The Outsiders | We're All Rejects

You are saved by God's grace because of your faith. This salvation is God's gift. It's not something you possessed. It's not something you did that you can be proud of. Instead, we are God's accomplishment, created in Christ Jesus to do good things. God planned for these good things to be the way that we live our lives.

So now you are no longer strangers and aliens. Rather, you are fellow citizens with God's people, and you belong to God's household. As God's household, you are built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. The whole building is joined together in him, and it grows up into a temple that is dedicated to the Lord. Christ is building you into a place where God lives through the Spirit. 

Ephesians 2:8-10, 19-22 (Common English Bible)

We're all the rejects that Jesus called anyway. Every single one of us. The people who think they're qualified and the people who know they're not. The people who've been following Jesus for decades and the people who just started exploring faith. The people who have their theology figured out and the people who are still full of questions. All of us are the rejects that Jesus called anyway.

None of us earned this. None of us qualified for it. None of us deserved it. Paul makes this abundantly clear: "You are saved by God's grace because of your faith. This salvation is God's gift. It's not something you possessed. It's not something you did that you can be proud of."

We didn't make ourselves qualified to follow Jesus. Jesus called us when we were fishermen. Jesus called us when we were tax collectors. Jesus called us when we were outsiders, when we were unclean, when we had nothing to offer. Jesus tore down the barriers and invited us in.

And this should change everything about how we relate to each other. If we're all the rejects that Jesus called anyway, then we have no business deciding who else is qualified. We have no right to rebuild barriers that Jesus destroyed. We have no justification for requiring others to meet standards that we ourselves never met.

We're all standing on level ground at the foot of the cross. We're all saved by grace, not by our qualifications. We're all unworthy recipients of an invitation we didn't deserve. So who are we to look at someone else and say, "You're not qualified"?

And if we're all the rejects that Jesus called anyway, then we also have no business disqualifying ourselves. We have no right to stand outside wondering if we're good enough. We have no justification for believing the lies that we don't belong.

Because Paul tells us that we're no longer strangers and aliens. We're fellow citizens with God's people. We belong to God's household. We're being built together into a place where God lives through the Spirit.

This week, we've explored what it means that Jesus tears down the barriers to becoming his disciple. We've seen how Jesus invited people to "come and see" rather than requiring them to prove themselves first. We've acknowledged the ways we exclude others by requiring qualifications Jesus never set. We've confronted the ways we exclude ourselves by believing we're not good enough.

But it all comes down to this: Jesus called us when we were unqualified. Jesus welcomed us when we were outsiders. Jesus invited us when we were rejects. And now Jesus is calling us to extend the same radical welcome to everyone else.

That means we stop deciding who's in and who's out. We stop requiring people to meet standards we never met. We stop rebuilding barriers that Jesus tore down. We stop treating people like they need to prove themselves when Jesus says they're already called.

And it means we stop disqualifying ourselves. We stop standing outside wondering if we belong. We stop waiting until we're good enough. We accept the invitation Jesus has extended to us and we step into our identity as God's beloved children.

We're all the rejects that Jesus called anyway. So let's stop acting like we're anything else. And let's start living like we actually believe that Jesus' answer to "who's qualified?" is everyone.

Prayer:

God, we're all the rejects that you called anyway. None of us earned this. None of us deserved this. None of us qualified for this. Thank you for tearing down the barriers and inviting us in. Thank you for calling us when we were fishermen and tax collectors. Thank you for welcoming us when we were outsiders. Now help us extend the same welcome to everyone else. Help us stop deciding who's qualified and start trusting that your answer is everyone. Help us stop disqualifying ourselves and start living like we really belong to your household. Because we're all the rejects you called anyway, and that's the most beautiful truth we know. Amen.