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<div>Sermons for Lent 4:<br>
<br>
Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32 – *“Dealing with the Pain of Rejection”*<br>
2 Corinthians 5:16-21 – *“**The Awful Grace of Amazing Grace”*<br>
by Leonard Sweet<br>
<br>
Luke 15, the sermon titled "Dealing with the Pain of Rejection" <br>
<br>
There is no pain in the world quite like it: the awful pain of<br>
feeling rejected. It hurts! It crushes the spirit and breaks the<br>
heart. Let me show you what I mean with a true story.<br>
<br>
Pastor James Moore tells a story about a girl named Jessica. She was<br>
a tall, slender, sixteen-year-old blonde girl, who looked like she<br>
might grow up to be a model or president of the P.T.A., or a<br>
corporate executive. She was attractive, outgoing, personable,<br>
radiant, and happy. She was an only child and her parents were<br>
devoted to her and so proud of her. A member of his church she did a<br>
youth "speak-out" in an evening worship service. Her words were<br>
inspired and thoughtful from the pulpit that night. She was so<br>
wholesome, so clean-cut, so full of life.<br>
<br>
But, the next morning, an urgent ringing of the telephone. It was<br>
Jessica’s mother alarmed, concerned, frightened saying that Jessica<br>
had been taken to the emergency room during the night and had been<br>
admitted into the hospital as a patient. When Moore got there and<br>
walked into that hospital room, it was a stark, gloomy situation. The<br>
drapes were closed, the room was dark, heavy despair was in the air we<br>
breathed. There was Jessica only hours before happy, radiant, full of<br>
life but now, laying there in a hospital bed, weak, pale, listless,<br>
almost the picture of death. She was emotionally drained, completely<br>
wrung out, so much so that she literally did not have the strength to<br>
lift her arms, she could not walk, she could hardly hold up her head.<br>
They talked for a moment, prayed together and then he left the room.<br>
<br>
Jessica’s mother came out into the hallway. Her mother said, "After<br>
we got home from church last night, Jessica had a phone call. Just as<br>
she hung up the receiver she fainted and when we revived her, she was<br>
physically unable to walk… she was so weak. We called an ambulance<br>
and brought her here to the hospital." Moore asked, "Do you know of<br>
anything that might have caused this?" The mother blinked as tears<br>
flooded into her eyes, she looked away and said, "Well, yes, that<br>
telephone call last night was to notify Jessica that she had been<br>
"black-balled" by the sorority she wanted to join."<br>
<br>
Now, here was a young girl, sixteen years old, an only child, who for<br>
all of her life had had almost everything she wanted. At that<br>
particular moment what she wanted more than anything was to be<br>
accepted into that sorority and somebody had rejected her. One person<br>
for some unknown reason had "black-balled" her and the trauma of that<br>
blatant rejection was too much for her. She couldn’t handle it. She<br>
was not faking. The doctors were sure of that. She was just so hurt<br>
that it crushed her emotionally, physically, and spiritually.<br>
<br>
Here we see dramatically the awful pain of feeling rejected. Now I<br>
want to leave Jessica in the hospital for just a moment. We are going<br>
to get her out later, but right now the point is clear. The pain of<br>
feeling rejected can be devastating.<br>
<br>
Sometimes we "feel" rejected when we really aren’t being rejected.<br>
We only think we are. Have you heard about the man who had to quit<br>
going to football games because every time the team went into a<br>
huddle he thought they were talking about him! Now, he wasn’t being<br>
rejected, but he thought he was. Let me hurry to say though, that even<br>
when imagined the pain is just as real!<br>
<br>
That’s what happens in Jesus’ parable. Remember how the younger<br>
brother runs away to the far country, squanders his money in riotous<br>
living, but then ashamed and penitent he returns home. The father is<br>
so overjoyed. He had feared the worst that his young son might be<br>
dead! But here he is alive and well and home, safe and sound. The<br>
father is so happy that he calls for a great celebration. But when<br>
the elder brother hears of it. He is hurt, jealous, confused, and<br>
angry. He feels sorry for himself, but more than that and worse, he<br>
feels that the father has rejected him! Of course, we know better! We<br>
know that the father has not rejected him at all. In fact, the parable<br>
is misnamed. Instead of the Parable of the Prodigal Son, it should be<br>
called the Parable of the Gracious Father! Because, you see, the<br>
theme of the parable is not the revelry of the Prodigal, nor is it<br>
the bitterness of the elder brother, no; the theme here is the<br>
goodness of the father, the faithfulness of God. The message here is<br>
that God cares and that He wants both of His sons (all of His<br>
children) to come and be a part of the celebration.<br>
<br>
But the elder brother missed it. He mistakenly felt rejected and it<br>
deflated and crushed him and left him spiritually bankrupt. The<br>
feeling of rejection can do that to us. But the Christian faith has<br>
good news for those who feel rejected, the good news of healing and<br>
wholeness. So when you feel rejected, here are a few simple<br>
guidelines to remember.<br>
<br>
1. Feelings are temporary, so go and talk to somebody<br>
<br>
2. The person rejecting you is the one with the problem<br>
<br>
3. Remember how to laugh and don’t take yourself too seriously<br>
<br>
4. Remember that God accepts you.<br>
<br>
The rest of this sermon following the outline above can be obtained<br>
by joining <A target=_blank __removedLink__185886654__href="http://www.esermons.com/">www.eSermons.com</A><br>
_______________________<br>
<br>
2 Corinthians, the sermon titled “The Awful Grace of Amazing Grace” <br>
<br>
“Feel the burn.”<br>
<br>
Ever hear that phrase? Anyone know what it means? . . . [You can make<br>
this into a karaoke moment.]<br>
<br>
“Feel the burn” is what coaches and trainers tell their athletes.<br>
Or for other of us, “feel the burn” is what trainers tell their<br>
middle-bulging middle-agers trying to get back in shape. The wisdom<br>
behind the wit of “feel the burn” is that it is only when our<br>
muscles, our endurance, our bodies are pushed beyond the usual that<br>
we start to build new muscles, more endurance, a healthier body. Or<br>
as an earlier generation put “feel the burn,” “no pain, no<br>
gain.”<br>
<br>
The first day of a new workout regime is always great. Muscles might<br>
be tight. Instead of “flexing” you might be “jiggling.” But<br>
it feels good physically, emotionally, and mentally to know you are<br>
on the move. Endorphins, the body’s natural anti-depressants, flow<br>
freely during exercise. The first day of a work out is wonderful. The<br>
next morning reacquaints you with “the agony of defeat.”<br>
Endorphins are never around at 6 a.m. when you are trying to somehow<br>
roll out of bed without screaming at the person who yelled at you<br>
“feel the burn.”<br>
<br>
“Feeling the burn” is the reason so many of us never make it back<br>
to the second day of our “new workout plan.” We wait a few days,<br>
until the soreness subsides a bit, then we try again. That next<br>
morning is even worse! The problem with an intermittent exercise<br>
regime is that is brings a continual state of soreness. We never<br>
completely heal. But we never get into shape enough to “feel the<br>
burn” while working out without feeling like we’re on fire for<br>
the next week.<br>
<br>
This is true of every discipline and every art. Whether it is sports,<br>
business, physics, chemistry, or marriage — the most daunting,<br>
draining, determining time is “zero-to-one.” Starting from<br>
nothing, from “zero” and moving to the next step, the first step,<br>
takes far more energy than any other movement taken from “one”<br>
onward. That’s why I have made it the #1 rule of spiritual physics:<br>
the distance from zero to one is greater than the distance from any<br>
other number.<br>
<br>
Inertia — standing still — is the biggest hurdle any one can ever<br>
face when trying to move forward. That’s why “inertia” is a 7<br>
letter word for sin. Ask anyone who has ever tried to start a new<br>
business. Ask anyone who has ever gone out on a blind date. Ask<br>
anyone who has arrived in a new country, not knowing the language,<br>
the customs, or the people.<br>
<br>
Zero to one can be a heartbreaker and a body modifier.<br>
<br>
On the “zero to one” struggle, Christians get to be great big<br>
cheaters. Paul said it in today’s Corinthian text, and Luke<br>
illustrated in today’s gospel text. God has “cooked the books”<br>
in our favor. Because of Christ’s death on the cross God is “not<br>
counting” all our trespasses against us. Christ took all our sins,<br>
all our spiritual inertia, our moral malaise, to that cross on<br>
Calvary and miraculously moved us from point “zero” to “one.”<br>
If our lives were a game of “Parcheesi,” Christ has moved all of<br>
our marbles from “Base” to the entranceway for “Home.” All we<br>
have to do is move on into “Safety.”<br>
<br>
What moves us from “zero” to “one” is nothing less than<br>
God’s grace...<br>
<br>
The rest of Leonard Sweet's sermon can be obtained by joining<br>
<A target=_blank __removedLink__185886654__href="http://www.sermons.com/">www.Sermons.com</A> <<A target=_blank __removedLink__185886654__href="http://www.sermons.com/">http://www.sermons.com/</A>><br>
___________________________<br>
<br>
Familiarity Breeds Contempt<br>
<br>
In 1986 Henri Nouwen, a Dutch theologian and writer, toured St.<br>
Petersburg, Russia, the former Leningrad. While there he visited the<br>
famous Hermitage where he saw, among other things, Rembrandt’s<br>
painting of the Prodigal Son. The painting was in a hallway and<br>
received the natural light of a nearby window. Newman stood for two<br>
hours, mesmerized by this remarkable painting. As he stood there the<br>
sun changed, and at every change of the light’s angle he saw a<br>
different aspect of the painting revealed. He would later write:<br>
“There were as many paintings in the Prodigal Son as there were<br>
changes in the day.”<br>
<br>
It is difficult for us to see something new in the parable of the<br>
Prodigal son. We have heard the story so many times we believe that<br>
we have squeezed it dry of meaning. Not only that, but, as the saying<br>
goes, familiarity breeds contempt. When we hear the opening words of<br>
the parable once again, “And there was a Father who had two<br>
sons,” we greet the words with ho-hum. Heard it. Heard it. Heard<br>
it.<br>
<br>
Yet, I would suggest that just as Henri Nouwen saw a half dozen<br>
different facets to Rembrandt’s painting of the Prodigal Son, so<br>
too are there many different angles to the story itself.<br>
<br>
Staff, <A target=_blank __removedLink__185886654__href="http://www.esermons.com/">www.eSermons.com</A><br>
<br>
___________________<br>
<br>
God Said...<br>
<br>
Is there a better picture of forgiveness in the whole Bible? It<br>
reminds me of a story about a woman who had upset her pastor because<br>
she claimed that she had conversations with God. She had attracted<br>
quite a following in the church and every day people gathered at her<br>
house, got on their knees, prayed, sang hymns and listened to her<br>
describe what God was saying to her.<br>
<br>
The pastor thought all this was getting out of hand, so he went to<br>
visit her. "I know you say you are talking with God," he said, "but<br>
what you hear talking back at you is just your imagination. Just to<br>
prove it, I want you to ask God to name three of the sins that I<br>
confessed this morning. Then tell me what God said. If you can name<br>
those sins, I'll believe that you really are talking with God." The<br>
woman sat there for a long while, praying. Then she looked up and<br>
said, "I asked God to name your three sins, but God said, 'I<br>
forgot.'"<br>
<br>
Norm Linville, The Prodigal Father<br>
<br>
________________<br>
<br>
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