Today’s passage is Luke 10:1-16. Jesus sends out seventy-two disciples in pairs to preach and heal in the towns ahead and prepare for his arrival. He gives them detailed instructions on what to take and how to behave. He warns the people and the towns they are going to not to reject the disciples because they would be rejecting him and in rejecting him they reject God.
Why does Jesus deal harshly with rejection? Why send 72(NIV)?
Rejection is a far stronger memory than welcome is in my life. As a child what I did wrong was linked to my character or personality.
“You’re a bad boy!” rather than “What you did is bad!”
When I did something nice or praiseworthy I heard, “Well done!” not “You’re a good boy!”
I don’t know if this is the case with others but it was my environment.
Also part of my environment was my father’s military career, which meant we moved every three years.
That meant I changed school every three years and had to make new friends.
What it really meant was that I was going to be rejected by a new group of kids every three years.
Because of my environment of rejection, I did not become a welcoming person.
I looked for the negatives in people and in situations so I could complain the loudest and push others down.
This rejecting, complaining attitude was mostly learned.
It’s natural to be a little fearful in a new situation because you don’t know what the outcome will be.
We are given fear to help us survive.
But when fear is combined with a learned rejection then it becomes a monster that chokes the joy of life.
It stops us asking for help because we fear rejection. It leads us to become independent in a negative way, where we depend only on ourselves and actually reject help. We think we’re free when we’re independent because no one can reject us. It makes loving someone hard.
My greatest heartache was my rejection from Mallory, mother of my youngest daughter.
I felt like I was dying for years. I had no resource to fight it.
But God did.
Through his love, his mercy and his grace he gave me Jin Kyeong’s love and acceptance and he gave me Wooridle church community’s love and acceptance.
Through my loving wife and through my spiritual community my lifetime of rejection hurt has been healing.
Application: to open my arms to my life and give thanks to God for all my circumstances.
Lord, let me repent of my rejection of others. Give me your spirit of welcome and acceptance.
