt very rejected and hurt. If they had truly loved me, they would not have treated me that way.
When people act that way don't you think it's time to cut them off. But then again Jesus tells us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. So since they are not proving to be friends then they are enemies. Jesus doesn't say you have to agree with them, like them or even spend time with them, just love them and pray for them. Thank God you can do that without seeing them or spending time with them.
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