The Lutheran Hour
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"Facing Rejection"
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Text: Luke 3:1-22
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How do you face rejection? The Bible has a lot to say in answering that question, and we’ll get to it in a moment. But first, let me give you an example of what I mean by rejection: an example from my life. I was a young lieutenant in the Air Force, three years into a career in the military. And the colonel, the “Old Man,” as we called him, my boss’s boss chose me for a special project. It was a great honor to be singled out for this project. It was my time to shine. And I threw myself into it. For weeks, I came in early, I stayed late. I labored like a young man with something to prove. The morning of the presentation to the colonel, I’m standing there, my uniform pressed, my shoes polished, PowerPoint slides projected. I faced the Old Man to regale him with my recommendation, and he was unimpressed. “This isn’t what I wanted,” he said.
Now, silently, I agreed with him. It wasn’t exactly what he asked for, but it was better. And I believed it and I endeavored to persuade him, to explain to him how it was, in fact, better. But as you can imagine, he cut me off. He dismissed me; told me to start all over again. And it felt like he pulled the paperclip off my work and flung it in my face. Sending my misguided efforts haplessly fluttering to the floor. Rejection. It’s when you aim high, but miss the mark. You shoot for the moon only to fall on your face. You try to be all that you can be, but they tell you that it’s not enough. We’ve all been there. At home, at work, in a relationship, in front of a boss who’s never impressed, a teacher with impossible standards, a parent, or a spouse or a partner who cannot be pleased. You know how it feels to be rejected. And rejection’s unavoidable. It’s a fact of this life. So how do you face it?
Our goal today, if you’ll stay with me, is to discover or maybe rediscover the Bible’s answer to that question. But first, to better appreciate that answer, let’s talk about two other ways of facing rejection—two other ways which are pushing through it or rising above it. You can face rejection by pushing through it. Many notable people have gone on to great success by pushing through rejection. For example, Thomas Edison, the famous inventor who held over 1,000 patents for his inventions, as a boy in school was rejected as a difficult child with an addled mind.
J.K. Rowling, the author of the best-selling Harry Potter series, who sold more than 450 million books is worth over a billion dollars, was rejected by nine publishers before someone gave her first book manuscript a chance.
Rudy Ruettiger, when he applied for the University of Notre Dame, was rejected three times. But later got in as a transfer student after two years of junior college and then walked onto Notre Dame’s football team. And after two years of grueling practices, never getting to suit up, finally gets to play, sacks the quarterback and becomes the first person in Notre Dame’s history to be carried off the field by his teammates even though he was, as the line in the movie, goes, “five feet nothing, one hundred and nothing.”
Rejection can refine us. It can whittle our weaknesses, build our strengths, and bring us to the people who see our potential. But it doesn’t always work like that. For every Edison, Rowling, and Ruettiger, there are ten thousand others who tried to push through rejection, but got buried under it instead. The problem with trying to push through rejection, without a deeper foundation, is that it forces you to base your personal worth on other people’s judgment of your performance. And why should other people get to decide what you are worth?
So another way to face rejection is to rise above it. In other words, you stop caring what people think about you. Rising above rejection means that you stop giving them permission to be your judges, the evaluators of your performance, the appraisers of your worth. And there’s wisdom in this answer to our question about facing rejection because the assessments of some people shouldn’t matter. You just need to shake them off and step up like the fable of the donkey who found himself at the bottom of a pit. The pit was so deep and so narrow that the farmer couldn’t figure out how to get the donkey out, but the donkey wasn’t performing like he used to. So the farmer decided to let that pit become the animal’s grave. He called his neighbors to grab their shovels, help him fill the pit and bury the poor creature alive.
Do you know what the donkey did? Each time, he felt the dirt from their shovels land on his back, he shook it off and stepped up, shook it off and stepped up. Until finally, all the dirt he had shaken off his back beneath his feet filled the pit, and he stepped out. Sometimes you can deal with rejection by rising above it, but it can only happen when you stop trying to please people because you can’t shake off rejection from someone you want to please. To rise above their rejection, you have to stop caring about what they think. So how high can you rise? Can you stop caring about everyone? And even if you were to rise above everyone, you’d still be left with yourself; you’d still have to please yourself, which may be the most thankless job of all.
Let’s reflect on the insights we’ve gained by struggling with this question: how do you face rejection? First, we’ve seen that rejection happens. Everyone goes through it. There’s no avoiding it. Second, we’ve seen that rejection is dependent on relationships. We feel rejected only because we’re bound by our relationships with others. And we can free ourselves from rejection only by rejecting relationships, which taken to the extreme, would even involve rejecting your relationship with yourself. This is the situation, our human conundrum into which the Bible speaks. So here’s how the Bible would lead us to face rejection: not in the first place by pushing through it or by rising above it, but by starting over with Jesus.
The Bible shows us that you and I were made for relationships. If, on the one hand, you forsake relationships out of fear of rejection, you simultaneously reject life. And this is a path that leads to isolation, to death and, eventually, hell. But if, on the other hand, you embrace relationships, you risk being buried under the weight of rejection. The Bible shows us how we came to be in this lose-lose situation. It’s because we rejected our foundational relationship with God, with the One true God who is eternally relational and created us for relationships with Him and with each other. And the only way out of this lose-lose situation is to start over with Jesus, or to use biblical language, “repent.” Repentance means starting over with Jesus. Repent. The word is used over 50 times in the New Testament of the Bible. And it tells us how God would have us face every rejection.
See, rejection isn’t something you can always rise above because you were made for relationships, and rejection isn’t something you can keep pushing through because there is something in each of us that needs to be rejected. And one day, perhaps today, maybe every day, you will run into the wall of God’s rejection. You’ll hear God say, “No, that’s not what I wanted.” And you face God’s rejection, not by rising above it, not by pushing through it, but by repentance, by starting over with Jesus. Listen to how it goes in the ancient biography of Jesus called the Gospel according to Luke. Luke, the author, tells us about a guy named John. He’s traditionally called John the Baptist because he baptized people in the Jordan River of ancient Israel. Now John’s message was clear. In effect, he told the people, God has rejected your work. You were chosen for this project. You labored like people with something to prove, but this isn’t what God wanted.
John was speaking to his people, the Jewish people, the descendants of Abraham. These were the people God rescued from slavery—people God sustained and refined through 40 years of wandering in the wilderness—people God had singled out for a rescue mission to save the creation from our human conundrum. But now He was rejecting their misguided efforts. That’s the significance of this Baptism in the Jordan River. See, the Jordan River formed the eastern border of the Promised Land, the starting point for Israel’s mission to rescue the world. But John told them to vacate the Promised Land, return to the wilderness, re-enter by passing through the river and start all over again.
Listen to how Luke says it in these excerpts from the third chapter of his book. He says, And the word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. And John went throughout all the region around the Jordan River, proclaiming of Baptism, of repentance, for the forgiveness of sins. As it stands written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness ‘Prepare the way of the Lord. Make His path straight. Every valley will be filled in, every mountain and hill will be made low, the crooked will be made straight and the rough ways made smooth, and all flesh will see the salvation of God.'”
So John was saying to the crowds who had made the journey to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers. Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? So bear fruit in keeping with repentance and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.” Because I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the ax is already laid at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” And the crowds were asking John, saying, “What then should we do?” And answering, he was saying to them, “Whoever has two coats should share with the one who has none. And whoever has food should share in the same way.”
Then tax collectors came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what should we do?” And he said to them, “Do not collect any more than you are authorized.” And soldiers were asking him, saying, “What should we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from people by threats or by false accusations and be content with your wages.” And all the people were in expectation, wondering in their hearts, whether John might be the Christ, the Messiah. John answered them all saying, “I baptize you with water. But the One who is coming is stronger than I am. I am not worthy to untie the strap of His sandal. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Even now, His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into His barn and the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.” And with many other exhortations, John preached good news to the people.
Then it happened. When the people were being baptized, when Jesus was baptized, and when He was praying, heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on Him in bodily form, like a dove and a voice came from heaven. “You are My beloved Son. In You, I am well pleased.”
The most shocking thing about these events recorded by Luke, it’s not that God’s people face rejection. Rejection is a fact of this mortal life; no one’s exempt from it. The most shocking thing about this passage is not that the reason for their rejection is those seemingly small failures of everyday life—failures to which you can readily relate: failure to share what you have with someone in need, the white lies you tell, the corners you cut, the microaggressions you commit when you get even just a little power over another person, the vague discontent you feel that emanates from the catastrophic fault line of your fractured relationship with God. That’s not the most shocking thing about this passage.
And neither is the fact that the rejection we face is from God Himself because God has designed this world for relational health and wholeness, and He will accept nothing less. No, the most shocking thing about this passage is that Jesus, the Messiah, the sinless Son of God joins them, joins you and me in the fire of our rejection. He was baptized for all of us, and we are baptized into Him, into His crucifixion and resurrection. Starting over with Jesus means that you and I have no other foundation but Jesus. He makes your failures His; He makes His successes yours. That’s how much you are worth to Him.
So going forward, how will you face rejection? For me, looking back on that experience I shared with you at the beginning, when the colonel, my boss’s boss rejected my work, I wasn’t ready to face it. I obviously had something to prove and my pride was hurt, thought I knew better than the colonel, and was in no position to rise up above him. So I was at a loss. I didn’t know how to push through. I gave my best and fell on my face, but my boss, the lieutenant colonel, he was in the room when it happened. He witnessed the crisis and he didn’t let me face it alone. He made my problem, his problem, because I was under his authority. And from his perspective, it wasn’t just my failure—it was his. So he helped me gather up my misguided efforts, and we started over.
And I invite you, maybe for the first time, maybe for the millionth time, start over with Jesus and pray to Him with me.
Lord Jesus, Son of the living God, when You called me to repent, You willed that my entire life be one of repentance. Give me the wisdom to know when to rise above and when to push through and the grace always to repent. Thank You for standing with me in every rejection. And thank You for starting over with me. Amen.
Reflections for January 9, 2022
Title: Facing Rejection
Mike Zeigler: I’m visiting with Dr. Jeff Gibbs, emeritus professor at Concordia Seminary, here in St. Louis. He teaches about God as He’s revealed Himself in Jesus, and especially through the New Testament of the Bible. Welcome back to the program, Jeff.
Jeff Gibbs: Thank you, Mike. It’s a pleasure to be here.
Mike Zeigler: We’re picking up again, listening to the Gospel according to Luke, and you might remember a few weeks ago we talked about how the coming Kingdom or coming rule and reign of God is a major theme in Luke’s presentation of the life of Jesus. Jeff, how does Luke depict Jesus both fulfilling and upsetting popular expectations of the Jewish people at the time?
Jeff Gibbs: Yeah, that’s a good question. It’s a big one. I think, on the one hand, Luke, like the other Gospels, is very eager to show how Jesus takes the promises of the Old Testament and He fulfills them; He brings them to pass. For instance, when the angel Gabriel speaks to Mary, he says that the Lord God will give to Him, that is, to the Child that will be begotten in Mary’s womb while she’s still a virgin, He will give to Him the throne of His father David and of His reign there will be no end. Well, that as you know, that’s a promise that’s originally given back in the Old Testament, in 2 Samuel 7. And what’s really interesting is how often that promise is echoed in the Old Testament after that time at about—maybe 1000 B.C. And then you have the prophets and the psalms, and that promise just lives and resounds throughout the Old Testament. And so now, guess what? That’s going to happen.
Mike Zeigler: It’s happening, yeah.
Jeff Gibbs: Right?
Mike Zeigler: Again, putting the world right side up to that blessed state that was in the beginning, this Child is going to do that.
Jeff Gibbs: That’s right. That’s right. I heard it said once that God never has a bad idea.
Mike Zeigler: Yeah. Yeah.
Jeff Gibbs: So, His idea is now they sometimes emerge in ways that we don’t expect.
Mike Zeigler: Very slowly.
Jeff Gibbs: And that gets to the second part of the question, right?
Mike Zeigler: Yeah. Yeah. So, they, there’s some upsetting of expectations that goes along with this.
Jeff Gibbs: Yes, like at Nazareth, right? In Luke 4, right?
Mike Zeigler: Yeah. They get upset with Him.
Jeff Gibbs: Yeah. Yeah. Apparently, they want some sort of special treatment. It’s a little hard to tell exactly what they’re thinking there.
Mike Zeigler: Yeah. Physician heal yourself, or …
Jeff Gibbs: Yep. Yep.
Mike Zeigler: Do some sign.
Jeff Gibbs: And Jesus says … He just infuriates them. In fact, they try to kill Him. He reverses things, but people don’t like that because it means they have to let go of their pride or their expectations or something. So when the reign of God comes in Jesus, it does keep all those ancient promises, but it certainly keeps them in ways that weren’t necessarily expected.
Mike Zeigler: And it’s easy for us to sit here in the 21st century and say, “Look how badly they got it—how much they misunderstood it. How might Christians today also misunderstand the rule and reign of God in our own ways?
Jeff Gibbs: How do Americans define success? I find it remarkable, and I’m not criticizing anybody in particular here, unless it’s me, that God is always at work when you sell your house and make a lot of money. But He’s not at work if you sell your house and you lose money.
So, success, what is success? I was thinking about life issues and abortion and things like that, and for some reason, I was thinking about persons who have Down syndrome, and we have an acolyte—the chief acolyte at our congregation is a young man. I think he’s about … he’s in his thirties. He has Down syndrome, and I’m thinking how the world thinks about him as opposed to how Jesus thinks about him. And one of the most beautiful moments in our church is when we have an Easter morning processional, and our acolyte leads the way with the cross. And I just think that is an invitation for me to think differently about what’s important and who’s important. What do we value? It’s not that the things that we value have no value. But every culture is always trying to teach us what’s good, what’s right, what’s successful.
Mike Zeigler: And so, Christians also are in danger of misunderstanding the coming Kingdom, equating it with the world’s standards of success and value.
Jeff Gibbs: I think we are constantly in danger. Again, no matter what century you live in or no matter what continent you’re on, but I happen to live in North America, as you do, and so we are beset with particular dangerous misunderstandings, right?
Call Day at Concordia Seminary or at our Fort Wayne Seminary, my alma mater, by the way, was always a very important day, and everybody’s excited. Men are getting their first assignments as pastors, and so forth. But there was always a danger that people would see some calls as good and other calls as bad, and good calls are big with lots of money and health insurance. Bad calls are small congregations that are unable to pay as good of a salary. To think that way, is simply evil.
Mike Zeigler: Yeah.
Jeff Gibbs: I mean, I think, isn’t it?
Mike Zeigler: Yeah.
Jeff Gibbs: Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
Mike Zeigler: So we’re hearing Jesus facing these kinds of choices in His wilderness temptation with the devil.
Jeff Gibbs: Right, we are. His temptation is shaped like a cross. It shows that this is the kind of king He will be, and He will not put God to the test, even though He knows the uniquely and cosmically difficult path on which He walks. To put God to the test means to doubt whether He can be relied upon. But Jesus doesn’t doubt that His Father can be relied upon, and so He relies on Him and He walks that way.
Mike Zeigler: The followers of Jesus, corporately, as a community, our way is going to look increasingly more like His way.
Jeff Gibbs: Yeah. “Follow Me,” He says.
Mike Zeigler: Yeah.
Jeff Gibbs: Yeah.
Mike Zeigler: And the followers of Jesus in Acts say that precisely in chapter 14:22, “Through many tribulations, we enter the rule and reign of God.”
Jeff Gibbs: That’s right.
Mike Zeigler: So, there’s this hard edge to it, against the world, against the way, but then there’s also this promise and comfort of Jesus, “Have no fear, little flock. The Father’s pleasure is to give you the Kingdom.” How do those two lines guide us on this way?
Jeff Gibbs: “We walk by faith and not by sight.” So yeah, the risen and ascended Jesus, this is the overall message of Revelation is, you don’t have to be afraid because the Lamb is actually on the throne. But the way to which He calls us will at least at times be difficult or puzzling. In some parts of the world today, of course, literally dangerous—not so much in North America, but different, nevertheless, different. So, contemplating the risen and ascended Lord who is ever interceding for you, who says to the Father, “This one is Yours.”
Mike Zeigler: And who will return to raise the dead.
Jeff Gibbs: Exactly. So that’s our hope. And then you look around at these other believers, you go, “Oh, that one’s His, too. Oh, she’s His, too. Oh, let’s do this together.”
Mike Zeigler: Yeah.
Jeff Gibbs: Really, the community is so important. Yeah. I sometimes think Satan’s great ploy to destroy the church in North America is just to make us all so busy there’s no time for relationships, for investing ourselves in our congregations. Because we’re all so busy. I’m retired now. I got all the time in the world.
Mike Zeigler: Thank you for making time for us today, to talk together.
Jeff Gibbs: It’s a pleasure.
Music Selections for this program:
“A Mighty Fortress” arranged by Chris Bergmann. Used by permission.
“To Jordan Came the Christ, Our Lord” From The Concordia Organist (© 2009 Concordia Publishing House)