SermonsbyWagner.com

“Cornerstone Faith” – Matt 21:33-46 – October 5, 2008

During our last confirmation class the youth had an assignment to locate the church cornerstone. None of them knew where it was located but they finally found it after several minutes of running around the church building. The cornerstone was laid in 1953, although the church didn’t conduct its first worship service until April, 1955. During those two years the church was being constructed and the congregation patiently waited until the new building was ready.

The youth discovered a second date on the cornerstone which was 1868. That date puzzled them. I then told them that 1868 was the year the congregation was formed. But at that time they had no building. They met in the basement of the court house. I told the confirmands that the most important date was the year 1868. A congregation doesn’t have to have a structure to be the church. What matters is the way we treat each other and the way we treat our neighbors.

Of course the “love ethic” is the basic principle of the Christian faith. Without a foundation of love, we cease to be the Church of Jesus Christ.

What happened in the vineyard was a failure of cornerstone principles. There was exploitation, motivated by greed and selfishness. There was violence and even murder. God’s messengers were rejected because those in the vineyard were fearful of losing their prestige and power.

It’s easy to distance ourselves from the parable of the vineyard. We would never act in such a vicious way against our neighbors. Surely this story is not about us. It has to do with the Pharisees whom Jesus criticized because of their disobedience and failure to live out the love ethic.

Currently our society is faced with an economic crisis that could force us into a recession or even a depression. Everyone is quick to point their finger to Wall Street, especially greedy CEO’s and corporations that take advantage of hard working citizens. I heard one economic advisor remind us that this problem was created by all of us. Consider the excess debt that millions of people in our society have incurred because they buy whatever they want. Or what about those who have not educated themselves in economics? And what about those who invested in “get rich” schemes or took short cuts. Of course, no one cheats on their income tax or takes the advice of their economic advisor to take advantage of loop holes. The current crisis is one we all have to own because we all live in the vineyard.

We have a tendency to forget that the land we live in belongs to the creator. We are no more than temporary residents. The parable of the vineyard is about the cornerstone principles of the Church. As people of the faith those in the vineyard were called to produce fruit. That is our calling as disciples. That is what God expects of us. The workers in the vineyard were also called to be good stewards, meaning they were responsible for the resources God had given them. We are also called to be good stewards of the resources God has given us in our time. God also calls us to God’s messengers, spreading the good news to the world, being a “light to the nations.”

One time the executive staff of a railroad was engaged in a brainstorming session about how to maximize the success of their business. Their talk focused on railroad technology and infrastructures, but they weren’t breaking any new ground until someone suggested that they weren’t in the railroad business. They were in the transportation business. So it is with us. We’re not likely to break new ground as long as we focus on being in the church business. The church is our identity, not our business. Our business is to be a royal priesthood, a blessing to all the families of the earth. When we take that seriously we will produce fruit for the creator. (from Lectionary Homiletics, Volume XVI, Number 6, Oct-Nov 2005)

Just as corporations have a “bottom line” in their operating statements, this parable has a bottom line as well. The very stone who was exploited, beaten, rejected and destroyed made a comeback and became the “cornerstone” of the kingdom of God. “The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.”

In other words, our obsession with the need to survive, our desire to acquire all we can and our notion that the vineyard is ours, will be no match for the power of God’s cornerstone. In spite of our efforts to believe and live as though the planet is ours to control, we will be ultimately “crushed” by the creator.

What will save us is a “cornerstone faith.” That means there will be times when we are rejected. Rejection is painful. No one wants to be ignored, abandoned, or be cut from the team. Getting a pink slip can be a devastating experience. One thing this parable teaches us is that rejection is part of life. It happened to the workers in the vineyard, it happened to Jesus, and it will happen to us.

Tony Compolo tells the story of the "reject prom." It all began when John Carlson, a Lutheran Minister in Minnesota, believed that senior proms excluded many young adults. It had become an elitist affair for the popular and wealthy. The losers and less fortunate youth stayed away. Carlson planned a party for all those who didn’t have a date or couldn’t afford to go to the prom. He called it the "Reject Prom." It was such a great time the youth wanted it repeated the following year. Thus the "reject prom" became a local tradition. In time in got press coverage and Timex corporation gave watches to every kid that attended. Other companies joined in and gave gifts as well. In a matter of time the popularity of the "reject prom" exceeded the high school prom, which by comparison was very boring. Rejection was turned into joy.

Carlson’s cornerstone faith made a huge difference in the lives of these youth. His “love ethic” helped them to overcome their rejection.

God is more powerful. What God did in the vineyard was reverse the situation. The one who was rejected and deemed powerless became the one in power. This is a hard concept for us to grasp. We are anxious about our lives, driven with the need to protect ourselves and look out for number one. How living the “love ethic” and being faithful can result in life in the kingdom is a mystery. As Jesus said, “Have you never read in the scriptures; ‘the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes?’”

Dr. Keith Wagner, St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, Sidney, Ohio