Allen Jackson - From Rejection to Acceptance - Part 1
I want to begin a study, it’s gonna take two or three sessions. Not because I can’t finish this outline, it’s just gonna take two or three sessions. Under the same theme, we may break it apart a bit, but under the general theme of, «From rejection to acceptance». You know, I find one of the most consistent, persistent needs for pastoral ministry has to do around this issue of rejection. And it’s not frequently discussed, it’s often something we’re not aware of. You know, I’ve read in a variety of places that high blood pressure is a silent killer.
Well, I believe rejection is really, a silent adversary to God’s best in your life. And most of us live with a lack of awareness of either of its existence or its influence within us, or if there is a pathway to be relieved of that. And with God’s help, and the help of his Spirit, I want to walk through that with you in the next two or three sessions, but we’ll start on this one with the idea we’re gonna move from rejection to acceptance, and I’ll start with the most obvious that you matter to God, you really do. That’s not just hyperbole, it’s not just the message of somebody that wants to be a happy, clappy preacher. I mean, there are some of those, and I’m not opposed to happy, but I usually prefer the truth.
Sometimes it makes you happy, and sometimes it makes you focus, but the truth always leads you to freedom. But I brought you a collection of scriptures just in case you think God made a mistake with you, or somebody told you that he made a mistake with you. Have you ever had somebody with influence or authority over your life say something demeaning, belittling? Sure, you have, everybody has! They had a coach that said something to you that wasn’t encouraging, or a teacher, or a parent, or a pastor, or a boss, or somebody. Well, the counterbalance to that is what God said about me.
So I brought you a sample in Psalm 139, verse 13, it says, «You created my inmost being: you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I’m fearfully and wonderfully made». That’s a pretty remarkable thing. You may not like the way I look, but God said I’m okay. You should adjust. In Ephesians 1:6, says, «…to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which he made us accepted in the Beloved». That’s an amazing phrase, that we’ve been accepted into the people of God. Peter said it a little differently in 1 Peter, he said, «Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God».
You know, so we strive to be identified, to find our tribe, to find the group to which we belong, because we imagine there’s strength in that, and there is, to a degree. But all those characteristics that we strive to identify, a school from which we graduate, a profession to which we belong, our racial identity, whatever it may be, they pale in significance to the privilege of being included amongst the people of God. They do, folks, because the benefits that come from all of those other allegiances are short-term, and the kingdom of God is eternal, and to be included in that is the greatest honor of your life. It needs to be the leading qualifier, the leading indicator. Before you know anything else about me, I hope you understand I’m a part of the eternal kingdom of God. Everything else, it’s not just secondary, it’s way down the list.
In Luke 1 and verse 28, the angel, Gabriel, that came to see Mary with a rather awkward announcement, said, «You are highly favored, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women»! I don’t do a lot of word studies with you, but this one is helpful. The word that’s translated in Ephesians 1:6, «to be accepted in the beloved,» is the exact same word that’s translated in Luke 1:28, «highly favored». So what God is saying to us in Ephesians is he’s made us highly favored. God has brought favor to your life. He’s not mad at you. I got a note for you, if God’s really mad at you, you’ll know! I’ve read the book, I mean, the earth opens up, you get the botch, the itch, and the scab. Lions and bears chase you, I mean, stuff happens! That’s not an excuse for sloppy living. But if you’re doing your best to honor the Lord, you’ve been favored by him. To be accepted by God is to be highly favored.
And one more, in Matthew 16, this verse changed my life. Jesus said, «I’ll build the church, and the gates of Hades will not be able to withstand it». When Jesus said he would build a church, the church is people who were called by God. It’s not about buildings, or denominations, or schools of thought, or theological perspectives, Jesus is building people. That’s so important to know, he’s the head of the church! He’s our leader, we follow him. We use our Bibles to understand his character and his nature, to learn his will, but the goal of our lives is to walk pleasing before him, uprightly before him. He’s the creator of all things. We have received his favor. He said we are «fearfully and wonderfully made».
So from the inside out, God has said, «You are very good». Come on, that is the most amazing thing! And yet, all of us have these tapes that play that remind us of what we’re not, we’re too short, or we’re too tall, we’re too thin, or we’re not. We talk with an accent, or we don’t, our IQ is limited, our physical abilities, our age. I mean, there’s this never-ending tape, and it keeps shifting, and it always tries to tell you what you’re not. I didn’t come to deliver a motivational lecture, but I did come to pull the curtain back on what the Word of God says about you. It’s why your identity in Christ has to lead.
If you’re not identified in Christ, you can erase what I just said. You’re an object of God’s wrath. Your future is not hopeful. You’re on borrowed time. There is a distinction between the people of God and those who aren’t. But if you’re amongst God’s people, the enemy of God’s kingdom has an agenda. If he can destroy you, he will. Absent that, if he can keep you from the kingdom of God, he will. Absent that, if he can hinder your effectiveness, he will. He hates the purposes of God. And I meet people, well-educated people, sophisticated people, «You know, I’m just not sure I believe in the devil». Well, a couple of things.
Number one, I would remind you that Jesus did. And there’s multiple ways, it’s a whole study, but he said, «I saw him fall from heaven». Jesus addressed demons and unclean spirits as a regular part of his ministry. In fact, it was probably more celebrated than his healing ministry. The devil exists, and you’re either aligned with the kingdom of God, or you’re aligned with the kingdom of darkness. And if you’re aligned with the kingdom of God, it’s in your best interest to spend time thinking about what God has said about you, it will change your life.
Now, having said that, our journey through time, no matter what generation we’re born to, no matter what nationality, no matter of all of those things, our journey through time is filled with rejection. I’m gonna take a moment with it. I chose some characters if you’re doing your Bible reading with us, and I hope you are. We’ve been reading through 1 and 2 Samuel the last few days, so I thought I would start there, with Samuel. Samuel is the last of the judges, he’s a leader of all the tribes of Israel, a man of a remarkable story from his childhood, literally, from the point of his conception through the end of his life, Samuel honors the Lord. There’s none of those real bad stories told about Samuel.
When he gives his farewell speech, he said, «I didn’t take anything from you, inappropriately». But the tribal leaders come to Samuel, and they said, «'Give us a king to lead us, ' and it displeased Samuel, so he prayed to the Lord and the Lord said to him, 'Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it’s not you they’ve rejected, but they rejected me as their king.'»
Why did God have to say to Samuel, «It’s not you they’ve rejected»? Because it felt a whole lot like it was him they were rejecting! He was the one that was leading them. He’d spent his life making a circuit through the tribes, helping resolve problems, provide a God-perspective, seeking God on behalf of the people, and now, the most powerful people amongst the tribes have come to Samuel, and they say, «We don’t want you anymore. We want a king». And Samuel goes to see the Lord and the Lord said, «It’s not you they’ve rejected, Samuel, it’s me».
And that adjustment that God gives to Samuel to offload rejection enables the next season of his life to be the most significant of his entire life. He annoys Saul as king, and then he anoints David as King. I think we could all agree that the years after he was rejected by the people, you see, if rejection, if he had embraced it, if it had defined his personality, if it has shaped his character, he’d have never anointed Saul. «You don’t want me to lead you? Find your own help». And when I read that narrative, I think, «Why is Samuel helping»? Because God brought deliverance to him.
David, the most remarkable of all the Israelite kings, until Jesus rules and reigns. In 1 Samuel 16, it says, «Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed David in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came upon David in power. Samuel went on his way». And you know that little window, God anointed David to be king. You think, «Well, if God sends the judge, the prophet, to anoint you to be king, things are gonna be good. Weeds will quit growing in my garden»! But that’s not David’s story at all. He’s the youngest in his family.
In a time in history when primogeniture ruled, which means the eldest would have inherited all the land, it’s an agricultural society, and you can’t break the farm apart into a dozen pieces every generation or you’ll starve. So if you’re the youngest son in that list, your future is not the brightest. Now, that’s not enough, David’s not really celebrated, Samuel is coming to town to offer a sacrifice in Bethlehem, and he’s invited Jesse, David’s father, to bring the family, and he brings all the boys, except David. He left David with the sheep. And Samuel says, «I’m here to anoint one of your sons».
And so the boys all stand up one after the other, and he said, «No, it’s none of these,» and Samuel has to say, «Are there any others»? You may be in a little healthier system, they go, «Well, there’s one that’s not here. Wait, let us go…» «No, no, no, Samuel,» they say, «Wait, something’s missing». I mean, David’s not living, it seems, in the most supportive environment. When his brothers go to see the Goliath spectacle, David stays home, but his dad sends him with lunch for them. And David sees Goliath, and he hears the challenge, and he says, «I can do this».
You know who said shut up, his brothers. He has a victory over Goliath, and then the king hates him. Saul hunts him like an animal. David’s forced to live like a fugitive. After Saul was killed, several of the Israelite tribes go to war with him. Later in his life, Absalom, his son, whom he has restored after some abysmal behavior, Absalom leads a rebellion against him. It’s safe to say David’s life is filled, season after season, with expressions of rejection. We can step back a bit in the narrative, Joseph, at the time, the youngest in his family. His brothers are jealous of him because he’s his father’s favorite. He comes from a torqued family. His father has many sons, but he prefers Joseph.
So a failure on a parent brings great pain into the life of Joseph, but all of the family. There are no perfect families, folks. Our families are what put the «fun» in «dysfunctional». And Joseph’s brothers are so put-out by him, they hate him. They don’t just dislike him, they don’t just think he’s a hassle, he’s not just a pain, they hate him to the point that they sell him to slave traders. Now, I have brothers. You know, and we all lived at home, we didn’t always get along, we fought. You know, my mom had a rule, we couldn’t wrestle in the house.
You know, my mom was about this tall, which was completely irrelevant, had nothing to do with power. So if that started, you know, you’d hear the house shift on its foundations, and the next thing you hear is my mother saying, «Not in this house»! But it never occurred to me I could sell them! I mean, I got mad at them, I was annoyed by them, but I mean, it’s a whole another level. They hated Joseph, they sold him as a slave. Then he finds himself in another country, he’s a servant, a slave in a household. There’s a lie told about him, and the man he has served faithfully has him put in prison. He doesn’t listen to him, he doesn’t believe him, he’s rejected again.
In prison, he gains some opportunity because of his faithfulness in serving in the prison. He interprets dreams, and the men for whom he interprets dreams break their word to him, and he’s left in prison. I mean, it’s not a one-time event. It’s not like some momentary, his life is filled with these seasons, and yet, Joseph becomes the prime minister of the land of Egypt as a foreigner and a slave. Next to the Pharaoh, the most powerful person in the entire empire. And his brothers come to see him when he’s an older man, and they’re mature. I put it in your notes, it’s Genesis 45, «Joseph said to his brothers, 'Come close to me.' And when they had done so, he said, 'I’m your brother, Joseph.'» He looks like an Egyptian, he smells like an Egyptian, he talks like an Egyptian, his brothers don’t know him. «I’m your brother, the one you sold into Egypt»!
Now if the second-most powerful man in the nation, you sold into slavery? This is an awkward moment. «And now, do not be distressed and don’t be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you». Now we’re gonna unpack this in a good bit more detail, but I want you to have some examples, because they fill the scripture of men and women who have to endure the most horrific expressions of rejection, evil, and yet, it doesn’t become the defining characteristic of their life. There’s a wonderful promise in that, look at Moses. I mean, Moses’s parents put him in a basket in the Nile River, and set him loose as an infant.
Now, you may say that was heroic, but if you knew of a parent doing that, you wouldn’t call it heroic! And I promise you, to the child, it’s an expression of rejection. Rejection isn’t something you just process intellectually, it’s not something you process because you have the emotional or physical maturity to go, «I think I have been rejected». Rejection touches you at a far deeper level. You can experience rejection as an infant in the womb. And I assure you, Moses’s parents setting him adrift in a basket in the Nile River is rejection. He grows up in the palace, as a Hebrew, when the Hebrew people are being enslaved by the Egyptians. That will torque your character.
Moses had an anger problem because, as a young man, he sees an Egyptian abusing a Hebrew slave, and he killed the Egyptian. He had many options, he had access to Pharaoh, he had access to a great deal of power, there were many things he could have done with that Egyptian taskmaster. Murder was more an expression of his character than it was the problem at hand. Exodus 2:13 is the next day. Says, «The next day he went out and he saw two Hebrews fighting. And he asked the one in the wrong, 'Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew? ' And the man said, 'Who made you ruler and judge? Are you thinking of killing me, too? '» Even his own people don’t want to listen to him. «I put everything at risk to help you, who do you think you are»?
So Moses flees Egypt, and years later, on the backside of the desert, God’s recruiting him, and Moses is reluctant, as you can imagine, and Moses says something that’s very insightful. He said, «What if they don’t believe me or listen to me and they say, 'The Lord didn’t appear to you? '» What’s Moses saying? He said, «Look, I’ve been there and tried that. They don’t want my leadership». And a big part of that recruitment narrative is God preparing Moses to lead his people in spite of what he has endured. The greatest leader in all of scripture until you get to Jesus. A man who was rejected from the time of his birth. We can excuse his parents' favor, sometimes rejection comes not because our family systems are evil, or our parents are evil, there’s tremendous pressure.
Great problems, enormous stress, and the presentation of another child, it’s a bridge too far, it’s more than the system can handle. Rejection doesn’t always come because the point of initiation is sparked by evil, sometimes it is. Jesus was rejected, in Isaiah 53, there’s a prophecy about our Messiah, and it says, «He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not». That’s our Lord!
See, we’re so mistaken, we think when we identify with Jesus, everybody’s gonna cheer! He was rejected and despised. Okay, if you choose to be an ambassador for his eternal kingdom, there’s a high degree of probability you’re gonna bump into people that don’t like that. So this isn’t just a ministry skill, or an invitation to the Holy Spirit for those poor, unfortunate people who didn’t have the best family systems. If you’re gonna be a servant in the purposes of God and the earth, you’re gonna have to know how to process rejection. It got far more blatant in Jesus’s life, it’s not just some prophetic thing.
In Luke 23, he’s been arrested, they’ve had a sham trial, they’ve hired people to tell lies about him. Sounds a lot like the 21st century. We see this happening on a regular basis before us. Do you think it might not happen to you? And finally, Pilate knows that Jesus is innocent, the Roman governor, and he wants to release him. It’s a festival time, it’s feast time. And he said, «I have a habit, I release a prisoner». He thinks he’s found a way out because Jesus hasn’t done anything wrong, he hasn’t broken any laws, he’s not a murderer.
So he thinks, «I’ll give the people a choice, and it’ll relieve me of my responsibility». So he brings the most heinous criminal he has arrested, a murderer, a man who’s led rebellions and insurrectionists. You don’t have any allies, or any advocates amongst the people, and he stands Barabbas on one side, and Jesus on the other, and he said, «So now, who do you want me to release»? Fully expecting the crowd to roar, «Jesus of Nazareth»! He heals the sick, he makes wine out of water!
So you know, just Luke 23, «With one voice they cried, 'Away with this man! And release Barabbas to us! ' Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. But they kept shouting, 'Crucify him! '» Can you imagine? How do you describe that? Does that qualify as rejection? Folks, this isn’t some subtle theme of scripture. You see, if you intend to be about the purposes of God, you’re gonna have to know how to navigate this. It’s not accidental.
Now, there’s some good news in the midst of it. We can’t eliminate rejection from the journey, it’s a part of our journey in this present world order, but rejection does not have the power to keep you from God’s best. I’m gonna say it again, the rejection that touches your life does not have the power to keep you from God’s best. Unless we allow it to, it can be overcome.