Monday, November 22, 2021

Reflection - Number Our Days - Rejected

Source (book): "Teach Us to Number Our Days", Chapter 41, "Rejected", Page 188.
By David Roper, Pastor, and regular and popular writer for Our Daily Bread.


To seem the stranger lies my lot, my life
PHOTO: Among strangers. Father and Mother dear,
Brothers and sisters are in Christ not near
And he my peace my parting, sword and strife.

- Gerard Manley Hopkins

So now you're old and unwanted - secondhand, surplus, unasked for. It's easy to retreat into self-pity and think bad thoughts about yourself.

Many seniors do. They live with unexpressed depression that grows through the years because they feel cast off and uncared for. Disappointments mount as colleagues, friends, and family, involved in their own lives, families, activities, and interests, forget we're still around. No visits, no phone calls, no e-mails, no cards.

Our Lord understands. He was despised and rejected - "looked down on and passed over." (Isaiah 53:3) And his rejection, like ours, caused Him deep sorrow, for He was fully human (though fully God) and felt the entire range of human emotions, and thus is acquainted with our grief. But He knew what to do with rejection, as is revealed in a story that He told.

On one occasion, when Israel's leaders sought to kill Jesus, He spoke of a vineyard owner who sent his son to deal with some unruly workers. The workers rejected the son, killed him, and threw his body away. But the owner of the vineyard had the last word, said Jesus, because "The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes." (Matthew 21:42)

Jesus was quoting a psalm that is oft-quoted (often-quoted) in the New Testament, (Psalm 118:22-23) and was foretelling His own rejection, suffering, and distress, as well as His future vindication.

Who was the stone? Jesus. Who were the builders? The power-elite of Jesus' day, who mocked Him and rejected His love. How did the stone become the capstone? God placed it there through the resurrection in which He raised His Son out of this world and its abuse and placed Him on high.

This, then, was Jesus' confidence: that He, though hated and rejected, scorned and crucified here on earth would eventually, eternally, be exalted to the right hand of His Father far above all betrayal and denial. This was His "marvelous" vindication.

This is our vindication as well. Someday we, too, will be raised out of our ungrateful world and given a home where we will be sheltered from all abuse by our Father's love. All this is done because, as the psalmist reminds us again and again, "God's love endures forever." We are loved now, but as yet we knew little of our inheritance. Someday we will be welcomed into our Father's house and will be loved beyond all imagination forever and ever! Is this not the infinite affection for which we have longed throughout our lives?

So this day we may say with the psalmist and with Jesus, "The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?" (Psalm 118:6)

I read somewhere that G. Campbell Morgan, who was known as "the prince of expositors" in the early twentieth century, at first failed his examinations for the Wesleyan pulpit. In deep disappointment he sent a one-word telegram to his father: "Rejected." His father wrote back: "Rejected on earth; accepted in heaven."

So it will always be.

Picture posted by Crystal Spraggins, TLNT Talent Management & HR on 01 May 2014
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiaHv4-IXKWMZ373fiG4_nj_U_6_MXADkuXBYDKU-ErRzlOLhyQ482OX4zHZ6TmcmoY3Wh35pRQjZGDg5--6i13PS_0czKr7YzsAS_cuoSnkgjG5UnqpEASKv4aKL1uHWoN0QCgZw9fBpon58cfojR6hCO2Y6FHNTFhTskuFIuN27IQXTb8D9IZW6fZ=s1644
https://www.tlnt.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2011/01/agediscrimination-316x467.jpg
https://www.tlnt.com/is-it-age-bias-or-just-good-customer-service-you-decide/



To seem the stranger lies my lot, my life
Among strangers. Father and Mother dear,
Brothers and sisters are in Christ not near
And he my peace my parting, sword and strife.

- Gerard Manley Hopkins


To seem the stranger lies my lot, my life
PHOTO: To seem the stranger lies my lot, my life
Among strangers. Father and Mother dear,
Brothers and sisters are in Christ not near
And he my peace my parting, sword and strife. - Gerard Manley Hopkins
Picture posted by The Star on Wednesday, 25 August 2021 at 4:15 pm MYT

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjoiH5FvG9nDG0oHi4nCZ9zILbfj5TGZtPoIdJCZ1ndC6o4VJAfLTncPasWtpYECc016gaAaU842h9RwBs1sjn7sER_I62wmIBPJQgoR4VKBI8DJwbjqA7eJrY-sv-ZwQlQP1FwoFYNpmkiIhGd4eBkzTfXEzMU9p5XIVG_a_DFpTzE9BS9XK37ebtU=s692
https://apicms.thestar.com.my/uploads/images/2021/08/25/1268744.jpg
https://www.thestar.com.my/lifestyle/family/2021/08/25/american-anchor-hopes-her-age-bias-lawsuit-changes-tv-news



So now you're old and unwanted - secondhand, surplus, unasked for. It's easy to retreat into self-pity and think bad thoughts about yourself.


So now you're old and unwanted - secondhand, surplus, unasked for.
PHOTO: So now you're old and unwanted - secondhand, surplus, unasked for. It's easy to retreat into self-pity and think bad thoughts about yourself.
Picture posted by vectorstock

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiKSCVfw_SLHBuMzGJxa5-sqbs1tTfMZV3m46-qpqRAIHRSXyB-RdyF5xpXs8EwWEaVdEdlKD7TjmVI536yCC25d_Yglvf9PhkhDWWee7I9HIrpYo2ewbfjcOCsNO4FEZcWSH4JmKqpA_cVxIfC1K_ciAQ1T8pTaQVbxGocIV4pXJTrHaDU5mH9-oZy=s1000
https://cdn1.vectorstock.com/i/1000x1000/31/20/elderly-woman-with-rejected-cv-employer-vector-32183120.jpg
https://www.vectorstock.com/royalty-free-vector/elderly-woman-with-rejected-cv-employer-vector-32183120



Many seniors do. They live with unexpressed depression that grows through the years because they feel cast off and uncared for. Disappointments mount as colleagues, friends, and family, involved in their own lives, families, activities, and interests, forget we're still around. No visits, no phone calls, no e-mails, no cards.


Many seniors retreat into self-pity and think bad thoughts about themselves.
PHOTO: Many seniors retreat into self-pity and think bad thoughts about themselves. They live with unexpressed depression that grows through the years because they feel cast off and uncared for. Disappointments mount as colleagues, friends, and family, involved in their own lives, families, activities, and interests, forget we're still around. No visits, no phone calls, no e-mails, no cards.
Picture posted by Mary Kraft HR

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgOWC3zYheljNQO2WoOJh7vwL-NQf-EC5swSR5HmIG0YJgZxhuSiboIHUd3ovZLhTP6FGtonR-2-w0XbqgtGrb084_ig0IWiRdzHSfZBJMOdrjC5n1ILqj888lKEbGObLHDtNmUX_o8n9psr61YCI6ploM4LxKLBvF9tDUj49fUmP23EaGOJoGJkkpm=s2048
http://marykraft.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Catchphrases.jpg
https://www.marykraft.com/2015/03/20/harmful-office-catchphrases/



Our Lord understands. He was despised and rejected - "looked down on and passed over." (Isaiah 53:3) [206] And his rejection, like ours, caused Him deep sorrow, for He was fully human (though fully God) and felt the entire range of human emotions, and thus is acquainted with our grief. But He knew what to do with rejection, as is revealed in a story that He told.


Our Lord understands.
PHOTO: Our Lord understands. He was despised and rejected - "looked down on and passed over." (Isaiah 53:3) And his rejection, like ours, caused Him deep sorrow, for He was fully human (though fully God) and felt the entire range of human emotions, and thus is acquainted with our grief.
Picture posted by Posterazzi - The Crown Of Thorns By Gustave Dore (1832-1883)

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgpaNfn7ZzVwkH7MZRA1e3tZe1DdD3o8AuzTCkOhy1U5UbP7KaraaKsrvSgSmwbNFkm_iUSUl0VIYOBtYZHFp2P1gw2pHQMmsRwTHnbt98Ylt0dVx35W9d3lM1C66utfK6pAKc4_GIGg7TcGoxXhDuNPwJWAoV9PZGYQmvp0K8LRyRAL3OCRd7sBjoJ=s1280
https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-yzgoj/images/stencil/1280x1280/products/1528629/4569067/DPI1859791__12230.1541978428.jpg?c=2
https://www.posterazzi.com/engraving-from-the-dore-bible-illustrating-matthew-xxvii-29-and-30-the-crown-of-thorns-by-gustave-dore-1832-1883-french-artist-and-illustrator-posterprint-item-vardpi1859791/
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2016/05/reflection-godliness-and-persecution.html



On one occasion, when Israel's leaders sought to kill Jesus, He spoke of a vineyard owner who sent his son to deal with some unruly workers. The workers rejected the son, killed him, and threw his body away. But the owner of the vineyard had the last word, said Jesus, because "The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes." (Matthew 21:42) [207]


'The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.' (Matthew 21:42) PHOTO "The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes." (Matthew 21:42)
Picture posted by Every Nation Taipei on 11 April 2021 - Jesus The Cornerstone
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEibsc47rUf7jVVVl4R4JIi-KG8Zex2lCVJwlGFOWbH2HUhTmB3Cw-VcPqEghZOdhTGUmTRMYBabB1vIKbjXT4gBKsi857YjY11rHCwdnue4pPgIa1eSEROAMe5bHwVNwUwSypuwK6CZt_oRDFeLyq7srqjvW3x_VnqpizOJkMo5DnDz0CaUygGe_g4T=s1920
https://www.everynationtaipei.com/wp-content/uploads/sermons/2021/04/Cornerstone.png
https://www.everynationtaipei.com/sermons/jesus-the-cornerstone/



Jesus was quoting a psalm that is oft-quoted (often-quoted) in the New Testament, (Psalm 118:22-23) [208] and was foretelling His own rejection, suffering, and distress, as well as His future vindication.

Who was the stone? Jesus. Who were the builders? The power-elite of Jesus' day, who mocked Him and rejected His love. How did the stone become the capstone? God placed it there through the resurrection in which He raised His Son out of this world and its abuse and placed Him on high.


Jesus was quoting a psalm that is oft-quoted (often-quoted) in the New Testament, (Psalm 118:22-23) and was foretelling His own rejection, suffering, and distress, as well as His future vindication.
PHOTO: Jesus was quoting a psalm that is oft-quoted (often-quoted) in the New Testament, (Psalm 118:22-23) and was foretelling His own rejection, suffering, and distress, as well as His future vindication.
Picture posted by Mark Cahill Ministries

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjs8jp9jY3dqwHU6aMByCPXISCfVvJNWNlPS7pAtCpc7LYJl8lBosTGwEprOhedP0RS_GltdBgQeiKNyny4d8Qd6mQhsx6qZKR_bjx7l34A2B2OD8bUKbmLLP5pqWwT8BgizbDQV1idYGVTdMhVMdxbIgUe5klkO0SO1PC1Vvnu0HBPO72b9oa5FmvU=s825
https://markcahill.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Cornerstone-color.jpg
https://markcahill.org/cornerstone/



This, then, was Jesus' confidence: that He, though hated and rejected, scorned and crucified here on earth would eventually, eternally, be exalted to the right hand of His Father far above all betrayal and denial. This was His "marvelous" vindication.

This is our vindication as well. Someday we, too, will be raised out of our ungrateful world and given a home where we will be sheltered from all abuse by our Father's love. All this is done because, as the psalmist reminds us again and again, "God's love endures forever." We are loved now, but as yet we knew little of our inheritance. Someday we will be welcomed into our Father's house and will be loved beyond all imagination forever and ever! Is this not the infinite affection for which we have longed throughout our lives?


Someday we, too, will be raised out of our ungrateful world and given a home where we will be sheltered from all abuse by our Father's love.
PHOTO: Someday we, too, will be raised out of our ungrateful world and given a home where we will be sheltered from all abuse by our Father's love. We are loved now, but as yet we knew little of our inheritance. Someday we will be welcomed into our Father's house and will be loved beyond all imagination forever and ever!
Picture posted by etsy - 1 Cross + 3 Nails = 4 Given

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi-PdXkKe4v29-vfUzlVg1kh1F19yvOf3UspdHr6j6gJTnnUcGjRiy6OcgW_FZGlmAvFvXOiTUauzzoQZf4rWFzoK8gOU9BX6CaMtkFCFJsDcunQ9xBvRquPRdyWkA0K6ua_WcAb5mfKKHUNtA9p2YjsLx9a_t5nb8Cx7qz-pSKVj2SdwJSsbamfnTC=s1211
https://i.etsystatic.com/9858770/r/il/407106/1336870238/il_fullxfull.1336870238_a3yh.jpg
https://www.etsy.com/listing/503991482/christian-decal-1-cross-3-nails-4-given



So this day we may say with the psalmist and with Jesus, "The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"
(Psalm 118:6) [209]

I read somewhere that G. Campbell Morgan, who was known as "the prince of expositors" in the early twentieth century, at first failed his examinations for the Wesleyan pulpit. In deep disappointment he sent a one-word telegram to his father: "Rejected." His father wrote back: "Rejected on earth; accepted in heaven."

So it will always be.


So this day we may say with the psalmist and with Jesus, 'The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?' (Psalm 118:6)
PHOTO: So this day we may say with the psalmist and with Jesus, "The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?" (Psalm 118:6) May it will always be.
Picture posted by GOD WITH US on 19 December 2020

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh0hLNSlvxZtC0QzUMxQ80PjzNQOLcCN3XP_4swbngFJ34d9fUKf3umMkdJqJoCfiLdigXK0PNa81tYr8NtbI_raDFR3eiacJz-gEJOYrLND_hnXsIqZLca1-3aUrw142ViUc01iZF0YDiDQmyXNb5SO-Bh-3faK6l_TyCLhMVm_Ft_Bmk3oSx46Z20=s872
https://scontent.fsin9-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/133588864_819911518790358_7002868883791649632_n.jpg?_nc_cat=106&ccb=1-5&_nc_sid=8bfeb9&_nc_ohc=xXxJt45P8xQAX8eNKuK&_nc_ht=scontent.fsin9-2.fna&oh=4379ecf17fd4115a1d02662a7bbdf446&oe=61C1EDBD
https://www.facebook.com/271258793655636/photos/the-lord-ison-my-side-i-willnot-fearpsalm-1186/819911515457025/



Dear Lord
PHOTO: "Dear Lord, when we're old and unwanted - secondhand, surplus, unasked for, it's easy to retreat into self-pity and think bad thoughts about ourself.

Many seniors do. We live with unexpressed depression that grows through the years because we feel cast off and uncared for. Disappointments mount as colleagues, friends, and family, involved in their own lives, families, activities, and interests, forget we're still around. No visits, no phone calls, no e-mails, no cards.

Our Lord understands. He was despised and rejected – ‘looked down on and passed over.’ And his rejection, like ours, caused Him deep sorrow, for He was fully human (though fully God) and felt the entire range of human emotions, and thus is acquainted with our grief. But He knew what to do with rejection, as is revealed in a story that He told.

On one occasion, when Israel's leaders sought to kill Jesus, He spoke of a vineyard owner who sent his son to deal with some unruly workers. The workers rejected the son, killed him, and threw his body away. But the owner of the vineyard had the last word, said Jesus, because ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvellous in our eyes.’

Jesus was foretelling His own rejection, suffering, and distress, as well as His future vindication. The stone in the story was Jesus and the builders were the power-elite of Jesus' day, who mocked Him and rejected His love. The stone become the capstone through the resurrection in which God raised His Son out of this world and its abuse and placed Him on high.

This, then, was Jesus' confidence: that He, though hated and rejected, scorned and crucified here on earth would eventually, eternally, be exalted to the right hand of His Father far above all betrayal and denial. This was His ‘marvellous’ vindication.

We pray that this is our vindication as well. Someday we, too, will be raised out of our ungrateful world and given a home where we will be sheltered from all abuse by our Father's love. All this is done because, as the psalmist reminds us again and again, ‘God's love endures forever.’ We are loved now, but as yet we knew little of our inheritance. Someday we will be welcomed into our Father's house and will be loved beyond all imagination forever and ever!

May we say with the psalmist and with Jesus, ‘The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’

Although we may be rejected on earth; we are accepted in heaven. May it always be.

Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!
"
Picture posted by Cultural Hall - Gethsemane Prayer
Reflection - Number Our Days - Rejected
Source (book): "Teach Us to Number Our Days", Chapter 41, "Rejected", Page 188.
By David Roper, Pastor, and regular and popular writer for Our Daily Bread.




"Faithful to the end", A Preacher's Exposition of 2 Timothy, @ 2014 by Robert M. Solomon

'Faithful to the end', A Preacher's Exposition of 2 Timothy, @ 2014 by Robert M. Solomon<br>
Reflection - Faithful to the end (Links)
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2017/06/reflection-faithful-to-end-links.html


"Finding rest for the soul" Responding to Jesus' Invitation in Matthew 11:28-29, ©
2016 by Robert M. Solomon

Reflection - Finding rest for the soul (Links)
Reflection - Finding rest for the soul (Links)
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2018/10/reflection-finding-rest-for-soul-links.html


"God in Pursuit" Lessons from the Book of Jonah, ©
2016 by Robert M. Solomon

'Reflection - God in Pursuit (Links) - PART I-III, posted on Saturday, 10 August 2019
Reflection - God in Pursuit (Links) - PART I-III, posted on Saturday, 10 August 2019
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2019/08/reflection-god-in-pursuit-links-part-i.html


"God in Pursuit" Lessons from the Book of Jonah, ©
2016 by Robert M. Solomon

'Reflection - God in Pursuit (Links) - PART IV, posted on Saturday, 10 August 2019
Reflection - God in Pursuit (Links) - PART IV, posted on Saturday, 10 August 2019
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2019/08/reflection-god-in-pursuit-links-part-iv.html
 


"Songs of Christmas", The Stories and Significance of 20 Well-Loved Carols, ©
2018 by Robert M. Solomon

Reflection - Songs of Christmas (Links), posted on Friday, 24 April 2020
Reflection - Songs of Christmas (Links), posted on Friday, 24 April 2020

https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2020/04/reflection-songs-of-christmas-links.html
 

"Growing Old Gracefully", Following Jesus to the End, © 2019 by Robert M. Solomon

Reflection - Growing Old Gracefully, Part I - III (Links), posted on Wednesday, 09 December 2020
Reflection - Growing Old Gracefully, Part I - III (Links), posted on Wednesday, 09 December 2020
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2020/12/reflection-growing-old-gracefully-part.html
 

Reflection - Growing Old Gracefully, Part IV - V (Links), posted on Thursday, 22 April 2021
Reflection - Growing Old Gracefully, Part IV - V (Links), posted on Thursday, 22 April 2021
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2020/12/reflection-growing-old-gracefully-part_9.html
 

"Teach Us to Number Our Days", © 2008 by David Roper

Reflection - Number Our Days, Chapter 1 - 40 (Links), posted on Tuesday, 16 November 2021
Reflection - Number Our Days, Chapter 1 - 40 (Links), posted on Tuesday, 16 November 2021
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/11/reflection-number-our-days-chapter-1-40.html
 
 
 
Reference
[1] From "Teach Us to Number Our Days", Copyright © 2008 by David Roper, ISBN 978-981-11-7184-0, Chapter 41, "Rejected", Page 188-190.

[206] Isaiah 53:3 The message

[207] Matthew 21:42

[208] Psalm 118:22-23

[209] Psalm 118:6


Links


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