St Timothy Presbyterian Church in Toronto: Sermons

Mark 6:1-13

[*Note: The following sermon was not recorded due to technical difficulties. But the transcript of the sermon has been included below for reference. Thank you for your understanding.]

Today's sermon title is Rejection and Acceptance.

Both words are totally opposite to each other.

Rejection is something you do not want to recognize the value of the person or thing and thus drive away that person or thing from you.

On the other hand, Acceptance is to recognize the value of the person or thing and thus embrace it.

When I look at the world these days, rejection will be the word that describes the phenomena of the society.

Whether it is about ethnicity, religion or culture, we tend to reject those who are different from us and put up the walls between them and us.

We all know that US wants to build the wall along the border with Mexico and they want to charge Mexico for that cost.

Israel is still building the walls that go up to 40 feet high to protect their own people but because of the walls, they are forcing the Palestinians to become homeless and to leave their homelands.

UN urged Israel to stop this project because it is against the international law as well as the basic human rights.

But, those who have more want to have more, and those who have power want to keep the status quo.

There is a word, called, Xenophobia.

So, Xenophobia is the fear or hatred of foreigners, people from different cultures.

As we can see from the WORD itself, fear is working in it.

If we find others are different from us, or if we do not know what is going on, we become fearful.

It is important to know why we have this particular attitude whether that is negative or positive towards certain groups of people.

Today's passage deals with the issue of Rejection as well.

This happened when Jesus went to this synagogue in his hometown.

And we must ask this question.

Even though Jesus was not a refugee but a hometown man, the rejection he received would speak loudly to him.

Why did Jesus get rejected?

When we look at verse 2, the hometown people were astounded after hearing Jesus' teaching.

Wisdom in Greek is called, Sophia and power, Dunamis.  And dynamite came from this word.

But, the hometown people could not give proper respect to Jesus.  (slide)

We can see something from this verse.

The assumption is operating in the minds of the hometown people.

But, did the hometown people know who Jesus truly was?

When they mentioned Jesus with the question, Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary? it may refer to a fatherless son.

With this prejudice and judging attitude, they refused to recognize Jesus as he was.

In other words, they could not believe that no greater person should come from such a family.

You see, Familiarity blinded their eyes.

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But, what did Jesus do as he received such rejection from his hometown people?

There is a word hearing quite a lot when we watch hockey games, that is Retaliation.

The meaning is an act of revenge.

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Today's passage has actually two different stories.

Jesus did not retaliate even though he got rejected.

If we were in his situation, we would have retaliated and got into a fight because our ego was hurt.

Rejection is the result of the raw power struggles.

Jesus accepted the reality of rejection as it was.  And that's being spiritual.

Jesus embraced the vulnerability caused by the rejection.

He did not intend to build his value by impressing people around him.

Once a professor at theological school, Drew University, Jung Young Lee wrote a book named, Marginality.

The action Jesus took can be explained through Professor Lee's theological points.

Jesus did not mind becoming a person in Marginality.

The fact that Jesus able to accept his vulnerability was the result of his total trust in God.

And this is what the cross is all about and this is what happened to the Cross.

After that, God opened the doors in the situation that was blocked.

When Jesus accepted rejection, the new ministry was dawning for him.

So, Rejection and Acceptance are not the two different words, but spiritual words must take place together and work together.

My friends,

Whenever you face rejection in your life, please think about the Cross of Jesus Christ.

When we are not rejecting the cross which is the symbol of rejection, meaning accepting the rejection, we will experience the power of resurrection right there and the new life will be born right there, the place of our own cross.

What Jesus guided his disciples reflected the same message.

We can learn from today's passage that what happened to Jesus's disciples as they followed Jesus' instructions.

The same wisdom and the same power were given to them and they were able to heal the sick and cure them just like Jesus.

Now, we understand the relationship between these two stories: The story of Rejection and the story of commissioning the twelve disciples.

We thank God for Jesus who did not treat the rejection lightly.

What Jesus showed in today's passage should be the guidance for our life.

In life, we may face rejection here and there, small or big, and knowingly or not knowingly.

It is because rejection takes place wherever power is involved.

In our life, in our relationships, and in our ministries, rejection takes place every time and every where.

With your spouse, with your siblings, with your friends, and with your parents and children.

Hope we can catch the moment of rejection and take that as on opportunity to experience God's wisdom and power in our life.

When you receive rejection in any forms and in any size, do not retaliate.

Our Lord Jesus did not go that way.

Let us accept rejection and embrace the vulnerability.

I hope and pray that the cross becomes your power and your life as you accept rejection and as you embrace your vulnerability.

As we go through this spiritual journey, we will become a spiritual person with Sophia and Dumanis.

Let me finish my sermon by reciting some portions from today's innervoice.

I feel so blessed to have this message that comes to us like morning dew today.

It is based on 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

The real power is the power even to embrace our own weaknesses. The obsession with power is a sign of one's weakness. From the obsession, comes pretension and arrogance that makes others feel weak. The strength that comes from God's grace is the perfect power. Not only it makes us strong but also it empowers others.

May God's wisdom and power be given to you and me, so that we will continue to be able to empower others and help them.  Amen.

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