Archbishop Stephen reflects on Matthew 21.33-end for the Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity.
Read the reflection in full:
‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief Cornerstone.’ Psalm 118.22.
This verse from Psalm 118 was a really important one for the first followers of Jesus. Jesus uses it himself here in the parable of the wicked tenants. Peter uses it in Acts 4 when he addresses the elders and scribes in Jerusalem. And it is referenced again in the first letter of Peter in Chapter 2.
It sums up the beauty, the meaning, but also the surprise, of the Christian Faith. Jesus is never what we expect.
‘This Jesus whom you crucified, God has raised from the dead,’ says Peter. ‘The stone that was rejected has become the cornerstone.’
Or in today's parable: ‘The kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to those who produce the fruits of the kingdom.’
October is black history month and provides an opportunity for us to reflect on issues of racial justice and inclusion in the communities we serve, seeing it as a central aspect of the gospel itself.
When I was a Curate, there was some graffiti in the porch of our church in South London. It said in large letters: ‘God is Black.’
A few weeks after it appeared somebody graffited underneath it: ‘If he were, they would have killed him!’
This comment, meant I expect to be a witty riposte, actually reveals a startling truth. In Jesus Christ, God was born into a persecuted minority. He experienced exclusion. He lived in an occupied land. He was not part of the ruling elite. And they did kill him. The stone of the builders rejected became the cornerstone.
Likewise in scripture itself - and also probably meant as a joke - in John’s gospel we are told that when Jesus was crucified, they put a sign above him: Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.
Caiaphas however fears – and rightly so! – that the joke might backfire. He asks for the sign to be changed to: This man said he was the King of the Jews.
But that doesn't have the same ring to it. It's not so funny. After all, we've had fun dressing him up as a king - a purple robe and a crown of thorns - now let everyone enjoy the joke. Put this sign above him and have it written in Hebrew, Greek and Latin.
But it does backfire. Jesus is the King. But not as people expected. The stone that was rejected - the man that was cast away, the one who was dressed up as a puppet king, the one who was crucified - is risen again. And is always rising again. And always challenging us. And always in unexpected ways.
Part of that unexpected and surprising challenge of the gospel is about the very nature of our humanity where we are no longer defined by the usual categories of race or caste or kin.
It is to this kingdom that we bear an allegiance, and its fruits are known by our ensuring that our churches our places of welcome for everyone and that we address issues of racism and prejudice, learning to be one new and renewed and forgiven and restored humanity in Christ.
