stone…

Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and like living stones let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in scripture: “See, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” This honor, then, is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the very head of the corner,” and “A stone that makes them stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (1 Peter 2:4-10, NRSVue)

The stone the builders rejected is now the corner stone.

The cornerstone is the place in the foundation that the whole structure relies on. And according to this reading and others in Scripture, the cornerstone God chooses is rejected by others. And not only is that stone rejected, but it also becomes a stumbling block.

People do not want to base their lives on God’s truth because it has us look outside ourselves and to the best interests of others. It has us focus outward and not on the unholy trinity of me, myself, and I.

We stumble over the stone because we want what’s best for us and not others. We want to fulfill our own desires and not look out for community.

Build your life on God’s cornerstone and know that it will never crumble.

The Evil Tenants

“Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went away. When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other slaves, more than the first, and they treated them in the same way. Then he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.’ So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.”
Jesus said to them, “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’?
“Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces its fruits. The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.” When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet. (Matthew 21:33-46, NRSVue)

The title of the devotional today is the title of this parable in most Bibles. I sometimes wonder where they get these titles or who makes them up, but today’s seems to fit.

The tenants are evil. The NRSVue has wicked tenants which is as good. It seems these people renting the land do understand the contractual obligations they have made and seem to think they can take all the land and its produce without supplying the owner anything in return. But as I read this I wonder where the good news is.

This is a gospel lesson I would read in a congregation and sarcastically say, the word of the Lord. Because the gospel is supposed to be good news, and all I read here is death. The tenants kill all the people the landowner sends, including the son, and the landowner kills the tenants.

And then Jesus says the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to others. Death and removal.

The good news is implied in the story that is to come when Jesus is killed and returns to give us new life and help us to produce good fruit.

The good news is that death is not the end.

We have life in Jesus, who was rejected, but still lives to give us hope.

judge much?

When they heard these words, some in the crowd said, “This is really the prophet.” Others said, “This is the Messiah.” But some asked, “Surely the Messiah does not come from Galilee, does he? Has not the scripture said that the Messiah is descended from David and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?” So there was a division in the crowd because of him. Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him. Then the temple police went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why did you not arrest him?” The police answered, “Never has anyone spoken like this!” Then the Pharisees replied, “Surely you have not been deceived, too, have you? Has any one of the authorities or of the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd, which does not know the law, they are accursed.” Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus before and who was one of them, asked, “Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it?” They replied, “Surely you are not also from Galilee, are you? Search and you will see that no prophet is to arise from Galilee.” (John 7:40-52, NRSVue)

“Surely the Messiah does not come from Galilee, does he?”

You can not trust them, they come from ______! Have you ever heard this? Or have you ever said this?

We all know the places in town that are on the wrong side of the tracks. You know the places that you do not go to after dark and the people who live there are the people we do not trust.

But why?

We are all made in the image of God, and we are all creations of the one who lovingly knit us together. So why is one place better than another?

Maybe we should not look at where people come from here on earth, but see them for where they come from in the hands of a loving creator that made us too.

Do not judge. Love.

No confidence

Do all things without murmuring and arguing, so that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine like stars in the world, holding forth the word of life so that I can boast on the day of Christ that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. But even if I am being poured out as a libation over the sacrifice and the service of your faith, I rejoice, and I rejoice together with all of you; in the same way also you should rejoice and rejoice together with me. Finally, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is not troublesome to me, and for you it is a source of steadfastness. Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of those who mutilate the flesh! For it is we who are the circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and boast in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh— even though I, too, have reason for confidence in the flesh. (Philippians 2:14-18; 3:1-4a, NRSVue)

No confidence in the flesh.

We should not boast about our accomplishments or what we have done. These do not mean anything in the kingdom of God.

We need to be a part of the community and help others without complaining or cursing under our breath. We are no better than anyone else and we all need to do our part.

Do not put your confidence in yourself or what you have accomplished.

Put your confidence in Christ.

who do you follow?

Therefore, do not let anyone condemn you in matters of food or drink or of observing festivals, new moons, or Sabbaths. These are only a shadow of what is to come, but the body belongs to Christ. Do not let anyone disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, initiatory visions, puffed up without cause by a human way of thinking, and not holding fast to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and tendons, grows with a growth that is from God. If with Christ you died to the elemental principles of the world, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations, “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? All these regulations refer to things that perish with use; they are simply human commands and teachings. These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-imposed piety, humility, and severe treatment of the body, but they are of no value in checking self-indulgence. (Colossians 2:16-23, NRSVue)

If you are following Christ why do you still care what the world says or thinks?

We should not care of the opinions of the world when we are following Christ and doing his will.

So who do you actually follow, Christ or the world?

Who are you looking to make happy?

Do not conform to this world, be transformed by renewing your souls and being who God made you to be.

their faith

And some people were carrying to him a paralyzed man lying on a stretcher. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, child; your sins are forgiven.” Then some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” But Jesus, perceiving their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and walk’? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Stand up, take your bed, and go to your home.” And he stood up and went to his home. When the crowds saw it, they were filled with awe, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to human beings. (Matthew 9:2-8, NRSVue)

When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic…

Did the paralytic want to be healed?

And why would people be upset about someone being healed?

Which is easier: your sins are forgiven or get up and walk?

People have an effect on your life. Those you choose to surround yourself with make a difference on who you are and how you live. The friends of the paralytic wanted to help him, so they carried him to the healer. They knew Jesus could help their friend if they could only get them to Jesus. Community makes a difference.

DOn’t be one who is jealous of others’ healing, but celebrate the wholeness of the community.

Love and freely help those who need to be lifted so the community is better.

It is not about you.
It is about us.
It is about their faith.

Proclaim!

Some proclaim Christ from envy and rivalry but others from goodwill. These proclaim Christ out of love, knowing that I have been put here for the defense of the gospel; the others proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but intending to increase my suffering in my imprisonment. What does it matter? Just this, that Christ is proclaimed in every way, whether out of false motives or true, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my salvation. It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be put to shame in any way but that by my speaking with all boldness Christ will be exalted now as always in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain. (Philippians 1:15-21, NRSVue)

Why do you share Christ in your life?

Is it to get something?
To win people over to your way?
Because you need their backing, and the way you think you can get that is to say you follow God?

Do you share Christ because of what God has done in and through your life, for no gain of your own, but so others can gain from knowing God?

We all proclaim things in and through our lives.

What is your motivation?

Thank God!

I thank my God for every remembrance of you, always in every one of my prayers for all of you, praying with joy for your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because I hold you in my heart, for all of you are my partners in God’s grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the tender affection of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what really matters, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God. I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually resulted in the progress of the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to everyone else that my imprisonment is for Christ, and most of the brothers and sisters, having been made confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, dare to speak the word with greater boldness and without fear. (Philippians 1:3-14, NRSVue)

Paul’s epistles start out mainly the same way, with an admonition of prayer. Paul starts his letters by saying I have been praying for you, and I am so thankful y’all are in my life.

This life of prayer is something that I saw in Tanzania. Every time we got in a vehicle to go somewhere, we stopped and someone would pray for the day and the journey.

We had morning prayer most days and life was steeped in prayer.

It was a way to always remind us what we were there and what the purpose of our lives was.

When was the last time you spoke to God?

When was the last time you thanked God for the people in your life?

Maybe we can all start steepingour lives in prayer.

Integrity

When he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” Jesus said to them, “I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?” And they argued with one another, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why, then, did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we are afraid of the crowd, for all regard John as a prophet.” So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things. “What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ He answered, ‘I will not,’ but later he changed his mind and went. The father went to the second and said the same, and he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him, and even after you saw it you did not change your minds and believe him. (Matthew 21:23-32, NRSVue)

This parable at the end of this text, which was the reading from Mark for yesterday’s devotional, is always an interesing one for me.

Which son did what the father asked them to do? Neither of them did. The answer is neither, because the first said no, and the second said he would and did not. It does not matter that the first felt bad and changed his mind. Neither of them honored their father. Now we could argue the first did, because they eventually went, but they initially said no, which is, honestly, in my opinion, no better than the second lying and saying they would go and then not going.

All of this is about integrity. It is about walking the walk and talking the talk. Being who you are all the time.

People should be the same person in person, and online. And when you wonder what to say, speak the truth. The truth is always the right thing to say.

Do not change your answer or who you are based on the group you are with or the understanding of what people want to hear.

Speak the truth in love. Always.

What is the right thing to say?

Again they came to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to him and said, “By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do them?” Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin? Answer me.” They argued with one another, “What should we say? If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But shall we say, ‘Of human origin’?”—they were afraid of the crowd, for all regarded John as truly a prophet. So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.” (Mark 11:27-33, NRSVue)

I wonder this all the time, what is the answer they want to hear to that question?

Not because what someone wants to hear will change my answer. It might change the manner in which I say it or the method I use to deliver it. You see, the truth is the truth even when people do not accept it, or want to hear it.

The religious leaders asked Jesus about his authority when they already knew the answer, and Jesus asked them a question they knew the answer to but also knew that giving that answer would convict them.

Mark Twain’s most famous genuine quote about truth is “If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.” When you make up stories or answers based on the people or the context you had better be sure you remember everything you say.

That is what is great about being who you are all the time. No need to remember anything.

Be who you are and answer the same way all the time.

Just speak truth. It is always the right thing to say.