Envy Is Rejection

𝐅𝐄𝐁. 𝟒, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔: 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐓𝐇 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟏: 𝟐 𝐒𝐚𝐦 𝟐𝟒:𝟐, 𝟗-𝟏𝟕

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟑𝟐:𝟏-𝟐, 𝟓-𝟕 “𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝, 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐌𝐤 𝟔:𝟏-𝟔

𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞: “…𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐫.” (𝐯.𝟒) 

            There were many times in the past when my life looked like a blur, when everything was hazy and unclear.  At times it appeared as my life would not amount to anything I can be proud of when I experienced rejection, especially during the periods of social and political uncertainty when I committed the wrong choices in my career as a journalist.

          Life will always have its ups and downs and there is nothing we can do about it because that is how the wheel of life turns. And there will be times when we will find ourselves in a worse situation such as when we experience rejection by people with whom we have been intimate with like relatives or close friends?

         If you have, how did you feel? At times, it may not be a rejection but I’m sure that during your growing up years there were instances when you were insulted and or scorned perhaps. You probably felt alienated at some point in time when you were left out of a peer group that you wanted to belong to.

         There are many factors why people reject people but the most common is envy and insecurity. We just don’t want others to succeed, and we sneer at those who may have progressed ahead of us. In other words, to reject others has not only become a human tendency for self-preservation but it also became a mechanism to defend yourself – reject them first before they reject you.

         For all intents and purposes, rejection exists even in the church or a community for that matter. I know for a fact that leaders of ministries and communities have also experienced rejection. Take the case of Bro. Mike Velarde who founded a charismatic movement that was scorned at by other Christian organizations because they felt threatened by its presence. In fact, this rejection spilled over even from among the mainstream Church itself which doubted the spirituality of this movement.

         But the El Shaddai organization grew over the years and is now found in even the remotest parts of the archipelago and has stretched out its reach overseas even in many Middle Eastern countries. Its size and staying power notwithstanding, there are still some who reject the El Shaddai community not because it is less spiritual but because of the “masa” character of its members. But then this is no longer just a rejection but arrogance and judgment

         The irony of it all is that Jesus “𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐡, 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐫, 𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐡.” (𝟐 𝐂𝐨𝐫 𝟖:𝟗) The obedience and faith commitment of El Shaddai members are too well known and while many will venture to offer a guess the fact is it was here that God revealed himself to them and they believed and it is here that Bro. Mike Velarde played an important role because of the simplicity in the way that he proclaims the Gospel.

         During my journey of faith, I have also experienced rejection, but I have not allowed such experiences to deter me from pursuing my calling. It is between me and my God and there is nothing in between and I don’t think God will be pleased if I am to turn around and mind all the useless talks behind my back.   

        In today’s Gospel passage there are two things that stood out as I reflected on it. One was the humiliating experience that Jesus suffered in the hands of his own countrymen (𝐯𝐯.𝟑-𝟒) and the other was his seeming amazement at the “lack of faith” of the people in his hometown (𝐯.𝟔).

         There is an old idiomatic expression of which many of us are familiar with that goes like this – familiarity breeds contempt – and this could very well apply to the situation that Jesus found himself in when his own town mates severely questioned his credentials even if they were amazed at the way he taught at the synagogue in Nazareth.

         I know of some instances when people who have achieved success have become the butt of envy and gossip especially in their own hometown. But don’t you think that instead of allowing such loose talk to pester we should instead share in the joy at the good fortune of a relative or a friend perhaps?

        At least this was how I feel when I hear prominent members of society openly proclaiming their active involvement in church and ministry activities and I’m equally glad when I learn of celebrities doing time on some charitable projects.

         In fact, there are several such celebrities like Aga Muhlach, Piolo Pascual, Diether Ocampo and Dingdong Dantes who have organized and established their own foundations that conduct specific projects for the poor.

        But this was not so in the case of Jesus as the people of Nazareth went as far as to question not only his trade as a carpenter but even his family heritage: “𝐈𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫? 𝐈𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐲’𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬, 𝐉𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐩𝐡, 𝐉𝐮𝐝𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐢𝐦𝐨𝐧? 𝐀𝐫𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐮𝐬? 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦.” (𝐯.𝟒)       

        This reaction of his town mates probably stemmed from their familiarity with Jesus who stayed with Joseph and Mary and only left Nazareth when he was already thirty years old. In all those years, there was probably nothing spectacular that he said or did that could have generated the admiration of his town mates.

        His town mates were amazed at the wisdom of his teaching, but what they could not accept was how a very ordinary carpenter’s son could teach with authority, perform miracles, heal the sick and cast out the demons from those possessed by evil spirits. And this was probably what Brother Mike also experienced as we tend to look at appearances rather than the message that one brings.

        Jews normally receive religious instructions at an early age such that by the time they reach the age of puberty they are already well-versed in the so-called Law of God which was why Jesus was amazed at the lack of faith of his town mates.

        Thus, it would be illogical for Jesus to preach where his presence was unwelcome, but what his town mates didn’t realize then was that they would be missing a lot from the teachings of Jesus and the things that he could do for them. This contemptuous display of arrogance deprived them of learning what God’s Will was for them.

         Today, we could also be committing what the Nazoreans did which is why we need to always check the level of our faith in God. Knowing that our Lord is a forgiving God might push us to abuse God’s kindness and mercy and find the gates closed when the bridegroom arrives if we continue to wallow in sin.

         As he moved out of Nazareth to go to where he was welcome, we might also find Jesus moving out of our presence if we don’t take heed of his teachings and if we don’t reform our ways and stay clear of sin. We cannot afford to be contemptuous because our salvation is largely dependent on our obedience to God’s Will for us.

         Jesus himself tells us: “𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮.” (𝐉𝐧 𝟏𝟓:𝟒) “𝐀𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞, 𝐬𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞.” (𝐉𝐧 𝟏𝟓:𝟗) Familiarity can work both ways. It can either breed contempt as what happened to the Nazoreans or our being familiar with Jesus can strengthen the ties that bind us to him.

         God is giving us a choice. We can either help proclaim the Good News to others or reject it altogether. There are no gray areas nor a thin line when it comes to our salvation and we cannot assume that God will forgive us if we repay his kindness and generosity with a contemptible attitude.

         On the other hand, by paying close attention to his Word we can be assured of the promise of Jesus in 𝐉𝐧 𝟏𝟒:𝟐𝟑 “𝐈𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐞, 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐲 𝐦𝐲 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐌𝐲 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐦.” And in this life, there are only two choices that we can make. It’s either we “are for him or against him.” (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 - 𝘍𝘦𝘣. 4, 2026)