Text: Mark 6:1-13
Theme: “Rejection meets more Grace”

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Intr – Imagine a small-town bakery run by a kind and patient baker named Alice. One day, a new customer named Mark comes in and loudly complains about the quality of the pastries, claiming they’re not fresh and taste terrible. Despite his rude behavior, Alice remains calm and apologizes, offering him a free pastry to try again. Mark rejects the offer and storms out. Alice decides to handle the situation with grace but also sees an opportunity to convey a message of truth. She bakes a special batch of pastries the next morning and delivers them personally to Mark’s workplace, a local garage where he’s a mechanic. She includes a note that says, “Sometimes, a second chance can change everything.”

Mark is taken aback by Alice’s gesture. He feels guilty for his earlier behavior but is also intrigued. He shares the pastries with his coworkers, and they all rave about how delicious they are. Mark reluctantly tries one himself and realizes they are indeed fresh and tasty.

How do you deal with rejection, big or small? With the same measure; by being offended; or with more love and grace? This is a very difficult topic, for rejection has many levels—from the kid who doesn’t want to play with you on the playground to the family member who refuses reconciliation. Rejection is not something strange to Jesus, and we see in today’s Gospel the worst rejection of all: spiritual rejection. It is not only about not liking the cake you baked or not being accepted into the university of your dreams. Jesus’ message and work were consistently rejected, and not only by high priests or complete strangers. Jesus was given a hard time by His own people and His own family. How did He deal with that? Perhaps we can find some clues for our daily life too.

Jesus visits His family and goes to the synagogue. He tries to perform miracles. Nothing seems to work; His own family is not buying it. “He is Mary and Joseph’s son. How come He is proclaiming Himself as the Messiah?” Jesus is rejected.

Now, it would be a good occasion to show God’s wrath over sin, wouldn’t it? Jesus could have taken offense and been angry at them. He could be. But He didn’t. Jesus did not come to judge but to save.[1] Judgement comes later, it will certainly come.[2] But not today. Today is still a day of salvation.

Here’s what Jesus does:

He stops performing miracles. Showing his Power and authority performing more miracles before unbelieving hearts would increase their hardening and culpability.[3]
He does not utter judgment.
He sends even more messengers of the Gospel.

All of that because He had a heart for His people, including His family. Jesus meets rejection with more grace, more offering of the Gospel, and more offers of peace and salvation in Him.

Here’s one thing we can’t miss though: Being gracious does not mean forfeiting the truth. Jesus doesn’t water down His message in order to win acceptance. He doesn’t back up. He confirms everything He preached and doubles down on it by sending the 12 two by two to continue the mission.

Now, those twelve would have the same hard mission as Jesus. They would go to places to “tell people they should repent.” Talk about a challenging mission! Who would welcome those killjoys with open arms? They come, eat and drink, and they say: “Hey, you know this side of your life that is not aligned with the word of God? You need to repent and change.”

How does this speak to you and me?

Jesus performs miracles out of His grace, not out of our demands or merits. We have to be careful even when we say, “because I had faith, a miracle happened.” What was the faith that calmed the storm or prevented Peter from sinking? What was Paul’s faith that helped him to receive a miracle for his thorn in the flesh? Faith is holding on to Christ and trusting His promises. Miracles may or may not come, and they are a free gift from God. Someone might say, “Why aren’t miracles given to everyone?” The answer: How can we say that for sure? Perhaps we don’t see many miracles because they don’t match our perception of them. Miracles happen every day, and faith is the means through which we are thankful to God for them, big or small, noisy or silent, life-preserving or life-eternal giving.

Jesus meets rejection with more grace. Christ might have met rejection with weapons other than grace. For example, He might have taken offense and played the victim. “Hey, is that how you treat Me? I come here with all my goodwill to help many people, and you throw stones at Me? Are you saying that I don’t deserve to be here? Now I am offended by all you are doing. Just wait until you read my next Facebook post.” That’s not what Jesus did, even when He had reasons to. Think of Him before the ones who arrested and beat Him. Jesus would have all the right reasons to play the victim card against that unjust rejection. He had all the reasons in the world to go to Rome and sue everybody. But He didn’t. While being offended, He traded it for love. While being humiliated, He traded it for forgiveness and bearing His cross. While being condemned, He traded it with deliverance from eternal condemnation, peace, and salvation. His rejection and death give us a new life. He didn’t come to react to our behavior but to meet rejection with more grace. He sent the Holy Spirit to work in their hearts the faith that will take the offense away and receive the offering of the free gifts from the Lord.

Jesus sends you to proclaim repentance. Yes, you. He didn’t choose a Harvard alumni, people with an IQ of 150 and above only, or other overachievers only. He chose regular people. He sends you. He sends you to:

Be rejected because of faith.
Double down in grace and onsideration because of faith.
Not move from the truth because of faith.[4]

As hard as it is to be rejected for what you believe or for having taken offense in it, the reality is: we need to get used to it. Because the Gospel actually offends people at some point. Not some people, not many people. The Gospel offends the human mind, which means all people. It is the crazy message of the cross that challenges all human paradigms, deconstructing our own thoughts of faith, works, merit, and salvation. We are called to use the right biblical words and not just to comply with current semantics—after all, words come and go, cultures change all the time. But the Word of the Lord remains forever.

The OT reading for today dove tails neatly here: “And you shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear, for they are a rebellious house.”

“You shall speak my words to them,” says God. For words come and go, people change all the time, and cultures embrace all sorts of different things at different points in time. But the Word of the Lord remains forever. His Law and Gospel will always be proclaimed and witnessed around the world.

Remember Jesus’ own family. At first, they rejected Him. Later on, though, we learn from the Bible that Mary, His mother, and His brothers repented of that and embraced faith fully. They became witnesses, and even martyrs, of that family member who met rejection with grace without retreating an inch from the truth.

Conclusion – When Mark went to the bakery to apologize and thank Alice, she shared a story about her past. She once shared harsh words of criticism with a friend, who almost gave up on her dream due to harsh criticism. But she found strength in perseverance and grace. Alice learned then that rejection met with grace can always extend second chances to other people. This is what she was doing for him now. Especially since she became a baptized Christian who wanted to live her faith actively in love.

Mark was deeply moved by her story and realized that his outburst was more about his own frustrations than the quality of the pastries. He started frequenting the bakery more. This time, not just for the pastries, but to chat with Alice and to learn more about that source of wisdom and encouragement she had from her faith.

Jesus meets rejection with more grace and sends more people to preach repentance, grace, and faith. Dear friend: Go out, go forth, go be rejected if needed. Then, go and double down in grace from the Lord. The miracle of faith that was lit in your heart will carry you through, and through your witness, many of those rejections may be converted into rejoicing, and many more people will taste the unparalled sweet taste of the life that never ends.

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 [1] John 3

[2] Matthew 25

[3] Martin Luther: In his sermons and writings, Martin Luther often emphasized the relationship between faith and miracles. He pointed out that miracles are signs meant to strengthen faith, but they are not performed where there is persistent unbelief. Luther wrote:”Christ performs no miracles among those who are obstinate and refuse to believe. He cannot do anything where there is no faith, not because He lacks power, but because they are not capable of receiving it.” (Luther’s Works, Volume 23: Sermons on the Gospel of St. John, Chapters 6-8)
The Lutheran Study Bible: This study Bible, which includes notes and commentary from a confessional Lutheran perspective, explains the passage in Mark 6:”The people’s lack of faith prevented Jesus from performing miracles. This does not imply that His power was limited but highlights the importance of faith in receiving the blessings of Christ’s miraculous works. Jesus’ miracles are closely tied to faith, serving as both a response to and a means of strengthening it.” (The Lutheran Study Bible, Concordia Publishing House)
Johann Gerhard: A significant Lutheran theologian of the 17th century, Johann Gerhard discussed the relationship between faith and miracles in his works: “The power of Christ to perform miracles is not hindered by human unbelief; rather, the benefit of those miracles is not imparted to those who refuse to believe. Miracles serve as a confirmation of faith, and where faith is absent, the confirmation is not given.” (Johann Gerhard, Loci Theologici)
Formula of Concord: The Formula of Concord, an essential Lutheran confessional document, also touches upon the relationship between faith and the reception of God’s promises and works: “The Holy Spirit does not work in a vacuum but always through the means of grace, and it is through faith that we receive these means. Where there is no faith, the means of grace, including the miraculous works of Christ, are not efficacious.” (Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration, Article II: Free Will)

[4] Ill: What do you do when you see that someone you love is going in a bad path, and rejects your kind words of warning? Do you just say, “ah okay then, I will stop saying that drugs are not good, that truth is one sided and not relative, free sex impacts God’s plan for marriage, not all religions lead to God, God has created man and woman” etc… just so that you try to soften the relationship? Certainly not. You double down in Grace and understanding, but you will call what is wrong wrong, and what is right, right. You will not put their spiritual life, the most important one, in real danger. Even if it would mean some losses in this earthly life.

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