My sermon on the combined Sunday in June had to be shortened to ensure the service was only reasonably long and not ridiculously long. I covered one of the implications of the text then but said I would cover the others in the newsletter. The text was 2 Corinthians 12:11-21. You may want to reread it first.

My focus for the passage was Paul’s reaction to the rejection of the people of Corinth whom he loved dearly and labored faithfully to bring them the good news of Jesus. I think he was hurt and frustrated by their rejection, which are two of the normal feelings we experience in rejection. As I said then, Paul’s response is helpful for us to consider how we respond to rejection. The one observation of Paul’s response I was able to cover was his basis for contentment. Paul did not find his meaning through the praise of the people. His content was fueled by what he thought Christ thought of him and his work. It was far more important than what people think. It was key to his contentment when rejected.

But I can add that he also resisted accepting responsibility for other their rejection. It is easy when people reject us to blame ourselves. What did I do to cause this problem? Who did I offend? How can I fix my mistakes? It is a mistake to assume it is always your fault. Sometimes it might be. But many factors affect people’s emotions and their decisions. In fact, I don’t mean to offend but it’s kind of self-centered to assume automatically it must be our fault. Paul was disrupting cultural and social forces of the day. The gospel values were threatening those rules. Some people felt threatened and they reacted by rejecting him and his message. Many things affect our emotional reactions, and sometimes someone gets the brunt of our negative stuff. Don’t be too quick to blame yourself if you happen to be that person.

Also, Paul teaches us to not regret the vulnerability necessary for close relationships, even though it caused him the pain of rejection. Often, the reaction to rejection is an unwillingness to be vulnerable in the future. We might declare, “No one will hurt me like that again.” A defensive posture unfortunately grows a wall of indifference. The indifference might keep us from valuable relationships in the future. Rejection hurts us once; don’t let it hurt a second time by missing a future relationship we need.

Finally, Paul teaches us to keep the door open for God to work. It would be tempting to give up on them, but Paul was going back one more time to visit the people who rejected him. To be clear, it’s important not to enable bad behavior or be a doormat. Sometimes the rejection of others requires we close the relationship door to protect ourselves or those important to us. But when we are hurt, it’s also possible we are too quick to close the door. It’s good to leave the door open, or at least cracked, to allow God to bring reconciliation. It takes some grace on our part. But we should trust that God can surprise us. There is no limit to the ways God can work to bring good out of what feels very bad in the moment.

Blessings,

James Harper