Church of the Holy City

The Stone which the Builders Rejected

The Stone the Builders Rejected
Rev. Dr. David J. Fekete
October 5, 2014

Isaiah 5:1-7 Matthew 21:33-46 Psalm 80:7-15

What connects our Old Testament reading and our New Testament reading is the metaphor of the vineyard. In the Old Testament, a vineyard is planted and nurtured, but it grows only wild grapes. The metaphor in the Old Testament symbolizes Israel’s turning away from God and God’s righteousness. Jesus draws on this metaphor in our New Testament reading. In the reading from Matthew, the owner of a vineyard hires out the land to tenants. They try to take possession of the vineyard, killing the servants and finally the son of the owner. Jesus says that the owner will remove those tenants from the vineyard and replace them with others who will yield good crops for the owner. In this parable, Jesus is saying that the kingdom of God will be taken from the ruling powers of the Jews in His time. He buttresses this parable with another reference to the Old Testament, saying, “The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, The Lord has done this and it is marvelous in our eyes.” This is from Psalm 118:22, 23.
The New testament story about the vineyard refers to the development of the Jesus movement in Jewish society. The owner of the vineyard is God. The wicked tenants are the religious authorities in Jesus’ day–the Pharisees, the temple priests, and the Sadducees. The kingdom of God is taken from their hands and given over to the lower social strata in Judea and even to outsiders like the Romans and Greeks. We are told in Matthew that the leaders of the Jews know this, but that Jesus is so popular that they fear the crowds,
When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. But when they tried to arrest him, they feared the multitudes, because they held him to be a prophet (Matthew 21:45, 46).
We can’t say that all the Jews rejected Jesus. There was a strong group in Israel. But the Apostle Paul brought Christianity to the un-churched. Paul brought Christianity to the Greeks and Romans. And in doing so, Paul relaxed Jewish practices and the Jewish religious calendar. Since Christianity began in Israel, among the Jews, to release Greek Christians from the practices of the founders of Christianity would have seemed like watering down the faith. It would have seemed like letting anyone be a Christian regardless of how they practiced religion. It was a momentous shift in practice and belief.
While this was going on with the early church, there was the issue of Jesus Christ Himself. The reference to the stone rejected by the builders is a reference to Jesus Himself. Jesus was rejected by the religious authorities of His day and handed over to be executed by the Roman authorities. But Jesus was embraced by the lower classes of Roman society and by social outcasts.
We can forget just how anti-establishment Jesus actually was in His day. He was not on the side of those in power. He was not on the side of the elites. It was the peasantry, the social outcasts, and even Romans who embraced Jesus and His teachings. The established religion of Judaism rejected Jesus. And the leading religious authorities sought to silence Him. When they could not silence Him, they got rid of Him.
But they could not silence Jesus. They could not get rid of Him. They could not stop the power of this bright new religion. Not only was the Jesus movement rejected by the powers in Judaism, but this was also the case among Romans. The religion of the Roman Empire was that of the mythic gods like Jupiter, Diana, Mars, Mercury, and the goddess of good luck, Fortuna, among others. Also the Roman emperor himself was called a god, and there were shrines for Romans to bring offerings and sacrifices to him. While this was the state religion of Rome, Christianity was considered illegal. Christianity was against the law and punishable by death. One of the things that made Christianity irritating is that they would not offer sacrifices to the Roman gods. They refused to do so because they considered this idolatry. But what made them even more irritating is that they would not sacrifice to the emperor god. This made them actually a threat to the emperor’s rule and power.
So in its beginnings, Christianity was not part of the status quo, as it is today, or was today. The leader of Christianity, Jesus Christ, was a capital criminal, and the religion itself was illegal, punishable by death. The early Christians met underground, in catacombs, and hid their practices from Roman society.
For this reason, many of the underprivileged groups in western history have drawn support from the New Testament. The African-Americans during slavery and after during civil rights movements of the 1960′s have drawn support from the New Testament. There have also been more recent movements in Latin America that have drawn support from the New Testament for social liberation. There is a whole discipline of theology called Liberation Theology.
And yet, these scriptures are so inclusive that the socially powerful also draw support from the New Testament. People in power positions and regular members of the dominant social groups in western society are Christian. And before I paint too anti-establishment a picture of Jesus, there are New Testament stories in which Jesus dines with a Pharisee (Luke 7:36-50) and finds tremendous faith in a Roman centurion (Matthew 8:5-10).
Despite being forbidden by Roman society, despite the attempts to silence Jesus and do away with Him, Christianity survived, grew, and thrived. So powerful are the teachings of Christ that they transformed the western world. They speak to issues that every human faces. The stories are simple enough that everyone can understand them, if they use a modern language translation. And yet the stories are deep enough that everyone from learned to simple can find lessons for life in them. The parables have such depth to them that they speak to us in all the different states we go through in our spiritual development. They are meaningful at the start of our faith journey. And they are meaningful after we have progressed far in our faith journey. They speak to me when I am troubled and downcast. And they speak to me when I am at peace and feeling close to God. So Jesus says, “the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life” (John 6:63). And Peter affirms this, saying, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life; and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God” (John 6:68-69).
Jesus’ words are words of eternal life. He teaches us the way to heaven and the way to live in this world with peace. His words still the troubled mind and kindle in our hearts the sacred flame of heavenly love. His words guide our steps and teach us what is good.
But His words only affect us if we know them. I recommend daily reading of the Bible. Let the words sink in. Think about the stories. Consider the main characters and how they function in the stories. I find that just meditating on the New Testament stories themselves puts me in a more peaceful state. And I gather ideas about life from these stories, the morals from the stories , or lessons they teach. Sometimes, just reading a story carries my emotions along with it. This can elevate my feelings and deepen my love and compassion for the whole world.
It is reasons like all the above that have made Christ’s teachings last for 2,000 years. Jesus’ teachings prevailed against the Roman gods, against the threat of a terrible death, and against a society structured to support the Roman Empire. These teachings even survived when the Empire fell into chaos. And for good or for bad, these teachings held the western world together as it rebuilt through the dark ages, the middle ages, and into the status it now enjoys in the world. “The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.”

PRAYER

Lord, we have sought to learn about you and to follow in your footsteps. We pray that you enlighten our minds when we read your scriptures. For you have left us writings that contain Your Word. These stories and parables are inspired by you and contain unlimited wisdom. May we turn to them for guidance and comfort. And when we turn to Your Word, we pray that you come to us. We pray that you enlighten our mind and enkindle our hearts with the holy flame of your love.

And Lord, we pray for the sick. May they experience the power of your healing love. Fill them with the grace of your healing power. Comfort their family and friends. We pray for the grace of your healing power for all who are ailing in body or soul.