“Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?” (Mt 21:42 AV)
I know Jesus is referring to the gospel going forth to the rest of the world because Israel had rejected Him. This was foretold in the Old Testament. God never intended to save only Israel. However, there was another, more practical thought that came to mind. Many times, we talk to people who want nothing to do with God. They simply do not care. How foolish. They will stand before their Creator and give an account of their lives. God created us all to glorify Him and if we do not in this life, we are destined for torment in the next. It is rather discouraging when door after door rejects the good news of God’s grace. According to the verse above, we can have hope. The rejection of most means the saving of some. Because most reject, there are others whom we speak to who will not. The fact we are sent even though the majority rejects means some will not.
Have you ever wondered how people in sales survive? I would give up real quick. In fact, that is exactly what happened. It was a time in my life when I was trying to find myself. I was out of work and answers an ad for sales personnel that could grasp a ‘revolutionary product’ that would change the world. I sat in presentations. I learned how the product worked. They asked we make a contact list of 25 people whom we would contact to try to convince them they needed the product. There were special incentives. If our mark would give us so many names, we would discount the product. I was so excited about it. I understood how it was supposed to work. From my limited knowledge, I thought this product would sell like hotcakes and I would be rich. Not so. An engineer, whom I tried to sell to, revealed this product would not only not work, but would destroy what it was connected to. This device was designed to cycle a furnace on and off to save on utilities. Common sense would have told you it would not work. Oh, it would cycle alright. It wouldn’t save any money. After no after no, I quit. So, as I said before, I admire those who can sell a product that most will decline.
Which brings me to my point. The salesman does not have a promise that rejection simply means acceptance somewhere else. We are ambassadors for Christ. We are not salesmen. We are not pushing a product. We are not out for our own profit or benefit. We are sent to share the good news of forgiveness and mercy in Christ. The free gift of salvation is available to all. The rebuke to Israel above is a great bit of news for the Gentile. We do not wish Israel to be temporarily rejected. We want them to accept their Messiah. However, their rejection turned to our salvation. The same is true on a micro level. As we speak to others regarding God’s tenderness and benevolence found in the blood of Christ, most will say no thank you. All that means is there is someone else out there who will say, “tell me more”. So, the next time we get a ‘no’, remember all that means is somewhere out there, there is a ‘yes’.
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