Rejection packs a blow that grows decisively more wretched as it sinks in. If you've ever watched The Bachelor (this is my admission, yes), rejected contestants go down a predictable downward trajectory (captured ever so deftly on camera) - first shock, then grief, and then the self-pity ("why does this always happen to me?"). Perhaps it's a case of schadenfreude, or delighting in someone else's misery, but there's something in those moments that intrigues me. I think because they are moments which are all too familiar. Rejection stinks, and with it, a resulting pain that is deeply unsettling.  The Book of Isaiah tells us that Christ was "despised and rejected by men" (53:3).  We know this to be true as we read the Gospel accounts of how Jesus was rejected by many, leading to His crucifixion. I have to think that Jesus felt the pain of rejection somehow. Yet we also see that He persisted in his mission and message. He knew the will of the Father (Luke 17:25). And it is through Christ enduring rejection that we are made forever accepted to God - with His wounds we are healed. 

Rejection will still hurt, but Christ turned it around so that we may never face permanent rejection of the Father. This is the good news of the gospel. 

Happy Resurrection Sunday!

[Originally posted 4.15.06 - cf. 1 Corinthians 15] Today is a special day.  Without today life’s finality reaches its most dreaded conclusion.  What’s more, I am amongst those who are most to be pitied, for all that I have hoped for has been revealed as nothing more than mere fairy tale.

If today is not true, then all that life amounts to is the immediate present.  And it therefore follows that I’m justified in my right to indulge myself in all the pleasures of my senses–that is, to eat, drink, and be merry, until all I’m left with is the reality of my mortality.  If it weren’t that He has set eternity on our hearts, there wouldn’t coexist this persistent longing, such that our hearts are restless until we find its fulfillment.

If there wasn’t victory to be had, then the voices in my head to quit this race are something worth giving in to.  If I didn’t believe in something more, and that this something more has resulted in my ultimate hope in this desperately broken world, then this has all been in vain.

But I’m assured this hasn’t been.  What do you believe about today?

I used to think (and on my worst days still do) that there was something horribly wrong with me that everyone else didn't seem to have. The world tells you that everyone is flawed, so you should get over feeling poorly about yourself - you can overcome your flaws and erase your shortcomings. After all, who doesn't like a good underdog story? While this may seem worth celebrating, it's not exactly correct. Scripture says there is something wretched within each of us, and this is a bad thing. We are not only afflicted with this present, deep flaw we call sin, but also unable to do anything on our own to overcome it. It is only when we see the futility of us being able to do anything about our imperfection that we see the good of a Savior who gave Himself up so that we may revel in the day when we will be finally rid of all that is wrong within us. So, we embrace our flaws, but deny that there is anything by human effort that we can do to make up for it. This makes Easter such a beautiful day - Christ is risen, giving us victory indeed!