Saturday Nights at Selah with Vinny Lam.
Luke Chapter 10.
Before I got saved, I longed for acceptance. Because of this, I started to follow certain group, making friends and all because I want to feel a sense of belonging. Because of my insecurity, I hate rejection. Even in relationship and the fear of rejection has become a close companion in my life. Before someone rejects me, I reject them first. Always looking for some reason to moves on or stop hanging out with them. And the whole time, I thought I have everything under control. But little did I know, the fear of rejection is controlling me. It got a hold on me for as long as I can remember. Years passing by, and one day, when I was reading the Gospel for the first time in my life, I start to notice something similar, something that struck the very core of my inner most being. Something that make my fear of rejection with “oh poor me” attitude like a little kid sitting on the bench. Or better yet, my experience is nothing in comparison to the Son of God is going through. He face rejection, ridicules, spit at, yell at, suffer a punishment way beyond my wildest imagination and even to death, yet, He endured it all without a single word of complaint. Without holding any neither grudges nor even any hatred in His heart. How can that be? And the whole time I thought that I was the victim of the victim until me reading this.
Tonight, we will continue our study from Luke chapter 10 and let look at how the Lord showing us how to handle rejection. If we want to serve God, how can we handle rejection in the Ministry? How to deal with rejection the right way.What is His perspective about this matter? And as His ambassadors, what is the right way to handle rejection. What is the consequence of those reject Christ and His Gospel.
Some of us might think, “You don’t understand brother”. “I’ve have deal with this problem all my life and now it also effecting my ministry as well.” “It is hard you know, not that easy as you said.” “My experience is different than yours, how could you compare to yours, which is not fair!”
And you might be right. Rejection is a part of life. But how do we handle them is determent the outcome. Every one of us experience in similar situation, but the feeling is the same. It’s suck to be rejected. If God allowing us to going through and experience rejection, shouldn’t we have to be careful and be on high alert when in coming dealing with the Lord. “Behold, I stand at the door and knock”. Lest we rejecting His love, rejecting His forgiveness, rejecting His grace, His fellowship. Rejecting of worshiping Him. And serving Him. Or rejecting His calling for your life. And the list goes on and on… and the most common thing is rejecting to fellowship with His people. In what way, you might ask. Well, you probably don’t go to Church. Or going to Church after the worship team already plays. That is the sign of rejecting of worshiping God with His people. So with these attitudes, and personal experiences, when it come to serving the Lord, we have a tendency of doing nothing in the fear of rejection or in our rejection of what God has called us to do. That is why we never experience the Lord in the most and mighty way. So let look at the text here tonight and see what the Lord has in store for us.
1. Continue to be faithful in our calling despise of rejection
Continue to be faithful in our calling, continue to trust in God when He appointed us something to do. You’re going to face rejection from the people, but continue to press on, hold fast to what you have been called to do. Don’t despise God’s calling because you feel insecure and afraid that no one will listen to you. Don’t let that be the reason for you not to heed into God’s call. But instead, be steady; die hard to God’s calling for you
But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, ‘The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, which the kingdom of God has come near you. But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city. And so, whatever city, or town which the disciple enter in, and the people of the particular town do not receive the disciples, He told them to go out into its street, wipe off the dust and also tell the people that the Kingdom of God has come near you. What does it mean when the Lord said wiping off your feet? Shaking the dust off your feet meaning, I don’t want to be stain from your sin due to your rejection. I don’t want to be affiliate with you, not even having the dust of your ground on me. The Lord didn’t say that curse them, or call fire from heaven on them. This is simply a sign of warning. The disciple came and bring the Gospel to the city, however, the citizens whose abiding there love darkness rather than light, therefore, they are rejecting the light, the truth of the Gospel. Re refuses to listen. This does not mean that I don’t care for you, nor I don’t love you. But it means that I don’t want to be a part of what you are doing. And you are doing this with love, neither with anger nor resentful attitude. Simply shaking off the dust of the ground and saying the Kingdom of God has come near you.
Have you ever tried to witness to someone and they are simply refusing to listen? Well, the same situation here. You might try for several times and that’s it. You have to move on to someone else. You can’t lingering there and make them to listen to you. Few years back, when selling from door to door is still popular because we don’t have internet yet. Cell phone is barely being introduced in the market and pager is the only source of communication being available at that time. I see these people walking from house to house and trying to sell perfumes or some kind of product and they are persistence in what they do. But when someone refuses, they just simply go to the next house. They don’t shake the dust off their feet but they moves on. They don’t linger in one place, camping out side of that house and hoping to sell something. They just move one. Leaving a pamphlet about the produce and just left. They don’t throw rock at the house or spray paint it. They just goes on.
And as you can see. Rejection is a normal part of life. But the consequences is more severe in this matter is the Gospel is not a normal product. It is a revelation of God. Life and death matter. Not a bottle of perfume or a cookie. This is life changing message. The message which transforms us, changing us, a power of God unto salvation for all mankind is on our shoulders. We need to be persistence, faithful, and trustworthy of this holy calling that God has calling us to do. Handle rejection with love. Tell them that the kingdom of God has come near them. Warning them about the judgment to come and the danger of rejecting life. Which lead us the second point tonight.
2. God will judge the one that rejects Him
God told us to shaking the dust off our feet. Tell the people that the Kingdom of God has come near them. He didn’t tell us to judge them nor condemn them. That is His place to do so. How the people react is up to them. How we react is far more important because we are the messenger of God. Let God deal with their reaction. It is not our place to command fire, sitting in the place of a judge. Because God is just and His judgment is fair. We judge people according to how we feel. God judge them according to His truth and their deeds.
“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades. He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me.”
Woe to you…the word of the Lord is never wasted. The two cities Chorazin and Bethsaida has been destroy until this very day. These two cities are the most prominent, widely known to that area for their grain and fishing industries. These are the two Jewish cities along the Galilee costal. Chorazin is located on the side of a large hill about two and one-half miles north of Capernaum. This city is remembered as one of the three key cities in which Jesus spent much of his ministry. These cities, Capernaum, Chorazin and Bethsaida formed what is called the "Evangelical Triangle," the small area where most of Jesus’ miracles were displayed (Matt.11:20). Chorazin also has the dubious distinction of being one of the cities that Jesus cursed. The city is mentioned only twice in the New Testament (Matt.11:21; Lk.10:13), and both instances concern the curse that Jesus placed upon it. Surprisingly, Chorazin’s archaeological remains have yielded no evidence of first century settlement on the present site. What kind of mighty works that the Lord performed there, I do not know. The Apostle John said that if everything that the Lord has done and being written down, this whole world cannot contain the entire books that written about the works of the Lord. Despise everything the Lord has done, these people lives remain unchanged. No repented, no change of hearts. Since these two cities are located near other Gentiles cities, probably idolatry is a big deal. But for what reason, they rejected His love and message. This is serious. This proved that men loves darkness more than light because their deeds are evils. The archaeological excavations at Chorazin may also help us understand why the people received such a curse from God. Although it obviously happened some generations after Jesus, it is truly interesting that the descendants of these people would allow a Medusa to be built right into their synagogue wall. Its presence betrays assimilation with the Greek and pagan practices of the time. We know from other sources that this assimilation was going on in Jesus’ time and actually as early as Maccabeean period in the second century BC.
Of course the Medusa came directly from Greek mythology and was the most famous of the monsters known as Gorgons. Supposedly anyone who looked directly at Medusa was turned to stone. According to mythology she was killed by Perseus, who cut off her head. But we might ask what in the world is this thing was allowing to be brought into the synagogue?
But what about the people that never hears about the Gospel? What will happened to them? How God is going to deal with that? I am a believer already; I don’t see how is this going to affect me. I am saved. I think I am ok.
These are legitimate questions and statements. We are living in the new culture. A communication culture. We have internet, radio broadcast, television broadcast. Telephone, satellite. Everything happens here, in 5 minutes, it will be broadcasting on youtube. Beside all this, God is just. God holds us responsible for the knowledge that we have. God does not hold a man responsible for knowledge that he does not have. To whom much is given, much is required. To whom little is given, little is required. God is fair in judgment.
The sin against light is the greatest sin that man can commit. Because Light has enter in the world and men love darkness more than light. Men refuse to come to the light lest their deeds will be exposing. And for those who are saved. Let me ask you this, do you see God in your life? Is there any change since the day you were believed and call upon His Name? Are you simply going to Church as a routine and then going home. Listen to message after message and remaining the same. Better yet, is God real to you? Do not be deceive my brothers and sisters. Remember the Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum. Learn from their mistake. Don’t take advanced of the regular visit of the King of kings. Don’t just say that: “Oh, I see that before.” Don’t take His love and mercy lightly.
Sometime we have to shake the dust off our feet. God said that I am going to deal with them. It’s not your responsibility to deal with them. It is His. My responsibility and your responsibility are not to be successful but to be faithful. But the Lord will take care of converting and judging. You and I are just being faithful in our calling. Now, if they are not accepting, shake off the dust and moves on, He will deal with them. There are people who have come near to the kingdom of God and have never entered in, and that is always to be a tragic thing. That Herod Agrippa should say to Paul, "Almost thou persuaded me to become a Christian." He came near to the kingdom of God, but He didn't enter. And I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable in that day [that is, the Day of Judgment that is to come] for Sodom, than for that city (Luke 10:12). Now for this city, it would be more tolerable than Sodom, because the kingdom of God came near. They had the exposure, but they did not enter in. And thus, for that city it would be more tolerable for Sodom than for that city, because Sodom did not have the same exposure to the truth.
Continue being faithful of God’s calling for your life. It is a blessing to be a part of His ministry. For those whose reject Him, Let God deal with that. And for our parts, we just simply obey and carry out the message of His Love to the lost world. Think of the blessing of sharing in the harvest. We belong to a two- thousand-year-old heritage of ministry. We contribute to a battle to reverse the presence of evil in the world. We partake in a relationship with the Lord of heaven and earth. We experience the blessing of forgiveness that only He offers — a blessing that comes to those who see Jesus. Two thousand years may have passed, but the greatness and uniqueness of that blessing never fades.
Eternal love in Christ,
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