Jeff Kemp was a quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers, the Seattle Seahawks and the Philadelphia Eagles. When he was traded from the 49ers to the Seahawks, he had the opportunity to be the starting quarterback against, his old team. He was excited about the chance to beat the team that had traded him. On the morning of the game, one of the offensive coaches said to him "I want you to know how happy I am that you are the Seahawk quarterback. I’ve been waiting for this day." He said that he felt esteemed and valued and that it was going to be a great day.

For the first two plays they ran the ball and did not gain much. On the third down, he passed to the ball to Hall of Famer Steve Largent. Largent dropped the ball. Kemp said that statically speaking, Largent was just behind Jerry Rice and was not prone to mistakes. He said, in passing, "Steve, what’s the matter, you never drop the ball, why are you doing this to me?"

Kemp says that after that play, Largent never made another mistake, he did. In fact, at half time, they were 49ers 28, Seahawks 0. Everyone in the Kingdome was booing him, with the possible exception of his wife. As he went to the locker, he knew that he could be pulled from the game. He approached the same offensive coach to talk about strategies. The coach looked at him and did not speak a word. Rather, he put his arm around another quarterback and began to talk about the plays he would use in the second half. It was clear that he was being sidelined.

No one likes to be rejected. And, yet all of us have experienced it. We have been rejected by the guy or girl who broke our heart. We have been turned down for a job, judged as inadequate for the task. Some have rejected us, not because we were not up to the task but because we did not belong to the in crowd, to the right clique. I have seen this happen on high school sports teams and in political contests and in church relationships.

In some sense of the word, rejection is the story of the life of Jesus. Massive crowds had followed him wherever he went. Many came to be healed or delivered. But, precious few placed their faith in him. Only his carefully selected disciples seem to trust him and that becomes questionable toward the end of his ministry.

However, it must have been particularly bitter to be rejected by his hometown. Jesus came home to Nazareth. On the Sabbath, Jesus taught in the synagogue. It must have been a packed house. They had all heard about Jesus since he had left home. And they were all astonished at his teaching. At first glance that may seem positive. But, that is not the case. They were upset, irritated, in fact, extremely disturbed.

Where did he get this these things? They knew that he had no formal education, so where did he get this? It did not matter that it was true. Who gave these words of wisdom to him? And these miracles, where did they come from?

They rejected Jesus for three reasons. The first was familiarity. Is this not the carpenter? I can hear some say, "I have a table made by him. He made a yoke for my oxen." They watched him grow up. He did not come from the class of Rabbis. He was not from a priestly family or a line of prophets. There was nothing renown about his family. In fact, they knew his brothers, James, Joses, Judas, and Simon. They knew his sisters. There is nothing remarkable about any of them. They were just ordinary folk. While he may have been a very good carpenter, he was just a carpenter. After all, how many carpenters do you know who heal the sick and teach the Word of God as if he were God?

The second reason they rejected Jesus was scandal. Is this not Mary’s son? I think this was a slap at the mystery of his birth. They knew that Mary was with child before they were formally married. Maybe they overlooked it in regular times. After all, he was a good carpenter. But, he is claiming some sort of special relation to God. He preaches not like the rabbis who quote the great teachers of the past. He teaches with his own authority. This is unacceptable. We know things about him.

The third reason was the lack of faith in God. While they would claim to trust God, they had no faith in God’s most personal revelation of himself. John noted in his Gospel, John 1:11 "He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him." They rejected him. They were, in fact, offended by him. The Greek word for offense here is skandalizo. It is a strong word that means, "to cause to stumble, to cause a downfall, to shock and even to cause to sin." They were so turned off by Jesus that he literally caused them to sin.

Jesus marveled, he was amazed at their lack of faith. But, not only did the people of his hometown disbelieve in him, so did his own relatives and his own household. His family rejected him. The result of this rejection was that Jesus could do no miracles, literally works of power, among them. The lack of faith kept him from ministering to their needs and doing wonderful things among them.

I wonder about us. We become so familiar with Jesus. We talk about him all the time. We worship him and pray in his name. We go to church in his honor and live our lives under his name. In our familiarity, have we too rejected him? It is a jolting thought isn’t it. I wonder if we have become embarrassed by him. Living under the name of Jesus is quickly becoming scandalous in our world. A teacher was fired for wearing a cross. People reject us when they find out we are "religious" people. Is it possible that we keep quiet and stifle our faith because of the scandal? I wonder if our familiarity and embarrassment have not lead to a lack of faith? And I wonder if we keep God from doing his work of power among us as a result?

I have to tell you that this struck me like a powerful blow. I deal with holy things all the time. I am the official prayer at events, the proclaimer of the Word, the counselor of spiritual things, the administrator of his church. It is so easy to become comfortable with holy things and a holy God. So comfortable in fact that we stop taking him seriously. It’s as if we take control and put God in the back seat.

G. Campbell Morgan was one of 150 young men who sought entrance to the Wesleyan ministry in 1888. He passed the doctrinal examinations, but then faced the trial sermon. In a cavernous auditorium that could seat more than 1,000 sat three ministers and 75 others who came to listen.

When Morgan stepped into the pulpit, the vast room and the searching, critical eyes caught him up short. Two weeks later Morgan’s name appeared among the 105 REJECTED for the ministry that year.

In later years, Morgan said: "God said to me, in the weeks of loneliness and darkness that followed, ‘I want you to cease making plans for yourself, and let Me plan your life.’"

Those words struck me hard. Have I become so busy with holy things that I stopped letting God plan my life? Have you done the same thing? Have you rejected God for your own wisdom?

When Jesus was rejected even by his family, I was amazed. But when I looked carefully at the text, I found that I had rejected him too. In all honesty, all of us have. We need to renew our faith so that Jesus can do his marvelous work among us.